Widerstand und Alltag im Zeichen europäischer Austerität Veranstaltungsreihe mit Per'volarides Thessaloniki 18.04.16 in Frankfurt/M 19.04.16 in Mainz 20./21.04.16 in Freiburg 22.04.16 in Darmstadt Veröffentlichung des Vertrages mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Per'volarides Thessaloniki
Greece: Grassroots movements and social/solidarity economy against crisis Grassroots movements and social/solidarity economy as carriers of transition to a new society
Facts and figures of crisis in Greece (1) 6 years, 3 Memoranda and keep going 2009: GDP: 237,5 2016: GDP: 177 1/5 of the population don t have access to health services
Facts and figures of crisis in Greece (3) Debt: 2009: 300 bn 2016: 318 bn 23.1 % in poverty level (2013)
Facts and figures of crisis in Unemployment rate: 2009: 9.6 % 2016: 25 % Greece (2) 1.35 million people off-work Unemployment rate in younger ages (>25): 50 % Official unemployment rate does not calculate civil professionals like civil engineers, doctors, lawyers etc, that are practically unemployed
Brain drain (1) Of a total population of 10 million people, 300.000 people (most of them young and highly educated) left Greece. Many of these immigrants were politically active during Memoranda years. They were the fuel that pumped political unrest and awareness.
Brain drain (2) Question: As the immigration tendency continues, who will stay and fight for a better future?????????????????????
Geopolitical factor Destruction of the entire territory (North Africa, Middle East, Balkans, Ukraine) Immigrant/refugees fleeing their countries More that 1 million people traveled to Europe through Greece in 2015 50.000 immigrants/refugees kept in camps throughout the country
Action vs Reaction Main points of resistance in the Memoranda years: Don t pay movement Aganaktismenoi (Indignados) movement People s parade 2011, Thessaloniki SYRIZA
Don t pay movement (1) Took place between 2008-2012. National movement without central administration or leadership. Actions involved: refuse to pay toll fares, solidarity tax, mass media transportation fees etc.
Don t pay movement (2)
Indignados-Square movement (1) May-September 2011 Discussion for direct democracy, transparency in political life Massive assemblies in the central squares More than 500.000 participated in the biggest demonstration in Athens
Indignados-Square movement (2)
People s parade, 28 th of October 2011, Thessaloniki A traditional military parade that takes place every year got out of State s control, when thousands of people got into the parade and made their own, demanding democracy and abolition of the corrupted system. President of the Republic was forced to leave its seat in the parade, along with the other members of the State.
People s parade, 28 th of October 2011, Thessaloniki
Elections of 2012, May-June SYRIZA gets 2 nd place. A delegative logic (assignment) dominated the public. When SYRIZA become government, everything will be solved. This logic was cultivated from large parts of SYRIZA also. Little by little, civil unrest was calming down.
Grassroots movements (1) Hundreds of grassroots movements emerged throughout the country, while State withdraws from its duties. Thousands of people support solidarity grassroots. Solidarity grassroots are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of our people, by supporting social networks, offering lessons of solidarity and humanity. Solidarity grassroots through their own operation and political perception (direct democracy, mobilization and mutual help between people) pursue their own selfabolition, in a state that regards food, health, learning etc as obvious and free rights.
Grassroots movements (2) Solidarity grassroots for: - Coverage of population needs for food - Creation/support of public health structures - Supporting teaching lessons in children - Greek language learning in immigrants and refugees - Clothing supply - Teaching of basic PC operation skills - Legal aid assistance for Greeks and immigrants/refugees - Assistance (food, clothing, medical, legal) for the refugees - Abandoned land cultivation from unemployed people for selfsufficiency
If there was fire in your house what would you do?
2 things to do Firefighting method, or humanitarian relief projects: Providing food, shelter, health coverage etc to everyone who needs it. Short-term method, for emergency needs. Social/solidarity economy: Building the house again: Creation of self-sufficiency in groups of people, then production of a small income. Long term method.
