ATTAC

Ultra-reformism urges restraint

The French acronym ATTAC stands for "Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens" It was launched in June 1998 on the initiative of Ignacio Ramonet, the editor of Le Monde Diplomatique and Bernard Cassen, its director.

It brought together 70 affiliated organisations and individuals - ranging from popular education associations, intellectual journals like Le diplo and Politis, unemployed movements, the peasant confederation and various trade unions - to the singer Manu Cao. But it is basically an individual membership organisation claiming some 35,000 members.

It defines itself as an association of popular education and action. Its red on white per centage flags can be seen at pan-European demonstrations but activity on the streets is not its main objective. ATTAC's declared aim is to educate the public as to the harmful policies of neo-liberalism and to "to recover the position lost by democracy to the financial sphere". As such its local groups meet regularly to hear papers on its various proposals. It is very much a radical think tank aiming to reform capitalism - albeit one with a sizeable membership and local as well as national forums.

ATTAC has more than 200 local committees across France which are independent of the national executive but the latter is independent of them in turn. Of the 30 members of the national executive 18 are chosen by the 70 original founders of ATTAC and 12 by the national membership. The list of 18 is presented as a list which the individual members...

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