pga infopoint in hamburg

abschied_goodbye

2009-03-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

(sorry for non correct english, see the german original below :-) )

Pga infopoint Hamburg - an end and a small perspective-view

For nearly 7 years the peoples global action infopoint was existing in the infoshop schwarzmarkt in hamburg.
Created in a time when a movement related to globalisation and countersummit-action was strong and local connections were existing to create and develop continuouse relations with overregional, international character.
For instance there had been around 100 people against the g8 summit in 2001 from the leftradical mobilisation in hamburg. Befor that there had been the european union summit in gothenburg where one person was shot from police and the imf summit in prague in 2000, short after the new eruption of protest with confrontative attitude against the wto in seattle.
In this context the pga in europe was created, initialized from grassroot movements from the global south, with the try to create a place without label or strict organisation to support networking and plans for direct actions.
And to cross the eurocentristic view of many of the older groups and to orientate wider than europe.
Cooperation and common struggles should be made through direct exchange on regulary congresses and be fixed without a strict binding frame that would be more than a few basic agreements. This basic agreements of the pga was ongoing used by other political projects, they are the pga hallmarks. The hallmarks consists of the rejection of dominance, no lobbying, instead of that direct action and confrontative attitude as common vision of politics.
Different things took place at the conferences: Strategydiscussions, plannings of projects, coordination of mobilisation and many more. But soon it was visible that there is a gap between the conferences and local activities. There was the idea at the leiden conference close to amsterdam in 2002 to help filling this gap with the creation of pga infopoints. They should be responsible to deliver the pga process on a local level and to deliver local activities back in the process.
Spontanousely a couple of infopoints were created at the congress, beneath others our pga infopoint in hamburg.
We planned as a local group which was standing behind that infopoint to have not only a contact adress and a opening event but also to invite local groups from hamburg who could fit in the pga concept to join in the exchange and networking. We planned to translate and publish texts out of the global process and to make them available locally. We were realizing the local infoshop in hamburg, which had allready similair structures to offer. So we went to the plenum of the infoshop schwarzmarkt and started our info-corner in the infoshop, which was existing till today like that. The process of pga should be helped to be visible there via folders of organisatoric topics and discussions about content and strategy. The infocorner had folders but also flyers about campaigns, mobilisation and strategy-debates like about g8 in evian in southern france, the activities of black communities in colombia against plan colombia. The uprising in argentina and the occupations of factories lead to a local initiative in hamburg called "hamburg umsonst" (hamburg for free) which had a concept also used in other cities in europe like from yomango in spain.

The pga infopoint was started with the aim to be a linking point between local campaigns, fights and struggles with similair global dynamics to help learning from each other. This was never the case with the infopoint. Left over from the quite unclear functioning network of pga there is not much. Parallel an internationalistic basisoriented dominance-critical social organizing is weak in hamburg (and probably elsewhere in europe) and not easy compatible with situations in india, brazil or elsewhere. But we where able to support existing structures from time to time, like last time with the (international) mobilisation of dissent! against the g8 summit in heiligendamm and the asem summit in hamburg 2008. This structures did not helped the process on a regional and local level not much, eventhough informal and personal networks were strengthen. Dissent! was founded within the principels of the pga but did not get into organised continuity. Maybe because of different reasons than the pga, like orientation on campaigns, but maybe also because there were not many local reliable groups involved, which act into that network. There are not many of such groups existing (no more).