Humanitarian relief projects (1) Fish/fruits/vegetables from central fish/grocery market given for free. 2) Packaged food distribution 3) Cooked food 4) Food/hygienic items for immigrants/refugees.
Humanitarian relief projects (2) Medicines and hygienic materials collection for social clinics Personal hygiene items (soaps, shampoos, sanitary napkins, diapers) Baby and infant food and creams Clothes/blankets supply Used electronic equipment (PCs, laptops, mobile phones, digital photographic machines) to cover the communication gap that crisis has created
Social/Solidarity Economy projects 1) Land cultivation: Abandoned/donated land cultivation for self-sufficiency. 2) Tomato sauce/marmelade preparation 3) Bee keeping 4) Solidarity olive collection: Unemployed people collect olives from abandoned or donated olive trees. The same with fruit trees.
Social/Solidarity economy (1) It is all about co-operation and building relations based on trust and help between each other, especially giving help to the weaker members of the group. Infant stage in Greece, mainly focused on new tools that State gives in order to boom start this type of economy.
Social/Solidarity economy (2) Tools given lack the emotion and the reliance between each other. This is a target to be achieved, and not always by founding formal companies, but rather informal initiatives that are built to last and do not depend on marketing tools but rather on the needs of the people involved.
Social/Solidarity economy (3) Need for co-operation Need for taking care of each other Need for covering basic needs, food, health, education, etc Need for putting ourselves on the move, to prove that unemployed people are not worthless but we can be innovative and creative if only we are given the chance
Gardeners (1) Self sufficiency-solidarity group located in Thessaloniki. Products: Olive oil, honey, cheese, yoghurt, seasonal groceries, tomato sauce, marmalade. People involved: Filippos, Maria, Christos St., Giorgos, Christos K, Diamantis, Aris, Fenia.
Gardeners (2) Through products exchange, we minimize need for money. Work against depression. Project to be copied and improved by other initiatives.
Gardeners (3)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Urban Land cultivation (1) Urban land cultivation for self sufficiency and low-income families. We are cultivating seasonal groceries using local seeds, and manure taken from sheeps/goats that one of our members keeps. We are making compost from our household waste.
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Urban Land cultivation (2)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Urban Land cultivation (3)
Solidarity grassroot (1) Land lies next to our basement, where we keep the required tools and we store food (rice, beans, pasta, olive oil, flour, tomato sauce, marmalade etc) for 30 families. Land and basement is owned by members of our initiative. Distribution of fish/vegetables/fruits/food takes place from this basement.
Solidarity grassroot (2)
Solidarity grassroot (3)
Solidarity grassroot (4)
Marmalade/tomato sauce preparation (1) In the basement we keep a gas stove and pig pots for tomato sauce and marmalade preparation. When we have availability in fruits/tomatoes/vases we are organizing marmalade/tomato sauce preparation with members from the 30 families that we support being the cookers.
Marmalade/tomato sauce preparation (2) With this action, not only these people cover their needs in these products, but also return in social terms- the solidarity that were provided with: They are producing for other families also, who can not afford to buy these products. Example: 100 kilos of peach marmalade were given in the refugees in Idomeni.
Marmalade/tomato sauce preparation (3)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Bee keeping (1) 2 members of the group practice bee keeping. We wanted to spread the knowledge to other people also. Members from the Greek community of Frankfurt donated us with 300 to buy protection equipment for bee keeping. One bee keeper, member of the No-Middlemen movement provided us with 5 bee hives with their population.
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Bee keeping (2) Training and various consumables were provided for free by us to the new member. As you can see, training has started:
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Bee keeping (3)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Bee keeping (4)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Bee keeping (5)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Sheeps/goats, cheese making (1) One member of our group raises sheep/goats together with his father. Next step towards self sufficiency is cheese/yoghurt making. We are starting to train ourselves to cheese making also.
