Friday, December 7, 2018

France: Social justice, climate justice: this is a change of course that we need to impose

By a collective of political and civilian personalities
6 December 2018

At the initiative of ATTAC (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and for Citizens' Action) and the Foundation Copernic, trade unionists, community and political leaders, researchers, university staff and artists call to protest peacefully on the street en masse on December 8, the day of mobilizations for international climate justice, in convergence with the fourth day of mobilization of the Yellow Vests.

Social justice, climate justice: this is a change of course that we need to impose

Tribune. The movement of the Yellow Vests puts the whole of the social policy of the Government in the public debate. More broadly they are neoliberal policies implemented by successive Governments for decades. More difficult months, always increased casualisation of labour, unfair taxes, living conditions deteriorate, this is the situation suffered by the majority of the population. In particular, with regard to women, many to get involved in this movement. At the same time, tax evasion has never been as important and wealthiest were offered multiple tax breaks: abolition of the wealth tax, the  flat tax of 30% of income from the capital who are no longer subject to progressive tax, reduction in the corporate income tax... In these conditions, the increase in taxes on fuels appeared as "the drop of water that makes the vase overflow."

Despite an attempted takeover of the movement by the far right on, it is characterized by its horizontal self-organization and poses the requirement of real democracy against a Presidency bossy and contemptuous. At a time where the COP 24 in Poland and where the fight against global warming is urgent, this movement also highlights the link between social issues and the environment: the biggest polluters are exempt from any effort. the main causes of global warming are not processed, the case of public services and local shops and urban sprawl continues, alternatives for public transit are not developed. The model of social housing in France is put at risk by its commodification in favour of large private groups. In these circumstances, is certainly not the responsibility of the middle and working classes to pay for the ecological transition.

The policy of the Government responds to social anger or ecological imperatives. The Government let multinationals and productivist lobbyists make their own ideas emphasizing their own interests and that of their shareholders at the expense of the many, and the future of the planet. For days, the Government has camped on an uncompromising posture, refusing the slightest gesture and claiming that it was maintaining the cap and this, despite the fact that a huge majority of the population supported this movement. This attitude has led to a growing exasperation that led to acts of violence which the Government could hope to take advantage. This was not the case and the support of the population remained solid.

The Government has announced, among other things, gel, then the cancellation of the increase in fuel taxes. It is a first step but it's too little, too late their entire social policy and it's economic and environmental consequences that need to be discussed. Even though the youth decided to move to challenge the educational choices of power, it is a change of course that we need to impose. For starters, must respond to Union demands to increase the minimum wage and reverse the cap of 0.3% on pension increases, restore the wealth tax and tax multinational companies, including Total, the Gafa and the banks that finance the fossil fuels to invest massively in the thermal insulation of buildings and renewable energy.

This is why, the undersigned trade unionists, associations and political organisations, researchers, university staff and artists, etc., support the claims of fiscal and social justice litters by the movement of the Yellow Vests. They call the population to mobilize to impose a policy that allows to live better and to protest peacefully on the street en masse on December 8, the day of international mobilization for climate justice, in convergence with the fourth day of mobilization of the Yellow Vests.

