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12/04/01

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Assembly > Medias > December 2001, 04

Analysis : The Last Debates within Socioprofessional Groups

Lille, with its usually more bashful Flemish population, has once again welcomed the world of citizens. Imagining the world we would like to live in, being realistic enough to ask for the impossible, thought gains ground. Participants become hardened, verbal sparring matches are organized. The middle of the week is when the debates are at their height.
The minutes of the different socioprofessional workshops are available on the site of the Assembly : www.alliance21.org for reference. We continue to skim over the discussions.

Teachers and Academics : After a difficult start, the two academic groups wrote up proposals. Some common views appeared: writing off of the debt is a means to make it possible for states to extend elementary or higher education to everyone, while improving its quality. The university needs to get involved in today's society because it paves the way to social changes: building a culture of peace, teaching sustainable development, etc. To achieve this, we have to particularly foster the integration of the university and teachers into human association networks … This also requires the decompartmentalization of knowledge in order to tackle new problems more efficiently. Lastly, we have to defend government schooling to make education central to society.

Political figures : The legitimacy of the participants is one of citizens expressing themselves and discussing topics together. The fact remains nonetheless that the legitimacy of the proposals made at the Lille Assembly is not so clear. How are the people who have not taken part in such proposals going to assess them? The condemnation of terrorism is unanimous. But we are concerned that the fight against terrorism might justify the institution of a new moral order that would curtail our liberties.

Trade Unions : The challenge is to go from a culture of a defensive fight against injustice in the work sphere to a culture of proposals, linked to other movements. We have to open up to society, without focusing too much on our sectors. The participants spontaneously put into practice their democratic culture by establishing a code of behavior based on equality as far as speaking time is concerned and on better listening.

Journalists : "Information is as vital as the water that we drink." In order to make as many people as possible read a newspaper, it would be necessary to reduce the price of newspapers so that information is more accessible, create a world network made by the people, for the people and about the people in order to be as close to them as possible.

Artists/Publishers : "In the search of a unity to face future challenges, it is necessary to regard innovations and traditions as being equally important in order to exploit the potential of cultural diversity." There is a lack of balance between high tech, which has developed very quickly, and ethical values, which have noticeably diminished.

Farmers/Fishermen : Globalization has turned farmers and fishermen into competitors having to fight with each other to survive. But all of them are victims. Farmers and fishermen must get organized. "We not only have to adopt a Charter, we have to put it into practice." The poorest farmers should get organized and not leave the job of representing them in the hands of others. This is a challenge for democracy.

Local authorities : Local democracy is the common place of all humankind. Local authorities demand the means to match their responsibilities. Material means, because it is in the local sphere that the fight against poverty, illness, famine, and lack of education is won. Powers equal to the challenges: local authorities should be able to become the interlocutors, on an equal footing, of financial decision makers, polluters, and of those who, in one way or another, damage the environment: "Ecological crimes should not benefit from a statute of limitations," claimed the group.

International Civil Servants : The Charter of the United Nations was adopted fifty years ago. In many respects it no longer meets the needs of a modern democracy. " Somehow, it acknowledges the right of states to wage wars!" But a new Charter necessary when some countries are still waiting, as a form of liberation, for existing conventions to be implemented? To many, a Charter must not merely be a collection of wishful declarations, it must be applied to the specific acts of citizens' lives.

Young people : Nacéra Aknak-Khan is from Algeria and is married to an Indian. She knows about the importance of wording in the collective formulation of universal values. The writing of a Charter of Human Responsibilities is the result of a thinking process that started four years ago, with the certainty that some concepts or principles cannot be universally applied due to the diversity of cultures. Today, the idea of a contract or a common pact seems to be acknowledged. We need to say jointly, for instance, and in writing, that we must be responsible in the construction of our societies.

Inhabitants : In the debate locally organized by inhabitants on the privatization of the economy and services, the question of a fairer sharing of wealth was raised. In Sri Lanka, the privatization of the domestic-waste collection service can contribute to providing jobs for the destitute. Associations need to be responsible for the organization of collection, on the administration's authority. The problem is that local policies are not always applied by recently privatized companies. Inhabitants are not allowed to have their say, the poorest feel that they are exploited and companies set their prices according only to the laws of the market.


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