Beyond Elections

Lançamento de Beyond Elections no Brasil

2009-07-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

CONVITE

Gostaríamos de convidar a todos e a todas para participar do "Lançamento do Documentário Beyond Elections no Brasil".

(Beyond Elections) Além das Eleições: Redefinindo Democracia nas Américas
Nesta próxima segunda-feira, dia 20 de julho, as 19:30
Sala de cinema do SindBancários (CineBancários)
Rua General Câmara 424 - Centro - Porto Alegre.

Após a sessão haverá um debate com os Diretores - Sílvia Leindecker e Michael Fox.

Breve Resumo de Beyond Elections:

(Beyond Elections) Além das Eleições: Redefinindo Democracia nas Américas é um documentário que percorre vários países, desde o Norte ao Sul das Américas, mostrando modelos de Organizações Democráticas de Base, que criam alternativas sustentáveis e autônomas, além dos muros limitados do sistema político no qual estão inseridos. As imagens captadas ilustram suas lutas e a forma democrática na qual estão organizados, a partir das necessidades sentidas e discutidas por toda a comunidade. O documentário busca unir estas experiências por todas as Américas para responder uma das perguntas mais importantes do nosso tempo: O que é Democracia? Servindo também como uma ponte, entre o Sul e o Norte, auxiliando na busca de alternativas frente a crise econômica e de valores simbólicos que enfrentamos.

As experiências documentadas mostram desde os Conselhos Comunais em Venezuela ao Orçamento Participativo no Brasil; As Assembléias Constituintes em Bolívia e Equador; Os Movimentos Sociais nos Estados Unidos e México; Fábricas recuperadas em Argentina e Movimentos Cooperativistas por todo o hemisfério. Entrevistas com os membros das comunidades, representantes eleitos, cooperativistas, acadêmicos e ativistas. Bem como entrevistas com Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Marta Harnecker, Ward Churchill e Leonardo Avritzer.

O Documentário foi oficialmente lançado em Outubro de 2008 nos EUA e desde então tem sido mostrado em países como África do Sul, Canadá, Espanha, Irlanda, Guatemala, EUA ,Venezuela entre outros. Chegando agora ao sul do Brasil.

Para maiores informações, visite nossa página Web, www.beyondelections.com.

Direção e Produção: Silvia Leindecker e Michael Fox.
Estreito Meios Produções, 2008
Duração: 114 minutos
EUA/VENEZUELA/BRASIL

CONTAMOS COM SUA PRESENÇA

Gracias
Sílvia Leindecker e Michael Fox

AJUDE A DIVULGAR - ENVIE PARA AS SUAS LISTAS DE CONTATOS!

Grassroots Lessons From Latin America: An Interview with Michael Fox

2009-06-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

From Toward Freedom
Written by Michael Fox
Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Michael Fox is a Brazil-based independent journalist and co-producer of the new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas (PM Press). He is also the co-author of an upcoming book called Venezuela Speaks: Voices From the Grassroots, also available through PM Press and set to be released this fall. Throughout his research for this film and book, and as a radio and print reporter who has covered political and social issues across Latin America, Fox has come to know to hopes and struggles of the region’s social movements, and what US activists might learn from the experiences of these movements.

In this interview, he talks about what lessons US activists might consider from social movements throughout Latin America, and the challenges of applying Latin American activist strategies in the US under an Obama administration.

Benjamin Dangl: Taking into account the challenges posed by an Obama administration and the current economic crisis in the US, what lessons do you think US activists could learn from social movements in Brazil and Venezuela, as far as methods and strategies to radicalize and pressure politicians and combat economic strife?

Michael Fox: First off, folks in the states need to remember that just because Obama is in office doesn’t mean that US activists should sit back on their heels and consider their “mission accomplished”. For Obama to be able to push for changes, he needs to be pushed. That’s just the reality. It can be difficult for activists in any country to maneuver the subtle balance of demanding their rights from a friendly elected official, while not playing in to the game the opposition (in this case the Republicans). Nevertheless, this must be done. In Brazil - as I wrote in an article for Toward Freedom – shortly after Lula was elected in to office, Brazil’s progressives “gave Lula time”. They were willing to work with him and humored his embracing of international economic norms as shrewd. A year and a half later, they had had enough, and they formed a dissident party called the Party for Socialism and Freedom (PSOL). The MST held off on land occupations for a period, until they realized that despite Lula’s commitments to agrarian reform, the Brazilian president had befriended the international agro-industry, and he wasn’t looking back. In hindsight, perhaps they should have pushed harder from the beginning of the Lula government, supporting his administration and at the same time demanding their rights. This is what you see often in Venezuela, although you wouldn’t know it by reading the mainstream press.

Autonomous Venezuelan social movements like the Ezequiel Zamora National Campesino Front (FNCEZ) and the National Association of Free and Alternative Community Media (ANMCLA) are very clear that they support the Chavez government, but that they are autonomous social movements and that they have their own demands which they expect to be met. It may at first appear contradictory when you see hundreds of Venezuelan campesinos and community media activists come marching through Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, to block a major intersection for hours, and at the same time they say they support the President, but that is the reality. They understand – as activists in the United States need to learn quickly – that they have an agenda rooted in the community and in the grassroots, and the President (albeit friendly) is going to have another. There are many interests at the top. And often a President – even Chavez or Obama – isn’t going to be able to do what he or she would like, without really hearing it from the people on the streets.

US activists need to be aware of these dualities, and not be afraid of what may appear contradictory. As one of Venezuela's founding fathers Simon Rodriguez once said, “o inventamos o erramos”, That’s the motto of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Movement: “Either we invent or we fail”, meaning that we need to be free to take chances, leaps and bounds, try things that seem crazy and if those things don’t work, get up and try something else.

Especially in this time of global economic crisis people need to come together and look to develop their solutions in their local community. Last fall, my partner and I traveled all across the United Status showing our movie, Beyond Elections, about these new democratic experiences all across Latin America. At the same we interviewed communities and individuals from California to Virginia about their alternatives and solutions, about their thoughts, hopes and opinions of this ridiculous bank bailout. Nearly everyone – from urban progressives to salt-of-the earth Midwestern farmers – said the same thing, “Get all the politicians out of Washington” and turn the government back over to “we the people”. We now have a new president, elected to do just that with his platform of change, but that is just the beginning.