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The signataries

Christophe Aguiton, member of ATTAC; Verveine Angeli, Solidaires; Cathy Apourceau-Poly, senator PCF, Pas-de-Calais; Eliane Assassi, senator, president of Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist (CRCE) group; Antoine Atthalin, militant alter globalisationist; Didier Aubé, Solidaires; Clémentine Autain, deputy France Insoumise (LFI); Geneviève Azam, économist, former spokesperson of ATTAC; Emmanuel Aze, spokesperson Peasant Confederation 47; Albena Azmanova, University of Kent, Brussels; Marinette Bache, councilor of Paris, president of Résistance Sociale; Daniel Bachet, sociologist; Sebastien Bailleul, executive officer of the Research and Information Centre for Development (CRID); Jacqueline Balsan, president of National Movement of Unemployed and Precarious (MNCP); Louis-Marie Barnier, sociologist of work, scientific council of ATTAC; Francine Bavay, social ecology; Emmanuelle Becker, councilor of Paris PCF; Esther Benbassa, senator of Paris Europe Ecology The Greens (EELV); Nicolas Béniès, economiste; Ugo Bernalicis, deputy LFI; Sophie Béroud, political scientist; Eric Berr, aggrieved economist; Jacques Berthelot, economist; Olivier Besancenot, spokesperson of the NPA; Eric Beynel, co-executive officer Solidaires; Jacques Bidet, philosopherr; Martine Billard, former deputy Greens, national speaker LFI; Philippe Blanchet, academic, Rennes; Catherine Bloch-London, sociologist; Eric Bocquet, senator of Nord, PCF; Frédéric Bodin, Solidaires; Julien Boeldieu, unionist CGT; Jérôme Bonnard, Solidaires; Claire Bornais, unionist FSU; Hadrien Bortot, member of the National Council of the PCF; Nicole Borvo Cohen-Séat, honorary senator; Paul Bouffartigue, research director, National Centre for Scientific Research; Edith Boulanger spokesperson of Mouvement de la Paix; Ali Boulayoune, sociologist; Philippe Boursier, professor of economics and social sciences, member of the Copernic Foundation; Omar Brixi, doctor and teacher in public health; Ian Brossat, deputy of Paris, PCF; Céline Brulin, senator of seine maritime, PCF; Alain Bruneel, deputy of Nord, PCF; Mireille Bruyère, aggrieved economist; Marie-George Buffet, deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis, PCF; Laurent Cadreils, unionist FSU; Claude Calame, historian, scientific council of ATTAC; Sílvia Capanema, departmental councilor vice president of Seine-Saint-Denis, historian; Jean-Claude Chailley, secretary general of Résistance Sociale; Patrick Chamoiseau, writer; Vincent Charbonnier, unionist SNESUP-FSU; Léo Charles, economist; André Chassaigne, deputy Puy de Dôme, president of Democratic and Left Republican group; Pascal Cherki, councilor of Paris, Generation.s; Stéphanie Chevrier, publisher; Patrick Cingolani, sociologist; Laurence de Cock, historian, Fondation Copernic; Laurence Cohen, senator Val de Marne, PCF; Patrice Cohen-Séat, honorary president of Espaces-Marx; Pierre-Yves Collombat, senator of Var; Maxime Combes, member of ATTAC; Eric Coquerel, deputy LFI and co-coordinator of the Left Party; Alexis Corbière, deputy LFI; Sergio Coronado, militant ecologist; Jacques Cossart, economist; Eric Coquerel, deputy LFI and co-coordinator of the Left Party; Alain Couderc, militant Act Together Against Unemployment (AC!); Annick Coupé, general secretary of ATTAC; Pierre Cours-Salies, sociologist; Thomas Coutrot, economist, former spokesperson of ATTAC; Robert Crémieux, shared review; Alexis Cukier, philosopherr, University of Poitiers; Cécile Cukierman, senator of la Loire, PCF; Alain Damasio, writer; Christian De Montlibert, sociologist; Christian Delarue, civil servant, unionist CGT; Christine Delphy, sociologist; Pierre Dhareville, deputy of Bouche du Rhône, PCF; Cyril Dion, author, director; Emmanuel Dockes, professor of law; Jean-Michel Drevon, research institute of the FSU; Clémence Dubois – spokesperson of 350.org France; Vincent Dubois, professor of political science, University of Strasbourg; François Dubreuil, EELV, United for the Climate; Olivier Dubuquoy, geographer, militant ecologist; Jean-Paul Dufregne, deputy of l’Allier, PCF; Cédric Durand, economist; Simon Duteil, Solidaires; Stéphane Enjalran, Solidaires; Jean Baptiste Eyraud, spokesperson of Right to Housing; Colin Falconer, militant of Ensemble; Patrick Farbiaz, social ecologist; Didier Fassin, professor of social