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“Sleep Now in the Hole” (2000), by the American band Rage Against the Machine, is a denunciation of the commodification of democracy. The song, produced by Rick Rubin, was recorded in October 1999 amidst growing global unrest: weeks before the Battle of Seattle erupted and the IMF imposed draconian austerity measures on 42 countries. The music video, directed by Michael Moore, was filmed in January 2000 at the New York Stock Exchange. It was an act of calculated civil disobedience: … Read more

The Battle of Seattle, which took place between November 30 and December 3, 1999, during the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting, marked a turning point in the struggle against global capitalism. The mobilization brought together more than 50,000 activists and militants from unions, environmental movements, student groups, and anarchist organizations in an unprecedented convergence that paralyzed the city. The objective was clear: to dismantle the myth of neoliberal inevitability through creative direct action. The origin lies in the accumulation of … Read more

The documentary This Is What Democracy Looks Like (2000), directed by Jill Friedberg and Rick Rowley, captures the essence of the protests against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Seattle in November 1999. Filmed on location with cameras provided by activists, the film compiles first-hand accounts of demonstrations that brought together more than 50,000 people from all walks of life and backgrounds (from trade unionists to environmentalists, from First Nations groups to anarchists) in what was a key turning point … Read more

The power structure has historically sought to associate protest and dissent with violence by using different concepts as synonyms, thus equating violence with dissent and non-violence with reformist processes. Five key concepts will therefore be distinguished below: Violence. Violence is understood as the deliberate use of physical or psychological force against individuals, groups or communities with the intention of causing harm. Galtung distinguishes between three levels: Direct violence. Explicit acts involving actions that cause physical or psychological harm to individuals … Read more

We are not spectators! We are responsible for what happens in the immediate reality around us! We are the organized resistance against a system that devastates communities, plunders ecosystems, and strips human life of dignity. Every day we must walk together, guided by the idea that only continuous, organized, and united action will stop the abuses of the predatory machinery of transnational corporations, which are so well protected by the actions or complicit passivity of state governments and international organizations. … Read more

In recent years, the rejection by the Latin American population, especially indigenous people, of what “Hispanic Day” represents has grown steadily. This has manifested itself in many ways: demolition of statues, removal of street names, transformations of the October 12 celebration, etc. All this is motivated by the awareness of the horrors committed by such sinister characters as Christopher Columbus, Pizarro or Hernán Cortés, who committed crimes that today would be judged as against humanity1, as well as by indigenous … Read more

Everywhere in Europe racism creeps with increasing ease due to the voices of the xenophobic formations and the ultra-conservative stands. But also through a system of borders and policies that reveal an increasing institucionalization of said xenophobia. When in 2012 the European Commission launched a spot with xenophobic content that capitalized on the fear of others1 it received a lot of criticism. But was that spot an isolated event or a demonstration that the pillars of the European project are … Read more

The draft of the Decree on Containers and Container Waste1 that the Spanish government is preparing could include a Deposit, Refund and Return System (DRS), which represents a great victory for one of the historic struggles for the ecologist movements in Spain. The DRS is a waste management model based on leaving a few cents in a deposit when a product is purchased with packaging and that are recovered when the empty packaging is returned. A report by the public … Read more

On June the 1st the new electricity tariff in Spain came into force. The slogan to launch this new rate was “Saving will be easier for you” but the data does not correspond to that phrase. The semi-regulated rate PVPC has had a rise of 34.2% in the bill of the average user which will stand at 81.27 euros according to a study made by FACUA-Consumidores en Acción1. Even with reduced VAT the June invoice is 28.3% higher than the … Read more

Last October 29 we landed in Rome at the camp set up for activists in the Acrovax social center, to participate in the social response actions of the G20 Summit that was held from October 30 to 31 in the Italian capital. The G20 Summit, which was held behind closed doors, once again brought together the leaders of the world’s main economic powers to discuss economic and political issues in an armored Rome that made it difficult for us to … Read more