Latin Americans know this story well, and over the last three decades a number of experiences have been developed across the region, from which activists in the United States can learn. For me they are all based around democracy and place-based organizing, two ideas which may seem irrelevant, but they can be transformative.

You ask your average North American for his or her definition of democracy, and the answer is usually free and fair elections. But as I said above, that is just the beginning, it’s not the end.

Latin Americans, especially in Venezuela and Brazil, have been developing these concepts and working with these themes in transformative ways.

Since President Hugo Chavez came to office in 1998, Venezuelans have been working to shift the hierarchical organizing to horizontal in local community-based committees – first the Bolivarian circles and then local water, electricity, land committees, etc… In 2006, Venezuelans all across the country have been organizing themselves in to tiny local “communal councils” which are made up of 100-200 families which elected spokesperson for the local community in order to carry out local projects. The concept is powerful, because it is the community which decides on local issues and projects. If the community needs to fix a road, it develops the project, brings it to the pertinent institutions and they can receive funding. The concept is radically different from the past, when the community would have to fight with the local government for public works projects, and radically different from the former community associations in which a select group of people decided for everyone. In Venezuela, right now these communal councils are trying to put decision-making power directly in the hands of citizens, and there is talk of expanding the power of these communal councils out, so they would also have decision-making power in the municipal, region, state and national level also. Optimally they make decision by consensus, sometimes by voting. The spokespersons of the council are the spokespersons- that elaborate the project and the communal council, but not representatives, which means that the entire community must be consulted on important decisions. There are now tens of thousands of communal councils all across the country, being funded by more than a billion dollars from the Venezuelan government.

Participatory Budgeting (PB) began in Porto Alegre, Brazil and has now spread throughout the world. It is a process in which everyday citizens participate in the allocation of a chunk of city funds. Each year community residents vote on their priorities and demands for the next year, and throughout the year representatives hold weekly or biweekly meetings to ensure that the community’s will is carried out. The idea is giving communities a democratic say in the direction of government. While Porto Alegre’s participatory budgeting now has its problems, and some of the PB delegates and council-members have turned in to more bureaucratic positions, the program has become a necessary element of the local government and citizens have learned to see themselves as part of a larger picture, to see their needs together with the needs of those around them.

As I mentioned, PB is now in cities and local governments all across the planet, and is promoted as a way in order to ensure transparency in the local government. What if participatory budgeting were implemented in local governments, organizations, and groups across the US? What if the $700 billion bank bailout had an incorporated a component of participatory budgeting in which US citizens could have participated in where they wanted the bailout funds to be allocated? A sector would have had to have followed up with the implementation to ensure that the funds actually went to where they were supposed to go, rather than the US government handing over billions to the same people that got us in to this mess, without any checks and balances. Is that democratic?

In terms of social movements, Brazil’s Landless Worker’s Movement (MST) recently turned 25 and while there has been little said about the MST for quite some time in the US press, it is as alive as ever. As a local organizer in Brazil’s Southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, João Amaral confirmed last July, this is largely due to the fact that in the MST, decision-making is rooted in the community, in the everyday MST members and in local grassroots groups of 10-20 families that make up the base nuclei of the movement in MST encampments and settlements. A spokesperson from each of these groups then joins with the spokespersons from each of the other “base nuclei”, where they also work with consensus to make decisions or return to the local groups to debate further. Only with this process they are: 1. Able to truly reflect the will of the movement overall and 2. Ensure that everyone feels like their voice is heard and is, and 3. Willing to continue with the decision of the group, even when it perhaps was not their first choice.

This is the heart of the MST, truly one of the most radical social movements. You feel the sense of community as you walk in to an encampment or settlement and spend some time with those around you. It is astounding: one group cooks for everyone else, another group is taking care of the children, another is planting- and that’s how they live their life. There is a sense of oneness with those around them, and their form of decision-making – rooted in these local groups. They decide by consensus, and the added focus on gender neutrality ensures that everyone’s voice is heard and that everyone feels a part of the process. From its humble beginnings in 1984, the MST has won millions of acres of land and says it now has 370,000 families settled across the country and 100,000 camped.

BD: What are some of the challenges posed by transferring such strategies to the US to be applied there?

MF: The sense of community in the above Latin American examples cannot be highlighted enough. Oftentimes in the United States it is easy to feel separate from one another. Many times you don’t live near those with whom you are used to organizing, and especially in the suburbs, our lives are created to keep us isolated from one-another. There are many forms of poverty across the globe, but truly that which most affects the United States is a poverty of community, a sickness of community, in which individuals feel isolated and separated from one another, basing their decisions not on communication, collaboration, deliberation, but on the fear they feel from the negative news that is spun at American citizens through one of the most highly consolidated media in the world.

This is why I mentioned place-based organizing. All of the above experiences are “place-based”, not issue-based. They are rooted in solving the issues of the local community, and can then move in to the larger issues from there. Some activists in New Orleans are starting to develop this, such as Khalil Shahyd of the New Orleans Citizen Participation Project, who is promoting Participatory Budgeting in the Louisiana city. The Survivor’s Council, which takes place in the Katrina-devastated Lower 9th Ward, is inspired by Venezuela’s communal councils and is a way for community residents to connect, debate, discuss and work towards to resolve the problems in their community.

Activists also need to remember – as my Brazilian wife highlighted during our tour around the states last fall showing our film Beyond Elections – that the best way to support movements abroad, is to make change at home.

In the United States, the Left is often fragmented in to factions and issues. How many times have you gone to an event on “Venezuela” or “Cuba” or some specific issue in the community, and you know everyone in the crowd, because they are the same handful of people that go to all of these types of events. That’s great, they are active, but they are often disconnected from the other issues, and from the community and the issues affecting the local community sometimes only a few miles from where the event is being held.

Activists in the United States may be quick to protests loudly against the “illegitimate” US war on Iraq or Afghanistan, but when it comes to the internal illegitimate low-intensity warfare waged by the US government against poor communities in the United States, many middle-class activists don’t make the connection. US activists need to bring the “buy local” banner of local farmers, in to the activist realm – “organize local” around local issues – which are, of course connected to the big picture.

Activists need to think about not only how to create organizations but movements with grassroots committees that will ensure that everyone has a roll to play, and that their voice is heard. I believe that San Francisco lost a huge opportunity in 2005, when the SF People’s Organization was founded. I excitedly asked one of the new directors when the general assembly would meet again and if we would be setting up local grassroots committees in the communities around San Francisco. He responded that we wouldn’t have to meet again until the next year, and until then, he and the two-dozen organizers would fight throughout the year for our interests.

