For several years now, Moscow's famed Pushkin Square has been the site of one of the world's largest and busiest McDonald's Restaurants. On October 16, critics of McDonald's gathered on the pavement outside the restaurant in a small but loud demonstration. SEBASTIAN JOB was there for Green Left, and obtained this interview with one of the organisers, VADIM DAMIER. A Moscow political scientist, Damier is a member of the Initiative of Revolutionary Anarchists and the League of Green Parties, the two bodies that joined forces to organise the action. The demonstration was part of an international day of action against McDonald's.
What are the demands of the demonstration?
The Russian left, like the left in other countries, has a long list of grievances against McDonald's. First there are the ecological problems. The plastic hamburger containers cannot be recycled, and the Amazon forests are destroyed in order to graze the cattle that end up as Mc this and Mc that.
Then there are the ecological-economic reasons. McDonald's is one of the transnational corporations which extract resources from Third World countries and sell them in the West. Here in Moscow they buy about 2 million tonnes of potatoes and sell them at exaggerated prices, beyond the reach of most people. At the same time, people in Moscow are starved for potatoes.
Are you opposed to McDonald's in principle, or would you be happy with some reforms?
We think there are some things that can't be reformed. One of those is McDonald's. For us McDonald's is a symbol of the capitalist system, against which we want to fight.
Are the workers in Moscow McDonald's unionised, and do you have any contact with them?
Today we were approached by some workers and they told us that they do have a trade union. But contact with them will be difficult because they are in a privileged position. They have relatively high salaries, and some of them have access to hard currency.
The queue here is rarely under 500 metres long. How do you account for the popularity of the Moscow McDonald's?
It's quite understandable. Today in Moscow there are very few places where you can get a snack. Some people come here because they've no way out; they need somewhere to eat. We're trying to convince these people that they shouldn't take the path of least resistance.
In the West, McDonald's and multinational companies in general are regarded with suspicion by a great many people. Is that the case here?
People here are completely unaware of the negative impact of these companies. There is also a widespread ignorance about ecological questions. So there is a great role here for green and alternative
Most people don't seem to understand what we are doing. They don't have any concrete opinions either for us or against us. But if we didn't organise these actions, how would they ever see beyond the bright lights and the glossy advertisements?