Global power and resistance

We analyse the reasons for and impact of the world crisis in the different world regions. Furthermore we develop strategies for key topics (economic systems, trade politics) as well as for the world regions (concentrating on parts of the Global South, the BRICS states). Based on the examination of the role of international organisations (EU, UNO, IWF, WB, WTO etc.) we formulate requirements for action. We are focusing on the trade policies of the North, which tries to defend it hegemonial position vis-à-vis the South and the BRICS. The development of comprehensive positions for transformative processes, strategies for action for international solidarity and left answers to the crisis are central to this section.

The German political left and the European austerity policies: Challenges and debates in the fourth year of the crisis

The dramatic austerity measures as in Greece and Spain, the ESM and the restructuring of the European institutions will irreversibly shape the future of the European Union. The German government has taken a distinctive position in pushing these decisions and in pursuing a Europe of several speeds. Against that background many European leftists set their hopes on the ability of the German left to turn public opinion, against austerity and towards solidarity within Europe ...
Rosa Luxemburg and Challenges for a Socialism of the Twentyfirst Century (German)

"Lassen Sie mich mit einer Beobachtung beginnen. Und erlauben Sie mir, ein pures, schlichtes, unübersehbares Faktum ganz pathetisch zu formulieren: Immer, wenn alte Formationen der Linken erstarrt sind, wenn jede lebendige Kraft die Hüllen vergangener Aufbrüche verlassen hat, wenn aus den gestrigen ...
Land Grabbing by Pension Funds and other Financial Institutions must be Stopped

Driven by high food prices, increasing demand for agrofuels, raw materials and grain fed livestock, and low returns from beleaguered financial markets, the number of corporations, governments, public and private financial institutions engaging in large-scale acquisitions of land in the global South is soaring, threatening the livelihoods and food sovereignty of countless local communities ...
The Common Good of Humanity – Actors and Strategies

The inherent crisis of neoliberal policies got stronger in the 1990s with different the currency crisis around the world. Liberal thinkers talked about a crisis of governance and the concept of Global Governance was invented as a kind of social democratic answer to the internationalization of the state ...
Democracy instead of the Fiscal Treaty

We document here the call by the Association for critical societal research against the fiscal treaty as part of a solution to the European financial crisis. At the same time, the members of the Association mobilize with this call for the Bloccupy activities in Frankfurt Main Democracy instead of the Fiscal Treaty! We need a different approach to tackle the crisis, and a different EuropeSpring 2012 ...
On Common Good, Money and Credit

"As Kosick maintained, homo oeconomicus is not only a theoretical aberration, it is an aberration of reality. The idea of human beings that Neo-classical Economics portrays is, without a doubt, a degeneration, and does little as the explicative axis of current society and even less in relation to the structural crisis in which we are living ...
World Social Forum in Porto Alegre

The social movements assembly on the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre 2012 have adopted a declaration in which they point to their common struggles: against transnational corporations, for climate justice and food sovereignty, against violence against women, and for peace and against war, colonialism, occupations and militarization of our territories ...
Consciousness-raising and Prevention in the Struggle Against Violence and War

In November 2011, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels invited women peace activists, peace researchers and policy makers to the conference “Consciousness-Raising and prevention in the struggle against violence and war”. The conference aimed to facilitate the exchange of experiences of women in resisting and struggling against violence and war ...
Post-Demokratie in Italien und Griechenland ganz praktisch

Der lange heraus gezögerte Schuldenschnitt in den GIIPS-Staaten im Sinne eines Schulden Audits nach dem historischen Vorbild Ecuador ist das vielleicht drastischste Beispiel einer Politik ganz im Sinne der Banken. Der Schuldenschnitt, so wie er nun im Moment für Griechenland verabredet wurde tut den Banken, zumal denen in Deutschland, kaum weh ...
About the Israeli Social Justice Protests

Feminist and peace activist Dr. Ruchama Marton, founder and president of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, reports in this interview on the demonstrations in Israel since July 2011, its proliferation, the reaction of the media, the reactions of the government and the convocation to form 1000 round tables ...
Video Documentary: Caravan for the Freedom of Movement from Bamako to Dakar in February 2011