He didn’t get it. I tell this story to my foreign friends and they laugh. In the United States, activists are used to getting out on the streets to protest, e-activism – clicking buttons to sign protests and forward urgent actions, but with all the other activities US citizens are involved in (with music, sports, dance, art, socially etc…), many don’t want to think about joining another group. That’s not the point.

The only way that Uruguay’s Leftist political coalition, Frente Amplio, retained so much of its support, despite being brutally repressed and exiled during a more than decade-long dictatorship, was because of its grassroots committees. As I pointed out in an article in 2007, Frente Amplio’s rise to Uruguay’s Presidency in 2005 was an important victory, but by turning its back on its grassroots activists, the coalition has lost the fervent support on the streets which kept its dream alive for so many years.

Many of these examples take time. Consensus takes time. Local grassroots committees take time. And that is not something that US activists have a lot of. They could, but they don’t, in large part due to an entertainment industry which ensures that we are encouraged away from such activities.

Another issue that US activists must contend with paradoxically is the traditional lack of needs. Participatory Budgeting, Communal Councils, MST organizing works because the local community has a series of very immediate needs that aren’t being met: Perhaps it’s electricity, or potable water, or land. Only by joining forces will the community be able to accomplish their demands. In the United States, many communities have traditionally not had these desperate needs. Of course, some have, but many have not. Which means that individuals haven’t felt the desperate need to come together because they are content with their homes, their cars, their jobs and their cable TV.

But times are changing. Even suburban neighborhoods are falling apart as a result of the Mortgage Crisis. The financial crisis is growing, and rather than correct the failures of the system, Washington promises to hand over more to those that got us in to the problem in the first place. Meanwhile, unemployment is rising, homelessness is rising, and no one has resolved the lack of health care for millions of US residents. These are pressing issues, and they are issues which must be dealt with from the bottom up, from the local, from the community out. As they say in Venezuela, “endogenous development”

So, in the United States, activists have to contend with:

-people’s busy lives

-lack of community

-lack of interest or needs

Of course, no model can ever be simply lifted up and plopped down on top of a completely different reality and expected to work. That concept is part of the same hierarchical system which these experiences are trying to correct. These experiences must be a creative process and collaborative. Activists need to listen and work together. Deliberate and build shared space together that are rooted in faith and love, and not fear. And this can be done without the large funds many in the United States believe you need for a healthy organization.

Of course resources help, but if they don’t exist we just need to be creative. Like the barter trade systems which were set up across the Southern Cone after the December 2001 economic crisis, in which community members came together to trade what they had for things that they need, or things that others had to offer.

Lastly, Latin Americans are more than willing to support these experiences across the US, and to share experiences and trade ideas. Activists in the United States just need to be willing to take chances and unite with those around them.

To learn more about these experiences in local democracy, or to watch and/or purchase, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, visit www.beyondelections.com.

For more from Michael Fox, visit www.blendingthelines.com.

Beyond Elections in the Americas: An Interview with Michael Fox

2009-05-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

from Toward Freedom
Written by Benjamin Dangl and Michael Fox

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas: Produced by Michael Fox and Sílvia Leindecker. Purchase from PM Press

The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas of people taking back the reigns of power and governing their own communities. Beyond Elections is a road map for social change, drawing from communal councils in Venezuela and social movements in Bolivia to participatory budgeting in Brazil and worker cooperatives in Argentina. The film gracefully succeeds in demonstrating that these grassroots examples of people's power can be applied anywhere. Particularly as activists in the US face the challenges of an Obama administration and an economic crisis, this timely documentary shows that the revolution can start today right in your own living room or neighborhood.

In this interview, Michael Fox, Co-Producer of Beyond Elections, talks about how the film was created, what its aims were and what the films impact has had among viewers in the US.

Benjamin Dangl: How did you decide on the focus and message of Beyond Elections?

Michael Fox: I’ve been living and working in Latin America for many years, studying and reporting on, above all else, the experiences in participatory democracy- cooperatives, communal councils, participatory budgeting, social movements, community radio, etc… Sílvia (my wife, who grew up in Southern Brazil, and who is also Co-director of the film) and I were living in Venezuela in 2006 when the communal councils law was passed, and local communities all across the country began to come together and take on this new form of organizing. You could see how it was empowering people on an individual and local level.

In March of 2007, Sílvia and I found ourselves in Porto Alegre, Brazil – where we now live – at the same time that the 2007 Participatory Budgeting cycle was about to begin. We realized that although there have been many local videos on the experiences of participatory budgeting, cooperatives, social movements and even some on the recently-formed communal councils, there was no documentary film that tried to give both the big and local picture of these new participatory concepts of democracy across the hemisphere.

This concept is almost completely absent in the United States, and yet, it is absolutely necessarily for people to understand what is going on across Latin America, and also extremely important for activists and people in the United States to understand the failures of our own system and the lack of participation and input from everyday citizens.

We originally planned the film to focus only on participatory democracy, but quickly realized that the only people who would want to see it would be activists that are already doing this type of work. We needed to open it up to the very concept of democracy itself.

This was important to us, because time and again in the United States, pundits, elected officials, everyday folks and even journalists use the word "democracy" as an excuse to de-legitimize extremely democratic groups and governments. They say, "Venezuela is threatening democracy in the region", and yet depending on your definition, Venezuela is perhaps the most democratic country in the region – much more so than the United States. But these realities are very subtle, and if you have never been to Venezuela, or Brazil or Bolivia or Ecuador (or if you go and only stay at the resorts and the upper-class part of town), then you’re never going to know what to believe because the mainstream media is quick to repeat the manipulations.

There are some mainstream media that actually call Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator, despite the fact that during his ten years in office there have been more than a dozen free and fair elections in Venezuela legitimately-recognized by international observers from around the world, and that he has always respected the Venezuelan Constitution and the laws. He may be a very charismatic, domineering, and powerful figure, but he’s not a dictator.

Then the real question is, "What is democracy?" And that’s where we wanted to focus our attention – giving people the space to tell their stories across the Hemisphere.

As the Portuguese Sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos says, (and you can find the link to more of his work on our website, www.beyondelections.com), the United States has created a monopoly on the definition of democracy- U.S. style hegemonic representative politics.

But Sousa Santos points out that in reality, democracy is a work in progress. As he says, "democracy without end."