The process related to pga is in a way a part of history. There are still mailinglists, some webpages and meetings, but they do neither have that public image nor the funciton of connecting struggles it had for years ago. More individuals writing a lot on mailinglists and some few collectives are involved in the pga. But there is no local need for another info-mailinglist what happens somewhere else, because there are other tools doing that job even better (f.e. gipfelsoli.org for summit related infos, or diverse blogs and indymedias) Interesing would be to have a process-list which is about a process of a network consisting of different local initiatives or collectives to help an existing direct process from time to time, but not to exist instead of a real process. If times change and structures are not usefull any more, it is not necessary to throw everything away. We collected a lot of material and folders in the archive in the schwarzmarkt and we will keep it. There are folders with infos about structures of pga, like notes and documents from the conferences and summit-oriented mobilisation material. There is also a lot of english written material about / from hamburg and other regions of europe. It showed up often, how important such english written information about / from local initiatives to strengthen the options to connect struggles wider than borders.
But the infopoint-corner which is nearly no more consisting of pga related material is not usefull for the infoshop any more. The archive-part will stay and will be updated irregullary, if there is something taking place, f.e. reader about meetings or similair. Also the mailcontact and the postcontact will still exist, f.e. to get specific info in future. But there will be neither public meetings nor an updated infocorner in the infoshop and no updated blog any more. (which was located at: www.hamburg-infopoint.blogspot.com)
Better to have a clear marked end than a slow silent dissapearing.

the (ex) pga infopoint

contact: schwarzmarkt-pga[at]riseup[dot]net oder
pga infpunkt c/o Schwarzmarkt, Kleiner Schäferkamp 46, 20375 Hamburg, Germany

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Pga infopoint Hamburg - Ende und ein kleiner Ausblick

Etwa 7 Jahre lang gab es nun im Infoladen Schwarzmarkt in Hamburg den peoples global action Infopunkt. Entstanden in einer Zeit, als eine Bewegung rund um Globalisierung und Gipfelstürmerei stark war und lokal Ansätze vorhanden waren, kontinuierliche Bezüge mit überregionalem, internationalem Charakter auf- und auszubauen.
Allein in Genua, gegen den G8 Gipfel 2001, kamen schätzungsweise sicher 100 Personen aus dem linksradikalen Spektrum aus Hamburg zusammen. Davor gab es den EU Gipfel in Göteborg, wo eine Person von einem Polzisten angeschossen wurde und den IWF / Weltbank - Gipfel in Prag 2000, kurz nach dem Aufbruch neuer Protestbewegungen durch die Konfrontationen und Stimmungen gegen den WTO Gipfel in Seattle. In diesem Kontext entstand pga in Europa, initiiert von Basisbewegungen aus dem globalen Süden, mit dem versuch ohne Label und ohne feste Organisierung als Ort der Vernetzung und der Planung von direkten Aktionen zu dienen. Und den eurozentristischen Blick vieler älterer Gruppierungen zu durchbrechen und sich über Europa hinaus zu orientieren.
Kooperation und gemeinsame Kämpfe sollten in möglichst direktem Austausch über regelmäßige Kongresse hergestellt und verfestigt werden, ohne dabei nach einem festen, verbindlichen Rahmen zu suchen, der über ein paar grundsätzliche Vereinbarungen hinaus ging. Diese grundsätzlichen Vereinbarungen sind auch immer wieder von anderen, ähnlichen Strömungen übernommen worden, die sogenannten pga-hallmarks (Eckpunkte). Hierzu zählen die Ablehnung diverser Herrschaftsformen, keine Lobbyarbeit an runden Tischen, stattdessen direkte Aktionen und eine konfrontative Einstellung als verbindene Politikvorstellung.
Strategiediskussionen, Projektplanungen, Mobilisierungskoordinierungen, vieles fand statt auf den europäischen Konferenzen. Aber es gab schon bald den Konflikt der Entkoppelung von diesen Konferenzen und der lokalen Praxis. Eine Idee war 2002 in Leiden, nahe Amsterdam auf einer Konferenz, dieser Entkoppelung durch Bildung regionaler pga Infopunkte entgegenzutreten, die ansprechbar den Prozess auf die lokale Ebene tragen und Lokales wieder in den Prozess zurücktragen. Spontan gründeten sich auf diesem Kongress also mehrere solcher Infopunkte, unter anderem unser Infopunkt in Hamburg.
Zusätzlich zu einer Kontaktadresse und einer Auftaktveranstaltung planten wir, damals als organisierte Gruppe, die hinter dem Infopunkt stand, lokale Gruppen aus Hamburg einzuladen, die sich in dem losen Konzept von pga wiederfinden, sich am Austausch und der Vernetzung zu beteiligen. Außerdem wollten wir Texte aus dem globalen Prozess übersetzen und zugänglich machen. Daraufhin wurden wir auf den Infoladen Schwarzmarkt aufmerksam, der ja ganz ähnliche Strukturen bereits zu bieten hatte, wir stellten uns auf dem Plenum dort vor und richteten daraufhin unsere Infoecke ein, die bis jetzt noch Bestand hat. Mit mehreren Ordnern sollte dort der Prozess (d.h. organisatorisch / inhaltliche Themen im Netzwerk) transparent gemacht werden und über verschiedene Flugblätter Kampagnen bekannt gemacht werden. So zum Beispiel die Mobilisierung und die Strategiedebatten rund um den G8 Gipfel in Evian, Südfrankreich und Aktivitäten von schwarzen Gemeinschaften in Kolumbien gegen den Plan Colombia. Die Aufstände in Argentinien und die Fabrikbesetzungen führten in Hamburg zu einer Initiative "Hamburg umsonst", deren Konzept parallel auch in anderen Städten Europas umgesetzt wurde, beispielsweise von Yomango aus Spanien.

