[DEBATE] : 'Cap Nord' in Malmö : the solidarity, resistance and urban social movements

[Berend Schuitema]

http://eng.habitants.org/the_urban_way/esf_2008/cap_nord_esf_in_malmoe

 

The European Social Forum ‘Cap Nord’ in Malmö (17-21 September 2008) is the
unexpected product of an initiatve to bring the anti-globalisation debate to
the historical (and now crisis-ridden) homeland of social democracy and the
welfare state, to establish direct links between the social movements of the
European Union and those of the former Soviet bloc.

There are a large number of initiatives being taken in relation to housing
and cities, underlining the willingness of networks, residents’ associations
and NGOs involved in these fields to take on board the negative effects of
neoliberal urban policies more efficiently and with greater solidarity. 

The figure of more than 3 million homeless and some 70 millions living in
precarious housing show how important it is to use any and all means to
combat Europe’ s drift towards neoliberalism, asserting the right of its
inhabitants and of the poor (including migrants and nomadic peoples) to be
considered as ‘city-builders’ and not as disposable consumers and customers.


This event brings together the fight against forced evictions carried out
untiringly by the International Alliance of Inhabitants and its allies in
the Zero Evictions Campaign, involved in resistance to demolitions in
Istanbul, to the eviction of tenants in Italy and France, the homes lost as
a result of the real estate crisis in Russia and elsewhere, privatisation in
Germany and the UK, speculation in Spain and elsewhere, and the persecution
of nomadic peoples, including the Roma. 

The event will kick off on the morning of Thursday 18 September (9.30-12.30,
Rosengård Värner Rydénskolan) with ‘Reclaiming the city: Resisting
evictions, demolition, gentrification, privatisation, speculation’,
organised by Habitat Netz, the IAI, SKS (the Russian Union of Regional
Soviet Coordinating Councils) and the International Network for Urban
Research and Action. 

Friday 19 September has a lot to offer. In the morning (9.30-12.30, Café
Möllan), the International Union of Tenants will present ‘Save public
housing in Sweden. Against market rents and social housing’, a truly glocal
initiatve, given the European Commission’s determined attack on Sweden’s
social housing system. 

In the evening (18.00-21.00), there are two options. One (KFUK-KFUM) is the
meeting organised by CIDEFE (Centre d'Information, de Documentation, d'Etude
et de Formation des Elus) and the IAI, ‘Logement: un droit pour tous partout
en Europe (Making the right to housing a right for all throughout Europe)’ ,
the outcome of the first European States General for the right to housing
held in the European Parliament in 2007. 

Elsewhere (Chokladfabriken, Ölhallen), there will be ‘Quel avenir
choisirons-nous: une métropole néolibérale ou un lieu de vie commun où règne
la solidarité ? (What future do we want : a neoliberal metropolis or a space
for life in common and solidarity ?)’, the first part of an exchange between
local authorities (FALP), trade unions (CGIL), NGOs (AITEC, Zone Onlus),
residents’ associations (IAI) and professionals (the Turkish Union of
Architects and Engineers), amongst others. 

On Saturday 20 September, there will again be options to choose between :
the second part of the ‘Quel avenir
’ workshop (9.30-12.30, Hyllie park
Folkhögskola) and at the same time (Enskifteshagen, Tält 2) an assembly of
urban social movements sponsored by IAI, Habitat Netz Germany-Reclaiming
Spaces and No-Vox. The agenda will include setting a timetable for
Europe-wide mobilisations to make sure the voices of the people are heard by
the European Union. Creating a space to share that offers independence but
also an ability to build alliances or partnerships with other urban actors
on the basis of sharing experiences and principles. A space which should
grow in strength on the global level in the context of the dynamic created
by the Madrid Declaration and the preparation for the World Assembly of
Inhabitants planned for 2011. 

Finally, on Sunday 21 September (9.30-12.30, Värner Rydénskolan), the No-Vox
Assembly will be held, and the Assembly of Social Movements. 

Next European stages : the World Zero-Evictions Days, to be held during
October in a number of countries, and the preparation for mobilisation at
the end of November in France, at the time of the meeting of the ministers
of the European Union.