Date: June 27, 2005 6:01:52 PM PDT
Subject: The G-8 meets at Gleneagle, Scotland
1. G8: who are the hijackers?
2. Link to longer article on G-8 Conference
from "Focus on the Global South"
===
1. G8: who are the hijackers?
THE HINDU, 26 JUNE
by Mike Marqusee
www.mikemarqusee.com
"FROM July 6 to 8, violent extremists will be
converging on Scotland," declares the Dissent Network,
one of the groups planning militant opposition to the
up-coming G8 summit, "They'll be trying to meet at the
Gleneagles hotel, and we'll be trying to stop them." A
neat inversion of the mainstream media presentation of
what promises to be a symbolic confrontation with
worldwide resonance.
On one side, the world's most elite club, the leaders
of the "Group of Eight" (Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the United States),
whose economies account for two-thirds of global
wealth, but currently pour more money into pet food
than international development. On the other, a diverse
grassroots global justice movement determined to "make
poverty history" -- by forcing the G8 to cancel debt,
increase aid and end unfair trade practises.
Remarkably, since its emergence into western
consciousness with the Seattle protest of 1999, this
movement has succeeded in making its cause so
fashionable, that pop stars queue up to join its ranks
(or at least be seen to join its ranks) and
corporations vie to sponsor its initiatives. Even the
politicians at whom the protests are aimed seem eager
to be associated with the movement, when they're not
busy trying to demonise, divide or protect themselves
from it.
Gleneagles was chosen as the site for the summit
because it combines luxury with security. The
80-year-old French chateau style golf resort is set in
850 private acres of stunning Perthshire scenery. It's
remote by British standards, but not nearly remote
enough to deter large numbers of protesters -- which is
why the police have banned a march to the resort
planned for July 6.
For decades, Gleneagles was a high society fixture.
After the London "season", it was yachting at Cowes,
polo at Deauville and golf and grouse shooting at
Gleneagles. These days the hotel relies on "Great
Gatsby" discount packages to American tourists and the
corporate conference business -- of which the G8
gathering is the creme de la creme. Gleneagles is owned
by Diageo plc, one of the planet's biggest
booze-merchants, whose brands include Johnnie Walker
(over four bottles consumed worldwide every second),
Guinness, Baileys, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and Jose
Cuervo. The company recently reported a half-year
operating profit of #1.1 billion on a turnover of #4.98
billion -- somewhat more than the United Kingdom will
spend on aid for the whole of the current financial
year.
Of course, the corporate connection, along with the
expense (#150 million to the U.K. taxpayer) and
five-star comforts, are being played down by the G8's
image-managers. Gleneagles is stocking up on fair trade
coffee. The summit, we are told, is to be made "carbon
neutral", thanks to a #50,000 grant for green projects
in Africa. More significantly, Prime Minister Tony
Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown have
sought to paint themselves as champions of global
justice. Brown has presented a modest debt-relief
initiative (with stringent conditions, including the
requirement that countries eliminate "impediments to
private investment, both domestic and foreign") and
Blair has donned the "Make Poverty History" wristband
created by NGOs organising what promises to be a
2,00,000 strong demonstration in Edinburgh on July 2.
The wristbands have become symbols not only of the
cause but of attempts to incorporate and exploit it.
More than a million of them were produced in Chinese
sweatshops shamed by some of the world's worst labour
practices. And shops in the U.K. are selling a version
of the wristband -- personally endorsed by Bob Geldof --
branded with the logos of companies accused of
violating workers' rights in developing countries,
including fashion empire Tommy Hilfiger. The "exclusive
online partner" for Geldof's "Live 8" pop concerts
(timed to step up the pressure on G8 leaders) is
America Online, part of the Time Warner media behemoth,
a beneficiary and sponsor of the very policies the
musicians hope to challenge.
So while politicians and editors fret about
"anarchists" hijacking the protests, global justice
activists are entitled to ask just who the real
hijackers are.
When not being treated as a threat to law and order, a
domestic Al-Qaeda, these activists are subject to
mockery and condescension. They are told to leave the
making of history to wiser heads, to be "realistic",
not to ask for too much. But despite the subtle and not
so subtle attempts to blur the distinction between the
agents of wealth and power and the agents of change,
increasing numbers see through the public relations
ruse. They compare the $50 billion increase in aid
they're calling for to the more than $150 billion cost
of the U.S.'s war on Iraq, and they know that reality
demands radicalism, not soft soap.
---
2.
For more on the G-8 conference See "Focus on the Global South"
IN THIS ISSUE: As the G8 summit to be held in
Gleneagles, Scotland, on 6-8 July draws near, Focus
sends a message to everyone going to the "Make Poverty
History" rally in Edinburgh while Stuart Hodkinson goes
behind the scenes to see who is pulling the MPH
strings. Also in this issue, Walden Bello makes the
case at the World Tribunal on Iraq against "The
Coalition of the Willing" and, in part two, Herbert
Docena gives evidence to the WTI on the US attempts to
restructure and control the Iraq 's economy.
---
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