CCS Events - Other Events

Seminars on mining 13-14 January 2010

Date: January 13-14, 2011
Time: 8:30-6:00 pm (Thursday), 8:30-4:00 (Friday)
Venue: SEIU building, 1800 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington D.C. 20036

Dethroning King Coal in 2011, from West Virginia (January) to Durban (December)
Patrick Bond

South Africa’s crust was drill-pocked with abandon since Kimberley diamonds were found in 1867 and then Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) gold was unearthed in 1886. But the world’s interest in how we trash our environment perked up again last week for two reasons:

The shocking revelation that acid mine drainage is now seeping into the Johannesburg region’s ‘Cradle of Humankind’, home of hominid fossils dating more than three million years, where our Australopithecus ancestors’ earliest bones are now threatened by the area’s pollution-intensive mining industry; and

Hot contestation of new United States financing for South Africa’s proposed Kusile power plant, which will be the world’s third largest coal-fired facility.

In parallel battles, though, the beheading of King Coal is underway in West Virginia, where nine days after the January 3 cancer death of heroic eco-warrior Judy Bonds, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overturned the Army Corps of Engineers’ prior approval of Spruce No. 1 mine, the world’s largest-ever ‘mountaintop removal’ operation. Coal companies have been blowing up the once-rolling now-stumbling Appalachians. In order to rip out a ton of fossil fuel, they dump 16 tons of rubble into the adjoining valleys.

After an avalanche of pressure by mountain communities and environmentalists, the EPA ruled against the “unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or recreational areas.” According to leading US climatologist James Hansen, quoted in Bonds’ New York Times obituary last week, “There are many things we ought to do to deal with climate change, but stopping mountaintop-removal is the place to start. Coal contributes the most carbon dioxide of any energy source.” The EPA also took a stance in late December to belatedly begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

Through activism and legal strategies, US communities and the Sierra Club have prevented construction of 150 proposed coal-fired power plants over the last couple of years, a remarkable accomplishment (only a couple got through their net).

But in South Africa, the fight is just beginning. The national government in Pretoria and municipal officials in seaside Durban will continue invoking several myths in defense of coal, Kusile and the ‘COP17’, the November 28-December 9 climate summit officially called the ‘Conference of the Parties 17’ (but which should be renamed the Conference of Polluters). Here are some strategies of the SA state and big business meant to blind us:

In Durban, aggressive ‘greenwashing’ will attempt to distract attention from vast CO2 emissions attributable to South Durban’s oft-exploding oil refineries and petrochemical complex, Africa’s largest port, the hyperactive tourism promotion strategy (in lieu of any bottom-up economic development), unending sports stadia construction and unnecessary new King Shaka international airport, electricity going to the very dangerous Assmang ferromanganese smelter (the city’s largest power guzzler by far at more than a half-million megawatt hours per year), sprawly new suburban developments, and inefficient electricity consumption and transport because of state failure to provide adequate renewable energy and mass transit incentives;

‘Offsets’ for a tiny fraction of Durban’s emissions will again be fatuously marketed to an unsuspecting public, as during the 2010 World Cup, including mass planting of trees (though when they die the carbon is re-released) and municipal landfill methane capture – even though the increasingly-corrupt offset industry and European carbon markets which market our emissions credits are now ridiculed across the world, and in economic terms are failing beyond even the most pessimistic predictions;

Whacky, unworkable ‘geo-engineering’ strategies are going to multiply, such as biomass planting to convert valuable food land into fodder for ethanol fuel, or mass dumping of iron filings in the ocean to create carbon-sucking algae blooms, or ‘Carbon Capture and Sequestration/Storage’ schemes to pump power-plant CO2 underground but which tend to leak catastrophically and which require a third more coal to run, or the nuclear energy revival notwithstanding more shutdowns at the main plant, Koeberg (five years ago the industry minister, Alec Erwin, notoriously described as ‘sabotage’ a minor Koeberg accident that cost the ruling party its control of Cape Town in the subsequent municipal election); and

South African ‘global climate leadership’ will be touted, even though Pretoria’s reactionary United Nations negotiating stance includes fronting for Washington’s much-condemned 2009 Copenhagen Accord, which even if implemented faithfully, by all accounts, will roast Africa with a projected temperature rise of 3.5°C.

As even the government’s new National Climate Change Response Green Paper admits, “Should multi-lateral international action not effectively limit the average global temperature increase to below at least 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the potential impacts on South Africa in the medium- to long-term are significant and potentially catastrophic.” The paper warns that under conservative assumptions, “after 2050, warming is projected to reach around 3-4°C along the coast, and 6-7°C in the interior” – which is, simply, non-survivable.

