PROPOSALS FOR PGA PROCESS DISCUSSIONS
(A) TOOLS FOR NETWORKING: IMPROVING THEM, GETTING INVOLVED, CREATING NETWORK STUCTURES
About PGA
- infopoint kit: creating an infopoint kit available by paper and on the website (plaisantation, reports of conferences, readers, pga newsletter, list of other Infopoints, movies about pga) and a list of infopoints during the conference, creating a webpage on how to become a pga infopoint. Translation and spreading of the brochure about the global network, spreading the existing documents about pga, translating and updating the plaisantation...
- PGA-announce: what could be the use and administration of a pga announce list for people who are not on the PGA discussion lists - sending reports, pga list monthly digest, call for conferences?
- PGA list monthly digest? Regular digest of infos about what goes on the lists for people who don't have the time to read them all. There is one done in french for the sans-titre bulletin but it would have to be translated maybe through the wiki.
- Listing usefull tools and structures of the network: creating a list of PGA contacts during this conference... giving visibility to collectives and tools of solidarity : at least listing and regrouping the existing ones: squat nets, autonomous servers, autonomous spaces datalist...
Contents
- Reports: working about the outcomes of the conference, reports, newspaper and information spreading. Movie projects about this conference...
- Regular PGA newsletter? it was discussed many times to recreate a pganewsletter that could give informations about pga related groups and actions. These could be printed and given to people by groups involved and especially the infopoints.
- Continuation of the various thematic groups started during this conference: how to have more people taking part into the preparation of the issues for next PGA events and keeping issues working groups in between conference? Discussions about keeping or creating pga thematic lists that were created to organize this conference in between conference.
Digital tools
Websites: What shall we do with http://www.agp.org and http://pgaconference.org/ & how?
- List-administration: administrating the PGA lists and subscribing new people...
- PGA chat: using the #PGA Internet Relay Chat on irc.indymedia.org.
- PGA translation group: how can translation for PGA-related texts be made in the future?
(B) TOWARDS A NEW CONFERENCE
Finding a new convenor group for the next conference
What would be the accurate process to find a new convenor during this conference or after?
Continuity and Skill Sharing
It was proposed in belgrade to organize some PGA-process skill-sharing and to write a "PGA organization practical guide".
Stamp people have been starting to work on a tool-text/book about the way this conference was organized to pass knowledges
Need to try to keep usefull logistic contacts for the organization of next conferences and to ask already before the end of this one...
Organization of a PGA winter meeting
The idea would be to have a new winter/spring meeting after this conference for people involved with the various projects and structures and hopefully with a new convenor group.
(C)POSSIBLE CAMPAIGNS & ACTIONS
...that could be made and supported by the PGA network:
- Supporting the german anti G8 campaign?
- The moving europe caravan?
- Defense of autonomous servers?
(D) GLOBAL PROCESS
Relationships with other continents, global solidarity, exchange campaigns, next global conference, link with the 6th declaration and proposal of new encuentro...
(E) ORIENTATION/POLITICAL DEFINITION OF A NETWORK (SUCH AS OURS)
This text is the result of a discussion in Fraysinnous
Noting an ongoing lack of involvement/enthusiasm in the PGA network as such, we tried to specify/explore what we could hope for from a European and global network.(I)
Redefining our motivation for having/being part of such a network seems to us a necessary precondition before people get involved in taking on work and responsibilities related to the network and the transformation of its structures. These questions might seem quite obvious to some people, but they aren't for everybody. Do we need to stick to them doggedly, to develop them and argue about them? In any case, they bear a direct relationship to questions of strategy at a global level.
Below is a proposal for a template/ templates/format for these type of meetings whether they are under the banner of PGA or not.(II)
(I) In general, a network of this type could/should
At a global level
be an 'antidote' to the 'social forums' and other similar NGO and 'citizen stakeholder' initiatives, maintain a network of people who have things such as types of (direct) action and political standards (the hallmarks) in common, which allows us, without necessarily knowing people really well, to meet with other activists, in whom we can have already – a priori/ above anything else, a degree of trust and confidence, which we see as important.
provide a space for co-ordination on a global level.
From a strategic point of view
Co-ordination of struggles: finding ways to give our work a common direction; to identify the common crossover/ convergence points. Provide the means to express our respective needs to establish and develop ways of working together. Allow/ facilitate us to bring our actions, methods of working (practices) and political discussions from our own groups (local, affinity) beyond individual (personal or group) positions, to a wider network ( from the point of view of coordination of our struggles)
In order to facilitate common actions/action together- it is essential to create confidence and trust between us. For this to happen, we need to clarify what we don't agree on, and in a wider sense, develop the discussion on these points. This is an important precondition to good co-operation between us for an ongoing series of actions
Spice up some of our alternative practices to mix them up with the culture of direct action and proactive politics, and get them out of a culture of individualism in which they're often locked and isolated. Find new ways to engage and inform ordinary people, to get out of our isolated pockets of activism.
A need to broaden the range of things we work on
To pay some attention to the 'smaller' less discussed topics like home schooling, birth etc etc (in the sense of untangling ourselves from the control of the state) Create small working groups on these topics and to think of actions etc to continue work on them/ raising their profile..
