conditionalities as a prerequisite for ‘forgiveness’, it leaves the country even more locked into exploitative policies. However the movements against debt in the global South provide helpful examples. In the Philippines, the Freedom from Debt Coalition raised the human dimension of the public debt issue, and brought to the table what it calls ‘social debt’, referring to what is owed to the people after decades of illegitimate debt payments for obligations contracted through corrupt means. It promoted a citizen-led audit to uncover the scale of the country’s debt and to resist paying the previous dictator’s debts.44 Grassroots initiatives are also beginning in the North which question the legitimacy of these arrangements and the legitimacy of the international financial institutions imposing reforms.45 Many groups are in favour of stopping payments to the creditors, and proceeding to a full debt write-down. A vehicle that could facilitate this is an audit commission, composed of groups in society living with the consequences of a generalised state of bankruptcy who could have a say about what, if any, of the debt should be repaid. On the personal or family level there are other grassroots initiatives that are struggling to combat over-indebtedness. In Spain the initiatives that rally against evictions and foreclosures are strong and inspiring. Groups such as Stop Desahucios (Stop Evictions), and Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Platform for Those Affected by Mortgages) have organised gatherings to resist evictions, which have succeeded in preventing the authorities and the banks from
reclaiming housing. There is also a history of resisting student debt, for more details see The Debt Resistors Operations Manual for a colourful account from Strike Debt (USA).46 Furthermore, for a rather rare case of the initiative coming from the banks, we can look at the example of Iceland: following the crisis the Icelandic banks agreed to write off numerous personal loans, equivalent to 13% of its GDP, easing debt burdens for a quarter of the population.47 In general, debt and debt crises are symptomatic of how the economy of the whole capitalist system is organised. While forming a single issue debt-based social movement is not enough, as it is the overall debt economy and structures that produce poverty that must change, debt movements are a good starting point as they can revolve around specific issues that make a real difference to people and can create the movements needed to force change.
“In the short term people should support not only the grassroots initiatives about the cancellation of all these debts, whether private or public, but should actively engage in campaigning for a policy of reparations, returning to communities devastated by ‘adjustment’ the resources taken away from them” Silvia Frederici, writing about the women’s movement in Nigeria in the 1980 43
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