Agence France Presse | By SOPHIE LAUTIER | November 11, 2003
Tens of thousands of anti-globalization activists are expected in the Paris area from Wednesday for the second European Social Forum, a four-day gathering aimed at pushing an alternate vision for Europe's future.
Organizers say between 40,000 and 60,000 participants from 60 countries will flood into the French capital to attend an array of conferences, debates, films, exhibitions and concerts, culminating in a festive protest on Saturday.
The Paris meeting, a follow-up to last year's forum in Florence, coincides with ongoing debates on the future of the European Union, as the bloc prepares to welcome 10 new members next year and attempts to hammer out a constitution.
Under the banner of "For a Europe of rights in a world without war!", the activists are seeking to show their opposition to "a Europe regulated by competition and the markets," one of the organizers, Pierre Khalfa, told AFP.
On Wednesday at 7 pm (1800 GMT), the forum will open simultaneously at four sites in downtown Paris and the suburbs of Bobigny, Ivry-sur-Seine and Saint-Denis.
Some 55 plenary conferences, 250 seminars and hundreds of workshops have been set up on a myriad of topics: the global economy, war, sexual equality, genetically modified (GM) foods, racism and cultural diversity, to name a few.
Hundreds of associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and unions have planned the various events, with Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Oxfam leading the long list of participating groups.
Some activists from future EU member states in central and eastern Europe are making the trip to France thanks to a solidarity fund set up to help those without the financial means to travel, event organizers said.
As a prelude to the main event, trade unionists met on Tuesday to analyze the social issues associated with EU enlargement, and to make sure that their voice would be heard among the diverse chorus of anti-globalization activists.
"The movement's numerous faces don't always make it easy to understand what the issues are, nor do they facilitate the drafting of concrete proposals," admitted Francois Chereque, secretary general of France's CFDT union.
The anti-globalization movement, which includes a vast range of groups from environmentalists to pacifists to anarchists, argues that governments and international institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put the interests of multinational corporations ahead of those of ordinary people.
Activists insist that policies and recommendations made by governments, the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) only make poor countries even poorer and eventually ruin their economies.
No final statement is expected to emerge from the meeting, as it is designed merely to provide a forum for an open exchange of views.
The gathering will end with a march through downtown Paris on Saturday, expected to draw 25,000 to 30,000 demonstrators, according to police estimates.Agence France Presse:
