Spaces of struggle and utopia

We have entered a period of profound crisis:

Global social, economic, humanitarian, ecological

Caused by neoliberalism, capitalism, patriarcy, colonialism, racism

Associated inequalities, injustices, ecological catastrophe

Collapse of traditional Left politics & organisations - centre left embrace of neoliberalism, state socialism implosion

Hegemony of neoliberal capitalism - materialism, despair, individualism, apathy, ‘post-political’ age

Hope, struggle and new utopias have returned in the strengthened spaces of struggle and resistance

From the Global South:

Zapatistas (Mexico, 1994) - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation Speaks for

“The international of hope. Not the bureaucracy of hope, not the opposite image and, thus, the same as that which annihilates us. Not the power with a new sign or new clothing. A breath like this, the breath of dignity. A flower yes, the flower of hope. A song yes, the song of life”

Subcomondante Marcos: “we need not conquer the world, it is enough to build it anew”

World Social Forum Brazil 2001

Creation and imagination of utopias

WSF insists that “another world is possible” amounts to a utopia of a new type

Plural, radically democratic and ethically diverse – escape historic perversion of utopias (De Sousa Santos)

Global North & South- trans local struggle: Global Justice NetworksG8 protests in Genoa 2001alter-globalisation movement

Continued Zapatista’s challenge to the dominant political narratives of the 1990s - neoliberal globalization –the ‘end of history’/Washington consensus

Emerged as a response to crisis of the traditional & institutional Left

Latina American ‘Socialism of the 21st Century’

Water & Gas Wars (Bolivia, 2000-2003), Left governments (Chavez, Venezuela 1999; Morales, Bolivia 2006)

Against financial crisis and austerity in the Global NorthOccupyIndignados

Featherstone (2012) in his book Solidarities; Hidden Histories and Geographies of Internationalism,

Over focus on geographies of neoliberalism, finance, elite politics and institutions

“deals with contestation in an impoverished way, viewing oppositional politics as merely a set of responses to neoliberalisation and the crisis, rather than something which more actively shapes the terrain of political debate”

Denying agency of the oppressed who are actively engaged in developing actually existing alternatives

Failing to see longer term shifts in global civil society and potential of Another World growing through solidarities being forged at local-regional-global scales

Resistance and struggle against austerity in IrelandDespite elite international portrayal and internal belief the Irish did not protest the crisis & austerity

There has been a complex form of resistance against austerity in Ireland which can be seen to take place over a number of phases

Extremely large demonstrations and a general strike in 2009 organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), but stopped after national wage agreements and the 2011 General Election - while millions of people took part in a trade’s union coordinated day of strikes and protests against austerity in November 2012 ICTU did not organize anything in Ireland. Not mobilise against cuts to welfare etc

Dominance of state partnership, ‘lobbying’, ‘apolitical’ service provision models amongst NGO, charity, community & voluntary sectors

In absence of leadership in resistance from ‘above’, there was an emergence of leadership from ‘below – particularly at the local scale–important role of connection to place

Numbers involved in various forms of resistance against austerity in Ireland 2009-2013

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2009 2010 2012 2013

Vote Against W age Agreement

Refusal to Pay Household Charge ICTU Street Protests

Public Sector Strike

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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013Year

Num bers of people involved in street protests against austerity in Ireland 2008-2013

StudentsSenior Citizens ParliamentULA/CAHW TIndividual Trade UnionCivil Society/NSM

RTE Radio Interview 2012: “…this is part of the burden that has been put on the country as a result of past economic wrongs and woes. What’s ICTU’s position on the property tax, first of all, and is there any plan to mount another campaign or join in solidarity with the existing campaigns that are out there against this?”

David Begg (President ICTU)“No not at all, the property tax is something which was enacted by the parliament. That is a democratic decision. Our business is not to interfere with that. We do agree broadly with the concept of a property tax, albeit that we would have different views about the nature of that property tax. But the fact of the matter is that parliament has decided on that. And we won’t be joining with the Trotskyist groups, and so on, who try to interfere with everything we do. But we won’t be joining them in campaigning against that.”

Raises questions on the centre left approach to household and water charges, Fiscal Treaty, austerity (Labour in Government)

‘Local’, ‘grassroots’ resistance Significant local hospital campaigns, Spectacle of Defiance,

Save the Forests, WNL, Anti-Fracking, women’s right to choice,Water Charges, Local Debt

The local, subaltern, hidden geographies of protest of solidarity in Ireland – working class areas, small towns, rural areas - Shell to Sea

Struggles have won: stopping privatisation of Forests, reversal of special needs cuts, Dolphin Human Rights, Poolbeg anti-incinerator, anti-Fracking in Sligo, election of Left, Paris Bakery, home helps, Traveller recognition

New local-national spaces of solidarity

A possible agenda for radical transformation in the 21st Century

StruggleCampaigns/action to advance equality and sustainability essential–often require alliances between community campaigns, trade unions, NGOs, (radical & reformist) Left electoral politics, media, solidarity in day to day resistance

Creating alternative spaces and places inside & out of capitalism – eco villages, workers co-operatives, housing co-ops

UtopiaDeveloping what are we for - theories and ideas for New Utopias & practical steps - imaginaries of a post-capitalist, radically egalitarian, democratic and sustainable world – (Housing as a right, abolish debt, co-operative rather than market/capital determining economy): challenging idea that only reform is possible – within struggles of reform – strategy as how they can move toward Utopia –e.g. Venezuela, Zapatistas Combining Spaces of Struggle & UtopiaCreate trans-local, global-local solidarities – spaces & places of convergence - to address climate change, globalised system – World Social Forums, Climate Justice

Broad Social movements & new political (‘left’) parties centralCurrent spaces of politics matter: today’s struggle has to be based on principles and practice of tomorrow’s utopia –empowerment & respect, dignity, plurality

We raise our heads and claim our voice, our rights and our dignity in this Declaration for A New Republic, A New Ireland

The original proclamation of the first Irish Republic stated: “…....The republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally…”

But this vision for the Irish Republic has never been achieved....promises of reform and even, ‘political revolution’, have not been delivered.

Therefore, we the Irish people, must once again forge our own Republic, A New Republic.

A Declaration for Survival, A Declaration for Hope & Renewal

A social movement & transformative political alternative for Ireland?

The New Republic will guarantee to all its people:Social justice Valued and strong communities A system of governance based on the principles of true democracy and participationA vibrant civil society and a properly funded community and voluntary sectorQuality public services available to all irrespective of income levelWorker’s rights, a decent wage and job securityAn adequate income for all A society committed to gender equality. An inclusive and equal Ireland for those with disabilities, Travellers, those who are gay, bisexual or transgendered and migrants

An Ireland of equality – where there is not a large gap in income or wealthA sustainable Ireland based on a recognition of the need to protect the planet and its biodiversity

Where our natural resources benefit the people of Ireland, the future generations and the environment

A strong, confident, indigenous sustainable social economyAn economy that prioritises the principles of solidarity and co-operation before harsh, market, competition

Culture and arts available to allBeing part of a social Europe where people’s rights and needs come first

Above all a country where the economy, society and politics are run according to the needs and wants of the majority of people and before the profit-seeking of international investors, bankers, multinationals, property speculators and the wealthy

We declare that we will campaign, we will struggle, we will educate, we will dream for the principles and values outlined in this Declaration in order to create A New Republic and A New Ireland