The People’s Platform Europe (PPE) conference, held from 14 to 16 February in Vienna, brought together over 800 delegates from 160 organisations across more than 30 European countries. Under the slogan “Reclaim the Initiative!”, the event explored grassroots solutions to global crises, including climate change, social inequality, and systemic oppression. Delegates highlighted the need for unity in diversity and called for a collective, women and youth-led anti-capitalist movement to drive transformative change across Europe.
The organisers, including the Academy of Democratic Modernity, the Women Weaving the Future network, the Ronahi Youth Centre for Public Relations, and the European Committee of Jineolojî, released a press statement celebrating the delegates’ dedication to addressing some of the “most important issues of our time”, working collectively to find alternative solutions for “meaningful change”.
The wide range of participants, representing diverse cultural and social contexts at regional and local levels, demonstrated strength in diversity, the PPE said. This diversity, they argued, is a key advantage in building inclusive organisations and uniting under a common framework—while maintaining autonomy—to overcome the challenges of capitalist modernity.
“Capitalism has driven humanity to the edge of the abyss. Our survival is only possible through the defeat of capitalism and the creation of a different life and world. The conclusions we draw from the current situation make it clear that we must come together and form an organised force as soon as possible,” the PPE stated, emphasising that differences should be seen as a strength, not an obstacle, in collective organisation.
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The PPE highlighted the pivotal role of women and young people as key drivers of social transformation, emphasising their potential to lead mass movements and organisations. By leveraging their unique perspectives and energy, they are seen as essential to addressing ecological destruction, social inequality, and the pursuit of individual freedom.
“The women’s movement and the struggle for gender liberation has the potential to lead mass movements and organisations through active participation and leadership. The women’s struggle has an intersectional character that embraces multiple contradictions and deals with difference in a way that strengthens and transforms rather than divides. It seeks endlessly to overcome and transform patriarchy. Together with the struggle of the youth, the women’s struggle is a primary force and vanguard in the construction of democratic modernity.”
Patriarchy, as the longstanding foundation of all forms of oppression and exploitation, continues to support the ruling system, the PPE stressed. Similarly, racism and the hierarchical categorisation of races, which dehumanise large sections of humanity, remain fundamental to maintaining European capitalism’s dominance. The PPE expressed the importance of connecting struggles within Europe to anti-colonial movements worldwide and to the struggles of migrant communities across the continent. It called on European democratic forces to recognise their historical responsibility to dismantle the oppression, injustice, and destruction perpetuated by European powers globally.
In conclusion, the PPE’s press statement called for a united effort to bring together diverse struggles, perspectives, and capacities. It emphasised the need to work collectively towards building a freer, more just world, where all peoples can realise their rightful dignity and freedom.
Read the full press release below:
We came together with more than 800 delegates representing 160 organisations, groups, movements, networks and associations from more than 30 European countries and different communities. The Peoples’ Platform Europe, under the slogan Reclaim the initiative! was born from the need to share the experiences of those who are struggling against the forces of oppression and to discuss the possibilities and opportunities in our search for a free life. We came together not only to analyse capitalist modernity or to assess the current situation but also as a community dedicated to understanding, addressing, and collectively finding solutions to the most urgent issues of our time. In the course of the various presentations and discussions, it is obvious: The world is on the brink of a historic change. The geopolitical changes, technological advances, ecological destruction, and socio-economic crises we face are at a level deeper than ever before in both their complexity and impact. In particular, the ongoing climate crisis – which is the result of the capitalist system and its insatiable pursuit of maximum profit and the resulting extractivism – once again emphasises the urgency of the situation and clearly shows us that we have no time to lose.
But with every great challenge comes the potential for great opportunity. Our capacity to learn, innovate, build solidarity and create alternative solutions is key to realising these opportunities. That is why this conference was so important. We created the platform to bring together different perspectives, explore ideas, share experiences, and pave the way for meaningful change. Together, we addressed vital issues in different workshops: War and Peace, Anti-fascism, Ecological Resistance, Women’s Democratic Confederalism, Youth Identity and Resistance, Building Autonomy, Activism and Organisation, Fighting Genocidal Policies and Democratic Media. Every voice and experience here was and is invaluable to this journey.
