A16, Washington
DC: the battle after
* Russia / USA ic" to use Putin's formula) position.
All the more so in that, after 10 years of administrative disorganisation, the Russian state takes material form to a greater degree than ever through its army, its information service, its political police (FSB, ex-KGB) and its diplomacy.
These apparatuses want to see Russia rediscovering its status as a great power. They seek to police Russia's borders initially in Asia, where the Afghan and
TEN years ago, Francis Fukuyama, putative scholar and U.S. State
Iranian regimes and the Indian-Pakistani
Department functionary, wrote "The End of History," in the journal confrontations are dangerously destabilis-
Foreign Affairs. In it he argued that capitalism had finally triing, but also in the Balkans (as in Bosnia)
umphed. It was the "end of history." Consequently, none of the
- on behalf of the new world order, inside of the "Western Club" if possible, but if events that recently occurred, first in Seattle and then in need be against it. And in so doing allow
Washington, D.C., can have happened according to him.
Russian capital and capital assimilated in
What was Frankie Fukuyama thinking?
Russia to do business — in the tradition of the Tsars and not that of the Red Army
RODNEY WARD AND RICK WADSWORTH*
State apparatus
The very weakness of the new dominant classes in Russia authorises such an autonomy of the state apparatus — and the resurgence of inter-imperialist conflicts
(following their suspension in the name of superior capitalist interests during the Cold
War) allows the Russian bourgeois bureaucracy to hope to play an autonomous role in the world political disorder.
The EU's Lisbon summit offered Putin the opportunity to "develop a truly efficient strategic partnership" between the
Russia. Russia's nuclear
EU and weapons are there to recall the grandeur
Putin would like to see revived.
It remains the case that Putin's worldview and, more broadly, that of the new
Russian bourgeoisie, are inspired by
Stalinist manuals of contemporary history.
The strength of states was presented in these as being based on tons of coal, steel and oil products, the grandeur of armies and the abilities of supreme leaders.
Capital was seen as a mass of wealth. The contradictions of modes of production had no place in this world view.
Even if the new Russian leaders want to be pragmatists rather than ideologues, the world that they describe is an idealised one. And the projects they hatch are the fruit of this idealisation. This can lead them to overestimate their capacities. *
* Jan Malewski is a member of the United Secretariat of the
Fourth International.
1. Libération, March 25-26th, 2000.
2. Grigori lavlinsky's Tabloko party, financed by a significant sector of the new Muscovite bourgeoisie, gained 6% of the vote. In Moscow he got 19%, against 46% for Putin.
4 International Viewpoint #321 May 2000
THE movement against capitalist globalization finally arrived on the public stage in the United States last November in Seattle. It has now continued by means of the demonstrations in Washington, DC. The activist coalitions formed around these demonstrations represent the coming together of many movements. Seattle was not the beginning, but the result of many small to medium movements that have been gathering strength for over two years.
Environmental organizations are decades old and are bringing an ecological critique of capitalism to this movement. The United Students Against Sweatshops, a relatively new organization, has focused attention on capitalist globalization in a manner not seen in the U.S. for some time. And although the main US trade union organization, the AFL-CIO, has attempted to hang back, it has been drawn into objectively anti-capitalist political activities to a degree unprecedented for decades.
Shortly after the Seattle actions against the WTO, attention of some of the activists involved turned toward the meetings of the governors of the other two Bretton Woods institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Scheduled for the week between April 10th and April 17th, the meetings were held at the organizations headquarters in Washington, D.C.
These meetings of the world's finance ministers were the target for the "Battle After Seattle" demonstrations, intended to continue, broaden and deepen the organization of the forces that came together in Seattle - especially young people, opposed to capitalist globalization.
### Direct action
Sunday, April 16th and Monday, April 17th were picked as the focus for the actions. Discussion of this idea was carried on in the Direct Action Network (DAN) which formed around the Seattle demonstrations. Because initial outreach was carried out mainly through email listservers, word at first spread sporadically. Local labor activists in Washington, DC — mainly members of the DC Metro Labor Party Chapter, activists in rank-and-file caucuses like Teamsters for a Democratic Union, as well as a few staffers in more progressive trade unions — learned in late January that community meetings to organize for action against the IMF and World Bank were already being held.
At this point the labor activists decided to attend and it was at that time that efforts began to broaden involvement beyond the -mostly young - activists committed to direct action as the key to changing the world. ("Direct Action" in this context means the tactic of non-violent extra legal actions like blocking the streets. It is similar to civil disobedience except that arrest is, if possible, evaded rather than submitted to on principle).