His colleague, Leonardo Avritzer, professor from Brazilian Federal University of Minas Gerais, points out in our film, "What we've tried to stress, is the idea that democracy is an open concept and the frontiers of democracy are always imprecise. For instance, in the 19th century you could say that it's democratic to expand suffrage. And that's true. It was democratic at the end of the 19th century to expand suffrage to women. Or at the beginning of the 20th century it could appear democratic to expand democracy to the countries of the global South. So the question today in the Southern countries is how to think about the democratization of things like the budget, health policies, education policies, urban policies, the democratization of life where you live."

Of course, it’s not always easy. Especially when you are trying to make a film for not one audience, but audiences in various languages all across the Hemisphere. But that’s what we set out to do, and I think we succeeded.

BD: Could you talk a bit about the process of making your documentary?

MF: This is very important, because we wanted the making of the film to reflect as much as possible the "democracy" that we are trying to portray. We used very little narration- only about two and a half minutes worth –because we wanted people to tell the stories in their own words. We tried not to change the scenery where we were filming. We only used music from local musicians, and tried to only use it when it was part of the scene. It is also a testament to what two people can do without any external resources or really expensive equipment.

The entire budget came out of our own pockets and Silvia and I filmed nearly the entire film with our Panasonic 3CCD handycam, and edited it all on our aging G4 Powerbook.

Of course, we had more than a half a dozen individuals and groups that supported with b-roll, and either shot for us, or allowed us to use footage they had already filmed in areas that we couldn’t make it to like Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Bay Area.

The SF-based musician and sound editor, Ben Bernstein, donated his time to post-produce our audio, which came out great. The Venezuela-based film group, Panafilms was a huge support, as were hundreds of folks all across the region.

BD: What was the response among viewers during your tour in the US?

MF: We did our tour last fall from mid September straight through till two days before the 2008 Presidential elections. We drove from the East Coast to the West Coast and back, covering our costs with donations from the nearly two-dozen showings all across the U.S.. It was an amazing experience. Of course, we were organizing the tour ourselves, so our audiences varied from a couple hundred people at some Universities all the way down to a living room showing with a few people in Oklahoma City. But really, the response was the best we could have hoped for, and both Silvia and I were impressed with the diversity of opinions. Some viewers were struck by the amount of local democracy and participation in Venezuela specifically, especially with the negative press that it gets in the United States. Many viewers were impressed with the democratic experiences, and the fact that people all across the region are all participating in similar ways. Others were shocked because so little of this is happening in the U.S.. Others felt the movie really put things in to a perspective that they had rarely seen or heard of before. This was the case of one gentleman in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans where we showed Beyond Elections with a projector on the side of a building. He said, "Wow, I’ve always known all of this, but I had never understood that everything was connected. I feel like I have a new perspective on things."

Without a doubt, the biggest and only major critique was that it was, and remains, a long documentary- just under two hours, which we’ll keep in mind for our next documentary. The DVD version of the movie is divided in to chapters, which can each stand alone, so it can easily be used in university and high school classrooms according to theme. The right hand side of the website, www.beyondelections.com has dozens of links to additional information, all also sorted according to the chapter and the theme.

We tried to build the film in order to give people an understanding of the realities, and also leave them with a sense of hope. Because these experiences anywhere; be it in Latin America or the United States, in the local government, the community, the office, the school or the home can only happen if we take the steps to open the democratic spaces of participation. This is the exciting thing about the film and I believe that people could feel it. The film gave people an idea about some of the things that are being done, and some of the things that they can also do. As Sílvia often said in our after-film discussions, "the best thing you can do to support these democratic experiences abroad is to make change in your own communities, attempt to open democracy in your own community." As a Brazilian, she knows the affect that this can have.

In our discussions after nearly all of our showings, we tried to stress this point; how we can open up these democratic experiences in our own lives. After numerous requests, we actually developed a "Beyond Elections Democracy Discussion Guide", which attempts to help people to do just that, Bring Democracy Home. It is also available to download halfway down the right-hand side of our website, under "Beyond Elections Materials."

And that is our job now- to spread the word about the film, and open up the space for democracy where wherever you are. As we wrote shortly after the 2008 US Presidential elections, "We can no longer leave important local, regional or national decisions in the hands of our elected representatives alone. They should be held accountable, not to their campaign contributors, but to the citizens who they are supposed to represent." (See this link)

Please let us know if you are interested in supporting Beyond Elections, finding out more, or setting up a showing in your own community. We would love to be able to support your local efforts.

Originally Posted with Toward Freedom

Lessons From Latin America

2009-03-04T05:44:00.000-08:00

By Benjamin Dangl

This article appeared in the March 23, 2009 print edition of The Nation.

March 4, 2009

Link: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090323/dangl

Rain poured down in La Paz, Bolivia, the day Barack Obama gave his inauguration speech. But the weather didn't stop thousands of Bolivians from marching in the streets in support of a new constitution, a document set to grant unprecedented rights to the country's indigenous majority. As chants and the explosions of Roman candles from marchers echoed throughout this capital city, Obama looked out from the television screen in a La Paz bar, offering words of wisdom that were somehow connected to many Bolivians' sense that democracy and good politics depended on a mobilized public taking to the streets.

"For as much as government can do and must do," Obama said, "it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies."

Similarly, it has been the "faith and determination" of Bolivian social movements in their fight for a better world that paved the way to the election of indigenous President Evo Morales, and then pushed him to nationalize gas reserves, redistribute land to poor farmers and enshrine long-overdue rights in a rewritten constitution. The juxtaposition of Obama's orderly inauguration and the near-constant street mobilizations in La Paz brings us to the question: what can US activists facing economic crisis and a potential ally in the White House learn from South America's social movements?

The region's shift to the left--from leaders in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador to the more moderate presidents in Brazil, Chile and Argentina--has grabbed headlines in recent years. But often overlooked is the role social movements and unions have played in ushering these leaders into power, and once they are there, radicalizing their politics. Other movements throughout the region never waited for allies in the government palace, and instead built their new worlds out of the neoliberal wreckage of the old. As unemployment skyrockets in the United States, and the challenges of cleaning up the mess of the Bush years commences, US activists could apply the successful strategies of South American social movements.

Ida Peñaranda, a Bolivian water-rights activist living in Cochabamba, understands the hopes and horizons of social movements. She participated in Cochabamba's 2000 Water War, a popular uprising that kicked out Bechtel, a multinational company that had privatized the water in everything from communally built wells to rain cisterns. Many citizens from across the economic spectrum couldn't afford the exorbitant rates set by the company, so they joined together in protests and road blockades, sending Bechtel packing and putting the water back into public hands.

