"The European marches against unemployment, insecurity and exclusion"

Chabanet, Didier. (2001) "The European marches against unemployment, insecurity and exclusion". In: UNSPECIFIED, Madison, Wisconsin. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Amsterdam, 14 June 1997. During the European summit, almost 50,000 people march along the roads of the city. For the first time, the movement of the 'European Marches Against Unemployment, Insecurity and Exclusion' demonstrates its capacity for mobilisation. The media impact is significant. The event is even more remarkable for the fact that the demonstrators come from a large number of European Union (EU) countries. For more than two months, small groups of permanent marchers had, in fact crisscrossed Europe, stopping off in many towns and finally converging on The Netherlands and calling for the demonstration. This was not a once-off event. On the third and fourth of June 1999, this time on the occasion of the European summit in Cologne, the Marches also took place, gathering some 30,000 people. Without attracting as much attention, over the last three years, other less important Marches have been organised from-and between-several towns most particularly in France, Germany and Belgium. In general, the protests hinge upon the denouncement of the worsening of social inequalities, the necessity to guarantee and improve rights for those deprived of job security and the unemployed with more general claims essentially concerning the reduction of the working week to thirty-five in the EU.

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