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Sheeps/goats, cheese making (2)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Sheeps/goats, cheese making (3)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (1) Solidarity olive collection takes place every November-December in the eastern part of Thessaloniki. We collect olives from abandoned/donated olive trees, then make them olive oil. Thus, we cover the annual needs of about 10 families.
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (2) Plus, we make use of trees that otherwise would be wasted. This is a small step towards country s productive reproduction. Plus: This is organic olive oil! We are trying to rent some olive tree fields to make this action more stable and productive for the coming years.
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (3)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (4)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (5)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (6)
Examples on Social/Solidarity economy: Olive collection (7)
Ways to help (1) Top priority: Open the discussion with your friends, relatives, colleagues etc about Greek crisis! Debate with them, try to locate differences/similarities between German and Greek crisis. Ask your people if this is the Europe we want. What can we do to help each other?
Ways to help (2) The idea behind all this is to engage individuals, solidarity groups, trade unions in the process. Examples: A trade union in a factory that makes personal hygiene products can raise a campaign between its members for sending a load of these products in Greece. A cultural union can start a campaign raising money, diapers or baby s food. An individual can contribute a certain amount of money once, or in a periodic mode. All this should be done after getting contact with us, because, although needs are constant and enormous, we don t want resources, whether financial or material, to be wasted.
Ways to help (3) Financial aid to cover emergency needs (for example: equipment purchase, paying of bills like electricity, water etc for social centers, small farming machinery, transportation costs for delivery of food, purchase of food etc).
Ways to help (4) Each one of you can become a node for help and support. Every help, whether big or small is invaluable because it adds to the final result which might be new clothes or vaccines for a baby, a new book for someone to read, or psychological help to an unemployed person with suicidal tendencies
Ways to help-supporter (1) Supporter on specific projects, like: Provide us with bee hives (or money to buy some ) Coverage of the transportation costs for food collection/distribution for the months to follow We need 2 big refrigerators for cheese maturation and 1 big deep freezer for storing fishes
Ways to help-supporter (2) Money-food-sanitary items to cover specific needs of the families we support Food-sanitary items-school items-clothes for the immigrants/refugees in the relocation camps
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (1) About 1.500.000 immigrants/refugees, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, Pakistan travelled through Greece to North Europe. Current status: 50.000 people in camps throughout Greece, waiting to be relocated in the safe country of Turkey or united with their relatives from North Europe.
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (2) 1 month ago a treatment between Greece- Turkey was signed that for each newcomer another one will be relocated to Turkey. Numbers, not people There was a time that in the Greek islands we had 2-3.000 arrivals/day. Now we have no more than 200 arrivals/day.
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (3) Huge solidarity movement from Greek people and also from people from abroad. State keeps these people in camps with basic infrastructure, in many cases supported by the Army for food and shelter. Main job is done by people in solidarity, social clinics and some NGOs.
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (4) Idomeni, North part of Greece: The shame of Europe. 15.000 people, waiting for the borders to open. State provides no shelter, food because they want to relocate them to the camps.
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (6)
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (7)
Refugee/Immigrant crisis (8)
Greece: Society in transition (1) Crisis: Economic, political, social, cultural Geopolitical factor: Our neighbourhood is destroyed. Our turn comes when? Collapse of the traditional center, significant reduction of the right wing Rise of extreme right Massive people s mobilisation
Greece: Society in transition (2) Rise of the Left (SYRIZA) Dominance of the delegate logic Government of the Left Defeat of the expectations (SYRIZA) Disappointment, withdrawal from the political scene and lack of mobilisation
Greece: Society in transition (3) People come around but don t expect/fight for anything Silent anger Inability to see the future Mass mobilisation for the refugees/immigrants: Not only leftists/activists, but (mainly) normal people providing food, shelter, clothes
Greece: Society in transition (4) Young people, the fuel for change flee the country At the same time: debates on direct democracy, transparency, lack of trust in both Right and Left
Epilogue Please help us maintain the social network of Greece and build democratic and participatory peoples institutions. Peoples Europe has to prevail against bankers and warlords Europe!