If President Jacob Zuma’s government really cared about climate and about his relatives in rural KwaZulu-Natal villages who are amongst those most adversely affected by worsening droughts and floods, then it would not only halt the $21 billion worth of electricity generators being built by state power company Eskom: Medupi is under construction and Kusile will begin soon. Pretoria would also deny approval to the forty new mines allegedly needed to supply the plants with coal, for just as at the Cradle of Humankind and in West Virginia, these mines will cause permanent contamination of rivers and water tables, increased mercury residues and global warming.

More evidence of the Witwatersrand’s degradation comes from tireless water campaigner Mariette Liefferink, who counts 270 tailings dams in a 400 square kilometer mining zone. With gold nearly depleted, as Liefferink told a Joburg paper last week, uranium is an eco-social activist target: “Nowhere in the world do you see these mountains of uranium and people living in and among them. You have people living on hazardous toxic waste and of course some areas are also high in radioactivity.”

The toxic tailings dams are typically unlined, unvegetated and unable to contain the mines’ prolific air, water and soil pollution. Other long-term anti-mining struggles continue in South African locales: against platinum in the Northwest and Limpopo provinces, against titanium on the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, and against coal in the area bordering Zimbabwe known as Mapungubwe where relics from a priceless ancient civilization will be destroyed unless mining is halted (as even the government agrees).

There’s another reason that the power of what is termed the Minerals-Energy Complex continues unchecked, even as treasures like the Cradle – and also the priceless Kruger Park’s surface water plus millions of people’s health – are threatened: political bribery. In addition to supplying the world’s cheapest power to BHP Billiton and Anglo American Corporation smelters by honoring dubious apartheid-era deals, Eskom’s coal-fired mega-plants will provide millions of dollars to African National Congress (ANC) party coffers through crony-capitalist relations with the Japanese firm Hitachi.

Last year, Pretoria’s own ombudsman termed the role of then Eskom chairman and ANC Finance Committee member Valli Moosa ‘improper’ in cutting the Hitachi deal. As a result, even pro-corporate Business Day newspaper joined more than 60 local civil society groups and 80 others around the world in formally denouncing $3.75 billion World Bank loan to Eskom which were granted by neoconservative-neoliberal Bank president Robert Zoellick last April.

Other beneficiaries of Washington’s upcoming trade finance package for Eskom include two desperate multinational corporations: Black & Veatch from Kansas and Bucyrus from Wisconsin. The latter showed its clout last October when in order to fund machinery exports to the huge Sasan coal-fired plant in India with US Export-Import Bank subsidies, the Milwaukee firm yanked members of Congress so hard that they in turn compelled the Bank to reverse an earlier decision not to fund Sasan on climate grounds.

But now, after the EPA’s slapdown of Spruce No. 1, Bucyrus must be really nervous. Forty years ago, John Prine wrote the haunting song ‘Paradise’ about the strip-mining of his Kentucky homeland, with this verse describing a creature known as ‘Big Hog’:

Then the coal company came with the world’s largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

Big Hog was a Bucyrus-Erie 3850-B dragline shovel. With West Virginia coal companies no longer buying these monsters, the company is fanatical about overseas sales. As a result, last Thursday, two dozen of us gathered by Friends of the Earth and Sierra found ourselves shouting slogans against Eskom and Bucyrus outside the Ex-Im Bank’s Washington headquarters.

The Milwaukee corporation rebutted that Ex-Im financing was justifiable because of a Johannesburg Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner plus Wisconsin steelworkers jobs, even though this means that South African counterparts – especially a Joburg company, Rham, that will apparently fire scores of local employees – lose out. Bucyrus’s 2010 contract to supply Eskom with coal mining equipment became a scandal subject to a parliamentary investigation last September. Given the Witwatersrand area’s historical world leadership in mining equipment, businesses there claim there’s no obvious reason why local firms cannot supply Eskom at much lower cost (one third of Bucyrus’ in that particular case).

Most importantly, the poor will repay this finance at a time South Africa has become the world's most unequal society and unemployment is raging. For Eskom to cover interest bills on Medupi and Kusile loans requires a 127 percent electricity price increase for ordinary consumers over four years. This has already raised power disconnection rates for poor households, and on Monday, Durban police made 25 arrests of shackdwellers for electricity theft.