sciences, Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton; Elsa Faucillon, deputy of Hauts-de-Seine, PCF; Sélyne Ferrero, militant féminist; Caroline Fiat, deputy LFI; Gérard Filoche, member of the Democratic Left; Social; David Flacher, économist, spokesperson of Utopia Movement; Fabrice Flipo, member scientific council of ATTAC; Fanny Gaillanne, councilor of Paris; Nicolas Galepides, secretary general Sud PTT; Yves-Jean Gallas, Mouvement de la Paix; Jean-Louis Galmiche, Solidaires; Isabelle Garo, teacher; Pascal Gassiot, activist; Alain Gaulon, academic, president of the federation CNL of Val-de-Marne; Fabien Gay, senator Seine-Saint-Denis, PCF; Vincent Gay, unionist Snesup-FSu; Bertrand Geay, sociologist; Didier Gelot, economiste, Fondation Copernic; Frédérick Genevée, historian; Susan George, honorary president of ATTAC; Karl Ghazi, unionist CGT; Vanessa Ghiati, regional councilor Ile-de-France, PCF – Left Front; Jérome Gleizes, university teacher Paris-XIII, EELV; Cécile Gondard-Lalanne, co general-delegate Solidaires; Guillaume Gontard, senator of  Isère, EELV; Pierre-Henri Gouyon, professor at the National Museum of Natural History; Michelle Greaume, senator of Nord, PCF; Murielle Guilbert, Solidaires; Victoire Guillonneau – organizer at 350.org France; Janette Habel, political scientist, co-president of Fondation Copernic; Jean-Marie Harribey, co-president of the scientific council of ATTAC and aggrieved economist; Marie Haye, unionist FSU; Ingrid Hayes, historian; Odile Henry, sociologist; Anne Hessel, New Deal; Hervé Heurtebize, unionist FSU; Pamela Hocini, animator Space of Struggles LFI; Robert Injey, member of the national council of the PCF; Lucien Jallamion, Républic and Socialism; Kévin Jean, president of Citizen Science; Fanny Jedlicki, sociologist; Esther Jeffers, economist, co-president of the scientific council of ATTAC; Florence Johsua, political scientist, University Paris-Nanterre, member of Foundation Copernic; Anne Jollet, historian, lecturer at the University of Poitiers; Isaac Joshua, economist member of the scientific council of ATTAC and of the Foundation Copernic; Samy Joshua, academic; Marianne Journiac, Republic and Socialism; Sébastien Jumel, deputy of Seine-Maritime, PCF; Philippe Juraver, national speaker LFI, co-coordinator Space of Struggles LFI; Emma Justum, Democracy in Europe Movement 2025; Fadi Kassem, for the Pole of Communist Revival in France; Pierre Khalfa, economist, Foundation Copernic; Michel Kokoreff, sociologist; Isabelle Krzywkowski, academic; L’1consolable, singer; Bastien Lachaud, deputy LFI; Marie Lacoste, secretary of MNCP; Bernard Lacroix, political scientist; Romain Ladent, community activist; Jean Lafont, green movement; Rose-Marie Lagrave, sociologist; Elie Lambert, Solidaires; Sandra Laugier, professor of philosophy, Paris 1, University Institute of France; Pierre Laurent, senator of Paris, PCF; Michel Larive, deputy LFI; Mathilde Larrère, historian, member of the Foundation Copernic; Hervé Le Crosnier, editor; Patrick Le Hyaric, Director of Humanity, MEP, PCF- GUE; Yann Le Lann, president of Espaces Marx; Serge Le Quéau, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Catherine Leclercq, sociologist; Jean-Paul Lecoq, deputy of Seine-Maritime, PCF; Clément Lefevre, unionist FSU; Remi Lefebvre, political scientist; Sarah Legrain, national secretary of the PG and member of the Foundation Copernic; Arnaud Lelache, co-president New Deal; Paul Lemonnier, FSU; Elliot Lepers, director of the Movement NGO; Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, senator of Paris; Daniel Linhart, sociologist; Pierre Lucot, member of the national bureau of the Utopia movement; Frédéric Lordon, economist; Elise Lowy, sociologist, green  movement; Nicole Lozano, co-president New Deal; Laurence Lyonnais, Ensemble LFI, candidate for the list Europe Insoumise; Pascal Maillard, unionist FSU; Jean Malifaud, unionist SNESUP-FSU; Jean-Claude Mamet, Ensemble!; Marc Mangenot, economist, community leader; Sophia Mappa, honorary professor, psychoanalyst and international consultant; Jean-Christophe Marcel, sociologist; Myriam Martin, Ensemble, elected regional LFI; Gaëlle Martinez, Solidaires; Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the CGT; Christiane Marty, feminist, researcher; Gustave Massiah, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Sonia Masson, actress; Jean-Luc Mélenchon, deputy LFI; Marilza de Melo Foucher, economist