Angetreten mit der Vorstellung, ein Knotenpunkt zwischen lokalen Kampagnen, Kämpfen und Auseinandersetzungen sowie globalen ähnlichen Bemühungen zu werden und somit diese gegenseitig zu befruchten, ist dies nie so erreicht worden. Von dem leicht diffusen Netzwerk pga ist über die Jahre wenig geblieben. Gleichzeitig war und ist eine internationalistisch ausgeprägte basisorientiert - herrschaftskritische soziale Organisierung in Hamburg (und anderswo in Europa) schwach ausgeprägt und schwer kompatibel mit den Verhältnissen in Indien, Brasilien oder anderswo. Dennoch konnten hier und da bestehende Strukturen durch den Infopunkt unterstützt werden, wie zuletzt während der (internationalen) Mobilisierung von Dissent! gegen den G8 Gipfel in Heiligendamm und gegen den ASEM Gipfel in Hamburg 2008. Dies hat aber den Prozess des Netzwerkes selbst regional und lokal nur wenig angeschoben, auch wenn informell und persönlich nicht alles verpufft ist. Dissent! hatte sich nach den Grundsätzen von pga definiert und hat es auch nicht geschafft, organisatorische Kontinuität zu entwickeln. Vielleicht aus verschiedenen Gründen, z.B. der starken Orientierung an Kampagnen, aber vielleicht auch, weil das Konzept der Vernetzung vor allem lokale, fester organisierte Gruppen braucht, die sich in diesen bewegen. Und diese gibt es nicht (mehr) viele.

