We Fight the Forum

Wladek Flakin

from Left Hook

Angela Merkel meets Angelina Jolie. Bill Gates meets Brad Pitt. States and corporations meet NGOs and media. That is the World Economic Forum (WEF), which has met every year in the Swiss ski resort Davos since 1971. From January 26 to 29, this year's WEF dealt with "projects in hunger, anti-corruption, financing for development and public-private partnerships" [i.e. the privatisation of public services].

2,300 participants, including executives from top companies, lots of ministers and a few heads of government like German Chancellor Merkel, chairpersons of charity organizations, religious advisors and a few celebrities, discussed "The Creative Imperative" (this year's motto) in "Improving the State of the World" (permanent motto). Representatives of Western aid organizations -- like Tombraider/UN goodwill embassador for refugees Angelina Jolie -- were there to speak in the name of billions of people suffering from hunger, who of course were not invited to speak themselves.

Like at the last G8 summit in July 2005, the policy makers in the political and economic sphere were very concerned about "the world's problems". The president of the European Central Bank admitted that the "developing countries finance the industrial nations", and he called this situation "intolerable in the long term." Even the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, professed alarm at the spread of tuberculosis and the inaccessibility of universities to three fourths of the US population. But they were unable to connect these problems to the concentration of wealth in the hands of ever fewer corporations, the massive debts of third world countries and so-called "preventative war" -- policies the WEF has advocated in the past and continues to advocate.The discussions at the forum revolved around the economic boom in India and China, as well as the victory of Hamas in the occupied territories, which was revealed during the meeting. There was a minor scandal as an article of American professor Mazin Qumsiyeh was printed in the WEF magazine "Global Agenda" which called for the formation of a "global movement against Israeli apartheid." WEF founder Klaus Schwab apologized "with great concern and pain" for the publication, which compared Israel's "separation" with the South African Apartheid regime.

THE PROTESTS

The meeting in Davos is an attraction not only for the capitalist elite, but also for the anti-capitalist movement, who see the neoliberal policies advocated by the WEF as the cause of global poverty. In 1991 there was a one-man protest against the Iraq War in front of the forum. Since 1999 there have been mass protests every year. Stating that "The Creative Imperative means imperialist wars, social cuts, repression" an alliance of anarchist, social-democratic, communist, immigrant, leftist Christian and anti-globalization groups in Switzerland mobilized for months against the WEF.

Because Davos is sealed off by the military, the biggest protest actions took place in other Swiss cities. On Saturday, January 28, 3.000 people demonstrated in the center of Basel. The police had rented military vehicles from the army, but kept out of sight for the entire demo. At a stop in front of the bank UBS, the facade was stained with graffitis and paint ballons. Even a few shoe stores rolled their shutters down as the demonstration passed by. Otherwise the action was peaceful. Speakers from leftist groups and immigrant organizations pointed out the connection between the dominance of multinational corporations, including Swiss companies like Nestlé and UBS, and the war with all its effects -- hunger, torture, destruction of democratic rights. Also Jay Arena, an activist from New Orleans, spoke about how the reconstruction efforts after the hurricane discriminate against black and working class families, as house projects are being demolished and public schools are being privatised.

Switzerland is known as a country where even the most minor questions, even individual citizenship applications, are decided by referenda. But the costs to protect the WEF with the military and the police -- over 8 million Swiss franks (6 million US dollars) -- are paid with public funds. There was never a vote about this.

In the run-up to the forum there were numerous protests: under the motto "The WEF is everywhere -- our resistance too" there were demonstrations, street theater and vigils in almost all major cities on the Saturday before the WEF.

The group "Aktiv Unzufrieden" (Actively Discontent) from St. Gallen in East Switzerland was particularly creative. In a press release they announced "an action with the black block" at the University, to set a "dramatic sign" against the WEF. At the announced time, 15 journalists and even more police and security guards were waiting for a group in black masks to smash windows. Then five activists of Aktiv Unzufrieden arrived with a black block -- a cube made of bamboo and black plastic, about 5 feet across. The scribblers of the tabloids had expected a riot and were disappointed, but the activists saw a successful protest against the power of the press.

THE ALTERNATIVES

While more than 2,000 representatives of the world's elite were at the WEF, around 100,000 people were at it's counterpart, the World Social Forum (WSF) in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. At the WSF "the world's problems" were also discussed, but in constrast to the WEF, the discussions were not based on the assumption that capitalism is the eternal fundament of human society. Therefore there were less representatives of the political and economic elite at the WSF and more representatives of the billions-strong underclasses that are exploited by the elite. In Davos Indian corporations distributed free curry dishes to potential investors -- but in Caracas Indian trade unions participated in a "march against imperialism".

The actions in Caracas and Basel show the push to a more effective international coordination of the anticapitalist movement. Multinational corporations have the WEF and countless other global institutions to arrange their actions. At the moment there are many discussions within the WSF about how the forums can become a center of resistance against neoliberalism and war, a worthy adversary to the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank etc. But unfortunately, there is as yet no "WEF of the exploited" to match the WEF of the exploiters.

Wladek Flakin is a US student living in Berlin. He belongs to the German organization Revolution.