Experiences in transnational networking - exchanging ideas

This discussion event is organised by a grassroot network of internationalist groups and organizations in Germany, called the Bundeskoordination Internationalismus (BUKO). The network has existed for more than 35 years and one of its primary political objectives is promoting and getting involved in solidarity actions with social movements and activists in the global South, disseminating information and their positions, learning from them and fighting with them against those economic and power structures in the global North that often have a devastating impact on the lives of people elsewhere. Against this background, we would like to present some experiences in solidarity work we have made so far, and the many questions we have. For example: Social movements in different places have different forms of organising themselves internally. As a network, the BUKO is organised in a strictly non-hierachical manner. However, movements in other places are sometimes organised in either a more hierachical way or a more loosely organised in networks of friends, families, neighbourhoods. How does that impact our cooperation? Or, another example: Activists in the global North often live in economically more secure conditions if compared to those from the global South. However, this does not mean that activists or organisations in the global North are necessarily rich by the standards of their own society. What does that mean for our cooperation? How can we take account of the different material conditions activists are living in and the hierarchies associated with this, without subscribing to a simple, and often false, poor – rich dichotomy? And in what types of activities should international solidarity actually result?

This will be a moderated, interactive discussion in English with the various groups and activists present at the BUKO congress both from the global North and South. There will be no translation to German.