The 2008-2009 winter has proved a harsh one for peace and social justice movements worldwide. We saw the brutal murder of Alexandros Grigoro-poulos onthe 6th of December and war breaking out again in the Gaza strip. These two events ignited outrage everywhere and moved people in very different contexts to take to the streets. Not only to voice their opinions in reaction to these injustices, but also to speak out about their own immediate worsening situations, to show their discontent. It is impossible to cover every protest and uprising which has taken place in Europe in the past months so below is only a small part of the discontent.
**Contents
1. On discontent and how it has been expressed across Europe in the last months
2. Various texts on the uprisings resulting from the economic downturn
3. To be continued...
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1. On discontent and how it has been expressed across Europe in the last months
In early December Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by police in the center of Athens. This ignited a wave of intense riots across Greece and a series of solidarity actions around Europe and the world. However, taking a closer look it becomes clear that while this tragic killing may have been a spark, the reasons behind the uprising had been adding up for a longer time and ranged from prison overcrowding, government corruption, increasing poverty and general worsening of social conditions. Similarly, when the war in Gaza began in January it offered another reason for people to show their opposition out in the streets.
Both events were important in and of themselves to ignite protests. But they also served as a catalyst for people to rise up and speak out on a far longer list of complaints and on their increasingly worsening situation which could no longer be tolerated. Cities which rarely, if ever, witness protests or similar actions made the news. Governments have been forced to react to the will of the people either by listening or by exercising an even greater level of repression. Seemingly unrelated events and outbursts have created a general atmosphere which shows the general discontent.
As one of the countries to have been first and hardest hit by the financial crisis the Icelandic population was also one of the first to
take to the streets and state its demands, eventually forcing the old government to step down and choosing a new one at the beginning of 2009.
Soon after, in early January tense riots broke out in Oslo at a demonstration calling for an end to the war in Gaza. The same thing happened in Copenhagen at a march attended by c. 7000 people. After, and during, the otherwise peaceful march police arrested over 100 people and used force to disperse the crowd.
Later in January riots broke out in Riga, Latvia, due to a different set of reasons. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest government corruption and economic mismanagement. As the day wore on things heated up as protesters tried to reach the parliament asking for a new government. Latvia's government has since fallen. At the same time another call for a government to step down came out of Sofia, Bulgaria. A couple thousand people, including students, gathered in the capital city to protest the high level of government corruption and the general poverty in the country. The protest was forcefully dispersed by police and some arrests were made. Bulgaria continues to face the prospect of further unrest.
February started with a new wave of protests. The 1st being called upon in cities across Russia as a national day of action to protest against the economic crisis. However, protests did not have a chance to take place as authorities mobilized 23 000 police officers and 4000 soldiers in order to maintain order as well as make large numbers of preventive and administrative arrests at the end of January. As in Russia, UK authorities are also preparing themselves for a spring and summer of civil unrest as the financial crisis worsens and hits more of the population. Activists across the country have been mobilizing using a variety of strategies and actions to bring attention to both the situation and the fact that more opposition is needed. At the beginning of February, even a snowball fight was organized outside the head-quarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Neighboring country, Ireland has also been seriously affected by the economic downturn and is expecting a rise in mass union demonstrations such as the one that took place on the 21st of February with thousands in attendance.
However, this general feeing of discontent spreading across Europe has not been sparked only by the financial crisis. In Finland students and teachers have been mobilizing to protest a new law which would include tuition and structural reforms in universities. A larger demonstration has already taken place on the 19th of February with the next one to happen on the 13th of March, both in Helsinki.
It is clear that the aforementioned events serve only to showcase a few of the responses that Europe has seen. Governmental policies, whether economic or of a more social nature, are no longer found acceptable by the people directly affected.
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2. Various texts on the uprisings resulting from the economic downturn
A look at how particularly hard Eastern Europe, and some of the Baltic states, have been hit by the financial crisis. The general downturn is manifesting itself in the streets threatening existing power structures. But at times such a downturn also results in a rise in nationalist sentiments. South-eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria have suffered from government corruption in the last years while places like Latvia and Lithuania have been undergoing an artificial boom. They now find themselves in similar situations with massive lay-offs and unemployment problems, salary cutbacks and food prices rising. [source: Eastern Europe braced for a violent 'spring of discontent' ]
Markets crashing and riots erupting around the world. People losing jobs and homes. But not everyone pretends to be in shock. Naomi Klein takes a look at Latvia and Iceland and compares it with the situation in Argentina in 2001. Governments often try to take advantage of such moments of crisis in order to pass unpopular laws and reforms. It has been made clear though in the past months that as in 2001 people are not willing to put up with such actions and are more than willing to take to the streets: [source: Public Revolt Builds Against Rip-off Rescue Plans for the Economy]
Independent journalist Nathan Coe offers an overview of global unrest. Coe gives examples ranging from Russia and China to the USA and France. He looks at the various types of actions, demonstrations and strikes in a protest against mass lay-offs, cut-downs and reforms. Coe signals a fear with governments as more and more repressive and preventive law enforce-ment operations are taking place. [source: Revolt Spreads Across the Globe as "Crisis" Continues to Unfold]
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3. To be continued...
We are all affected now by the crisis but we can shape our own responses. The EYFA newsletter for March will be “.on Global Matters(2)”. We will compile different momentums for transnational organizing and protesting coming up in 2009. Is the alter-globalist movement seeing a rebirth ten years after 'the battle of Seattle'?