(II) Proposal for possible forms that these meetings could take, whether as part of PGA or not
Based on the impression from Fraysinnous that perhaps not enough people felt engaged by the PGA, we formulated a proposal for a meeting style/ template which corresponds more closely to the form of the meeting during this decentralized week. This proposal could potentially be taken as an idea that would replace the PGA purely and simply, if the 'defection' were confirmed on a European or global scale!. It could equally be seen as an complimentary and parallel initiative to a continuing PGA process, even as a project to be taken upby/worked on by future PGA meetings.
The principal idea is to preserve/ensure the quality of the meetings by limiting the set/number of themes (1) and their crossover convergence points(2) (as in Frayssinous, with "childhood" and "anti-industrialism")
1- Limiting/focusing themes: we can abandon the idea that every meeting concentrates all the topics together (being all things to all people?), to concentrate/focus ourselves around topics or networks and working groups which already exist (No Borders, Via Campesina, etc) and to work on creating others which don't exist yet, on the topics which are important to us (anti-industrialisme, childhood, etc). This orientation comes from the idea that this way of working and grouping together sets of themes suit the people involved better, is more condusive to the way they work on day to day basis between conferences and they will get more out of the meetings
2- Twinning themes: the idea is still based on preserving the great richness/diversity resulting from the convergence/nexus of these different strands of the struggle, by joining/mixing 2 or 3 topics/networks in same meetings. It would also be a question of preserving/ creating a format which would continue between meetings, to allow a sustainable rhythm of work that is less intense and full on ; calmer more constant, connected and complete
(E) ORIENTATION/DEFINITION POLITIQUE D'UN TEL RESEAU
Ce chapitre est issu d'une discussion à Frayssinous.
Constatant un manque d'implication dans le réseau AMP en tant que tel, nous avons tenté de préciser ce que nous pouvions attendre d'un réseau européen et mondial (I). Redéfinir notre motivation à voir exister un tel réseau, nous est apparu comme un préalable nécessaire à la prise en charge et à la transformation de ses structures. Ces proposition peuvent sembler générales et évidentes à certain-es. Elles ne se sont pas pour tout-es. Faut-il s'attacher à les développer et à les contester? Ces questionnements sont en tout cas directement reliés à des questionnement stratégiques globaux.
Suit une proposition de forme pour des rencontres à venir hors ou avec l'AMP (II).
I-De manière générale un réseau de ce type pourrait/devrait permettre
à une échelle mondiale
Constituer une « antidote » contre les forums sociaux et autres tendances ONGistes et citoyennistes, maintenir un réseau de personnes en affinité sur des modes d’actions et des lignes politiques (hallmarks), qui permettent, sans connaître intimement les gens, de rencontrer des activistes dans lesquels ont peu déjà –a priori – avoir un degré de confiance important.
Se donner une espace de coordination au niveau mondial.
dans une perspective stratégique
Coordination des luttes: trouver les moyens de se donner des orientations communes, de discerner les angles d'accroche communs. Se donner les moyens d'exprimer nos besoins respectifs pour trouver le moyen de s'associer. Permettre de porter les actions, pratiques et réflexions de nos propres groupe (locaux, d’affinité, etc.), au-delà des positions personnelles, dans une perspective de coordination de nos luttes.
Faciliter des actions communes: il est essentiel de créer un confiance. Cela passe par le fait de clarifier nos désaccords et, plus largement, de développer les contenus. Ceci est un préalable important à la coopération sur nombre d'actions.
« Ratisser » du côté des pratiques « alternatives » pour les croiser avec une culture d'actions et d'offensive et les sortir de l'individualisation, quand elles y sont enferrées. Proposer de nouvelles manières « d'informer le public », d'aller vers les gens hors de nos ghettos.
avec des exigences de contenu
Faire exister des petits thèmes souvent délaissés comme la déscolarisation, la naissance, etc. Faire des groupes de travail spécifique là-dessus qui continueraient à se voir, à envisager des actions, etc.
II- Proposition de forme pour des rencontres à venir hors ou avec l'AMP
Partant du constat à Frayssinous que trop peu de personnes se sentaient concernées par l'AMP, nous avons formulé une proposition de rencontre qui correspond plus à ce qui nous a plu pendant ce moment décentralisé. Cette proposition peut être lue comme une forme qui se substituerait purement simplement à l'AMP, si la défection se confirmait à une échelle européenne ou globale.
Elle peut également être vue comme une initiative complémentaire et parallèle à un processus AMP qui se poursuivrait, voire un projet qui pourrait être facilité par les rencontres AMP futures
L'idée principale est de conserver la qualité des rencontres permise par la délimitation thématique (1) et leur croisement original (2) (comme à Frayssinous, avec "enfance" et "anti-industrialisme")
- 1- DELIMITATION THEMATIQUE: on pourrait abandonner l'idée d'une rencontre
concentrant tous les sujets, pour nous concentrer dans groupes de travail et réseaux thématiques qui existent déjà (No Borber, Via campesina, ou autre) et travailler à la création de ceux qui n'existent pas, sur les thèmes qui nous importent (anti-industrialisme, enfance, etc.). Cette orientation part de l'idée que ces formes plus thématiques correspondent mieux à ce que pratiquent les gens dans la durée.
- 2- JUMELAGE THEMATIQUE: l'idée serait cependant de conserver la grande
richesse issue du croisement de ces champs de luttes différents, en couplant 2 ou 3 thèmes/réseaux sur des mêmes rencontres. Il s'agirait également de conserver une forme qui s'étalerait dans la durée, pour permettre un rythme de tavail en même temps plus calme (moins dense), plus suivi et complet.