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Because the system is not going to fall by itself, the CADTM Europe Summer School near Namur in Belgium from 30 June to 2 July will be a chance for activists, organisers and militants from all over Europe to get together and share their news and experience of their current struggles and discuss what strategies might stop the vicious circles of indebtedness and capitalism with their destructive effects. These discussions, organised in concurrent but freely interchangeable series, will be followed by musical evenings.
5th CADTM Europe Summer School - What’s that all about ?
From Friday 30th of June to Sunday 2nd of July, the 5th CADTM Europe Summer School will be held in the cultural center of La Marlagne in Wépion near Namur (Belgium).
The system will never fall, if it is not toppled over. Our Summer School will be the place to be for those across Europe who share this goal. We’ll meet, share, discuss on current struggles and strategies we need to set up in order to put an end to the cycles of debt, capitalism and its destructive mechanisms. Creditors’ diktats in the European Union, domination through debt in the Global South, vulture funds’ misbehaviour, illegitimate private debts, women’s oppression, destruction of the environment… We do have reasons to fight!
Could there be a better place than Belgium to talk about all this? It is located in the heart of fortress Europe and near places where austerity policies are decided. Never mind if the sky is not so blue. It precisely gives us another reason to storm heaven.
But we shall not forget it’s summer time, a perfect time to seize the day! The CADTM team is preparing activist and festive parties. Among these, you’ll have access to theatre, slam and DJs performances!
The event will take place in less than one month and you can already sign up! As regulars could tell you, unfortunately there’s a limited number of seats and every time it’s full. So hurry up and get the word out! And if you want to get involved in the event preparation and the communication around it, feel free to contact us at inscriptions at cadtm.org.
COMPLETE PROGRAMME BY COURSE |
THURSDAY 29 JUNE |
| From 5:30 p.m.: | Opening |
| 8 to 10 p.p.: | Screening of Capitaine Thomas Sankara |
No meal on Thursday night, so be sure to bring your picnic!
FRIDAY 30 JUNE |
From 8 a.m.: Opening and registration
| OPENING PLENARY 10 TO 12:30 |
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| ‘Down with illegitimate debt: here and now!’ with Éric Toussaint (CADTM International), Zoe Konstantopoulou (Greece), Lucile Daumas (Attac Cadtm Morocco), Antoine Deltour (Luxleaks). Slam - Peter Assaghle (Attac Gabon). Chair: Christine Vanden Daelen (CADTM Belgium). Interpreting ENG<->FR, FR<->ESP |
| 12:30 to 2 p.m.: Lunch and screening of L’Audit - Enquête sur la dette grecque by Maxime Kouvaras (The Audit—Enquiry into Greek Debt, in French) (ZinTV, 26 mn) |
| 2 to 4 p.m.: WORKSHOPS |
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| ‘Debt in the South, a timeline’ - ANIMATION with César Chantraine and Rémi Vilain (CADTM Belgium) IMF, World Bank, structural adjustment programmes, 1980 debt crisis, HIPC initiative, united front against debt – what is all this about? Where does the debt of the third world come from? You’d like to know more about the ‘debt system’? This workshop is for you! |
| ‘States served on a plate to vulture funds’ with Renaud Vivien (CADTM Belgium), Olivier Stein (Progress Lawyers Network). Chair: Jehosheba Bennett (CADTM Belgium). Interpreting FR<->ESP, FR<->ENG Vulture funds buy the debts of countries in crisis at, say, 10% of their face value then claim 100% repayment. Argentina recently fell foul of this practice. How can we fight them? Why is the law voted by the Belgian parliament in 2015 contested in court by one of the most powerful vulture funds on a global scale? This workshop, with the lawyer representing the CADTM in the legal and political battle against those financial predators, will come up with some answers. |