This multiple set of interlinked climate-energy-economic travesties can only be reversed by grassroots and labor activism. At the Durban COP 17, don’t expect a global deal that can save the planet, given prevailing adverse power relations. Instead of relying on paralyzed politicians and lazy bureaucrats, South Africa’s environmental, community, women’s, youth and labor voices will be demanding serious action to address the greatest crisis of our times:

Major investments in Green Jobs would let metalworkers weld millions of solar-powered geysers, for example, thus allowing Eskom to switch off power to BHP Billiton’s aluminum smelters and to halt new powerplant construction without net job loss;

New public transport subsidies should reconfigure apartheid-era urban design and pull us willingly from single-occupant cars;

An employment-rich zero-waste strategy would recycle nearly everything and compost our organic waste so as to eliminate methane emissions at the remaining landfills;

More direct-action protests against major emissions point sources – Eskom, Sasol (apartheid’s wicked coal-to-oil company), the Engen refinery in South Durban and the new Durban-Joburg oil mega-pipeline, for instance – should better link micro-environmental struggles over local air, water and land quality to climate change;

More ambitious Air Quality Act regulations would label – and then phase out – carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gas ‘pollutants’, as with the US Clean Air Act;

Government planning and utility board decisions would halt willy-nilly suburbanisation and ungreen ‘development’; and

Instead of North-South financing via destructive carbon markets, the demand for ‘climate debt’ would permit the flow of strings-free, non-corrupt and effective adaptation funds.

Through urgent adoption of genuine post-carbon strategies like these, by the time the COP17 rolls around, the world could see in Durban a state and society committed to reversing climate change.

But get real. Since none of these will be considered much less implemented by the current ruling crew, instead we’ll see a mass democratic movement rise, aiming to do to the climate threat what we did to apartheid and the deniers of AIDS medicines: defeat them at source, when respectively, old white politicians and their international business buddies, and Thabo Mbeki and Big Pharma, had to stand back and respect a new morality, a new bottom-up power.

(Durban-based academic Patrick Bond’s book The Politics of Climate Justice will be released later this year, and recent articles are posted at ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp?4,80.)

Patrick Bond radio debate on climate justice politics, 22 December 2010

Climate Change, Social Change

Patrick Bond debates Joe Romm (former Clinton energy official) on Cancun and the principles of climate politics, on Against the Grain (KPFA, Berkeley):

What's a world to do about climate change? Patrick Bond and Joseph Romm have very different perspectives; they talk with guest host Brian Edwards-Tiekert.

Parts of the world are already losing their glaciers and their water supplies. Others are getting hit with unprecedented floods. Low-lying nations are making plans to evacuate their populations. So, what's a world to do about climate change? Patrick Bond and Joseph Romm weigh in with very different perspectives.
kpfa.org/archive/id/66199
www.againstthegrain.org

Seminar on Xenophobia and Racism in SA, 10 December 2010

The UN theme for International Human Rights Day 2010 is Speak Up Stop Discrimination and is intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms whenever and wherever it is manifested.

In recognition of International Human Rights Day, the Umtapo Centre will be hosting a seminar to address Xenophobia and Racism in South Africa. It will bring together a small but wide range of stakeholders to address the root causes of such phenomena and seek longer term solutions that will rally people around the reclaiming of value systems such as Ubuntu.

The Umtapo Centre has the pleasure of inviting the public to participate in this seminar to be held in Durban on Friday, 10th December 2010 at the Tropicana Hotel from 9h30 – 16h00.

The first session will have a panel of speakers addressing the issues in an in-depth and constructive manner; and, the second session will focus very specifically on a campaign to chart the way forward.

The programme will include the following:

• What have been the major “turning points” in recent history that have shaped the landscape of racism and xenophobia?
Professor Pumla Gqola, academic, feminist and author based at Wits University

• Confronting Racism, Tribalism, Violence and Corruption in the Quest for True Humanity: Is One People, One Nation a myth?
Andile Mngxitama, Foundation for Human Rights

• The Media and other actors that shape Public Discourse and Myths of Race
(tbc)

• Grassroots responses to Racism, Xenophobia, and Violence:
Baruti Amisi, Director, Anti-Xenophobic Community Building Project, Centre for Civil Society

• Campaign against Racism. Xenophobia and all forms of Discrimination
Umtapo

Contact the Umtapo office to register BEFORE 7TH DECEMBER 2010

Contact Details
Arun Naicker ,
Tel. 031 – 3093350
Fax. 031 – 3098198 info@umtapocentre.org.za

Patrick Bond at the conference on Indian Formation, 25 November 2010

CULTURE, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF SOUTH ASIAN MIGRATION

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: MIGRATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
PATRICK BOND, UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL (VIA VIDEO-LINK)

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER

9:30AM SESSION 1: CIRCUITS OF CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION

TREATMENT OF UNWELCOME GUESTS: THE STATE OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH
NASIR UDDIN, UNIVERSITY OF CHITTAGONG

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STRUCTURING OF A MOBILE WORKING CLASS: EVIDENCE FROM THE TAMIL REGION
RAMAN MAHADEVAN & R. VIDYASAGAR, INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES / UNICEF

DISPOSITIONS & DESTINATIONS: A MODEL FOR MIGRATION FROM THE BENGAL DELTA
JOYA CHATTERJI, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

SHAPING THE MIGRATION REGIME IN NEPAL: BETWEEN ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES & SOCIAL JUSTICE
BANDITA SIJAPATI, NEPÂ SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

