Archivo de la categoría: Main

Against the Debt Economy

By George Caffentzis

(In press, Red Pepper, Feb-March 2014 issue)

«Only debtors can free debtors from their debt» -Patterned on Berthold Brecht’s poem, All or Nothing.

Introduction. “Macro” and “Micro” Debt

 caffentz I start with my conclusion:

 The Global Justice movement of the 1990s and early 2000s focused on national debt. It is time that its heirs join forces with the nascent movements struggling against micro-debt that developed after the crash of 2008 in order to present a challenge to the whole debt economy.

 To make my argument for this political conclusion I distinguish two categories of debt–micro-debt and macro-debt–and define the notion of a debt economy… Sigue leyendo →

Exhibition «Living in a Debtocracy»

Illustrations by Marc Rodríguez Porcell
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The goal of the exhibition is to reach a wide group of people with information about the process of indebtedness of the Spanish State, and its impacts on the population. Through illustrations, plain but serious explanations, charts and date, the exhibition «Living in a Debtocracy» summarizes the process of indebtedness of the Spanish State, covering the relationship that it has with the debt in the South, emphazising the impact that this debt has on the population, as it acts as an argument for structural reforms. The exhibition ends with a call for the construction of alternatives presenting the proposal for a Citizen Debt Audit as a tool towards these alternatives.

The exhibition has 30 slides prepared to print on DIN-A2. They have a Creative Commons licence for free downloading. You can download the two versions here: web and printable (higher quality). You also have the versions in Spanish and Catalan.

Meeting on «Economic governance, the Troika and the struggles against European neoliberalism» Amsterdam, October 4th to 6th

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Conclusions of the meeting: http://storify.com/ICANetwork/euincrisis-economic-governance-troika-struggles

 

Activists, organisations and networks addressing the undemocratic neoliberal crisis governance imposed from the EU will be meeting in Amsterdam from October 4th to 6th to discuss together which struggle strategies have and are being most successful in each country, with the aim to build a stronger and more coordinated European movement.

The meeting has been organised by different groups such as Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), Transnational Institute (TNI), ATTAC, Blockupy Frankfurt and the Spanish Platform for a Citizen Debt Audit (PACD) amongst others, and it will take place in Amsterdam’s Conference centre (Lombokstraat 40). Issues such as successful experiences of resistance, coordination of European and national initiatives, common priorities and targets, increasing social awareness and communication strategies will be worked on. Sigue leyendo →

The PACD in the CADTM Summer University

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In the past days of June 28th, 29th and 30th, participants of the PACD attended the CADTM Summer University in La Marlagne, Namur (Belgium). An annual event facilitated by the CADTM that allows for people and organizations from a number of countries to meet in debate and training sessions about debt from different perspectives.

The CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt), founded in Belgium in the year 1990, is an international network of about thirty organizations active in more than 25 countries on 4 continents. Their main goal is the cancellation of the public debt on third world countries and the annulment of structural adjustment policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) trio. Since slightly before the crisis, they have also started working on the public debt of the so-called North, with the final goal of exiting the current debt system, using the weapon of citizen audits to reach the construction of a socially just and ecologically viable society. Sigue leyendo →

Towards the Week of Global Action against Debt and IFIs

Activists from all over the Spanish state celebrate the III State Meeting of the Citizen Debt Audit Platform (PACD)

 

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From May 31st to June 2nd the III State Meeting of the Spanish Citizen Debt Audit Platform (PACD)– We don’t owe! We won’t pay! took place. Activists from all over the Spanish State (as well as some from Portugal and Belgium)participated in this meeting, that took place in Barcelona, where they put together all the work done by the regional groups and developed the strategy for the next months. Three days of intense work at the fantasticcollectivised space of Aurea Social. The meeting started with an international conference organized by the Observatory of Debt in Globalization (ODG), where different activists fighting against the oppression of debt in Tunisia, Ecuador, Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Spain were heard. During this third encounter it was visible how the PACD has been growing in strength since it first started in October 2011. Nowadays it has become a reference for the fight against debt and austerity both inside and outside our borders, through the International Citizen Debt Audit Network (ICAN). Sigue leyendo →