Gammelt nytt allerede, men bra perspektiv. - Per
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World Bank cancels June Meeting in Barcelona, Spain
Plans being made for on-line discussion instead
The World Bank cancelled its 25-27 June meeting in Barcelona due to
fears of disruptions from protesters. The meeting will be conducted online
instead opening up the chance of hactivism to disrupt the World Bank's
work.
PARIS, May 19, 2001. The World Bank announced today the cancellation of
its 2001 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) in
Europe, originally slated to be held in Barcelona on June 25-27.
Explaining the decision, World Bank spokeswoman Caroline Antsey said, "A
conference on poverty reduction [sic] should take place in a peaceful
atmosphere free from heckling, violence and intimidation. Despite our
efforts to reach out to some of the groups planning demonstrations, and to
include them in the conference, the intention of many of the groups who
plan to converge on Barcelona is not to join the debate or to contribute
constructively to the discussion, but to disrupt it. We do not want to
expose academics from around the world and our hosts in Spain to such a
situation." Particularly, she said, "It is time to take a stand against
this kind of threat to free discussion."
Ms. Anstey said that the Bank had full confidence in the ability and
commitment of the Spanish authorities to ensure the logistics of the
conference and the safety of the participants. However, the disruption for
the people of Barcelona and the risks and hazards involved, were too high
a price for this exchange, which could instead be conducted by other
means, she said.
" Years ago people used to burn books to try and clamp down on academic
freedom - now they try to prevent academics from reaching debating halls.
This is hardly progress. Fortunately the internet means that academic
debates can now take place on line." Papers prepared for the conference
will be posted on the conference web site and plans are being made for an
on-line discussion, she said.
Nicholas Stern, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for
Development Economics, said that the Bank had tried to include many of the
groups working against the conference in its discussions. "The subjects
reflect our concern that globalization should be managed so that poor
people can participate and benefit. The speakers and participants all have
extensive experience and understanding to share on these topics. It is a
pity that our more outspoken critics chose not to engage in a dialogue" he
said.
But activists note how it is organizations such as the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund that usually meet secretly and are not
accountable to any electorate. "These institutions are fundamentally
undemocratic despite whatever PR effort they put on," said Warcry, a New
York activist who planned to attend the Barcelona protests.
In a clear public relations effort the World Bank framed the summit merely
as a meeting for academics to discuss methods to reduce poverty. "But
poverty alleviation is not or has ever been the World Bank's main agenda,"
said Warcry.
The World Bank also claimed to have worked with demonstrators but without
success. "Despite our efforts to reach out to some of the groups planning
demonstrations, and to include them in the conference, the intention of
many of the groups who plan to converge on Barcelona is not to join the
debate or to contribute constructively to the discussion, but to disrupt
it," said Anstey. "We do not want to expose academics from around the
world and our hosts in Spain to such a situation. It is time to take a
stand against this kind of threat to free discussion."
Many activists have noted the irony that the World Bank is accusing them
of being a "threat to free discussion" when organizations such as the
World Bank and IMF have historically held secret meetings behind closed
doors.
The best example of the extreme secrecy behind may be the ongoing Free
Trade Area of the Americas negotiations. For the past six years the
nations of 34 North and South American nations hade been negotiating in
secret with almost no public input except from heads of major
corporations.
That changed when up to 80,000 protesters converged on Quebec to expose
the falsehoods behind the agreement. "The FTAA would still be a closely
guarded secret, withheld from the public, except for the phenomenal
citizens' trade movement that has arisen in America and all around the
globe," wrote Jim Hightower in his newsletter "The Hightower Lowdown."
"This growing movement is daring to confront, expose, and rally a
grassroots rebellion against the globaloneyists who conspire through
insider deals like the FTAA to do nothing less than enthrone multinational
corporations as the world's new sovereigns."
Few cities want to become the next Quebec or Seattle, noted Warcry. "The
fact that the World Bank has cancelled its meeting because of anticipated
protest shows how successful this movement has been in terms of
confronting these institutions, but at the same time they continue their
policies anyway -- it is a qualified success."
While the "anti-globalization / pro-democracy" movement will not have an
opportunity to confront the World Bank on the streets of Barcelona,
activists may still have a chance to affect the meeting, according to
Warcry.
"If they are going to meet online, the fact is we have plenty of people
who are tech savvy enough to disrupt this meeting via hactivism.
"As Utah Phillips said: 'the people who are destroying the Earth have
names, faces, and addresses' and it is our job to hold these people
accountable."
Key Links:
Moviment de Resistencia Global <http://www.pangea.org/mrg/>
Barcelona IMC <http://barcelona.indymedia.org/>
Although the ABCDE Europe is a small conference of a few hundred
academics, it has also drawn representatives from civil society and
government. The previous two ABCDE Europe conferences were hosted by the
French Government in Paris. An ABCDE conference is also held annually in
Washington. Last month's Washington conference, which focused on health
and poverty, proceeded without incident.
The ABCDE Conference Agenda is available at
http://www.worldbank.org/abcde-europe
The G-8 is next -- to the Diefenbunker!!
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