People's Global Action demonstrators in Prague in September 2000.

Peoples' Global Action (PGA) is the name of a worldwide co-ordination of radical social movements, grassroots campaigns and direct actions in resistance to capitalism and for social and environmental justice. PGA is part of the so-called anti-globalization movement. prague, sep. ... prague, sep. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned, and capital is invested in the production, distribution, and other trade of goods and services for profit in a market. ... Social justice refers to conceptions of justice applied to an entire society. ... Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand. ... Anti-WEF grafiti in Lausanne. ...

History of PGA

The initial inspiration for the formation of PGA came from a global meeting called in 1996 by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), which had started a grassroots uprising in the impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas on new year's day 1994 when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chiapas is a state in the southeast of Mexico. ... Nafta or NAFTA may refer to: an acronym for the North American Free Trade Agreement an acronym for the New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement the town/Tokyo of Nafta, Tunisia This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

The Zapatistas sent out an email calling for a gathering, called an 'encuentro' (encounter), of international grassroots movements to meet in specially constructed arenas in the Chiapas jungle to discuss common tactics, problems and solutions. Six thousand people attended, from over 40 countries, and declared that they would form 'a collective network of all our particular struggles and resistances...an intercontinental network of resistance against neoliberalism...(and) for humanity'. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In August 1997, the European Zapatista support network called for a Second 'Encuentro' in Spain, which it had planned with the Zapatistas during the 1996 encuentro. Delegates came again of movements from around the world, such as the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST) who occupies unused land to create farms, and the Karnataka State Farmers Union (KKRS) from India, renowned for their 'cremate Monsanto' campaign which involved burning fields of genetically modified crops. Here some of the primary objectives and organisational principles of the emerging network were drafted. MST logo Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement, or in Portuguese Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), is the largest social movement in Latin America with an estimated 1. ... Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. ... An iconic image of genetic engineering; this autoluminograph from 1986 of a glowing transgenic tobacco plant bearing the luciferase gene of the firefly, illustrating the possibilities of genetic engineering. ...

In February 1998, movements from all continents met again, this time in Geneva, where Peoples' Global Action was launched. Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ...

The PGA hallmarks

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The PGA is an instrument for communication and coordination, not an organization. PGA has no membership and no one can speak in their name. There is no visible leadership, although continental 'convenors' are periodically elected to organise conferences and maintain important communication tools. The identity of PGA is mainly enshrined in its five hallmarks. These were first created in 1998 but have since evolved and changed during subsequent conferences, in particular to take a clearly anti-capitalist (not just anti-neoliberal) stand, to avoid confusion with right-wing anti-globalisers and to strengthen the perspective on gender.^[1] A hallmark is an official marking made by a trusted party, guardians of the craft or nowadays by an assay office, on items made of precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) that guarantees a certain purity of the metal. ... Image File history File links Diamond-caution. ... An organization or organisation (read more about -ize vs -ise) is a formal group of people with one or more shared goals. ... An anti-capitalist poster printed by the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911. ... Radical feminism is a branch of feminism that views womens oppression (or patriarchy) as the basic system of power upon which human relationships in society are arranged. ...

These are the hallmarks in their current version:

1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalization.
2. We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism of all creeds. We embrace the full dignity of all human beings.
3. A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker.
4. A call to direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements' struggles, advocating forms of resistance which maximize respect for life and oppressed peoples' rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism.
5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.

The interpretation of these hallmarks however has been the subject of controversy, especially in Europe, since the 2004 European PGA conference in Jajinci, Belgrade where it was suggested that "a fascist coming as an interested individual, respecting the hallmarks and whose behaviour during the conference was fine wouldn't be a problem."^[2]. Although a rider was subsequently added, this controversy has been further fuelled by the sympathies held by Leonid Savin (the co-ordinator of the Ukraine PGA info-point) with politics of Alexander Dugin. After Savin was shown to be an activist associated with the Eurasia Party, the PGA Ukraine info-point was removed from the PGA website.^[3]. See also National anarchism. Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Patriarchy (from Greek: pater (genitive form patris, showing the root patr-), meaning father and arché meaning rule) is the anthropological term used to define the sociological condition where male members of a society tend to predominate in positions of power; with the more powerful the position, the more likely it... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ... It has been suggested that Interest representation: Academic overview be merged into this article or section. ... Direct action is a form of political activism which seeks immediate remedy for perceived ills, as opposed to indirect actions such as electing representatives who promise to provide remedy at some later date. ... It has been suggested that Civil and social disobedience be merged into this article or section. ... Decentralisation (American: decentralization) is any of various means of more widely distributing decision-making to bring it closer to the point of service or action. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jajinci is an urban neighborhood in Belgrade, Serbia. ... Belgrade (Serbian: Београд or Beograd  ) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Leonid Savin is a Ukrainian journalist and political activist. ... Aleksandr Gelevich Dugin (Russian: Александр Гельевич Дугин) (Russian scholar, political activist, and founder of the contemporary Russian school of geopolitics often known as Eurasianism. He is often seen to be an... The Eurasia Party was registered as a political party by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on 21 June 2002, approximately one year after the Pan-Russian Eurasia Movement was established by Aleksandr Dugin. ... National Anarchism is a movement that combines anarchism and nationalism, with intellectual roots in third positionism and the writings of the neo-Spenglerian Francis Parker Yockey. ...

