Actions and Events on 21/04 [Tuesday] (GWA)

GCal Events[Block 1] Calendar ID Not Set!

21/04/2009

All groups are asked to list their reports (incl. videos and pictures) in connection with protests and events on April 21st inside here!

Planned actions for today (as far as I know):

  • Germany (Marburg): info booth on campus + public lecture
  • Germany (Münster): public camping + film presentation of protests worldwide
  • Croatia (Zagreb): Various groups will occupy the university building of one faculty, consisting of about 5,000 students. They will offer an alternative programme, inform about the Global Week of Action and its development and promote the global
    perspective of our struggle against the commercialization of education.
    (20 - 26/04 or longer)
  • Finland (Tampere): Week of Action across the country (20 - 24/04); for more info on the local week of action, click here.

Tampere (Finland)

The student movement served free soup and provided information in front of a university building as part of a boycott on Sodexo (there is a Sodexo restaurant in the building). A reporter from a prime Finnish newspaper documented the action, as well as several other medias.
On-going reading circles at the university presented themselves, and there were public discussions on selected texts by Bourdieu, Gramsci and on a pamphlet called "Wissensarbeit Macht Frei".

In the evening a Finnish movie called "Vihreä leski" [Green widow] was shown. The movie is about the anxiety and alienation caused by suburbanity.


Casablanca (Morocco)

Projections and displays on public education at the University of Casablanca.

Zagreb and Zadar (Croatia)

The Independent Student Initiative for the Right to Free Education is continuing the peaceful occupation of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb which started on Monday at noon. The students have stopped classes and exams, and instead are holding an alternative educational program. Instead of the normal classes, students were able to attend discussions and lectures on similar student protests that were held in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; neoliberalism, Croatian transition and economic democracy; consumerism; anarchism and education, and so on. Mark Kramer from Harvard University held a lecture on Cold War. Movie screenings were also held: "Czech Dream", "Money as Debt" and "Beyond Elections: Redifining Democracy in Americas" were among the movies that were shown.

The official web page with information on the occupation is available in Croatian here. There is also a press release translated in English and German which can be read here.
Some photos taken during the first day of the occupation can be seen here.

A report in English (and photos) about the protest in Zagreb is available at Javno.com

On Tuesday, students from the University of Zadar decided to occupy their University also. They too have stopped normal classes and exams, and are holding alternative educational program instead. They have joined their colleagues in Zagreb in protesting against the commercialization of education and demanding free education for all, as well as greater involvement of students in the reforms of the educational system.

So far there is no definitive information whether similar actions will be taken at other universities in the country, but some students from other universities have expressed interest in organizing some sort of protest.

-----------------------------------------

Addition added by "Mo":

I also received the information from an activist in Zadar, that things are going great so far and their protests are also being supported by some professors and the provost. Workshops on various issues (from democracy and neoliberalism to scholarships and anarchism).

A recent article on the protests in Croatian can be read here.

Some pictures can be accessed here.

Copenhagen (Denmark) [on 22/04]

The students have succesfully occupied the central administration of Copenhagen University!!
Furthermore we did the flashmob with extraordinary energi :-)!!! and we are now in the proces ogf putting it together! what about the rest of the flashmobs??? any update??
We used the flashmob as a means to enter the administration buildings, with massive press representation!!!!!
We are currently in most of the big newspapers, an have launched our own portal. From where we publish the newest initiatives and our concrete propositions for a new university reform!
I will post link for both relevant media and for our own portal soon!!

Unite worldwide RyE-denmark

Münster (Germany)

After a film screening ("Summer of resistance"; about the German student movement against tuition fees in 2006/07) students set up a camping site in front of the castle calling it "Protest Camp". Many interested people dropped by discussed various topics and prepared things for the upcoming national week of action in June (bildungsstreik2009.de; in German).

Source: Bildungsstreik-Muenster.de


ShareThis