and journalist; Georges Menahem, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Roland Mérieux, Ensemble!; Julian Mischi, sociologist; Claire Monod, national coordinator Generation.s; Bénédicte Monville, regional councilor Ile-de-France; Corinne Morel-Darleux, militant ecosocialist, regional councilor Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes; Frank Mouly, member of the directorate of the PCF; Émilie Moutsis, visual artist; Erik Neveu, political scientist; Evelyne Ngo, Solidaires; Roland Nivet, spokesperson of the Mouvement de la Paix; Gérard Noiriel, historian; Alain Obadia, president of the foundation Gabriel Péri; Danièle Obono, deputy LFI; Pierre Ouzoulias, sénator of Hauts-de-Seine, PCF; Ugo Palheta, sociologist and lecturer at the University of Lille; Guillaume Pastureau, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Mathilde Panot, deputy LFI; Sébastien Peigney, Solidaires; Willy Pelletier, sociologist, member of the Foundation Copernic; Stephane Peu, deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, PCF; Guillaume Pigeard de Gurbert, professor of philosophy; Michel Pinçon, sociologist; Monique Pinçon-Charlot, sociologist; Carl Pivet, militant AC!; Dominique Plihon, spokesperson ATTAC; Emmanuel Poilane, president of CRID; Matthieu Ponchel, collective Social Climate; Jean-François Ponsot, aggrieved economist, professor the University of Grenoble; Véronique Ponvert, unionist FSU; Thomas Porcher, economist; Véronique Poulain, Solidaires; Christine Poupin, spokesperson of the NPA; Philippe Poutou, spokesperson of the NPA; Raphaël Pradeau, spokesperson of ATTAC; Loïc Prud’homme, deputy LFI; Christine Prunaud, senator Côtes-d’Armor, PCF; Romain Pudal, sociologist; Serge Quadruppani, writer; Adrien Quatennens, deputy LFI; Guillaume Quintin, animateur Space of Struggles LFI; Josep Rafanell i Orra, psychologist and psychotherapist; Christophe Ramaux, economist; Jean-Hugues Ratenon, deputy LFI; Philippe Reig, Republic and Socialism; Emmanuel Renault, teacher of  philosophy, University Paris Nanterre; Muriel Ressiguier, deputy LFI; Michelle Riot-Sarcey, historian; Jean Rochard, music producer; Daniel Rome, teacher, militant alterglobalist; Roberto Romero, National Manager of the international sector of Generation.s; Cécile Ropiteaux, unionist FSU; Sabine Rosset, director of BLOOM; Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF, deputy du Nord; Sabine Rubin, deputy LFI; François Ruffin, deputy LFI; Jean-Michel Ruiz, regional councilor Ile-de-France, PCF - FG; Gilles Sabatier, member of ATTAC; Jean-Claude Salomon, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Catherine Samary, economist alterglobalist; Diogo Sardinha, philosopher, past president of the International College of Philosophy; Pascal Savoldelli, senator for Val-de-Marne, PCF; Luc Schaffauser, unionist CGT, Republique and Socialism; Jean-Christophe Sellin, national secretary of the PG and regional councilor for Occitanie; Nicolas Sembel, sociologist; Guillaume Sibertin-Blanc, University professor, Paris 8; Denis Sieffert, Politis; Corine Siergé, Association for employment, information and solidarity of unemployed and precarious (APEIS); Cécile Sihouette, Ensemble!; Johanna Silva, member of the collective The Fête of Macron; Patrick Simon, demographer; Danielle Simonnet, co-coordinator of the PG and councillor of Paris; Yves Sintomer, member of the scientific council of ATTAC; Francis Sitel, Ensemble!; Philippe Sultan, member of the Foundation Copernic; Bénédicte Taurine, deputy LFI; Jacques Testart, honorary director of research at Inserm; Michel Thomas, honorary professor of internal medicine; Eric Thouzeau, regional councilor of the Democratic and Social Left; Jean Tosti, professor of letters; Eric Toussaint, historian, political scientist, international spokesperson for Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt; Aurélie Trouvé, spokesperson of ATTAC; Christophe Ventura, Editor-in-Chief of Mémoire des luttes and Researcher in International Relations; Marie-Pierre Vieu, European deputy PCF, United European Left; Philippe Villechalane, APEIS; Emmanuel Vire, secretary general of SNJ-CGT; Christophe Voillot, unionist Snesup-FSU; Louis Weber, unionist, editor; Hubert Wulfranc, deputy de la Seine-Maritime; Youlie Yamamoto, member of the collective The Fête of Macron; Sophie Zafari, unionist, FSU; Laurent Zappi, unionist, FSU; Malika Zediri, militant.

