During the lockdown period, Coview was a platform for many people to maintain their political activity. People from many different groups, areas (System Change, Degrowth, asylum and human rights, feminism, right to the city, rent strike, cultural work, artistic work, social work, self-help groups, …) and regions, who had not known each other before, met there and together built up structures and organized various actions. After the end of the lockdown, many returned to their groups to continue the political work there. For Coview, the question now arises of how we can use the network that has emerged meaningfully and strategically for transnational political work.

On the one hand, Coview has observed and made visible the restrictions of fundamental rights and repression during the lockdown and in its aftermath. Especially now it is also important to achieve a fair lifting of restrictions in order to prevent the negative effects and exploitation of different social groups – for a good life for all: After Corona must not be before Corona!

The Corona crisis has obviously worsened social and economic inequalities, injustice, antagonisms and oppression. We want to work to ensure that these grievances are addressed and that there is no return to pre-Corona status as soon as possible.

We can already see that it is once again a large part of the population that is bearing the costs of the crisis, while the corporations and the rich just pick their benefits. Governments are using the crisis to make laws that further discriminate against marginalized groups, climate and environmental disasters are being ignored and irresponsible economic growth programs are being pushed through, the situation on Europe’s borders continues to escalate, more people than ever before are fleeing worldwide.

These are just a few excerpts from a very long analysis of the problems we have accumulated. However, it would be beyond the scope of this report to go into detail here, and we are aware that you are all can also bring in just as many specific perspectives.

As a result, many protests have flared up in recent weeks. We want to connect the movements on these different topics and prevent that single fights are used against each other. We want to ask the question how we can react to this diversity and what are common options for action in response to these crises. We see Coview as a platform that helps to bundle these struggles. For this purpose we offer resources and tools that we have built up. We invite you to network and coordinate together with a concrete proposal. Because only together we can achieve a good life for all!

For this purpose we have drawn up a list of topics and demands (to be constantly expanded and always open to discussion):

• Better working conditions and good wages for all. Equal rights and protection conditions for migrant workers
• Gender equal distribution of care work
• Free health care for all and withdrawal of privatisation in the health sector
• Safe and good housing for all: independent of income and residence status
• (Living) space must not be a commodity. Living space and space for all kinds of social interaction must be available in a basic condition and free of costs!
• Providing full financing for education, social affairs, health, research, science, art and culture
• Democratisation of the economy and increased rights of self-determination in companies
• A tax policy in which the economically strong and wealthy bear the costs of the crisis
• Socially and environmentally fair economic stimulus packages, no support for airlines or airports, no aid packages for companies that distribute profits and bonuses
• Debt relief and support for countries hit particularly hard by the crisis
• For the right to protection and asylum – Ending accommodation in violation of human rights – Taking in refugees from Greek an Lybian camps now – Resumption of rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea
• no deportations – freedom of movement for all! Solidarity knows no borders!
• Human rights must be the worldwide standard for overcoming the crisis, people on the move also have a right to health care
• A social pact against sexism, racism, anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism
• No stigmatisation and discrimination of the so-called „vulnerable persons“ (old, chronically ill and disabled people), securing their basic rights and opportunities to participate, especially in stationary accommodation.
• Health and freedom must not be played against each other!
• The public space as an essential factor for democracy must be available to all – even under pandemic conditions, protest in public space must be possible!
• An unconditional worldwide basic income!
• Inheritance, fortune and wealth taxes

Our claim: a practical, solidary, cooperative, rather undogmatic but joyful network that thinks across sectors, areas and regions – does not belong to a certain movement but works for a common good life for all. We want to achieve this by creating regular, structured discussion and exchange spaces for people who are interested in cross-thematic and cross-regional work, to develop strategies and plan common transnational days of action.

What we can contribute:

The principles of coview as a framework: https://coview.info/statement-grundsaetzlich/
The Coview Forum as a discussion forum open to all participants
Media formats for public appearances: the program with the cat, neighborhood newspaper, radio campaigns, social/media
Idea: Map of all initiatives (with a short description and link), which also includes the common mission statement, in order to make the local roots visible and to allow for regional and area-specific adaptation on the one hand, while at the same time keeping an eye on the common principles and goals.
Skill-sharing weekends or days to exchange experiences

Proposal for a possible first action: radio action day where all groups present themselves + joint poster action? and decentralized actions

We invite all interested ones to the Kickoff-Meeting on 10.07.2020, 17:00 o’clock CEST – registration via coview@riseup.net