Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Water Justice Day in Tunis

More than 80 people from around the world -- representing at least 25 different organizations -- gathered for a 'Water Justice Day' forum at the Université de Tunis in advance of the World Social Forum.

Presentations were heard from water movement activists from Turtle Island/ North America, India, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Asia, Chile, Europe, France, Greece, Italy, and Palestine.

Numerous threats to the right to water were highlighted by the 12 speakers, including resource extraction (notably the tar sands in Canada), austerity measures, privatization, water meters, river linking, dams, the financialization of nature, pollution, and occupation.

All noted the importance of resistance and democratic movements, while noting that appropriate public consultation is often absent when water justice is violated, and that even referendums and laws have been ignored.

For the second part of the day's program, we began presentations and discussions on strategies and tools to resist threats to global water justice, as well as a special presentation on water struggles here in Tunisia.

Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: Brent Patterson

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