Florence report

Sunday November 10, 2002 17:33

by Nicholas & Siobhan - One World Society UCC

Experience in the Social Forum, Florence of diversity and fun! Certain aspects could be improved. The anti-war march was spectacular!

The Social Forum in Florence was extremely inspiring, particularly the anti-war protest on Saturday which attracted between half a million and a million people, depending on who you listen to!

Speakers in the Social Forum included Vandana Shiva from India, who spoke about GM and the success of Indian activists blocking the corporate introduction of GM crops. Other speakers at various seminars included Women in Black who had just returned from Kurdistan, bringing together Kurdish and Turkish women who had lost husbands and sons in the war, to create a space for dialogue and reconciliation.

There were many groups represented, many groups with stalls, but unfortunately it was difficult to network and especially with environmental groups who didn't seem to be present. Nor was there a strong environmental focus in the forum, something which must be rectified as social and envrionmental are interlinked.

The Hub, autonomous space, provided an alternative focus and enabled people to organise themselves and their own workshops.

Walking around the Fortezza, the primary location for the forum, was also an interesting experience in terms of primarily socialist organisations aggressively merchandising their papers and chants. Indeed one would almost have the impression that it was a 'Red' conference if one didn't talk to other people, and attend the non-party political seminars.

The final plenary session,meant to be a decision making session for all groups, was organised in advance and included many similar political speeches with no discussion of options and organisation. For example, when "discussing" the war, the chair from Globalise Resistance UK (after giving a speech) introduced a representative of Stop the War Coalition which seems to be the same organisation.

The protest was amazing, inspiring and peaceful - with local people hanging pace flags and white sheets over their balconies in support. The police kept a low profile although there were many in some of the back streets. In particular the carabineri seem not to have been present. It was also a fun march with a lot of music, dancing, and colour, something which we in Ireland could learn from. The Italians sure know how to demonstrate!

So overall, it was a great experience, with room for improvement in Paris next year!