Der Prozess um pga ist auf eine Art ein Teil der Geschichte. Es gibt noch mailinglisten, ein paar homepages und Treffen, aber diese haben weder die Ausstrahlung, noch die Funktion des Verbindenen, die dieses Netzwerk jahrelang ausgemacht hatte. Hauptsächlich Einzelpersonen schreiben viel auf mailinglisten und wenige Kollektive sind tatsächlich in den pga Prozess involviert. Aber es gibt keinen lokalen Bedarf für so eine Info-mailingliste, was wo gerade ungfähr passiert, da es andere Werkzeuge gibt, die diese Aufgabe besser übernehmen (z.B. Gipfelsoli für Infos rund um Gipfelereignisse oder diverse Blogs und Indymedias auf denen sich informieren lässt). Interessant wäre eine Prozess-Liste, welche sich um einen Prozess drehen würde, der ein Netzwerk von verschiedenen lokalen Initiativen oder Kollektiven beinhaltet und einem existierenden direkten Prozess unterstützend zur Seite steht und nicht einen direkten Prozess ersetzt. Nun muss, wenn sich die Zeiten ändern und Strukturen sich als nicht mehr angemessen erweisen nicht gleich alles über Bord geworfen werden. Es hat sich Material über viele Ordner im Archiv im Schwarzmarkt gesammelt, das neben Strukturellem, wie Konferenzunterlagen und neben gipfelspezifischen Großmobilisierungen auch viel englischsprachiges Material aus Hamburg und verschiedenen Regionen Europas enthält. Es hat sich immer wieder gezeigt, wie wichtig englischsprachige Informationen aus lokalen Zusammenhängen entsteht, um sich stärker über Grenzen hinweg in Kämpfen aufeinander zu beziehen. Es erscheint generell sinnvoll, englischsprachigem Material im Infoladen mehr Platz zu bieten.
Aber die Infopunkt-Ecke, die kaum mehr tatsächliche Informationen aus / über pga enthält, ist so nicht angemessen. Der Archivteil soll erhalten bleiben und (unregelmäßig) aktualisiert werden, wenn sich aus der Struktur pga noch etwas ergibt, z.B. Reader zu Treffen oder Ähnliches. Auch wird die mail- und Postadresse weiter genutzt werden können, um zum Beispiel spezielle Informationen zu bekommen. Es wird aber keine öffentlichen Treffen mehr geben, keine aktuelle Infoecke im Schwarzmarkt und auch der Blog (hamburg-infopoint.blogspot.com) wird nicht mehr aktualisiert.
Besser ein begründeter Schlussstrich als ein langsames, spurloses Verschwinden.

der (ex) pga Infopunkt

Kontakt: schwarzmarkt-pga[at]riseup[dot]net oder
pga infpunkt c/o Schwarzmarkt, Kleiner Schäferkamp 46, 20375 Hamburg

congress about solidarity economy in vienna, february 2009

2008-12-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

CALL AND INVITATION TO JOIN THE CONGRESS PREPERATION

http://www.solidarische-oekonomie.at

20.-22. Febr. 2009
Vienna, 1180 Peter-Jordan-Straße 82, Boku

Everybody is invited to arrange workshops, open group discussions, films, performances, etc.

We´d like to suggest to use participative formats rather than frontal lectures.

Alongside a very agile globalization-critical movement many different projects of a solidarity economy gain importance. Our hope regards the strengthening and interlinking of all iniatives which combine critical theory and practical projects. They all seek collective ways aiming at sociopolitical, ecological and cultural change.

2006 a congress took place in Berlin titled by the question `How to we want to act economically´. Instead of the expected 500, 1400 people came. Starting from that congress we formulate our aims:
- Pointing out projects on a local, regional and global level
- Make the term `Solidarity economy´ well known
- Exchange, dealing with and interlinking in theory and practical experience
- Motivate to get active in that sense

The range of solidarity economy should be widely applied – respective a solidarity as mutual support and an economy, which orientates itself at human needs and not the other way round. We do want not to narrow down the idea `solidarity economy´ in order to give enough space to the very different concepts and approaches and making controversial discussions possible. Here it is the critics of the genderrelations, of the boundary-regimes, capitalism and/or destruction of the natural environment and also to get a selfreflexive perspective upon solidarity projects, for instance:

selfmanaged rooms and companies, old and new cooperatives, alternative forms of habitation, appropriation of rooms and ressources, communes, companies with social targets, initiatives for right of residence, barter rings, reginal currencies, spaces for women and feminism projects, free of charge shops, alternative institutions of financing, fair trade, solidarian and crosscultural gardens, public couisine, agricultural selfmarketing, ecovillages, OpenSource, alternative learning institutes, knowledge sharing, basic income, and much more of this kind.

STRUCTURE OF CONGRESS

Our consens applies to egalitarian, participative and non hierarchical forms and principles of the solidarity economy, which we also want to live in preparation and in the progression of the congress.

The outcome is the following congress shedule:
- equivalent units, where all can offer their contents
- for spontanious ideas of presentation and continuative discussions there will be also organized rooms.

Please give notice of Your concept with title, short description, time preference, possibility to get in contact with You on our homepage or per mail, so that we can fix a shedule. Look at the homepage and use the possibility to get in contact with others, who possibly have a the same or a simliar subject.

