Katja Anton Cronauer / APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit Vancouver Fonds/Collection
Biographical History
Katja Anton Cronauer is a German-born anarchist. During their graduate studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1997, they were a member of APEC Alert, a grassroots organization formed by UBC students, former students, faculty, staff, and others. The organization was opposed to the agenda of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), an organization founded in 1989 to encourage “free trade and investment, economic growth and development” in the Asia-Pacific region.
Administrative History
Acquired by Allan Antliff
Scope and Content
The Cronauer Collection includes APEC Alert related posters; newsletters; five cassette recordings of a Free University teach-in held at the UBC on Nov. 24, one of which has reactions to the police abduction of anarchist Jaggi Singh; newspaper clippings; and important email correspondence related to anti-APEC organizing. It also includes Anarchist Discussion Group materials – posters, art, and VHS videos (the group met at The Grind Coffee Bar, 4142 Main Street, Vancouver).
APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit Vancouver
APEC Alert organized disruptions of APEC’s 9th annual meeting held in late November 1997 on the UBC Campus. Over November 21-22, government ministers from Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; the Republic of the Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; and the United States of America met to finalize agreements. The event culminated with a meeting of participating Heads of State and an official “Declaration” summarizing the summit’s accomplishments on November 25, 1997.
Cronauer and other members of an Anarchist Discussion Group then active at UBC, participated in “Refuse APEC” events which were staged leading up to November 17, 1997, and the “Summit Under Siege” action, which was initiated by a ‘tent city’ set up on the lawn to the west of the Student Union Building at UBC to mark the summit’s opening. “Crash the Summit” disruptions began on November 25, the day APEC Heads of State issued the official Declaration. In the early afternoon of November 25, protesters and police began to clash. Among the various actions taking place on the UBC campus that day, protesters broke through a police barricade at Gate 3 near the School of Theology, and there were multiple arrests. In the wake of these events, inquiries were held, and the police were condemned for the use of excessive force.