When/Where
Fr., 15. January 21
7:00-9:30 pm
Sa., 16. January 21
10:30am -8:00 pm
online on zoom and live on Facebook
Donate
The Other Davos costs a fair bit of money. All the more we are dependent on your financial support!
Every January, the Movement for Socialism (BFS/MPS) organises a counter-event to the World Economic Forum (WEF) – The Other Davos. Even though the WEF 2021 will not take place in Davos as usual, the new global conditions urge us to stick to the Other Davos.
The Corona pandemic is plunging capitalism into an enormous crisis that is rapidly worsening the living and working conditions of workers around the world. The costs of the economic and health crises are being shifted on to the people and the environment in the usual manner. Especially in ecological terms, the motto of WEF 2021 – „The Great Reset in the Post-Covid-19-Era“ – shows us that the policies of the powerful will lead us directly into disaster: Humanity simply cannot afford to restart capitalism again.
The Other Davos, which will take place on 15./16. January 2021, puts the intricacies between capitalism, pandemics and social crises at the centre of debate. We focus on the impact of the crises on working people, the health sector, living conditions in the Global South, the environment and the climate, and the feminized care sector.
Starting from the massive dislocations which are playing out along social, gender and ecological lines, we want to discuss responses of solidarity to the crises. As a counterpart to the attacks from above, we are currently experiencing a plethora of strong and globally networked social movements. For some years now, the feminist, the ecological and the anti-racist movements have been demonstrating alternatives to the neoliberal order. At the same time, they challenge the Left to rethink traditional ways of thinking and organizing, to deal with new questions and challenges, and to network in new ways. The Other Davos has wanted to contribute to this networking since its inception in 1999.
This year’s guests include the well-known ecosocialist John Bellamy Foster, the Indonesian Marxist Intan Suwandi, activists from Black Lives Matter in the US and from the anti-racist movement in Switzerland, trade union and feminist activists from the health sector in France, Germany, Italy and many more. The event will take place online via Zoom (participation links on sozialismus.ch) and will be partly streamed live on Facebook. The conference will be translated into English, French and German.
Program overview
Friday, 15. January 2021, 7-9:30 pm
Plenary: Capitalism and COVID-19 – Causes of the Catastrophe
The Corona pandemic is one of the greatest catastrophes in recent history. At the opening plenary of the Other Davos, we want to examine the systemic causes of the pandemic and the vulnerability of capitalist society.
Zoom-Link
Meeting ID: 890 8830 7634
Kenncode: 864738
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 10:30 am – 1 pm
Capitalism and Ecology: From Climate Change to Pandemic
The Corona pandemic is not an act of a punitive God. The threat of an uncontrollable virus was massively facilitated by capitalism which requires a specific relationship towards nature: ruthless appropriation, rapid advancement and driven by the need for profit.
Zoom-Link
Meeting-ID: 854 0519 0272
Kenncode: 265997
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 10:30 am – 1 pm
Corona, Care and the Crisis
People clapping on balconies, thank you gifts for the heroes of the care sector and words of praise from government representatives of all parties at press conferences. These images are all too familiar to us in Switzerland. It is a mere symbolic „thank you“ for the endless work which workers in the education, care, nursing and health sectors have done in recent months.
Zoom-Link
Meeting ID: 867 5892 3299
Kenncode: 518111
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 10:30 am – 1 pm
Exchange for People of Colour (PoC) on the topic of self-empowerment
Diversum is an organisation for PoC of all genders and sexual orientations. We organise meetings for exchange and anti-racist workshops for organisations in the education sector.
Zoom-Link
Meeting-ID: 851 1067 0167
Kenncode: 315169
Lunch Break
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 2:30 pm – 5 pm
Imperialism and the Pandemic in the Global South
Following its first outbreak at the end of 2019, the Corona virus spread around the world at lightning speed. Globalised trade and (business) travel allowed the virus to reach all parts of the world in a matter of weeks.
Zoom-Link
Meeting-ID: 831 5502 0327
Kenncode: 238938
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 2:30 pm – 5 pm
Black Lives Matter and the new anti-racist movement
The Corona crisis is unfolding in a system of racism and domination. Like so many injustices, structural racist discrimination and exploitation was made more visible and has intensified during the crisis. At the same time, there was an explosive resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, partly as a direct reaction to the murders of Ahmaud Arberry, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
Zoom-Link
Meeting ID: 865 9564 7835
Kenncode: 810919
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 2:30 pm – 5 pm
Decolonise the climate movement!
The looming climate catastrophe and the global divide which separates the world into a rich North and a poor Global South share the same colonial past. Colonialism and neo-colonialism, i.e. the expulsion and exploitation of the populations in the Global South as well as the appropriation of the natural resources, made the rise of the Global North possible in the first place.
Zoom-Link
Meeting-ID: 814 6264 0124
Kenncode: 167287
Saturday, 16. January 2021, 6 pm – 8 pm
Plenary: The World is in Crisis – let’s develop Alternatives in Solidarity!
The first wave of the Corona pandemic and its consequences shook the stability of global capitalism to an extent unknown in recent decades. It led the world into an economic crisis the likes of which we have not seen since the 1930s. The costs of the crisis are being shifted onto working people in the usual manner. After having made massive profits during the past years, companies do not hesitate for a moment to make us pay for the crisis with layoffs, wage cuts, higher working hours and worse working conditions.
Zoom-Link
Meeting ID: 850 6298 8679
Kenncode: 790598