Peñaranda compares the Water War, and the ongoing challenges of managing the public water system, to the current situation among US activists under the Obama administration. "It's important to think about how to take advantage of fresh energy, of the yearning for change that exists...and to not let what is urgent block out what is important for the long run. This involves not just enjoying the passing glory but planning for the future, involving everyone you can."

The challenge for many Bolivian activists in the Water War, as well as other social movements leading up to the election of Morales, was, as many movement leaders explained to me, moving from a position of "protests to proposals." This isn't to say that movements in the United States should subordinate themselves to the Obama administration. On the contrary, radicalizing Obama's politics should go hand in hand with building alternatives locally, outside the reach of the federal government.

Such has been the case with Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (MST). This movement, operating in a country with one of the most unequal distributions of land in the world, is made up of landless farmers who occupy unused land and work it to survive. When President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva failed to follow through on long-promised land reforms, the MST didn't waver; the movement continued its land occupations. Over the course of the MST's twenty-five years of work, it has expropriated some 35 million acres, land that is now occupied by roughly a million families. The settlements, which are cooperatively organized, are home to hundreds of MST-built schools, which have enabled tens of thousands of people to read and write.

One positive example of the relationship between citizens' movements and the Brazilian government is participatory budgeting. In the early 1990s participatory budgeting was implemented by the Workers' Party in Porto Alegre. This process involves thousands of residents gathering to decide how government funding should be used for city projects and development. Michael Fox, a Brazil-based journalist and co-producer of the documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, asks, "What if the $700 billion bank bailout in the US incorporated a component of Brazil's participatory budgeting, in which US citizens decided where they wanted the bailout funds to be allocated? Following Brazil's standards, citizens would then follow up to ensure that the funds actually went to where they were supposed to go."

Tens of thousands of communal councils around Venezuela also make sure government funds are used efficiently and transparently. Each communal council is made up of dozens of families who develop local projects, such as road building and electricity and water services. The council identifies the need, then develops a project proposal for the government. The government in turn finances the project.

These communal councils are only part of what democratizes the Venezuelan government under President Hugo Chávez. "There are movements in Venezuela that support Chávez but are at the same time critical," Fox explains, mentioning the Ezequiel Zamora National Campesino Front and the National Association of Free and Alternative Community Media. "These movements have an agenda rooted in the grassroots, and the president, albeit friendly, is going to have another; there are many interests at the top. Often a president--whether it's Chávez or Obama--isn't going to be able to do what he or she would like without hearing it from the people on the streets."

"The issue is not to radicalize the politics of Obama but to strengthen the movements," says Uruguayan political analyst and social movement adviser Raúl Zibechi. "The relation with progressive governments can only strengthen us, the movements, if we have very clear ideas. If not, we can expect nothing from the governments."

When Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he was far from being a leftist. The most progressive of FDR's policies were the result of grassroots pressure from below. According to widely cited legend, he once told labor constituents who were demanding radical reforms, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it." Historian Howard Zinn wrote of that relationship, "Where organized labor was strong, Roosevelt moved to make some concessions to working people."

Now is the time for activists in the United States to run with Obama's rhetoric when he says, "We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." A movement put Obama in office. Now it's time to make Obama follow the movement.

Beyond Elections is now Online!

2009-02-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Beyond Elections is now Online!

The recently released documentary, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, is now up online to watch in English, Spanish or Portuguese.

The elections are over and US citizens have a new President. But as the world reacts to the failing financial system, individuals across the United States and the hemisphere are looking for answers. Beyond Elections may have some of the solutions.

What is Beyond Elections?

From Venezuela's Communal Councils, to Brazil's Participatory Budgeting; from Constitutional Assemblies to grassroots movements, recuperated factories to cooperatives across the hemisphere - this documentary is a journey which takes us across the Americas, to attempt to answer one of the most important questions of our time: What is Democracy?

Featuring interviews with: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill, and Leonardo Avritzer as well as cooperative and community members, elected representatives, academics, and activists from Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and more.

Beyond Elections is a full-length documentary, directed by Sílvia Leindecker & Michael Fox, produced by Estreito Meios, released in late 2008, and distributed by PM Press.

To purchase Beyond Elections visit, PM Press. For more information, or to watch the film or specific chapters, visit... WWW.BEYONDELECTIONS.COM

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Beyond Elections Ahora Esta en el Internet!

El documental Beyond Elections, o Mas Allá De Las Elecciones: Redefiniendo Democracia en las Américas, ahora esta disponible por Internet en Ingles, Español y Portugués.

¿Qué es Mas Allá De Las Elecciones?

Desde los Consejos Comunales de Venezuela al Presupuesto Participativo de Brasil; de Asambleas Constituyentes a movimientos de base, fabricas recuperadas a cooperativas por todo el hemisferio- Este documental es un viaje que nos lleva por las Américas para intentar contestar una de las preguntas mas importantes de nuestro tiempo: ¿Qué es la Democracia?

Entrevistas con: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill y Leonardo Avritzer tanto como cooperativistas, miembros comunitarios, representantes electos, académicos y activistas de Brasil, Canadá, Venezuela, Argentina, Estados Unidos Uruguay, Chile, Colombia y más.

Beyond Elections es un documental largo-metraje, dirigido por Sílvia Leindecker y Michael Fox, producido por Estreito Meios (2008), y distribuido por PM Press. WWW.BEYONDELECTIONS.COM

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Beyond Elections Agora Esta na Internet!

O documentário Beyond Elections, o Além das Eleições: Redefinindo Democracia nas Américas, agora esta disponível na internet em Inglês, Espanhol e Português.

Que é Além das Eleições?

Desde os Conselhos Comunais de Venezuela ao Orçamento Participativo no Brasil. Das Assembléias Constituintes aos movimentos de base, fábricas recuperadas e cooperativas por todo o hemisfério- Este documentário é uma viagem, que nos leva por toda as Américas, para buscar responder uma das perguntas mais importantes do nosso tempo: O que é Democracia?

Entrevistas com: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill e Leonardo Avritzer. Bem como cooperativistas, membros comunitários, representantes eleitos, acadêmicos e ativistas de Brasil, Canadá, Venezuela, Argentina, Estados Unidos, Uruguai, Chile, Colômbia e mais.