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Saturday, December 1, 2018

Against all religious exemptions

Lisbeth Latham

Religious exemptions to various anti-discrimination laws within Australian jurisdictions have come to the fore of public consciousness since the portions of the Phillip Rudock led the Expert Panel’s Review of Religious Freedom was leaked on October 9. Whilst much of the focus has been on the report’s recommendations regarding exemptions it has generated a broader discussion re religious freedom and how Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation works.

The Review of Religious Freedom has its origins in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and in the subsequent process of legislating for marriage equality. At the time ultra-conservative sections of the Liberal Party pushed for dramatic expansion in the religious exemptions, which would have expanded religious exemptions to enable the denial of goods and services relating to marriage to any person holding a "religious belief" or "conscientious" belief not just about the nature of marriage, but about having children out of wedlock or the existence of trans or intersex people. At the time the LNP leadership rejected this legislative proposal but on November 22, 2017, offered a sop to the right (a section of which was in the party’s leadership) of establishing an enquiry into religious freedom.

A secret review
While any review of religious freedom established by the LNP would be a concern, per Yes Minister, you never commission unless you know the outcome beforehand, fears were escalated when it was revealed that the review would operate in secret with submissions, unlike normal enquiries, not to be made public. Which would mean that right would be able to make submissions that played up or simply fabricated without being subject to any public review or oversight. Following a public outcry, it was announced that all subsequent would be made public, but those who had already made secret submissions would be given the option of making their submission public. Following the closure of written submissions, a small number of closed hearings, where participants were promised that they would not be recorded.  The Review report was delivered to Cabinet on May 18, with no schedule for when it would be made public

Things could be worse, so its ok?
The leaked recommendations do not go as far in attacking the anti-discrimination as many feared it would, it fell far short of the objectives of in the alternative “Marriage Equality Bills” put forward by the ultra-conservative wing of the LNP. Indeed Liam Elphick, Amy MacGuire, and Anja Hilkemeijer argue that the report seeks to further constrains religious freedom in that it would require religious schools to have clearly articulated policies in order to have protection and must “act in the interest of students” when looking to discriminate against them – the fact that these religious schools would argue that acting against gay, lesbian, and trans students are in the interests of these students seeming to have escaped the authors. While at one level this is a reason for relief, the proposals are still toxic and reinforce the right of religious organisations to discriminate particularly in seeking to expand the right of religious schools to exclude students on the basis of the sexuality and gender identity, something that not all state anti-discrimination laws currently allow, and affirming the universal right of religious organisations to exclude staff based on their sexuality and gender identity.

