Documentation of 7th Summer University in Portaria, Greece

More than 400 participants have been at the 7th Summer University of the European Left Party (EL) and transform!europe, which took place in Portaria, near the city of Volos, in the region of Thessaly in Greece, from 17 to 22 July.

In the epicentre of the crisis, this Summer University has had the crisis as its transversal theme. The effects of the austerity measures all over Europe, the pauperisation of society, but also the big popular resistance and important mobilisations in several countries, outline what is in the page the European people are turning at this new moment in history. The slogan of the summer university has been:

“Peoples of Europe, Unite!”

In cooperation with the Greek EL member parties of Synaspismos and AKOA, the Summer University gathered activists and members of parties and social movements from all over Europe, for debates on current political and social issues. 

The 4 thematic axes of this year’s Summer University have been:

1. Building Solidarity during the Crisis – Towards a New Society
2. Against Authoritarian Capitalism – For a Democratic, Social, Ecological and Feminist Europe 
3. The Future of Europe and the Relation of Europe with the Rest of the World
4. The Cooperation among Parties, Trade Unions and Social Movements on a National and European Level

During the workshops and the plenaries, participants shared experiences and discussed policies and initiatives for the construction of an alternative Europe.

Find a series of videos as well as a picture gallery on the website of the summer university as well as in the documentation on the right and below

transform! took care of collecting reports on various seminars and plenaries, the result is the documentation for download on the right. The responsibility for the content of the reports stays with the respective authors.

Many thanks to all who contributed to this documentation!

 

Contents:

1^st Thematic Axis: Building Solidarity During the Crisis – Towards a New Society

Plenary:

• Building Solidarity during the Crisis (by Panagiotis Pantos, NPI)

2^nd Thematic Axis: Against Authoritarian Capitalism. For a Democratic, Social, Peaceful, Ecological and Feminist Europe

Workshops:

• Is Feminism out of Fashion or Do We Still Need it? (by Barbara Steiner, transform!europe)
• Overcoming Ecological Crisis: Radical Proposals for an Alternative Development (by Haris Konstantatos, SYRIZA) 
• Young People During the Crisis: Precarity and Collective Action (by Inger V. Johansen, transform!Danmark and by Dimitris Karamanis, ENDYL and Youth of Synaspismos)
• Immigrants: Solidarity, Collective Action and Common Class Struggle (in French by Gregory Mauzé)
• Culture and Crisis (by José Soeiro, cul:tra)

Plenary: 

• Crisis, Neoliberal Domination and Post-Democracy (by Loudovikos Kotsonopoulos and Barbara Steiner)

3^rd Thematic Axis: The Future of Europe – Europe and the World

Plenary:

• The Crisis in Europe as a Part of the Global Crisis (by Louis Weber; Espaces Marx)

Workshops:

• European Crisis and the Evolution of a new Political Landscape (by Louis Weber; Espaces Marx)
• Is the Eurozone Sustainable? (by Peter Fleissner, transform!at, Austria)
• The Geopolitical Effects of the Crisis (Anna Striethorst, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels)
• EU: Integration or Disintegration? (by Inger Johansen (Member of the EL Secretariat, transform! Danmark, Denmark)

4^th Thematic Axis: “United We Stand”: Cooperation Among Parties, Trade-Unions and Social Movements on a National and European Level

Workshop:

• “We are the 99%”: Emerging Social Actors in the Crisis (by Veronique Sandoval, Espaces Marx)