Translations by whispering should be organised during the discussions spontaneously . If You needed or offered translations in other languages, please give us notice.

There will be a solidarity fonds to refund travel expenses as far as possible. Further there will be set up a list of offers for free accomodation. To make a participation possible for all people who are interested, there is an optional solidary contribution.

We would be glad, if You - with Your experience and your knowledge – would like to take part in the preparation process as much as in interlinking and issue related exchange. Fixed dates of our meetings are to find on our homepage.

TIME SCHEDULE

Friday 20.02.2009
11.00 - 14.00 check in and application
14. 00 - 15.30 opening up plenum
16. 00 - 17.30 parallel presentations
18.00 - 19.30 parallel presentations
21. 00 beginning evening program

Saturday 21.02.2009
10 00 - 11 30 plenum
12 00 - 13 30 parallel presentations
16 00 - 17 30 parallel presentations
18 00 - 19 30 parallel presentations
21 00 beginning evening program

Sunday 22.02. 2009
11 00 - 12 30 parallel presentations
13 00 - 15 00 conclusion plenum

Reclaim your Education - Global Week of Action 2009

2008-12-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

From the call:

"It is not only groups and movements in "developing countries" fighting for
access to good public education. Also in "industrialized countries" public
education is under threat by the increasing commercialisation and
privatisation of education.
Priority for us is to unite groups and movements around the world and
promote the global perspective of the problem. In the end we want to
increase the political pressure on a global scale and push governments to
implement free public education systems, that are based on an emancipating
approach and accessible to all."


For more details regarding the "Reclaim your Education - Global Week of
Action 2009" visit this website:
http://www.emancipating-education-for-all.org/content/global-week-action-2009

peoples global action at crabgrass

2008-12-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

There is a new communication-tool developing at riseup.net, called crabgrass. There is a new group formed there...
see: https://we.riseup.net/pga

european conference on social centers

2008-12-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

*CALL FOR A EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF SOCIAL CENTERS BARCELONA/TERRASSA, 2009,
January 8-10. Network is Coming.*

Social centers - in their different forms and declinations - have been in the
last twenty years one of the most significant common words in autonomous
movements all over Europe. The fil rouge connecting several experiences from
North to South, from East to West has been the constitution of self managed
spaces - for culture, rights and socialization - as political counterpowers
able to challenge the hegemony of the State, of the Parties, of the Market.

more information here

"days of perspective", hamburg

2008-09-23T07:07:00.001-07:00

In Hamburg are going to be "days of perspective" from 2nd to 5th of october at the University of economy and politics (HWP). It is going to be the next "days of perspective" after the first took place in berlin in january with around 500 people from different political backgrounds.

Planned topics are beneath others:
struggle against privatisation, mayday, commune-projects, camps against racism and for climate action, antimilitaristic actions and protests, 60 years of nato summit next year, climate summit in copenhagen next year, g8 in italy, precarity, struggle against nuclear waste,...

Contact to the preperation team: kontakt[at]perspektiventage.de

climate action

2008-09-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

First international preparation meeting for grassroots mobilizations during the COP 15 Summit in Copenhagen: 13-14 September, 2008
(focus on the global south)

No Prison No State

2008-09-02T13:51:00.001-07:00

In kiel, northern germany, there is going to be an international weekend against prison society in the end of september. The information about the actions and discussions and the call are available in german and english at http://noprisonnostate.blogsport.de

discussion "globalize resistance" at climate-/antiracist camp in Hamburg

2008-08-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

a blog for the pga infopoint in hamburg

2007-07-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

The pga (peoples global action) infopoint in hamburg is a space and contact located in the infoshop Schwarzmarkt.

The idea of pga infopoints is to support the global and european network in local visibility, to help spreading the information about and from the network and to exchange between local initiatives and (international) groups / collectives who share the basic hallmarks of the network

1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalisation.

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. PGA is a tool for coordination, not an organization. PGA has no members and does not have and will not have a juridical personality. Nor organisation or person represents PGA.