Freedom to be bigots
Central to the logic of both the Review’s recommendations and the objectives of the religious right, is that religious beliefs give, as former attorney general George Brandis would say, a “right to be bigots” and that any impingement on this right is an impingement on religious freedom. However, as Anna Brown pointed out in response to the conservatives’ push to expand exemptions to the anti-discrimination acts in the Marriage Equality bill in 2017, whilst human rights laws internationally protect religious freedoms, these rights are not unfettered, and they do not extend to breaching the rights of others. However, for the religious right – religious freedom is not about freedom for religious minorities – indeed the religious right are happy for Australia’s Islamic community to be persecuted including mobilising polygamy as “dangerous consequence” of marriage equality which is a marriage practice which is permitted under a number religious and so they were happy to mobilise hostility to religious rights of marginalised groups as part of their campaign against the LGBTIQ+ community. Of course, our entire legal system is based on limits on the enforcement of religious doctrines

One of the ironic things about the recommendations of the Review report is that in asserting the importance of defending the right of religious organisations to discriminate on the grounds of gender and sexuality based on their doctrines, it at the same time rejects this right on other attributes, including race and intersex status, and thus accepts that it is appropriate for it to be curtailed in these circumstances. Which really begs the question how is being gay, or bisexual, trans or a woman, different from other attributes which the Review accepts that it is not ok to discriminate against? Importantly the Review, in seeking to defend and reinforce the right to discriminate creates a beachhead for an expansion in the right for religious organisations to expand their right to discriminate.

Dishonest
The argument that religious exemptions from sex discrimination acts are necessary to protect the religious convictions, are morally turgid but detached from reality that these exemptions do not prevent lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans workers from working for religious organisations, it just impacts on the circumstances in which they work. It means these workers will be deeply in the closet, they will have to hide significant aspects of their life from co-workers and live with anxiety when participating in activities within the LGBTIQA+ community for fear that someone with some connection to them at work seeing them. Research shows that being in the closet It means that a worker that no one has ever had any problem with regarding their performance or ability to meet the expectation associated with the organisations' doctrines could be lawfully dismissed on the grounds that their sexuality or gender if it is discovered.

In November 2017, Craig Campbell a relief teacher at a Baptist High School in Rockingham Western Australia (he had also previously studied at the school), having attended a family wedding with his partner but having to hide the relationship at the wedding because three students from the school were in attendance. Campbell told OUTInPerth “It got to this point where I was like, ‘I can’t hide this anymore.’” He also found it challenging to be a teacher who is supposed to instil values like honesty into students, while also being required to lie and cover up his own identity. In response, the school told him that he would no longer be given any work.

Roll back all religious based exemptions

The public response to the leaked report demonstrates that there is widespread opposition within Australia to discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and gender identity. This opposition has forced the Morrison government to make noises about removing exemptions which allow LGBTIQA+ students to be discriminated against by religious schools – however reports on negotiations over potential legislation to achieve this shows a desire on the part of the government not fully remove exemptions and to leave ambiguity as to what action schools will be able to take.

The public backlash has also resulted in the ALP, which had previously supported the existing religious exemptions, to join with the Greens, who have had a standing position against such exemptions, in moving a private members bill in the Senate on October 18. It remains unclear whether the opposition parties will have the numbers to pass the bill in both houses. It is important that all exemptions are removed in all Australian jurisdictions otherwise religious organisations, which employ more than 200, 000 workers across Australia, will remain free to discriminate on the grounds of gender and sexuality. This beachhead into anti-discrimination legislation would remain to be used to justify the further roll back protections should a future conservative government be willing to go against public opinions. For this reason, it is important all progressive forces commit to an ongoing campaign to rollback and overturn all religious exemptions in Australian jurisdictions.

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Revitalising Labour attempts to reflect on efforts to rebuild the labour movement internationally, emphasising the role that left-wing political currents can play in this process. It welcomes contributions on union struggles, internal renewal processes within the labour movement and the struggle against capitalism and imperialism.

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