Beyond Elections é um documentário longa-metragem. Dirigido por Sílvia Leindecker y Michael Fox. Produzido por Estreito Meios (2008), y distribuído por PM Press. WWW.BEYONDELECTIONS.COM

Still Need Your Help & Elected Official Offer

2008-11-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you again for your interest and support of Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas. We had an amazing tour- showed the movie in over 20 locations to hundreds of people all across the country – and are now back home in Brazil but that doesn’t mean our work is done.

Our distributor in the United States and Canada, PM Press, officially began distribution on Oct. 28, 2008, and we are still working to promote Beyond Elections across the country. But we need your help.

Ways to Help:
1. Talk to your library, your movie rental and local bookstore and ask them to carry Beyond Elections, available through PMpress.org

2. Hold your own Beyond Elections house party or local showing. Please contact us if you're interested in presenting it in your community, and we can send a copy for your local screening.

3. Help us get Beyond Elections in the hands of elected officials all across the country. Buy a copy of Beyond Elections online between now and Inauguration Day (and mention this offer) and we'll send another copy- free of charge -to the elected official of your choice (just mention this offer and send us the name and address of the representative when you buy your copy).

4. Join our Facebook Group & tell your friends. Only with your help will we be able to get the word out.

Thanks again for all of your interest and support.
Sincerely,

-Michael Fox & Sílvia Leindecker
Co-Directors, Beyond Elections

Obama Win! Pushing “Beyond Elections”

2008-11-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2008, by Michael Fox - beyondelections.com

“I just got a call from the Associated Press,” announced the speaker before the crowd of Obama supporters packed in to the Virginia Democratic Headquarters in the McLean Hilton in Northern Virginia “We just did what has not been done since 1964.” The crowd erupted in to euphoria. Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama had just taken Virginia. And with Virginia- as was announced moments later -so went the presidency. The emotion was indescribable. Strangers hugged. Tears fell. Cheers rolled through the ballroom. The United States had a new president- an African American president, bringing new hope to a Nation in difficult times.

Record numbers of Americans participated Tuesday in one of the greatest moments in U.S. history. But as Obama declared in his acceptance speech, “The road ahead will be long.” We are still in an ongoing disastrous war, and amidst a failing economy. Beltway lobbyists still inhabit the halls of Washington, and while Democrats have picked up seats in both the House and the Senate, there remains nothing to ensure voters that their elected representatives- both new and old -will actually fulfill their campaign promises and listen to the American people.

Veteran journalist, Bill Moyers says that “our democratic process is in a state of crisis.” Regardless of who’s in office, control lies not in the hands of the American people, but with the lobbyists and special interests that fund the political campaigns and ultimately control public policy.

But for the first time in memory, we are at a crossroads. Since the birth of our country, citizens have slowly struggled to increase our democracy for all- from the right to vote, through the civil rights movement to the civil rights act, and struggles even until today to ensure that everyone has the right to cast their ballot, and that everyone’s ballot will be counted. But now a new window of opportunity has opened. That which many believed impossible only a few years ago has now become reality. An African American will lead the United States as the 44th president. But that fact alone does not ensure equality, and we need to continue our mobilization. Not only when Obama or our representatives run astray, but for greater participation in our democracy, on a daily basis- not only in politics, but also in the economy, society and culture.

Democracy does not end when you cast your vote. That is where it begins. In the words of the Portuguese academic Boaventura de Souza Santos, democracy is “without end” (democracia sem fim).

While U.S. citizens voted in record numbers on Nov. 4, our democratic duty cannot stop there. Obama declared on Tuesday night, “This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.”

We can no longer leave important local, regional or national decisions in the hands of our elected representatives alone. They should be held accountable, not to their campaign contributors, but to the citizens who they are supposed to represent. Our elected representatives should commit to fulfill their campaign promises, open up spaces of participation with decisions directly in the hands of the citizens (direct consultations, participatory budgeting, etc.), and to be willing to be held accountable by those they represent- not only during the election cycle, but throughout their entire term.

We have centuries of history to build on, and countless participatory experiences to learn from- both in the United States and across the Americas, which are blossoming with new exciting possibilities. And we too can go “beyond elections” to open up democracy in all aspects of our lives, to not only decide our political future, but our social, cultural and economic future.

“This is our moment. This is our time.” Said Obama on Tuesday evening before more than a hundred thousand supporters in Chicago’s Grant Park. “To put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one;”

We are one, and we have the right to participate together in the decision-making processes that govern our lives. “And those who tell us that we can't,” says Obama, “we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.”

Michael Fox is a Latin America based journalist, reporter and filmmaker. He is Co-director of the recently released documentary, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, which has just been on tour around the U.S., and is now available at PM Press.

U.S. Elections – Demanding Participation

2008-11-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

November 3, 2008, by Michael Fox - Beyondelections.com

The Dow may be back up, but the economic crisis isn’t going anywhere fast. According to a recent poll, American citizens are now more pessimistic about the US economy than they have been in more than four decades, and no true structural solutions are being offered. Not only were the culprits of our failing economy let off the hook, but they were actually rewarded for their selfishness and bailed out- with the American people left to front the bill.

But it is not only the financial system that is failing. Across the US, the American people are saying the same thing, “They don’t represent me!” Everyone- from housewives to truck drivers, inner city resident to small farmers are all mad as hell.

Our system is failing. Homeowners and renters are both out on the streets. Unemployment is rising, so is the gap between the rich and the poor. The elderly are losing their pensions. Millions can’t afford health insurance. Presidential approval is at an all-time low. We’re stuck in an unwanted war halfway across the world, but there is little that most Americans feel they can do about it.

And so tomorrow at the polls US citizens face one of the most decisive moments in US history. We will go cast our ballots, and hopefully we will usher in a new clean slate. But then what? Our political system has degenerated in to a political football game. Polls are churned out showing that one candidate or the other has gained points on the other. We use boxing terminology to describe the debates (“he got a few punches in”) and policy is decided by your ability to persuade US citizens, not to listen to them.

Which is exactly what we must demand. “That government of the people, by the people, for the people,” as President Abraham Lincoln said more than a century ago.

Democracy is not something that happens once every four years when you go vote for President, Senator, governor or congressman. It should be an every day act. It can be participatory, and we can no longer leave important local, regional or national decisions in the hands of our elected representatives alone.