Although the participation of the AFLCIO - with the exception of the ILWU
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Seattle
and some local unions, such as Teamster Local 174, for example - in the Seattle actions was in many ways half-hearted, the fact that there was action involving both the social movements and organized labor was so contrary to the myth of a reactionary "Big Labor" (a myth devoutly propagated by U.S. corporate media), that it produced great interest and surprise in the broad public and even among the reporters themselves.
This led to a much wider discussion of the negative effects of capitalist globalization — for both U.S. working people and others in the G-7 countries, and the people of the global south and east - than has ever before occurred in the U.S.A. Grassroots labor activists naturally hoped to see this dynamic continue. Several factors, however, complicated this prospect for the DC demonstrations.
### Labor ties
Many of the leading figures of the D.A.N. understood the utility of labor ties. But others looked to the voluntaristic direct action of a small minority as the only way forward. They consequently saw efforts to build the sort of broad actions
LOCAL 18
SEATTLE
LONGSHORE
CALLS
FOR
WORLD
LABOR
RIGHTS
TAR TRADE
ALL TRADE that might draw labor support as a snare The A16 mobilization in Washington continued the tradition of last year's demonand a diversion. Nevertheless, interven- strations in Seattle tion by local labor activists in their first general meeting led to agreement to build - alongside direct actions - the sort of march and rally that the AFL-CIO might possibly endorse.
Moreover, effort was given to the overall name of "Mobilization for Global Justice." The AFL-CIO Executive Council had named their campaign around global trade issues the "Campaign for Global Fairness."
In view of the AFL-CIO's strong backing of the Gore presidential campaign and deep implantation in Democratic Party politics, it was clear that no friendliness toward extralegal actions was to be looked for. It also needs to be kept in mind that so far as most American workers are concerned, they absolutely-positively-cannotbe-in-jail-on-Monday-morning.
Aside from the fact that no one relishes going into captivity, U.S. social conditions, relative to Europe, create a special barrier (to give some examples: no legal right to employment security; denial of unemployment insurance — in many states — if discharged due to arrest; no public or affordable childcare; little or no public transportation; and so on.)
Following the community meeting in late January where the name change was made, preparations for the anti-IMF/WB actions, usually referred to as A16, while formally unified, tended to proceed in two tracks. One of these aimed at outreach mainly to students and young bohemians and the formation of affinity groups as well as a spokes-council for the direct action. The other was a more conventional coalition building toward a rally and march. Some people, of course, took part in both.
### Global fairness
The situation was also complicated by the nature of the AFL-CIO's Global Fairness campaign. Rhetoric aside, it consisted basically of two actions: Jubilee 2000 (April 9th), a mainly faith based effort to promote forgiving the financial dominated countries' debt, which has drawn hypocritical support from some ruling class circles (Al Gore sent a message to the Jubilee 2000 Demonstration on the National Mall).
The demonstration was heavily supported by the AFL-CIO. For April 12th, the AFL-CIO called, in its own name, a mass rally and "lobby day" at the U.S Capitol, against Permanent Most Favored Nation status for China. This demand is in itself controversial in the movement. Permanent Normal Trade Relations (a.k.a.: MFN) is required for China to enter the WTO. The question of permanent MFN has been put on the political agenda by an Administration sponsored bill before Congress.
Many in the movement think that agitation by the AFL-CIO against China is anti-communist and, in the view of U.S. labor's shameful history of "yellow-peril" racism, completely unacceptable. Moreover, they object to the exclusion of China from the WTO by decision of U.S. imperialism.
### Chauvinist rhetoric
In fact, it is true that the lobby materials of the Teamsters Union and the speeches of George Becker, President of the United Steelworkers of America, have been chauvinist and anti-communist (though not explicitly racist). On the other hand, at the rally of April 12th, this chau-
5 International Viewpoint #321 May 2000
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USA * STOP CORPOI STOP CORPOATE GLOBALI
* USA vinist rhetoric was coldly received and clearly caused embarrassment among many Teamsters and members of the Steelworkers Union present. Speeches from the AFL-CIO, UNITE, United Students Against Sweatshops and others were couched in terms of international workers' solidarity.
The language of the Executive Council's call for the Campaign for Global Fairness was consistently internationalist, albeit reformist. Moreover, many in the movement point out that admission of China to the WTO will, by further integrating China in the capitalist global market, surely deepen the growing inequality and hardship that Chinese workers and farmers have suffered since the beginning of the current economic reforms.
