<nettime> Re: seattle: (a)moral colonization

[Alain Kessi <kessi@bitex.com>]

wade tillett wrote:

> what we should keep in mind about the wto protest in seattle is
> that it was a wto protest in seattle.
> 
> that is, not only the wto, but also the wto protest, represented
> first world interests. specifically, it represented american
> interests.

seems to me like the usual us-centric view with a dose of cultural
pessimism. i agree that the results of the protests and the probable
attempts at recuperating them need to be carefully looked at, and the
result of such evaluation be taken into account in developing future
strategies of struggle. but it's the corporate media's job to deny the
participation of groups from all over the world in the protests (cf. n30
<http://www.n30.org> with its decentralized actions all over the world),
and the fact that the seattle protest is but one manifestation of a
rising global movement of protests and strategy-building (pga
<http://www.agp.org>, reclaim the streets <http://www.gn.apc.org/rts/>,
via campesina, to name but a few contributions to such global
networking) - it's not your job (unless you'd like to support the
mainstream media in their efforts to keep such a movement invisible).

> why do you think that the protest in seattle got so much media
> coverage?

maybe just because media have a dynamic of profit of their own which is
not always completely in line with the general capitalist interests of
denying protest? if the protest is "newsworthy" (will boost readership
and through it advertizing), it will make first page. what is
"newsworthy" is a complex matter, but definitely, knowing a bit about
this strange concept can provide ways of manipulating the media in some
situations. i think seattle is a case in point.

> why do you think clinton was so eager to hop on the bandwagon?

clinton was hardly hopping on the bandwagon - he knows this bandwagon is
useless for him. he was helplessly trying to redirect what had become
scary by redefining it as an afl-cio "buy american and think of the poor
in the world" thing. helplessly, because it was clear to anyone
interested that the protests were not controlled by afl-cio, sierra club
or other reformists but by people who are slightly less controllable and
cooptable. of course, within the scope of his redefinition of reality,
clinton saw an opportunity to put protectionist measures on the agenda
(social clause to be selectively used against colonized/dependent
countries pressured to abolish workers' rights - and then punished for
it) and attempt a new social contract between afl-cio and us government.
it didn't work, really. not that the afl-cio is not interested, of
course. but the chaos within and without the wto was complete.

of course the wto and capitalist elites will attempt to save what can be
saved, and will be busy developing a new strategy of attack in order to
destroy the movements building up. just don't declare victory for the
strategists of capitalist attacks in advance. the struggle continues,
and it's not the first struggle that had to face the possibility of
parts of it being recuperated for other/contrary aims. in fact, i
presume that every struggle can be recuperated. the point is to be aware
of that, to watch out and to develop new strategies when you see that
the old ones start working against you.

not everyone fighting the wto is trying to install the next version of
oppressive systems to replace those against which effective ways of
struggling have been developed. not everyone protesting corporate
strategies babbles on and on about civil society and sustainability and
such modernized capitalist crap (developed by such strategists of
capital as the club of rome, stefan schmidheiny, anthony giddens and
juergen habermas).

best,

alain

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