CA/Continuations/Discussion Group
<section begin=intro />The Anti-Austerity Discussion Group is a series of discussions about how people locally and around the world are resisting austerity and building strong coalitions to protect access to public services, education, and a basic social safety net. Our goals are to educate ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and develop a shared analysis of austerity and a shared orientation to strategies that work.<section end=intro />
Discussion Questions
- European Austerity Crisis
- We are looking at pushback against elite-imposed austerity in the countries listed below, either one country at a time, or in small groups of countries. We're starting with Spain:
- France
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Portugal
- Spain
Upcoming Study Group Event
Facebook Invite Page: Anti-Austerity Study Group
When: Saturday, August 11, 2012
Time: 10:00am
Where: 214 NE Thompson Street (map)
Topic: Anti-Austerity Movements in Spain.
Study Assignments
- Spain
- As the Spanish government got its €65bn austerity package passed in Parliament, millions of people took to the streets in unprecedented demonstrations against cuts on July 19. The day after, as the Valencian regional government asked for a central government bail out (of 3.5bn euro), the risk premium on Spanish bonds hit a new record, while 10 year bonds were yielding 7.3%. The Spanish economy is on the verge of a full bail out.
- This documentary examines the rise of the 15M movement, a year later from six people who lived in the Barcelona occupation of Catalonia Square. They meet again to discuss the beginning of the movement, what happened to the country this year and what role should the movement play in the future.
- A SWEEPING $80 billion austerity program pushed by Spain's right-wing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been met by a new surge of workers' resistance, with miners leading the way and public-sector workers joining the battle with street blockades in the capital city of Madrid.
- Struggles converge as miners, firefighters, judges, public employees, the unemployed and even the army step up their resistance against EU-enforced cuts.
- European Austerity Crisis
Lots of good material at the following resources:
Previous Topics
Notes of previous discussions located here: Discussion Group Archive