The effectiveness of this platform depends on grassroots organisation and a concerted effort to tackle problems at their roots. Achieving our goals requires a framework that emphasises action and ongoing dialogue within these different groups at the regional level. By fostering cooperation between localised struggles, we can build a collective force that not only tackles specific challenges, but also works to build a broader anti-capitalist movement. This holistic approach allows us to link individual efforts to a larger narrative, creating a united front against systemic injustices. Through this synergy, we want to amplify our impact and drive transformative change.
The platform was a space to evaluate our strategies and tactics, our forms of organisation and our everyday practice. We wanted to explore together what the political developments of recent years mean for us and what possibilities for changing the world we can see. We are convinced that a ongoing process of collective discussion on the broadest possible platform, one made up of democratic and revolutionary organisations, movements and collectives, is necessary to find the right answers to the questions of our time. With the People’s Platform we want to offer a framework for Europe in which we can have this exchange. During both the preparation phase and the days in Vienna, we worked together on strategies and tactics in order to take decisive steps towards an effective dialogue between different forces, towards coordinating our struggles and creating a common vision. In this sense, the discussions of the workshops, and the proposals they put forward for projects, plans and common principles have become the organisational pillars of our platform. We will base our future practical work on these jointly discussed proposals.
The women’s movement and the struggle for gender liberation has the potential to lead mass movements and organisations through active participation and leadership. If it can successfully assert that the liberation of the most oppressed individuals is the true measure of success in the struggle for freedom, it could play a profoundly transformative role in reshaping life across all sectors of society and around the globe. This method is essential for uncovering social truths. Without overcoming the patriarchal system and mentality that has been imposed on society, these truths, in their full complexity, will remain hidden across various domains including philosophy, science, ethics, aesthetics, and religion. Only by addressing these issues can we hope to find a viable path toward resolving ecological destruction, social inequality, and individual freedom. The memory of their historical resistance that women have preserved through their creative and rich methods can be a guide in this regard. The women’s struggle, rooted in a deep ethical connection to life, has an intersectional character that embraces multiple contradictions and deals with difference in a way that strengthens and transforms rather than divides. It seeks endlessly for ways and methods to overcome and transform patriarchy that permeates all areas of society. This makes women’s struggle a primary force and vanguard in the construction of democratic modernity. Together with the struggle of the youth for their right to a future, the women’s movement is the fundamental compass of our struggle.
Just as patriarchy is not only an ideological support for the ruling system, but rather the millennia-old basis of every form of oppression and exploitation, racism and the associated hierarchisation of races leading to the dehumanisation of large parts of humanity is a precondition that continues to be the basis for the continuation and hegemony of European capitalism. Even though European colonialism has changed its form over the course of history, it continues to this day as an unbroken continuity. We as revolutionary and democratic forces in Europe see the urgent need to link our struggles here with the anti-colonial struggles in the so-called Global South. The many anti-racist struggles of migrant and post-migrant communities within Europe must also be seen in this context and are at the forefront of the struggle for a People’s Europe.
We work and fight to build our common network and organisation on the principle of ‘unity in diversity’. We focus on the principles that unite us, our common goals and our resolute opposition to capitalism, whilst also leaving room for differences, contradictions and diversity in theory and practice. Our cooperation and collaboration will be based on the aforementioned principles. We may have different ways of thinking and we may have different methods, ways of working and traditions in our movements. We differ in our cultures and languages, some of us come from large movements and some from smaller ones. But we do not see our differences as an obstacle. Instead we see this diversity as a richness and on this basis we want to discuss together, learn from each other and join our forces. Our differences are our strength, it will not weaken but strengthen us on our common path. Our fundamental common ground is our opposition to capitalism, our insistence on humanity. In the face of the global crisis, the ever-increasing war, the ecological catastrophe, the slavery of women and a system that tries to rob us of our right to a dignified future, our differences and contradictions must fade into the background. Capitalism has driven humanity to the edge of the abyss. Our survival is only possible through the defeat of capitalism and the construction of a different life and a different world. The conclusions we draw from the current situation show very clearly that we must come together and become an organised force in the shortest possible time.
This is a huge and historic responsibility that falls on everyone’s shoulders. As those struggling in the context of Europe, we also have a duty to dismantle the oppression, injustice and destruction caused by the European powers around the world.
Let us unite our struggles, perspectives and capacities and build the free life that the peoples of the world and all beings on our planet deserve!