| ‘Down with toxic micro-credits!’ with Lucile Daumas (ATTAC CADTM Morocco) et Broulaye Bagayogo (CAD Mali). Chair: Christine Vanden Daelen. Based as they are on profit, micro-credit institutions not only exploit poverty but drive their victims into desperate predicaments. However, women stand up, resist and win victories. New alternatives are put into place. |
| ‘How can eco-feminism help fight the current many-sided crisis?’ with Marijke Colle (Climat Justice Sociale, Belgium), Marta Pascual (Acción Ecologista, Spain). Chair: Noémie Cravatte (CADTM Belgium). Interpreting ESP<->FR |
| 4 to 4 :30 p .m.: tea/coffee break |
| 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: WORKSHOPS |
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| ‘Debt of the North: Whodunnit’ - ANIMATION with Anouk Renaud (CADTM Belgium) and Najla Mulhondi (CADTM Belgium) Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, etc. Yes, the debt crisis has reached countries of the North for some time now. This workshop sheds light on those actors (institutions as much as individuals) who are responsible for this increase in sovereign debt. |
| ‘Why is the doctrine of odious debt still relevant?’ with Éric Toussaint (CADTM International) and Zoe Konstantopoulou. Interpreting EN<->FR The doctrine of odious debt as formulated by the Russian jurist Alexander Sack in 1927 has been used by several political decision makers. The Committee for Truth on Greek Debt also made use of it. How should it be interpreted? How can we use it today to cancel debt, whether in the South or in the North? |
| ‘Debt and financial crime: let us blow the whistle!’ with Antoine Deltour, whistleblower in the LuxLeaks affair |
| ‘Debt and free trade: what is at stake? How can we mobilize?’ with Virginie de Romanet (CADTM Belgium), Monica Vargas (TNI), Bettina Müller (ATTAC/CADTM Argentina) Interpreting ESP<->FR |
| 6:30 to 8 p.m. | Evening meal and annoucements |
| 8 to 9:15 p.m. | One-woman-show conference by Aline Fares |
| 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. | Slams! |
| From 10:30 p.m. | Dj Kitoko |
SATURDAY 1ST JULY |
From 8 a.m.: Opening and registration
| 9:30 to 12:30: WORKSHOPS |
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| ‘How do banks function?’ - ANIMATION with Aline Fares (CADTM Belgium) and Roxane Zadvat (CADTM Belgium) Banks, which are often the source of financial crises, can hardly be bypassed in our everyday lives. This deserves a dynamic illustration by a former Dexia employee! |
| ‘Latin America: the end of a cycle?’ with Bettina Müller (ATTAC/CADTM Argentina), José Ignacio Acuña H. (CADTM Venezuela – to be confirmed). Chair: Maud Bailly. Interpreting ESP<->FR |
| ‘Unnecessary Imposed Mega Projects and ecological debt’ with Lucile Daumas (Attac Cadtm Morocco). Chair: Sébastien Kennes. |
| ‘Swapping practices in citizens’s audit of the debt’ – PARTICIPATIVE WORKSHOP with Yago Alvarez Barba (PACD Madrid), Marie Claude Carrel (CAC Grenoble) et Virginie de Romanet (ACiDe Bruxelles). Chair: Jérémie Cravatte (ACiDe) & Chiara Filoni (CADTM Belgium/ICAN). Interpreting ENG<->FR |
| 12:30 to 2 p.m.: Lunch and screening of L’Audit - Enquête sur la dette grecque by Maxime Kouvaras (ZinTV, 26 mn) |
| 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.: WORKSHOPS |
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| ‘Women against Austerity, debt is dead’ - ANIMATION with Magali Verdier (Vie Féminine) and Christine Vanden Daelen (CADTM Belgium). Debt is the Trojan horse in an unprecedented social war against the peoples of Europe, and it is not gender-neutral. While women bear the brunt of the worst social regressions enforced by austerity, they are the true creditors of the debt. |