In the event, both the Jubilee 2000 and the anti-China-Trade demonstration were brought into the orbit of the anti-IMF/WB protests, mainly by the handing out of 1015,000 flyers for the April 16-17th actions. As the convergence for Al6 began on April 8th, both of these demonstrations were associated with the more militant anti-IMF/WB efforts in the media. In addition, the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters and Steelworkers endorsed the march and rally on April 16th, just in time to be included in the final publicity.
The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) endorsed somewhat earlier and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), UE (United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers) and ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) had been in from the early days. So it can be plausibly claimed that the aim of preserving a united front (or at least the appearance of one) between labor and the social movements was achieved.
### Convergence
From April 8th until about April 13th, the convergence of activists for the direct action proceeded more or less festively, with puppets, parades and concerts and productively, with Teach Ins and meetings on labor, environmental and trade related issues - attended by hundreds - and trainings in nonviolent direct action tactics - somewhat more heavily attended. On the evening of Thursday, April 13th, the process of repression began with the arrests of anarchists for possession of chains and plastic pipes (not items usually 6 International Viewpoint #321 May 2000 considered contraband!) On Friday morning, police raided the headquarters for direct action and nonviolence training — the "Convergence Center."
Subsequently, they continued to raid new Convergence Centers as they were set up. Considerable amounts of personal effects and demonstration related materials were seized, although demonstrations eventually forced the cops to release baggage and bedrolls as well as "liberate the puppets." (A sign read "Please Excuse the Delay: State Repression in Progress.") Police action continued on Saturday night with the arrest of 600 demonstrators who the Prison Industrial Complex. These activists were busted by ambush: led into a cul-de-sac created by police, they were seized without notice or order to disperse for parading without a permit.
### Symbolic disobedience
In all, up to the end of April 17th, about 1,350 were arrested. This includes about 400 who voluntarily submitted to arrest, apparently opting for symbolic civil disobedience when direct action proved impossible due to overwhelming police presence. Repression was quite pervasive. Although various police forces were seen at the demonstrations, a considerable amount of troops were seen stashed on side streets.
Police armored vehicles were deployed and many helicopters hovered overhead, including at least one military "gunship" type. Police clearly had extensive intelligence on demonstration plans and generally intervened in ways well calculated to
Although pervasive, in some respects more pervasive than at previous demonstrations in D.C., repression cannot be described as severe, yet media coverage has made it appear more gentle than it truly was. In each Convergence Center raid, police were accompanied by a Fire Marshall and a pretence was made that safety regulations were being enforced Serious criminal charges were not at issue.
In general, the police acted with greater discipline than in Seattle, avoiding initiating police riots when media cameras were present. However, several demonstrators were sent to the hospital in incidents of severe brutality that took place away from the view of the press. Conditions in custody were often rough. Some prisoners got neither food nor water while in custody for up to 48 hours. Despite these conditions, both the rally and march and the direct action were successfully carried out.
Overwhelming police logistics practically closed down the "Foggy Bottom" section of Washington to all but the IMF/WB delegates. Consequently the meetings of the governors were held and the agendas completed. These agendas, unlike that of the WTO in Seattle, were entirely routine. Nonetheless, the meetings were held under what must have been very difficult conditions for finance ministers used to a different sort of hospitality.
Direct action on A16 (Sunday) was to commence at 6am, so the ministers were up at 4am and were sneaked in through the White House grounds before the protest blockades were set up. Some ministers (such as Laurent Fabius, the French IMF minister) refused to get up at 4am and were loath to forgo their limousine rides for a ride in a minibus. Protesters surrounded Fabius' limousine and he was forced to turn back and hole up in his luxury hotel for most of the day.
### Bleary eyes
Underscoring the difficult conditions the delegates met under, one New York Times reporter, Joseph Kahn, wrote: "Delegates looked bleary-eyed after their predawn wake-up calls, and a handful arrived several hours late. But the member nations of the International Monetary Fund achieved a major breakthrough today: they met" (17th April, 2000). IMF Acting Chief Fischer told delegates "We will meet, we will get through this..." (Wall Street Journal, 17th April 2000)
More importantly, compared to the two dozen protesters last year, 8,000 to 10,000 people participated in direct action Sunday morning (with perhaps half or one third that many on Monday. The direct action as well as 20,000 to 30,000 protesters in the legal march cast a political shadow over the proceedings of the IMF and
Used to almost zero public scrutiny, the masters of Structural Adjustment were defensive in media interviews, attempting to position themselves as anti-poverty fighters. James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, told reporters, "It's a bit demoralizing when you see there is a mobilization for social justice when you think that's what you're doing every day."