.home
The mobilisation against the G8 summit on Germany's Baltic Sea has begun
07.10.2006 | Anti-G8-Alliance for a revolutionary perspective
In the following article, which was published in spring in the first G8XTRA newsletter of the Interventionist Left, you can find a short overview of the beginning activities and meetings. The different organizations and groups, which are involved in the mobilization against the G8 in Heiligendamm are also presented there.
Newspaper from Interventionist Left as PDF 
The story so far ... but so near the protests.
The mobilisation against the G8 summit on Germany’s Baltic Sea has begun. In diverse groups and movements – from the radical to the parliamentary left; from the environmental, peace and anti-racist movements to the established NGOs and the Left Party/Party for Democratic Socialism (Linkspartei.PDS) – plans are being made.At the end of March, the first Action-Conference against the summit took place in Rostock in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Meck-Pomm), organised by parts of the peace movement, attac Germany, the Interventionist Left network, as well as local groups and movements.
Representatives of church, environmental and peace groups; delegates from trade union youth groups and leftwing party members; activists from attac, migrant and anti-racist groups, as well as the radical left – from the groups belonging to the Interventionist Left and Dissent!, through to the “Revolutionary Coalition Against the G8” – all took part in the conference. Representatives from last year’s anti-G8 mobilisation in Scotland and this year’s protests in St. Petersburg spoke at the conference.
A number of focal points for the anti-G8 mobilisation crystallised during the discussion in the plenary and in the various working groups. In 2007, an international mobilisation to Heiligendamm will involve a united demonstration. Camps to provide accommodation for activists across Germany and far beyond will be prepared. Alternatives to capitalist globalisation will be discussed and openly presented at a counter- conference, and a large cultural event will take place, closely connected to the political movements.
In addition, anti-racist networks took up the idea for a day of action for the rights of refugees and migrants, and the mass blockading of the G8 summit infrastructure was discussed. The Left Party/PDS also understand themselves as part of the worldwide movement against neoliberal globalisation. Together with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), they form the state government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They have called for “powerful protests” and an “alternative counter-summit” in Meck-Pomm. A counter-conference is also favoured by the large German developmental and church-affiliated NGOs. Together with groups from the environmental movement, they are also considering spectacular and media-friendly actions on the streets during the summit.
A number of meetings have already been held by the so-called Dissent! Network in which primarily anarchist and autonomous groups have gathered. Some of those involved have already been travelling through Germany and numerous other European countries for several months on an Info-Tour, discussing the G8 and building momentum against the summit. The Dissent! Network are currently primarily focussing on organising a camp (“Camp-Inski”, a word play on the Kempinski Hotel where the summit will be held) to take place later this year, and the protests against the summit in St. Petersburg. The idea is to support local resistance to both summits. The Dissent! Network are, in part, critical of cooperation with parties and large organisations. Parallel to Dissent!, a number of anti-imperialist, autonomous and communist groups have founded the “Revolutionary Coalition Against the G8.”
The precise date of the G8 summit at the seaside resort of Heiligendamm currently remains unknown. The press are reporting that the summit, which normally takes place in summer, will be held earlier in 2007.