“The governments have betrayed us, where are the people?” asked Syrian revolutionaries.
In an international dynamic where it is rare to find harmony between governments and their populations on global issues – climate change, feminist struggle, the Palestinian cause, anti-colonialism, etc. – The People Want brings civil society back to the forefront of the debate. These internationalist gatherings return for a 5th edition in Marseille, after plans to fully decentralize the event from the West to the East failed due to the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon, making it impossible to hold the festival in Beirut.
“Marseille it is then! A city of resistance and migration, a crossroads of the Global South. With sixty invited guests from over 40 countries, we will gather to discuss exiled political organizations, imperialism, and liberation from Kanaky, Taiwan, Palestine, or Georgia. We will address how to reinvigorate queer and feminist struggles in the face of co-optation threats, how to resist fascist offensives, and how to give substance to a revolutionary movement that is both already here and yet to be built. Discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and radio broadcasts.” The event will take place on October 26 and 27 in Marseille, and entry is free. The full program can be found on Instagram. Instagram.
Saturday:
9 AM: Opening
9:45 AM: Roundtable #1: Weaving Transnational Alliances from Exile — followed by a workshop at 12 PM
12:15 PM: Walk: A Political History of the Aygalades Stream
12:30 PM: Radio broadcast
2:15 PM: Presentation of The People Want
3 PM: Roundtable #2 (Part 1): Cartographies of the Global War Regime: At the Heart of Imperial and Colonial War Zones
5:15 PM: Roundtable #2 (Part 2): Cartographies of the Global War Regime: Specters of Empires
8:30 PM: Evening event
2 AM: Closing
Sunday:
10:30 AM: Brunch
11:45 AM: Roundtable #3: Resisting Imperialism and Instrumentalization in Queer Struggles — followed by a workshop at 2 PM
4:15 PM: Roundtable #4: What Continuity Exists in a Revolutionary Movement?
6:30 PM: Closing remarks
7 PM: End