Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens (ATTAC - Association pour la Taxation des Transactions pour l'Aide aux Citoyens) is an activist organization for the establishment of a tax on exchange transactions. A stock exchange is a corporation or mutual organization which provides the facilities for stock brokers to trade company stocks and other financial instruments in the secondary market. ...

an ATTAC poster in the French countryside

Originally a single-issue movement demanding the introduction of the so-called Tobin tax on currency-speculation, ATTAC now devotes itself to a wide range of issues related to globalisation, monitoring the decisions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). ATTAC attends the meetings of the G8 with the goal of influencing policymakers' decisions. Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 699 KB)An ATTAC poster in the French countryside (near Ameugny, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France), 2004-09. ... Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 699 KB)An ATTAC poster in the French countryside (near Ameugny, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France), 2004-09. ... A Tobin tax is the suggested tax on all trade of currency across borders. ... Speculation involves the buying, holding, and selling of stocks, commodities, futures, currencies, collectibles, real estate, or any valuable thing to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income ( via dividends, rent etc). ... Globalization is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. ... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ... The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. ... The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... G8 countries. ...

Though ATTAC criticises the neoliberal ideology dominating economic globalisation, it is not "anti-globalisation". It supports globalisation policies that they characterise as sustainable and socially just. One of ATTAC's slogans is "The World is not for sale", denouncing the "merchandisation" of society. REDIRECT Template:POV Neoliberalism is usually a pejorative concept used for various different (and sometimes illiberal) ideologies or policies by the opponents of those policies. ... Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, according to Our Common Future, a 1987 report from the UN. One of the factors which sustainable development must overcome is environmental degradation. ... Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. ... Look up Slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A slogan is a memorable phrase used in political or commercial context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. ... Merchandization is a derogatory term coined by the anti-globalization movement to designate the growing importance of global market forces in the daily lives of citizens, everything, including health care, culture or education, becoming mere merchandise. ...

Organisational History and Background

In December 1997, Ignacio Ramonet wrote in Le Monde diplomatique an editorial in which he advocated the establishment of the Tobin tax and the creation of an organisation to pressure governments around the world to introduce the tax. ATTAC was created on June 3, 1998, during a constitutive assembly in France. While it was founded in France it now exists in over forty countries around the world. In France, politicians from the left are members of the association. Ignacio Ramonet is a French journalist, the editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique, a left-wing political magazine. ... The monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique (nicknamed Le Diplo by its French readers) offers well-documented analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. ...

ATTAC functions on a principle of decentralisation: local associations organise meetings, conferences, and compose documents that become counter-arguments to the neoliberal discourse. ATTAC aims to formalise the possibility of an alternative to the neoliberal society that is currently required of globalisation. ATTAC aspires to be a movement of popular education. Decentralisation (or decentralization) is any of various means of more widely distributing decision-making to bring it closer to the point of service or action. ...

Critics say that ATTAC constitutes an identity-based reactionary group and that, contrary to that which ATTAC affirms, it does not speak in the name of the poorest. Another criticism is that ATTAC promotes policies that are in reality plain protectionism. Responses to such criticisms would emphasise the global reach of ATTAC, which encompasses many poor countries struggling with the often brutal reality of neo-liberalism. Furthermore, securing comprehensive basic healthcare and education for all the world's citizens are ethically of much greater importance than theoretical worries about whether or not a Tobin Tax would be a so-called 'protectionist' measure. Reactionary (sometimes: reactionist; the term Reaction is used as a general term for the informal political grouping of reactionaries) is an epithet often applied to those seen to be on the Right of the political spectrum. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of protecting local producers from the effects of foreign competition by means of very high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, or other means of reducing importation. ...

Issues and Activities

The main issues covered by ATTAC today are:

• Control of financial markets (e.g. Tobin tax)
• "Fair" instead of "free" trade, via democratic control of the WTO and international financial institutions such the IMF, Worldbank, EU, NAFTA, FTAA, and G8.
• Defense of public goods - air, water, information
• Defense of public social services - like those relevant to health, social services, and social security. For example, it is against the privatisation of pensions and of the healthcare system). ATTAC has also taken a position on genetically-modified organisms. ATTAC also opposes General Agreement on Trade in Services.
• The struggle to end tax evasion (tax havens) as practiced by transnational corporations
• Sustainable globalisation
• Cancellation of the debts of developing countries.
• ATTAC campaigned against the treaty establishing one constitution for Europe. (Treaty of Rome of 2004).

In France, ATTAC associates with many other left-wing causes. ATTAC supports José Bové. For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ... The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing global financial system‘s current trade account balances of member states. ... The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means of financing states. ... The North American Free Trade Agreement, known usually as NAFTA, links Canada, the United States, and Mexico in a free trade sphere. ... The Free Trade Area of the Americas or FTAA (in Spanish: Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas, ALCA; in French: Zone de libre-échange des Amériques, ZLEA; in Portuguese: Área de Livre Comércio das Américas, ALCA) is a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce trade barriers among all States... G8 countries. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security mainly refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized needs, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... A pension (also known as superannuation) is a retirement plan intended to provide a person with a secure income for life. ... A healthcare system is the organization by which health care is provided. ... The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a treaty of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that entered into force in January 1995 as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations to provide for the extension of the multilateral trading system to services. ... A corporate haven is a jurisdiction with laws friendly to corporations thereby encouraging them to choose that jurisdiction as a legal domicile. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... José Bové (born June 11, 1953) is a French farmer, anarcho-syndicalist, member of the anti-globalisation movement, and spokesperson for Via Campesina. ...

See Also

• Anti-globalisation movement

Anti-globalization (anti-globalisation) is a political stance of opposition to the perceived negative aspects of globalization. ...

External links

• ATTAC homepage
• Disarming the markets, editorial by Ignacio Ramonet
• ATTAC Germany (Group on Information Society)
• ATTAC-País Valencià ([1])
• ATTAC-Québec
• ATTAC-Denmark
• ATTAC Sweden
• ATTAC Norway
• ATTAC INFO
• ATTAC France
• ATTAC USA
• ATTAC Poland