Outlook As we celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, SUSAN CALDWELL a socialist feminist activist from Quebec, now working as co-director of the International Institute for Research and Education in Amsterdam, looks at the gains of last year's World March of Women Against Poverty and Violence.
While unfortunately little happened here in Britain in response to the project, in many other parts of the world it has led to bridges being built between existing feminist activists and younger women mobilising in opposition to capitalist Chanting and cheering, tens, hundreds and thoustrated in 159 countries 'during the second and third weeks of October last year. The World March of Against Poverty and Violence was al huge success - although ignored by the media of almost all countries On October 15 last year, 20,000 people marched in Washington. including some 2000 women and men from countries other than the United States. In New York, about rallied at the United Nations and then marched Square. They joined the March and represented women all World March of Women. Close to 100 countries were represented.
Notabic amons toc deiczatons were the large European continMarch of European Women, held broughi together almost women from Mexico, who arrived in a motorcade that set out from Chiapas. Some 50 Japanese women also attended, as well as a large of Native vibrant groups of women from Africa, Asia and the Middle Fast.
laese women represeat Dold & continuation of the WURCHS liberation From of young women seeing tions of young women and violence created by the neo-liberal globalisation. They are part of the mobilisa. tons against aco•nocru giooansa tion in Seattle. Washington, Melbourne and Prague - and now focused on the specific impact on T here are two maior new features of between this Women's March 2000 against Poverty and Violence: those joining agreed to a radical anti-neoliberal globalisation and anti-patriarchy platform, and, almost all were part that generated the simultaneous actions in each country as well as Focusing on the "female face of the platform of the Vomen's March 2000 calls for the abolition of the third world debt as well as rejection of the IMH and Word Bank's structural adjustment programmes. While noting the link and violence against women, the platform also that mans rich maintain patriarchal laws and pollcies that treat women as 'less than reinforce the violence that women suffer.
World March of Women demanded from the UN and its member States concrete measures to put sa cad to poverty and tac allferent forms of violence against demanded ACHUSUC respecteor the rights of all women regardless of their origin, their sexcultural affiliation.
And this mises a weakness of the Women's March 2000. While the platform is quite radical, the strategy is one of lobbying governments and various institutions ments. This flows from the origin of the call for the World March' of des Femmes du Québec (FFQ) after the UN Beijing Conference on Women Like other NGOs (non-govern mental organisations), the FFQ had taken part in the parallel confer. ence of NGOs same time, but on tac outskirts of Defing A s a result of the surprise success and impact the 1995 Brea and Roses March of Women Québec, they had concluded that governments paid public than just private lobbying. the in whích the FFO World March of Women in 2000. With the original being those CUBERCIS women-basca Nows that had been at Beijing, the lobbying strategy Thus the Women's March calls *ME Word Bank, and national gone very institutions - thc ernments that are the source of the problem - to reform themselves and to adopt and apply the human rights legislation to from violence and to ensure swift action against poverty and its effects on women and children.
nd seeking to operate in a demo ratic way, the FFQ was able to ge toe runding a conference in Montréal, Canada, develop and adopt the platform. The focus was on developing national unitary structures for the ging the development of national deminds and actions a well as international ones.
W hile the conference was exciting, conflict arose over the making (consensus versus vote-taking) and the inclusion of lesbian rights in the international platform when would ment of many women's organisa. ions from non-American or nonThis concern with the non-representativeness and the sometimes throughout the preparations for the World March But the very impact of ongoing neo-liberal globalisation lead to a • from women in the "first world' who had seen their gains of the 1970s and 1980s eroded as well as both job loss and increased from women in the 'third world' who saw the devastation of the structural adjustment on. educational and social services leading to virtually no puote neath care services will a consequent increase in maternal and inlant death rates and a retum of previously controlled illnesses such as TB and cholera who were both victims of violence by enemy soldiers and were further victimised as refugees in camps in nearby areas.
A t the Women's March in New York, six flict (Afghanistan, Colombia, Kurdistan, Republic of Yugoslavia) talked with and conviction of the effects of these conflicts, particularly on the lives of women and industry of death that travels from country to country in the form of arns and ofner kinds of traticking In all women from 159 different coutine within the framework of the World March of 1000 Against Poverty and Violence. Roushly five million signatures were collected from all over the planet in support 08 W0 00s poverty and violence women - and were presented to the UN.
The actions country sought specific changes to the minimum wage laws or to increased funding for tres or for education for girls, etc.
Few, if any, concrete changes can be seen as a result of these actions. But women have recognised the reality of ability collectively organise and the strength of this collective solidarity.
The decision has already been tional network set up for the Women's March and to begin discussing both a balance sheet and the prospects for future actions. including sections of the Fourth International, need to be part cascussions and organisa.
Ve need to push the platform to develop a more explicitly anti-capitalist analysis, going beyond lobby• misplaced faith national and international institu tions to either implement current rights accisiation reform themselves into progressive Organising needs expand to include more grass-roots women's organisations all which will raise again the question of the need for truly representative decision making structures feminists from the 1970s and 1980s and the women of the "Seattle generation' now taking place, there are grounds for hope.
The generation anti-capitalist because of their opposition to neo-liberal globalisaocing products of the period the by women's morement, are organically Consequently, the resurgence of a WHICH s hiberation movement 1s back on the acenda. Vur slogan ol the 1970s remains to be realised: "No socialist revolution women's liberation and women's liberation without social. ist revolution".
Outlook
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