Online ecosocialist strategy seminar – 13th July 2024
Runaway global warming is already upon us. The need to build a mass movement to fight back is more urgent than ever. To help develop this the network that came out of the Ecosocialism Conference 2023 (London) are organising an online strategy seminar for ecosocialists on the 13th July. The aim of the event is to organise spaces for creative discussion on key issues facing our movement with a view to collecting together key ideas and strategies. We want to develop these to publish a draft strategy for discussion in advance of the ecosocialist conference in Autumn 2024.
We will be building on the principles and ideas that came out of the conference in London in December 2023.
We need your views, participation, energy and insight. You can register for the zoom link online here. This is a day long event from 10:30 (BST) finishing at 17:00 (BST).
AGENDA FOR THE DAY
Opening Session – Creating an Eco-socialist Strategy
This opening session will introduce the day and how the workshops will work.
Group A: Growing a movement
Attracting members/activists, building institutions, encouraging action
- How can we be as inclusive as possible without diluting core principles and demands?
- How do we target members/activists?
- What type of organisations should we target?
- Should there be criteria for organisations/individuals to target?
Group B: Workers and environmentalists
- How do we respond to the real concerns of workers facing job losses?
- How can we sensitise environmentalists who see workers as obstacles to a transition?
- What does a just transition mean for ecosocialists?
- How do we put into practice the slogan “No-one left behind” with regard to indigenous rights, jobs/pensions, finance (who pays?)
- How can environmentalists and workers build coalitions with each other, and create the conditions for mobilisation and solidarity between the two?
Uniting social movement campaigns with workplace struggles
- How do we engage in local issues such as Port Talbot and what can we learn from the example of GKN in Italy? What does solidarity look like in practice?
- Would the response be totally workplace specific, or are there general approaches we should take?
- How do we support the development of mass community campaigns – such as free public transport? Can we come up with ecosocialist slogans?
Group C – Responding to right wing/individualist messaging
i) Scaling back unnecessary production and consumption
This relates mainly to ownership of vehicles and means of transport (restrictions on vehicles with combustion engines, shift to public transport, fewer flights).
How do ecosocialists counter the arguments that we want to restrict freedoms and reduce living standards?b)
ii) Well founded fears of job losses under a capitalist green transition
Closing down or even scaling back fossil fuel industries, polluting industries, unlimited plastic production, extensive cattle ranching, intensive feed lots etc. will mean losses of jobs and pensions. Under free market conditions, alternative employment is unlikely for most affected workers. What is a credible ecosocialist position on job losses?
Group D: Internationalism in practice
- What should our attitude be to COP? It is still the primary global decision making forum, and NGOs will continue to attend.
- Counter-COP meetings have been held in the past – could we participate?
- How do we emphasise the class nature of imperialism its legacy of environmental and social devastation, and counter nationalist competition and geographic lines of conflict with regards to climate targets, finance etc.?
- What is our attitude to China, the biggest GHG emitter?
Closing Session
A closing session to bring together what was discussed in the workshop. We will be compiling everything into an online document for sharing after the event. We will focus on the following questions:
What should our demands be?
How do we communicate our demands?