<nettime> Jayati Ghosh: Hamburg G20 & after: Progressive mobilization in Europe

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

Progressive mobilization in Europe
August 5, 2017
from Jayati Ghosh

Meetings of global leaders – such as recently occurred in the G20 
meeting at Hamburg – increasingly have a ring of farce about them. The 
inability to come to agreement on pretty much anything of significance 
is leavened only by sideshows and media obsession with which global 
leader met with whom for how long, who sat in for which President at the 
“high table”, and similar trivia. Meanwhile, there is abject failure on 
the part of these leaders to recognize the pressing need for urgent and 
co-ordinated global action to solve so many current problems, ranging 
from the terrible state of the world economy to wars and conflicts, as 
well as the instabilities and inequalities created not just by the 
forces of globalization fostered by these same governments, but their 
own direct actions.

But such meetings sometimes have at least one positive outcome: they 
become the occasion for public mobilization and calls for action around 
the issues that really matter for most people, and thereby help in 
spreading ideas for a more positive policy agenda. In Hamburg, the 
second largest city in Germany with a long history of left groups and 
progressive movements, this was very much in evidence. For several days 
before the G20 Summit as well as during the official Summit, there were 
alternative gatherings, processions and protests that were dominantly 
peaceful and also thoughtful, imaginative and ultimately quite 
inspiring.

The mainstream media have portrayed what happened in Hamburg in early 
July in a very different light, focusing almost exclusively on violent 
protests. It is interesting that violence had been predicted by the 
authorities well before any actually occurred, and so there was a 
massive police presence that effectively created a lock down of the 
central part of the city. To any visitor to the city, the huge show of 
force well before any untoward incident was startling to say the least:  
massive deployment of fully armed riot police in black gear and helmets 
on the streets; barricades put up all over with no apparent reason, even 
in quite peaceful neighbourhoods; convoys of police cars sweeping 
through roads with sirens blaring when there was no apparent reason for 
it; helicopters constantly swirling overhead in somewhat menacing 
fashion for several days and nights.

The few stray incidents of violence, when they did occur, were mostly 
about problems at barricades and preventing what started out as peaceful 
marches because some of the marchers were masked. There was some violent 
activity by a few dozen members of the Black Block movement, a group of 
hard left anarchists that came to prominence in the 1980s during 
anti-nuclear and anti-eviction movements in the city. Others could even 
have been the work of agents provocateurs, as some participants in the 
demonstrations pointed out that the authorities needed something to 
justify their massive and very expensive security operations.

But these were in fact very much the tinier parts of what became quite a 
moving demonstration of people’s concerns. Discussions, protests and 
demonstrations were variously thoughtful, creative, humorous – and even 
the most massive marches were peaceful. A two-day Global Solidarity 
Summit of activists, people’s movements and civil society held just 
before the G20 Summit was an impressive gathering put together by more 
than 75 different organisations, which in itself was no mean feat. The 
energy and enthusiasm at that alternative summit were palpable, with so 
many people attending that the huge hall that can seat nearly 900 people 
could not accommodate everyone who wanted to come to the opening plenary 
session, and others had to listen outside. Even by the end of that 
summit, at the closing session that went on until 10 pm on the evening 
of the second day, the hall was still full for the closing plenary, as 
if two long and full days of intense, packed discussions around 
alternative strategies had only whetted people’s appetite for more.

Outside there were other, livelier events. At the Fish Market, young 
people gathered to listen to other speakers and to musicians and others 
who came and performed. At another place, a“performance art” 
demonstration by a thousand artists took the novel form of a “zombie 
march”, in which the apparently semi-dead people with grey clothes and 
faces and arms painted grey walked very slowly, sombrely and heavily 
through the streets, implying that this phase of capitalism is making us 
all into zombies. At the culmination, they tore off their grey clothing 
to reveal bright colours below, and danced to celebrate their liberation 
from zombiehood – and to point to better possibilities ahead.

Then there were five separate but simultaneous “rave demos” across the 
city in which trucks blaring music preceded hordes of young people 
dancing along on the streets, for hours. Over the next day, the streets 
were still full of the confetti and glitter they left behind, sending a 
cheerful and even joyous message that could make you smile, despite all 
the ominous police cars with their sirens and lines of armed policemen 
and helicopters flying overhead. There were large rallies and gatherings 
at different places, including the University.

The municipality had refused permission for protestors to camp at the 
usual designated ground, so the people, especially young, who had 
flocked to Hamburg could not be put up by the organisers of the various 
events. True to a city with its progressive credentials, the churches 
and theatres opened up their doors to house them, while some young 
people simply shacked down by the harbour and on any grassy bits they 
could find.

The climax of all these events was an enormous – and peaceful – march of 
around 100,000 people through some of the main streets. This contained 
all sorts of peoplefrom various walks of life: mostly young, but also 
some old grizzled lefties (whose views are suddenly finding renewed 
resonance and traction among the young across Europe), trade unionists 
and other groups representing different interests as well as young 
parents pushing prams, migrants and so on. The mood was serious but also 
lively, with lots of positive energy, as the very size of the gathering 
and its variety allowed participants to draw strength from it.

In her memoirs, the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir had written 
about how solitude is a form of death, while participating in and 
identifying with something greater than ourselves gives us life as well 
as a reason for that life. So these collective occasions are important 
not only because of the wider message they send out of greater hope and 
the public mobilisation that they might result in. They also provide 
sustenance to the people who participate, who realise they are not alone 
and that together they can be a potent force for change.

If something as indicative of the sorry state of the world as such a G20 
meeting can inadvertently result in such public affirmations of the 
continued power of progressive ideas, clearly all is not lost even in 
Europe.

(This article was originally published in the Frontline Print edition: 
August 4, 2017)
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