Neo-liberal policies, financial globalization and global city competition heavily affect urban life and struggles. Millions of people from lower classes get pushed out of their neighborhoods and houses. Based on an exchange of recent experiences with struggles against neo-liberal urban transformations in Istanbul, Germany, and Russia we want to discuss options for internationalized resistance.
Participants so far (Speakers and Co-organizers):
SUKRU PـNDـK , Sulukule platform, Istanbul is a leader of the local Roma Community and organizer of cultural events.
PELIN TAN, Sulukule platform, Istanbul is an urban researcher and activist supporting the survival struggle of Sulukule.
ERDOGAN YILDIZ from Gülensu neighborhood in Istanbul is a neighborhood organizer and activist.
TAN MORGUL is a critical journalist and activist from Istanbul.
ULUS ATAYURT is a critical journalist and activist from Istanbul.
KNUT UNGER, Habitat Netz – Witten Tenants Association, is a tenants organizer and journalist from the Ruhr district in Germany.
KARIN BAUMERT, Initiative Bethanien Berlin and others, is an urban sociologist and activist in autonomous urban struggles with roots in eastern Berlin.
CARINE CLEMENT from the “Soviets Regional Co-ordination Union of Russia” (SKS) lives in St. Peterburg
EVGENY KOZLOV, Movement of citizens` initiatives, Saint-Peterburg
ANDREY KONOVAL, Coordinating soviet of citizens` actions, Izhevsk
VESNA TOMSE is a sociologist, journalist and urban activist from Zurich, partly working in St. Petersburg, Russia.
SEBASTIAN MـLLER, INURA Rhine-Ruhr, is a retired professor for urban sociology and theory of planning from Dortmund, Germany. Currently mainly working on international financial investment in the housing market he is even an activist in close relations to the tenants associations in the Ruhr District.
CESARE OTTOLINI, Italy, is the coordinator of the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI)
Simultaneous Babel translation (probably, only 4 allowed):
English, French, Turkish, Russian
Detailed provisional outline available on demand.
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Assembly
ASSEMBLY OF URBAN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
This ASSEMBLY, open to all activists for urban/housing/land rights, will discuss concrete steps for improved international cooperation on urgent action, campaigns and reflection. It should try to fix the implementation of agreements built during ESF meetings. Let`s develop effective, targeted and transparent international networking! Let`s build a roadmap for unity of urban social movements !
Collaborating organizations on this program activity:
RECLAIMING SPACES / habitat netz ( Witten Tenants Association / urban.lab Zurich and networks
No Vox
International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) and organizations from that network incl. the Russian Union of Coordinating Soviet
6 translations.
Partcipants now should start organizing the assembly collectively, especially agree on some methods to achieve an integration of outcomes of all urban/housing related activities and groups at the ESF.
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Dates and rooms of the events pending.
There will be more seminars around housing, urban, speculations etc. in Malmِ!
In addition we will have the chance to organize spontaneous small working groups on outcomes in Malmِ. If we will have enough people we for instance will speak about the future of this list.