In May 2011, the video documentary on the Caravan for the Freedom of Movement from Bamako to Dakar has been finalized. The title of the video documentary is: "... denn wir leben von der gleichen Luft" (because we do breathe the same air) (published by timecode e.V.). The caravan took place in the context of the World Social Forum in Dakar in February 2011 ...
Call: For an audit of Tunisia’s debts to the EU

The Members of different Parliaments of Europe, both at national and European levels, call for an immediate suspension of EU debt repayment by Tunisia (with frozen interests) and an auditing of the debt.The press release was initiated by Marie-Christine Vergiat (Front de Gauche), Gabi Zimmer (Die Linke) MEP, and CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of the Third World Debt) ...
Euro-Crisis: in Ireland, the worst is yet to come

Ireland is to receive €85 billion from the European Financial Stabilization Facility, a large part of which will be passed on through to the country’s banks. Altogether, this credit line has been stocked up to the tune of €400 billion; on top of that comes €60 billion from the European Commission’s Financial Consolidation Mechanism ...
The Audio Book on Rosa Luxemburg is online

On Rosa Luxemburg's 140th birthday, an audio book was published featuring her biography. Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels and Berlin together with HörbuchFM produced this audio book. The audio book is now online. >> Website of audio book
World Social Forum 2011: From Dakar to Egypt and Back Again

These days, world history is being written in Cairo and other North-African cities and countries. But the ten-year old World Social Forum, which took place in mid-February in Dakar, Senegal, has proven itself to be an indispensible transnational space of encounters, for the development of strategy, or for launching campaigns ...
Solidarity-based and Co-operative Economy and Ethical Business

"This research on an alternative economy, based on co-operatives and solidarity, and on ethical business, points out opportunities for social transformation at a time of deep economic recession, financial instability, and loss of trust in the dominant capitalist economic model. It is particularly relevant as it aims at finding new ways to build common ground for a political alliance with a new left in Europe in these fields ...
Acting for the Transformation of our Societies - Examples from different world regions

For a long time the left has highlighted the emerging problems of the neoliberal counter-revolution. Persuasive analysis of the backgrounds of different but interconnected crisis have been developed. But what is less developed is the capability of the left to present concrete steps how to change the world we live in today ...
Entry Projects to a Politics of Solidarity

"An analysis of Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony reveals a “magic square” which societal forces must form in order to successfully challenge the ruling structure in a counter-hegemonic man-ner: The first side of that square is the emergence of the possibility for a new and higher societal stage of productivity ...
Organisational shortcomings and relative disorientation: The sixth European Social Forum in Istanbul (German)

More than 3000 people took part in the sixth European Social Forum in Istanbul, beginning of July 2010. In the centre of the European Social Forum was the topic of the crisis: the economic and financial crisis, the climate crisis, and water and energy conflicts. Critical report by Ulrich Brand, Vienna University, on the sixth European Social Forum in Istanbul ...
Processes of Social Participation associated with the New International Financial Architecture and the Transformation of the International Financial Regime

In the context of this structural crisis, to talk about social participation leads us to a key point: the role of political praxis in creating the historical subject within the scope of this systemic crisis of capitalism.I would like to start by stressing that this one is not merely a financial crisis ...

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Global power and resistance

The German political left and the European austerity policies: Challenges and debates in the fourth year of the crisis

Rosa Luxemburg and Challenges for a Socialism of the Twentyfirst Century (German)

Land Grabbing by Pension Funds and other Financial Institutions must be Stopped

The Common Good of Humanity – Actors and Strategies

Democracy instead of the Fiscal Treaty

On Common Good, Money and Credit

World Social Forum in Porto Alegre

Consciousness-raising and Prevention in the Struggle Against Violence and War

Post-Demokratie in Italien und Griechenland ganz praktisch

About the Israeli Social Justice Protests

Video Documentary: Caravan for the Freedom of Movement from Bamako to Dakar in February 2011

Call: For an audit of Tunisia’s debts to the EU

Euro-Crisis: in Ireland, the worst is yet to come

The Audio Book on Rosa Luxemburg is online

World Social Forum 2011: From Dakar to Egypt and Back Again

Solidarity-based and Co-operative Economy and Ethical Business

Acting for the Transformation of our Societies - Examples from different world regions

Entry Projects to a Politics of Solidarity

Organisational shortcomings and relative disorientation: The sixth European Social Forum in Istanbul (German)

Processes of Social Participation associated with the New International Financial Architecture and the Transformation of the International Financial Regime