They should be held accountable, not to their campaign contributors, but to the citizens who they are supposed to represent. So when we go vote tomorrow, we should not only consider which of the candidates is going to best represent us, but which candidate will be willing to fulfill this commitment and open up the greatest amount of dialogue and communication with the voters. Which candidate will allow him/herself to be held accountable and responsible for their decisions and their campaign promises? Which candidate will pass power to the American people?

Unaccountable politicians and beltway lobbyists got us in to this mess. Only the American people can get us out.

Michael Fox is a Latin America based journalist, reporter and filmmaker. He is Co-director of the recently released documentary, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, which has just been on tour around the U.S., and is now available at PM Press.

Fear Campaign on the Eve of US Elections

2008-11-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

November 3, 2008, by Michael Fox - Beyondelections.com

Like most any day over the last two months, my wife and I spent Halloween on the road. We were in Boston on Thursday night showing our new documentary film, “Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas”, and had to drive back to New York City on Friday, one of the last stops on our US tour which had taken us out to California and back.

So, while most of the United States was following the presidential hopefuls through their TV sets, we were relying on our car radio as we drove around the country.

Now, I’m used to covering elections. Over the last five years, I’ve reported on at least as many presidential and local elections in several Latin American countries. The propaganda game plan is familiar across the region. Weeks to months before the election, the conservative party begins to churn out it’s smear and fear campaign in an attempt to demonize it’s challenger and link him or her to things like “communism”, “dictatorships”, “terrorism”, “drugs” or “crime”.

The mainstream media- controlled by a relatively small group of wealthy individuals and corporations -follows suit echoing the sound bites with words like “socialist” and “dictator” and other cold war imagery which they quickly link to the more progressive candidate.

Latin Americans are relatively used to such scare tactics, and even so, the fear campaign can have a pivotal effect on the outcome of an election. However, I never would have imagined this to also be so highly developed here in the United States- as we found over thousands of miles tuned to the AM dial.

This became blatantly clear Halloween afternoon as we drove out of Southeastern Massachusetts towards Rhode Island.

“With McCain, in my opinion, you have substance, with Obama you have style and image, that’s it,” said the host of the first station I turned to. “It’s hard to raise a family these days, why are so many families, average families, struggling to keep their heads above water? Why are so many Americans working harder and longer… three words, the tax trap.” The guest caller tried to respond and was cut off. I switched to the next station, flipped past a couple of commercials and landed on the Monica Crowley show.

“Anybody who disagrees with this guy is going to be plastered and screwed to the wall. These people are living in a dillusionary world. The Obama. Barack Obama, he hates the press…” she cried. “This guy he’s all about leading by a single party and leading by dictatorship. This guy really honestly believes that he’s the chosen one.”

Crowley continued, drawing similarities between Obama and Hitler. “The Obama tyranny that’s already here,” she continued. “This is how the Obama rolls people, this is how he rolls and it’s only gonna get worse when he becomes president. That’s why we have four days left before this election. It’s not to late to stop this.”

I switched the dial again. “I am telling you from this, and from the democrats that I know, that they are frightened.” said Fox radio host, Sean Hannity, “They don’t believe these polls, they know this race has tightened significantly, and they know that the independents are breaking for John McCain.”

“The markets rallied even on Friday,” he continued. “NASDAQ is up 4 days in a row. If Wall Street thought Obama was going to win, why do I doubt this would be happening? As we have seen before, there would be more panic selling. They have their own internal sources. I’m telling you, something is going on here, as it relates to this campaign.”

“Another odd thing here, is that the Associated Press finds that Obama cannot seal the deal… Obama is not having the ability to close, and by the way, I’m told that the Clintons despise him and my guess is when they get inside the voting booth, they’re voting for McCain.”

I switched the station and scanned the AM dial looking for even a slightly objective point of view. I never found it. Not in Southern Massachusetts, nor in Rhode Island, nor Connecticut. In fact, during our drive of more than 10,000 miles across the country, we spent hour after hour listening to AM radio, and during the entire trip, I remember hearing pro-Obama radio talk hosts only a handful of times. I don’t doubt that they are out there, but they are so disproportionately outnumbered by the radical right wing that they are but a whisper on the airwaves. That does not mean that Obama support is waning, but that such alternative voices simply aren't represented in our corporate controlled radio, where a few large corporations decide what they want the American people to listen to.

If AM radio was where I got my information, I’m sure I too would be lulled in to believing that Obama was a “dictator”, a “communist” or losing in the polls. Especially while shock-jocks like Crowley ride “the press” for buddying up to the presidential candidate. If you repeat something enough, they say it becomes true. Not really, but something doesn’t have to be true for millions of people to believe and repeat it.

I turned the station back to Hannity, who was mocking Obama.

“When you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.” He said cynically. “Biden says its your patriotic duty. Look this is a direct threat on freedom, liberty and capitalism…”

If freedom, liberty and capitalism are really about choices and competition, then the direct threat is the take-over of our airwaves by a narrow-minded group of individuals that represent a small set of interests. A direct threat, aimed at distorting the facts and scaring the American people in to voting against a political candidate that even speaks of change. This is something most Latin American countries must also contend with, but you probably wouldn’t know that from listening to AM radio.

Michael Fox is a Latin America based journalist, reporter and filmmaker. He is Co-director of the recently released documentary, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas, which has just been on tour around the U.S., and is now available at PM Press.

Get the Word Out! We Need Your Help!

2008-10-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

We're in New York, finishing up the last half of our US tour. We've had a fantastic trip, have met some amazing people, but we still need your help.

Ways to help:
1. We're still looking for places to show Beyond Elections around the country (you can show it on your own and we can send dvds for house-parties/screenings). Please contact us if you're interested in showing it in your community.

2. Make a donation. Our film and our US tour has been completely independently produced and funded by ourselves and with donations from people like you. To support Beyond Elections, please write to estreitomeios@gmail.com or send a check to Michael Fox, Beyond Elections, 8924 Stark Rd, Annandale, VA 22003.

3. Purchase a copy of Beyond Elections from PM Press.

4. Join our Beyond Elections Facebook Group, and please spread the word about this important documentary!

Beyond Elections is coming to a town near you!

2008-09-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Beyond Elections is coming to a town near you. Just months away from one of the most important elections in US history, everyone is talking about elections, but few people are talking about democracy.

So, Beyond Elections is going on the road, and we need your help. We're going to be traveling through Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Ohio, Madison, Minneapolis, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, and we're looking to show our film all along the route.