PGA and Left-Right Convergence

During the preparation for the anti WTO conference in Seattle, 1999 organised two action caravans, one from across the US, including activists from Chiapas, Mexico, the other from Canada. The later ended at the congress organised by International Forum on Globalisation a right wing elite think tank, which wants the Left and the Right to work together in one big movement.^[4] Mike Dolan, who worked for Ralph Nader's Public Citizen consumer watchdog group, was a substantial donor to and activist with the PGA. He called for support of the right wing presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Dolan sent around a newspaper article in which Buchanan openly says: "American workers and people first." When Dolan's actions and viewpoint were criticised from the grassroots level, Michael Morrill, the coordinator of the American PGA caravan, immediately took his side. "Let's work together when we can, work in parallel when we must, but never work against each other when our goal is the elimination of the WTO and its corporate benefactors."^[5] For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist. ... Public Citizen is a U.S. non-governmental organization, founded by Ralph Nader in 1971 and based in Washington, DC. Its activities span across a diverse range of issues, including energy policy, trade policy, campaign finance reform and accountability, consumer protection, medical malpractice, and public health. ... Patrick Joseph Buchanan (born November 2, 1938) is an American politician, author, syndicated columnist, and broadcaster. ... Michael W. Morrill is an American political activist and member of the Green Party. ...

PGA, hierarchy, institutional racism and religious fundamentalism

In 2002, Maria Theresa Santana, Chairperson of Moyo wa Taifa (UK) - Pan-Afrikan Women's Association attended the European PGA Conference in Leiden and expressed her anger at the Eurocentric standpoint of the PGA discussions^[6]. For the various types of hierarchy, see hierarchy (disambiguation) A hierarchy (in Greek: , it is derived from -hieros, sacred, and -arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system (except for the top element) is subordinate to a single other element. ... Institutional racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) is a form of racism that occurs in institutions such as public bodies and corporations, including universities. ... Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Leyden redirects here. ...

At the PGA regional conference in Panama (August 2003), the PGA admitted that despite anti-hierarchical intentions, a leadership was emerging which only occasionally "got down the informations to their bases", that decisions were being made by meetings in Europe "that Europeans were imposing their political reality and way to work", and that prominent activists were promoting sexist attitudes rooted in religious fundamentalism ^[7]. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... European redirects here. ... This article is about the continent. ...

Global actions

So far, PGA's major function has been to serve as a political space for coordinating decentralised Global Action Days around the world, to highlight the global resistance of popular movements to capitalist globalisation. The first Global Action Days, during the 2nd WTO ministerial conference in Geneva in May 1998, involved tens of thousands of people in more than 60 demonstrations and street parties on five continents. Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ...

• Geneva 1998

Subsequent Global Action Days have included the 'carnival against capital' (June 18, 1999), the 3rd WTO summit in Seattle (November 30, 1999), the IMF/World Bank meeting in Prague (September 26, 2000), the G8 meeting in Genoa (June 21, 2000) the 4th WTO summit in Qatar (November 9, 2001), etc.. The World Trade Organization (WTO, French: Organisation mondiale du commerce) is an international, multilateral organization, which sets the rules for the global trading system and resolves disputes between its member states; all of whom are signatories to its approximately 30 agreements. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... 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. ... Logo of the World Bank 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... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Group of Eight (G8) consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. ... The Ancient Port of Genoa. ...

• Prague 2000
• Calendar of actions

Decentralised mobilisations have been accompanied by strong central demonstrations. From the first mobilisation in Geneva, direct action was taken to block the summits, as this was considered the only form of action that could adequately express the necessity, not to reform, but to destroy the instruments of capitalist domination.

Groups involved in PGA have also organised Caravans, regional conferences, workshops and other events in many regions of the world. Since Geneva, Global PGA conferences have been held before WTO ministerials: in Bangalore, India (1999), and in Cochabamba, Bolivia (2001). Bangalore or Bengalūru (Kannada: ; pronunciation: in Kannada and in English) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... The Cochabamba protests of 2000 were a series of protests that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia, between January and April 2000, because of the privatization of the municipal water supply, which was sold to a private company, International Waters Limited (IWL) of London (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation...

The aborted Fourth PGA Global Conference was proposed for Katmandu, Nepal 2005. However, due to problems with organising in the region/global issues of contintentalism and diaspora, was moved to Haridwar, Uttaranchal, North India and rebranded as a consultation meeting. Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमाडौं) is the capital city of Nepal. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Uttaranchal   (Hindi: उत्तरांचल) became the 27th state of the Republic of India on November 9, 2000. ...

Next European Conference

A Peoples Global Action gathering in Europe took place from August 19th to September 3rd, in France, in a decentralised fashion. The first 9 days were distributed over 5 sites, each with specific themes, while the last 5 days took place in a central location, the autonomous space « Les Tanneries » in Dijon, see http://www.pgaconference.org . Dijon ( ) is a city in eastern France, the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Côte-dOr département and of the Bourgogne région. ...

References

See also

• Carnival Against Capitalism
• Reclaim the Streets

The Global Carnival against Capital took place on Friday, June 18, 1999. ... Reclaim the Streets (RTS) is a group of people with a collective ideal of community ownership of public spaces. ...

External links

• PGA encounters in Europe
• Peoples' Global Action website
• MP3 Account of the formation of the PGA
• Breaking the Silence Archives, Gender discussion preparations for 3rd European Peoples Global Action Conference, Jajinci 2004 +
• PGA Europe Process Archives 2004
• The Invisible Network by Mayo Fuster, Mute Magazine