Neoliberalism is the name given by many the world over to the latest stage of capitalism. It labels a system where the value of human life is measured only by its ability to produce wealth for the elite. It labels a system where capital has all rights and freedom of movement while workers have no right and only the freedom of movement granted to us by the power. It labels a system which belives itself to be supreme, 'the end of history'. It labels a system that in its confidence of victory no longer sees a need to make concessions to protect itself.
Neoliberalism has suffered many setbacks in recent years, most notably perhaps in the December 1995 strikes in France. There is a widespread recognition of the need for a global fightback, but one fundamentally different from the vanguard led international organisations of the past. As a result of this need in July of 1996 some 3,000 activists from 43 countries travelled to the remote junges and moutnain of the Mexican South-East to take part in the '1st Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and against Neoliberalism'. This gathering had been called by and was hosted by the Zapatistas (EZLN) who had been in rebellion against the Mexican state since January 1st 1994 when NAFTA, a keystone of neoliberalism on the American continent came into effect.
From this meeting came the idea of the global network referred to in the quote above. These pages record the development of this network, the encounters that have been held as part of it, the documents that have been produced and links to the organising activity that has emerged since.
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The First Intercontinental Gathering for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism [With pictures]
Dreaming of a Reality where the past and present meet the future {the 2nd encounter}