Decleyre Summit

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The Decleyre Summit was held on 9 September 1990 in Decleyre, Gylias. It was a public conference bringing together members of the Mathilde Vieira government and notable rich Gylians to begin a dialogue about public–private cooperation to revive Gylias' economy after the wretched decade. It laid the foundation for the Social Partnership Program, whose legislation was passed three years later.

Background

The Mathilde Vieira government had been formed after the 1990 federal election, and launched an ambitious program to rejuvenate the economy after the wretched decade, containing both public works projects and mildly liberal reforms. One area from which Mathilde drew inspiration was the example of state-driven development practiced by Donatella Rossetti, particularly her efforts to foster a culture of noblesse oblige and philanthropy through the Office of Civil Honours.

Mathilde chose to launch the idea publicly through hosting a summit with some of Gylias' best-known rich people in order to secure their support for the program. The choice of venue was symbolic: a hotel in Decleyre, a village in Envadra that had been established as an intentional community, and named after famed anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre. In this way, the government arrived at the summit with a dominant position from the start — a tactic Mathilde relied on to mollify left-wing suspicions of her plan.

Participants

Outcome

The summit received extensive media coverage, and thus introduced the public to an embryonic version of the Social Partnership Program. While at this stage discussions were more modest and centred around public-private partnerships in infrastructure, the signed and binding agreement committed the participants to terms favourable to the government. Mathilde invoked the example of Arlette Gaubert during discussions, both urging the participants to follow her philanthropic example and pointedly reminding them that their reputations were at stake if they resisted.

With so many famous names already committed to the program, the Social Partnership Program gained quick acceptance among Gylias' wealthy, and it was officially established in 1993, after legislation was revised to secure socialist and communist support.

The Decleyre Summit represented a turning point for Gylian society. Public attitudes towards wealth and entreprise ameliorated somewhat in its wake, from the reflexive suspicion of the Golden Revolution to an acceptance of philanthropic and civic-minded uses of wealth in the mould of Arlette Gaubert. A phenomenon of business chic emerged, with several manifestations: the popularity of Kaede Nakano designs, Frauke Stark's pioneering of "business burlesque" pornography, and the popularisation of "wicked" caricatures of businesspeople, such as Marie-Agnès Delaunay's public persona.

Similarly, it was seen by some analysts as a generational change in terms of wealth. The participants at the summit were predominantly creators, publicly seen as "local girls done good"; actual entrepreneurs such as Molly Hawkins, Electra Galanou, Iris Enţyvel, and Sári Gábor were in the minority. Subsequent years would see the emergence of successful entrepreneurs like Agathe Sanna, Kanna Miyashita, Saira Telyn, Marie-Agnès Delaunay, and Kaho Kawase, some of whom built themselves self-confident and cheeky public images. The public's acceptance of such images as entertainment was aided by the existence of the SPP, which made it clear that accumulating wealth could only be done by appeasing the government and public.

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