Samir Amin - The new
social movements: Building convergency within
diversity (01/07/2006)
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Social movements can become politically effective only as far as they
propose and work for the promotion of feasible alternatives to neoliberal globalisation. Samir
Amin describes democracy as an endless process of
struggle where social movements continuously embody the demands and desires
of the people. |
An interview to Fabio Petito for Re-Public
The interview was conducted with the generous help of the Fondazione
Mediterraneo,
From birth to maturity
Fabio Petito: Would you briefly comment on the birth and history of the new social
movements?
Samir Amin: I
have participated in the building of the new movements from the very beginning.
Social movements of course have always existed in history. The new social
movements have emerged in the 1990s as a defensive reaction to the attack of neoliberalism against the rights of peoples, particularly
the attack on the welfare state in the West and on state protection in the
South, etc. It’s a normal thing that the movements have first appeared on a
defensive line. Then, they have gradually realized that since this challenge
was global they also had to organize on a global scale. In 1997 we created the World Forum for Alternatives
which was composed of organizations from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and
The movements have progressed since then. There is a growing number of organizations that aim to bring
forward proposals for positive alternatives. I call this process –and I am not
alone- building convergency within diversity. This
does not amount to a single party system or a single ideology system. It is a
complex, heterogeneous process that can facilitate the promotion of feasible
alternatives to neoliberal globalization.
F.P.: Can social
movements become actors that bring about real change in global politics?
S.A: I think they have become
already, although they are still very weak and in their first stage of
development. Social movements will become significant only when they articulate
and work in the pursuit of real alternatives to neoliberal
globalisation. I am referring to alternatives in the plural; concrete
conditions are very different from one country to another or from one region to
another and accordingly social struggles need to be sensitive and respond to
these divergences.
Nation, State, and Party
F.P.: Do you think that
the nation-state level is still the primary arena of world politics?
S.A: Yes. In
F.P.: Do you imply that
traditional party politics continue to be the main game in town?
S.A: We cannot avoid politics
and therefore political parties. This doesn’t mean that traditional political
parties are effectively responding to the challenges of contemporary social
transformations.
For instance, anti-capitalist parties emerged at the
end of the nineteenth century as a specific form of political organization of
the working class: the one party supposedly represented the one vanguard class,
whether this was a social democrat, a socialist or a communist party. These
parties were also organized around a series of patterns of action: the strike,
the protest, the election, even the revolution or the
war of liberation.
Social conditions are no longer the same. Capitalism
has changed and therefore the organization of labour has changed. We ought to
invent different forms of organization for social and political movements. I
don’t distinguish between social and political movements: I categorize under
the term social movements all those that reject the current organization of
society and which struggle for change.
The Heterogeneity of the World Social Forum
F.P.: Still, the
differences amongst social movements are enormous. What do they have in common
apart from recognizing neoliberal globalisation as
their enemy?
S.A: At the present stage
you are right. The movements, which participate in the World Social Forum
display, for instance, a large diversity. There are also asymmetries in
importance: mass popular movements assemble together with think-tanks, and
small or larger groups that are formed around specific issues. Most of the
feminist movements, for example, do not find it useful to connect women’s
struggles with a global vision of the transformation of society.
This doesn’t mean that there can not be a significant
common ground for most of them, certainly not all. This was what we tried to do
with the Appeal of Bamako. In
F.P.: What are the
advantages of the current polycentric structure of the World Social Forum?
S.A: I wish that the structure
would be even more polycentric with five, six, ten big regional or even
national forums. In this respect, we could mobilize more forces. Second, there
could be more common ground for discussion. Third, it would facilitate
coordination among the movements.
F.P.: Isn’t the World
Social Forum dominated, however, by Western social movements?
However, if you look at the participation in the
debates within the WSF then you see the importance of non-Western mass popular
movements. I will give you an example. In relation to peasant struggles, Via Campensina who has managed to bring together the most active peasant
organisations, basically in
Democracy: Crisis and resolutions
F.P.: Are social
movements fundamental for the attainment of global democracy?
In the past, social progress has been achieved without
democracy, whether, in the ex-communist countries or in the national-populist
states, i.e Peron’s
F.P.: Yes, we witness a
widespread concern that democracy is crisis on a global scale.
This is where social movements have a role to play. You
can call it participatory democracy if you wish. The point is to move beyond
the notion and practice of representative democracy, to conceive democracy as
an endless process where the movements continuously embody the demands and
desires of the people.
F.P.: How do you assess
the recent student protests in
S.A: Precarity
always existed in the capitalist system. Thirty years ago precarity
represented about 15% of the wage earners, it was the condition of relatively
young women, of migrant labour, and characterised mainly in rural areas. In contrast,
precarity refers today to almost 50% of wage earners.
This is an immense, negative change; it signals social regression. It is also
important to note that precarity has advanced without
too much noise.
The protests in
Challenges of the European Left
F.P.: What are the
challenges that the European left needs to face in order to build a mass
movement from below?
The Left is gradually recognizing this. The movements
against precarity in
F.P.: Is the center-left option proposed in
Further Links
Porto Alegre:
Today’s Bandung?
The Dilemmas of open space: the Future of the
WSF