| ‘Belfius is and must remain public!’ with Michael Verbauwede (PTB), Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo), Micheline Bruyninckx (SETCa FGTB). Chair: Aline Fares Belfius was bought over by the Belgian state after Dexia’s second defaulting in 2011. It is now the first bank of the public sector in the country and is entirely owned by the State. The campaign entitled ‘Belfius est à nous’ (Belfius is ours) is combating the current government’s privatization project and leading the debate on how citizens can monitor the bank to optimize how it fulfils missions of general interest. |
| ‘Down with debts that crush farmers!’ with Vanessa Martin (FUGEA), Olivier Chantry (CADTM Spain). Chair: Giulia Simulla (CADTM Belgium, Via Campesina). Interpreting ESP<->FR In the North as in the South, debt and public policies have been used as political weapons to steer the farming system towards extractivism and an agro-industrial production. At the cost of farmers that are crushed in the process. |
| ‘What are the challenges to be met by the Left in the Eurozone?’ with Eric Toussaint (CADTM International), Angela Klein (SOZ/European marches against unemployment), Zoe Konstantopoulou (former Speaker of the Greek Parliament), Miguel Urban (GUE/Anticapitalistas MEP). Interpreting FR<->ESP; FR<->ENG; ESP<->ENG |
| 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: | Meeting of local and national CADTM groups |
| 6:30 to 8 p.m.: | Evening and meal annoucements |
| 8 to 9:15 p.m. : | Theatre perfomance : Sans, by la Voix des Sans Papiers |
| From 10:30 p.m.: | Dj Miss Sirocco |
SUNDAY 2 JULY |
From 8 a.m.: Opening and registration
| 9:30 to 12:30: WORKSHOPS |
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| ‘Down with neocolonialism!’ with Nicolas Sersiron (CADTM France), Broulaye Bagayogo (CAD Mali), Rémi Vilain (CADTM Belgium). Western powers’ hold on Africa did not stop with colonization. New devices, particularly in the economic arena, prevent peoples from achieving emancipation, for instance the CFA franc and conversion of debt into investments. Come and find out. |
| ‘How to bring a direct action against vulture funds’ – PARTICIPATIVE WORKSHOP with Alexandre Liesenborghs (Barricade), Camille Fleury; ‘resource persons’: Renaud Vivien (CADTM Belgium), Olivier Stein (Progress Lawyers Network). |
| ‘Down with banks that throw us out of our homes’ with Eva Betavatzi, Fátima Martín. Chair: Pierre Gottiniaux. Interpreting FR<->ESP, FR<->ENG In the US 14 million households were evicted by banks. In Spain over 300, 000 households are the victims of laws that go back to Franco’s time. In Greece banks now feel free to expel families who cannot pay their mortgage. But a new kind of movement and mobilisation is emerging to withstand such policies. |
| ‘Down with social debt!’ with Hélène Crouzillat (Matermittentes), Bernadette Schaeck (ADAS – Défense des allocataires sociaux (defence of benefits recipients)), Vicente Losada (health audit in Madrid, PACD). Interpreting ESP<->FR |
| 12:30 to 2 p.m.: Lunch and screening of L’Audit - Enquête sur la dette grecque (The Audit—Enquiry into Greek Debt, in French) by Maxime Kouvaras (ZinTV, 26 mn) |
| CLOSING PLENARY FROM 2 TO 4 p.m. |
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| ‘We can no longer afford to obey… Testimonies and experiences of resistance’ with Bettina Müller (ATTAC/CADTM Argentina), Renaud Vivien (CADTM Belgium) Catherine Tellier (Mouvement d’Action Paysanne/MAP, Via Campesina Europe, paysanne), Frank Vanaerschot (Fairfin, Belfius est à nous !), Fatima Martin (PACD, CADTM). Slam - Peter Assaghle (Attac Gabon). Chair: Christine Vanden Daelen. Interpreting FR<->ESP ; FR<->ENG ; ESP<->ENG |
REGISTRATION RATES |
| 3 days full board and lodging: 75€ / students and low incomes: 40€ 3 days full board and lodging in camp-site: 60€ / students and low incomes: 30€ Camping accommodation is no longer available.
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Practical details will be sent to enrolled participants in good time.