Some of our dates are set, but many are not. Please let us know if
you'd be interested in helping us organize or promote a presentation
in your town, or if you can help out with a donation to make sure we
don't run out of gas between Green River and Salina, Utah.

Please email us at mfox.us(at)gmail.com or estreitomeio(at)gmail.com
for more information.

Confirmed and Tentative Dates:

Baltimore, Sept. 11, 6:30 pm, Red Emma's
New York City, Sept. 14, 7pm, Bluestockings
Chicago, Sept. 16, TBA
Milwaukee, Thursday, Sept. 18, 7pm, People's Book Cooperative
Madison, Friday, Sept. 19, 7 pm, Electric Earth Coffeehouse (546 W. Washington Ave, Madison, WI)
Minneapolis, Saturday, Sept. 20, 10 am, Resource Center of the Americas
Saturday, Sept. 20, 7pm, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul
(Davis Lecture Hall, Student Center, SW corner of Grand & Snelling) MAP
Boulder, Colorado, Sept. 23, TBA
Bay Area, California, Sept. 27-30 Global Exchange
San Diego, Oct. 1-3 Monte Perdido
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Friday, Oct. 10, 7pm, The Santa Fe Complex. Click for directions.
Oklahoma City, Monday, Oct. 13, house party, call for directions
New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 16, 6pm, Lowernine.org, 6018 El Dorado Street
Atlanta, Georgia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 5:30pm, Little Five Points Community Center, 1083 Austin Ave, Room 105 (call 404.610.2807 for more information) Presented by the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center
Asheville, North Carolina, Monday, Oct. 20, 7:30pm, Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company (77 Coxe Avenue)
Washington DC, Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30pm, The People's MEDIA Center, ( 3142 Georgia Ave., NW, Located between Kansas & Taylor, 4 blocks North of Petworth Metro
Green/Yellow Line Metro. Bus #64, 70, 71)
Philadelphia, PA, Friday, Oct. 24, 7pm, Prometheus Radio Project (Calvary Church, 48th & Baltimore Ave. West Philly)
New York City, Sunday, Oct. 26, 7pm, The IRT Theater (154 Christopher St #3B, btw Washington & Greenwich Streets)
New Paltz, NY, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 5pm, SUNY, New Paltz, (CSB Auditorium, click for directions)
Amherst, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7:30pm, Hampshire College (Franklin Paterson Hall in the East lecture Hall)
Boston, Mass., Thursday, Oct. 30, 8pm, MIT (Building 7, 4th floor, Audio Visual Lab, 77 Mass. Ave)
Washington DC, Saturday, November 1, 11 pm, Busboys & Poets (5th & K, 1025 5th St, NW)
Arlington, VA, Sunday, November 2, 8pm, Busboys & Poets (Busboys @ Shirlington,
4251 South Campbell Ave, Arlington, VA)

Other Beyond Election Presentations
*CANADIAN PREMIER*
Halifax, Canada, Thursday, October 9th, 7 pm, Weldon Law Building, 6061 University Ave, Room 105
Toronto, Canada, Thursday, October 16, 7:30- 9:30pm, Learning Democracy by Doing Conference, (University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West)
Burlington, Vermont, October 16, 7pm, Burlington College (95 North Avenue, Burlington)
St. Paul, MN, Friday, Dec 5 • 7 PM, House Party! 464 Dayton Ave #4, St Paul, MN 55102, (Contact Sarah Humpage, 651-592-9693 cell or 651-340-9336) Resource Center of the Americas
Los Angeles, CA, Saturday, Dec 6 • 7 PM, Eastside Café, 5469 No. Huntington Dr., El Sereno, CA 90032
Oakland, CA, Tuesday, Dec 16 • 7 PM, Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave
OAKLAND (Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas)
World Social Forum, Belém, Brasil, January 31, 2009, 4:30pm, The Federal University of the Amazon (UFRA) Theater – CASA PAN AMAZÔNICA
Orlando, Florida, February 13, 2009, 3:30pm, FL Interactive Entertainment Academy, Orlando Latin American Film Festival
La Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala, 6 de Mayo, 2009, 7pm, Blanco y Negro: 7pm, Zona 1, 9a calle entre 6a y 7a Avenida, Pasaje Aycinena.
Atlanta, Georgia, 4th Annual Latin American Caribbean Film Festival 2009

Beyond Elections Documentary Trailer

2008-08-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

What is Democracy?

2008-07-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

What is democracy? Freedom, equality, participation? Everyone has his or her own definition. Across the world, over 120 countries now have at least the minimum trappings of democracy- the freedom to vote for all citizens. But for many, this is just the beginning not the end. After decades of US-backed dictatorships, civil wars and devastating structural adjustment policies, representative politics is in crisis and citizens across the Americas have begun to redefine democracy under their own terms: Participatory Democracy.

In 1989, the Brazilian Worker’s Party revolutionalized the concept of government when they installed the widely successful system of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil. City residents could now participate directly in the allocation of city funds. Ten years later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was swept in to power with the promise of rewriting the Constitution with the direct participation of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan state will never be the same, and is now passing power directly down to Venezuela’s citizens through tens of thousands of communal councils. Across the Americas, cooperative and recuperated factory numbers have grown, and constitutional assemblies and social movements are increasingly putting power in the hands of their members and citizens. But not everyone is happy with this new participatory democracy, and countries like the United States are fighting back with their own definition.

Produced by Estreito Meios and featuring interviews with Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker and dozens more, Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas is a journey which takes us across the Americas to attempt to answer one of the most important questions of our time: What is Democracy?

Beyond Elections Documentary: Coming This Fall

2008-07-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

From Venezuela's Communal Councils, to Brazil's Participatory Budgeting, from Constitutional Assemblies to grassroots movements, recuperated factories to cooperatives across the hemisphere. This documentary is a journey, which takes us across the Americas, to attempt to answer one of the most important questions of our time: What is Democracy?

Desde los Consejos Comunales de Venezuela, al Presupuesto Participativo de Brasil, de Asambleas Constituyentes a movimientos de base, fabricas recuperadas a cooperativas por todo el hemisferio. Este documentario es un viaje, que nos lleva por las Americas, para intentar contestar una de las preguntas mas importantes de nuestro tiempo: Que es Democracia?

Coming this Fall
Llegando este año

Visit our Trailer
Visite nuestro Trailer

For more Information:
Por más Información:
contact estreitomeio@gmail.com