Published on international mobilization against g8 summit 2007 (http://dissentnetzwerk.org)

Block G8! - move, block, stay

By admin
Erstellt 27/04/2007 - 21:41


At the beginning of June 2007, the heads of state and government of the eight largest economic powers will come together for the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm near Rostock.

As an act of civil disobedience, we will blockade this Summit. Our reason: The politics of the G8 stand for neoliberal, globalised capitalism, which dramatically increases the gap between the rich and poor worldwide. With the “"Block G8" campaign, we say “"No!"” and reject the legitimacy of the G8!

Different initiatives and movements are calling for resistance to the Summit. People from around the globe will articulate their protest through a diverse range of actions. The “"Block G8" campaign is one part of this. Take part in the protest actions and take a stand against the politics of the G8!

The G8 summits are a symbol. They serve those in government as a demonstration of their power. Their news reports: There is no alternative to the new world order. With our action, we want to clearly reject the apparent lack of alternatives.
Resistance against the G8 –- For a Globalisation from Below!
In June 2007, the voice of the powerful will not be the only one to be heard: Tens of thousands of people from around the globe will gather to demonstrate against the G8 and to take action together. Almost every milieu of the globalisation-critical movement have been called upon to protest. The other world will make its voice loud and clear and stand up for a globalisation from below: for equal rights; for political and cultural rights for all human-beings; for the right to global freedom of movement; for the responsible use of natural resources worldwide; for the guaranteeing of public spaces and goods; and for global social justice.
At the G8 summit, politics are concretely made and coordinated; a politics in which the interests of big business and financial investors are central. Around the globe, the dramatic division between the rich and the poor is worsened; accompanied by the widespread dismantling of social and democratic rights. When the G8 talk about debt relief and aid programmes for the poor, they remain silent about the fact that hunger, poverty and indebtedness are the result of neoliberal, globalised capitalism. The politics of the G8 lead to the unabated destruction of the basic requirements for human life, secures the access of a few states to the majority of resources, and is ultimately imposed through wars.
Mass and lasting blockades – We've come, and we're here to stay!
The “"Block G8"” campaign are organising blockades as an action of civil disobedience in which thousands of people from different political, social and cultural backgrounds can take part. Together, through these actions, we articulate a clear “"No!"” towards the G8. In doing so, however, we will not only demonstrate; we will actively block the G8 and the access roads to the conference centre over which the staff of diplomats, translators and service providers need to pass in order to get to Heiligendamm. We will not leave these access roads voluntarily, because our action is not intended to remain symbolic. We want to actually and effectively block the G8 Summit and cut it off from its infrastructure: We've come, and we're here to stay!

During the actions, we want to create a situation which is transparent for all the blockaders and in which the participants in the action show solidarity by taking care and supporting each other. Everybody needs to take responsibility for the success of powerful and decided blockades and mutually respect the borders and the protest cultures of all the participants. Potential police brutality, for example during the eviction of a blockade, has to be resisted, together, by showing solidarity and using the methods of civil disobedience.
The G8 is an institution without legitimacy. It is a Club of the governments of only eight states which arrogates to make decisions that affect the lived realities of people around the world. It is not about different policies being formulated at the G8 summits; far more it is about calling into question and rejecting the legitimacy of the G8 and its politics in general. Support Us with a Donation
Together Against the G8 Summit
Behind the concept of the mass blockades there are groups, organisations and individuals belonging to: the environmental and anti-nuclear movement; the globalisation-critical networks and the radical left; from non-violent action and autonomous antifascist groups; from the youth-wing of political parties and trade unions, as well as church groups. We bring diverse blockade experiences with us: from the anti-nuclear waste (CASTOR) transports in the Wendland (in North Germany), from the successful blockades of neo-nazi marches in Berlin, Kiel and Leipzig, from the “"Resist" campaign against the Iraq war, and from the protests against previous G8 summits.

The “"Block G8" campaign understands itself as a part of a broad societal resistance against the G8. The mass blockades, therefore, will fit in with the other actions and demonstrations and be agreed upon with other groups and initiatives.

Our actions build on the summit protests of previous years. In 1999 at the protests against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Seattle it was possible, for the first time, through mass blockades and other actions, to delay the conference's opening ceremony for hours –- an event which resonated throughout the world and marked the arrival of the globalisation-critical movement. With the actions in Seattle, the first cracks in the project of neoliberal globalisation were shown. Let's enlarge these cracks together in Heiligendamm!

Everyone can take part!

There are different possibilities:

The Block G8 Campaign Are:

Source URL:
http://dissentnetzwerk.org/node/2038