Socialist Action /February 2002
Thousands Protest World Economic Forum
By GERRY FIORI
NEW YORK-Undaunted by freezing temperatures and attempted police intimidation,
close to 10,000 people demonstrated here on Feb. 2 against the meeting of
the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The demonstration, called by the Another World Is Possible Coalition,
began at noon with a rally at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, just outside
Central Park. The crowd, composed of people gathered from around the United
States and a number of other countries, listened enthusiastically to speakers
from unions, student groups, social justice organizations, and other movements.
The main themes presented at the rally included opposing the policies
of economic and social inequality that are being developed and carried out
by the WEF, IMF, World Bank, etc., defending civil liberties here and human
rights around the world, and opposing U.S. military intervention-both in
Afghanistan and against possible future targets, such as Iraq, Somalia,
or Colombia.
The most enthusiastic response was for speakers from Argentina. The fighting
example given by the Argentine working people has been a great inspiration
to everyone in showing that is possible to successfully resist ruling-class
"New World Order" style austerity programs. One of the most popular
slogans of the demonstration was, "They are all Enron, we are all Argentina!"
Following the initial rally, the crowd, led by a colorful array of giant
puppets, marched along a circuitous route that led them past the offices
of some notorious IMF-type corporations (like Citigroup) and sweatshop employers
(like The Gap).
Some of the main chants were: "There will be nothing left thanks
to the WEF!" "Whose world? Our world!" and "People over
profits!"
The marchers arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where the WEF was
meeting, at 4 p.m., filling the west side of Park Avenue.
Earlier, a rally called by International ANSWER had taken place nearby.
Organizers said over 5000 participated in this separate event.
NYPD tries to provoke violence
The roundabout march route was probably also needed to avoid the "'lockdown"
zone the New York City Police Department had established in Manhattan for
the duration of the WEF. Entire streets around the area of the Waldorf were
closed to traffic, and metal barriers severely restricted what movement
was possible. More than 4000 cops were on special duty, as Newsday put it,
"insulat[ing] the delegates."
The NYPD, under the slogan, "New York is not Seattle," had
declared a "zero tolerance" policy toward violent protesters,
clearly trying to paint the entire movement as violent-and probably terroristically
inclined-as a means of frightening people off the streets as well as justifying
repressive measures.
This stance was accentuated by threats to arrest people for minor infractions
like littering or jaywalking, and to strictly enforce obscure and normally
ignored laws-like the 1845 statute making it illegal for more than three
people to wear masks in public.
The Feb. 2 march was cordoned off on both sides by cops (on foot and
on motorcycles) in full riot gear, and carrying the now very popular plastic
wristcuffs used for mass arrests. Several dozen demonstrators were arrested
during the course of the march-including stragglers picked off by plainclothes
cops and some who were caught when sections of the march had been deliberately
cut off and isolated from the main body.
When the march reached the Waldorf, a final rally was held. The last
speaker of the day was Amy Goodman, whose "Democracy Now!" news
commentary program has been recently reinstated at Pacifica Radio station
WBAI. Goodman received the best response of the day other than the Argentines.
She lauded the anti-WEF demonstrations as an exercise of constitutional
rights and denounced the cops and city government for trying to create a
climate of fear in order to attack those rights.
As the rally was winding down, the police tried a major provocation by
erecting a barrier across 48th St., cutting the crowd in two, and refusing
to let marchers (who were still arriving from the long march route) from
reaching the rally site at 49th.
Despite some tense moments, punctuated by chants of "Let them cross!"
by the demonstrators, the violent reaction the cops were obviously hoping
to incite wasn't offered to them. About 5 p.m., with the sun beginning to
set, the march organizers were able to arrange an orderly exit of the crowd
from the rally site.
Which way for the movement?
The organizers of Feb. 2 have declared: "We are not an anti-globalization
movement. We are a global justice movement." This may be an advance
form the early days of the movement, when there was much confusion over
this, leading some to support capitalist nation states against "global"
institutions, or to support protectionism at home with radical rhetoric.
This is still uncertain, though. The Another World Is Possible demonstration
leaflet states: "Any 'partnership' between corporate power and civil
society is a 'partnership' between wolves and sheep. The ultimate power
must always be with free citizens of democracies...." And "so
long as corporate power is unrestrained the results will always be the same:
ecological devastation and loss of liberty for most the world's inhabitants."
This sounds promising, but on the other hand, the leaflet also states:
"There are many corporate-sponsored agreements that already undermine
the sovereignty of elected governments, such as NAFTA, the WTO, and the
FTAA. But these agreements at least have specific mandates which are supposed
to be limited by laws if not by public accountability.
"The WEF, however, as an informal gathering of extremely powerful
people, is accountable to no one. In fact, many of these trade treaties
which do so much to impoverish working people, ruin the environment, and
put developing countries into debt-bondage were first spawned at meetings
of the WEF."
There is a contradiction here, one which must be definitively resolved
if this movement is to go forward toward success. Is the basis for building
the global justice movement to be the "free [working-class] citizens"
or the "elected [capitalist] governments"?
If a partnership between corporate power and civil society is one between
wolves and sheep, can one expect anything better from the governments that
are subservient to that power-and always have been? Should we rely on laws
(and thus on the cops and courts of these same corporate-controlled governments)
or on our own mobilized strength?
Any movement that tries to hedge on this basic question of class power
will never achieve its goals. Demonstrations like those against the WEF
should be the starting point for serious movement building. They should
also be the starting point for serious thought.
Socialist Action /February 2002 |