Глобальное народное действие: История и принципы антиглобалистского движения

Peoples' Global Action (PGA) was the name of a worldwide co ordination of radical social movements, grassroots campaigns and direct actions in resistance to capitalism and for social and environmental justice. PGA was part of the anti globalization movement.

The initial inspiration for the formation of PGA came from a global meeting called in 1996 by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). They had started a grassroots uprising in the impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas on New Year's Day 1994 when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. The Zapatistas called for a gathering, called an 'encuentro' (encounter), of international grassroots movements to meet in specially constructed arenas in the Chiapas jungle to discuss common tactics, problems and solutions. Six thousand people attended, from over 40 countries, and declared that they would form "a collective network of all our particular struggles and resistances an intercontinental network of resistance against neoliberalism (and) for humanity". In August 1997, the European Zapatista support network called for a Second 'Encuentro' in Spain, which it had planned with the Zapatistas during the 1996 encuentro. Delegates came again of movements from around the world, such as the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST) who occupies unused land to create farms, and the other Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha KRRS (Karnataka State Farmers Association) from India, renowned for their "cremate Monsanto" campaign, which involved burning fields of genetically modified crops. Here some of the primary objectives and organisational principles of the emerging network were drafted. In February 1998, movements from all continents met again, this time in Geneva, where Peoples' Global Action was launched.

The PGA used a horizontalist form of organizing, influenced by anarchist political models that saw the means and the ends as aligned. In part its structure and mode of organizing was developed as a critique of ‘vertical’ or authoritarian movements.

Peoples' Global Action had three main types of activities. Global Days of Action, Intercontinental/International and Regional Conferences, and Caravans through which activists from one part of the world, would travel to another part of the world to build solidarity.

So far, PGA's major function has been to serve as a political space for coordinating decentralised Global Action Days around the world, to highlight the global resistance of popular movements to capitalist globalisation. The first Global Action Days, during the 2nd WTO ministerial conference in Geneva in May 1998, involved tens of thousands of people in more than 60 demonstrations and street parties on five continents. Subsequent Global Action Days have included the Carnival Against Capital (June 18, 1999), the 3rd World Trade Organization summit in Seattle, USA (November 30, 1999), the International Monetary Fund / World Bank meeting in Prague, Czech Republic (September 26, 2000), the G8 meeting in Genoa, Italy (June 21, 2000) the 4th WTO summit in Qatar (November 9, 2001), etc.

Groups involved in PGA have also organised global and regional conferences, workshops and other events in many regions of the world. Since the 1998 event in Geneva, Global PGA conferences have been held before WTO ministerials: in Bangalore, India (1999), and in Cochabamba, Bolivia (2001). Regional Conferences have been held in Europe (Athens, Milan, Belgrade, Barcelona, Dijon, Leiden), Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Brazil, Bangladesh, New Zealand (Aotearoa) and the United States.

A Peoples' Global Action gathering in Europe took place from August 19 to September 3, in France, in a decentralised fashion in 2006. The first nine days were distributed over five sites, each with specific themes, while the last five days took place in a central location, the autonomous space « Les Tanneries » in Dijon.

The first version of the first PGA hallmark called for "A very clear rejection of the WTO and other trade liberalisation agreements (like APEC, the EU, NAFTA, etc.) as active promoters of a socially and environmentally destructive globalisation;)" This was critiqued for being too broad, and allowing the participation of right wing/nationalist movements within the PGA. Some criticized the participation of Mike Dolan, who worked for Ralph Nader's Public Citizen consumer watchdog group, who raised funds for the PGA Caravan, and who later spoke in support of the right wing presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Dolan sent around a newspaper article in which Buchanan openly says: "American workers and people first." When Dolan's actions and viewpoint were criticised from the grassroots level, Michael Morrill, the coordinator of the American PGA caravan, took his side. "Let's work together when we can, work in parallel when we must, but never work against each other when our goal is the elimination of the WTO and its corporate benefactors." As a result, the PGA Hallmarks were edited in order to make opposition to capitalism, colonialism, racism and patriarchy more explicit. Nonetheless, until at least 2004, PGA events continued to attract right wing anti globalist activists. The 2004 European PGA conference in Jajinci, Belgrade agreed that "a fascist coming as an interested individual, respecting the hallmarks and whose behaviour during the conference was fine wouldn't be a problem." Although a rider was subsequently added, this controversy was fuelled by the sympathies held by Leonid Savin (the co ordinator of the Ukraine PGA info point) with politics of Alexander Dugin. After Savin was shown to be an activist associated with the Eurasia Party, the PGA Ukraine info point was removed from the PGA website. See also National anarchism.

The following organizations were amongst those who participated in PGA conferences, caravans or global days of action.