It's all about the movement!

Worldwide, countless local and global initiatives and movements are fighting for more democratic, socially just and ecologically sustainable conditions. They are faced by a diametrically opposed socioeconomic system which, especially during the last decades, allows a small minority of the world population to impose their interests on an increasingly impoverished majority living mostly in countries of the global south. Through neoliberal globalization, the elites could increase their wealth and power immensely.

Instead of checking the global crises, which were mainly caused and intensified by these elites, governments and international institutions are responsible for the continuation of redistribution towards the wealthy and the decrease of democracy.

It is now up to the people themselves to seize their destiny and initiate the necessary change “from the bottom”. The big question is “How?”

How can power relations be shifted, so that a good life is possible for everyone? Which role can progressive civil society initiatives and social movements play?

What can we learn from experiences in the past, especially from those made by the alter-globalization movement (which was the first to unite a broad range of struggles in all their diversity and to make people aware of their common interests and the necessity of cooperation)?

How could very different participants such as large NGOs, grass roots initiatives or social movements with their specific strengths and weaknesses cooperate more effectively and intensify their cooperation? Which common strategies could they develop?