- LUNCH -

2:00PM SESSION 2: MIGRANT LIFE-CYCLES & REPRODUCTION OF COMMUNITIES

THE DIASPORIC PURSUIT OF HOME: A TRANSNATIONAL PUNJABI COMMUNITY STEPHEN TAYLOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTHUMBRIA

FAMILIAL BONDS OF INDIANS IN THE UNITED STATES: A STUDY OF VISITING PARENTS
AJAYA SAHOO, UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

INTERSECTION OF CIRCUITS OF MIGRATION
MARGARET WALTON-ROBERTS, WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

- TEA -

4:30PM SESSION 3: (RE)CREATION OF MIGRANT COMMUNITIES

DISPLACEMENT IN NARMADA VALLEY: CASE STUDY OF TAWA DAM
YOGESH DIWAN, PEOPLE'S RESEARCH SOCIETY

CONSERVATION & DISPLACEMENT: THE IMPACT OF TIGER RESERVES ON INDIGENOUS FOREST DWELLERS
BABA MAYARAM, SOCIAL ACTIVIST

FORCED RE-MIGRATION TO SETTLEMENT COLONY: A CASE STUDY OF KANNAGI NAGAR
CHENNAI DILIP DIWAKAR, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

DAY 2: THURSDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
9:30AM SESSION 1: MIGRATION & SPATIAL FORMATIONS

MIGRATIONS FROM & INTO KERALA: SOME CONCEPTUAL ISSUES
YEMUNA SUNNY, PEOPLE'S RESEARCH SOCIETY

MIGRATIONS, TEXTS & MAPPING OF SPACE IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY
MANJEET BARUAH, INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

MARXIST & NON-MARXIST APPROACHES TO MIGRATION IN KARN ÂṬ AKA
SIMON CHILVERS, INDIAN FORMATION RESEARCH SOCIETY

12:30PM COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: MIGRATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
PATRICK BOND, UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL (VIA VIDEO-LINK)

- LUNCH -

2:00PM SESSION 2: IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON REGIONAL & URBAN CHANGE

THE SOCIAL & ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MIGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF WAYANAD DISTRICT
JACOB THONDALIL, SOUTH ASIA STUDY CENTRE

CONDITIONS OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN HOSUR, TAMIL NADU
A. MARX, PRESIDENCY COLLEGE, CHENNAI

ECONOMIC CRISES, LABOUR MOBILITY & WELFARE: EVIDENCE FROM TIRRUPUR
M. VIJAYABASKAR, MADRAS INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

MIGRANT LABOUR, WORKERS' RIGHTS & C.W.G. CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
SAIF EQBAL, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

- TEA -

4:30PM SESSION 3: POLITICS OF MIGRATION, NATION & BELONGING

MIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS
MADHAVI PUTREVU, HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM

THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING OF NEPAL-INDIA MIGRATION
KESHAV BASHYAL, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

IMMIGRANTS, CITIZENS & JUSTICE: PREDICAMENT OF THE NEPALIS IN INDIA
SWATAHSIDDHA SARKAR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL

MINI-INDIA? POST-COLONIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE POLITICS OF MIGRATION IN THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS
PHILIPP ZEHMISCH, LUDWIG MAXIMILIANS UNIVERSITÄT

DAY 3: FRIDAY 26TH NOVEMBER
9:30AM SESSION 1: ORIGINS & IDENTITIES OF MIGRANT COMMUNITIES

INDIAN MIGRATION TO THE WEST INDIES DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD: A STUDY OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF IDENTITY AMONG INDENTURED LABOURERS
GHAN SHYAM, BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY

MIGRATION, MEMORY & POLITICS IN NORTH EAST INDIA
SARAH HILALY, RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY

THE IMPERIAL ROOTS OF PUNJABI NARRATIVES OF MOBILITY
ANJALI GEERA ROY

SOCIAL & POLITICAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF ECONOMIC MIGRATION: SITUATING NEPALI MARWARIS WITHIN THE BROADER MARWARI COMMUNITY OF SOUTH ASIA
MALLIKA SHAKYA, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

- LUNCH -

2:00PM SESSION 2: GENDER, SOCIAL STRUCTURES & MIGRATION

WOMEN & CHILD TRAFFICKING IN NEPAL: EXPLOITATION OF INNOCENTS
VINOD K. BHARDWAJ & WANGSHIMENLA ZAMIR, GOVT. P.G. COLLEGE CHIMANPURA /
NAGALAND UNIVERSITY

'A PART YET APART': AN OVERVIEW OF SOUTH ASIAN FEMALE IMMIGRATION IN CANADA & ITS SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS
SWAGATA BHATTACHARYA, JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY

THE POLITICIZATION OF THE INDO-CANADIAN DIASPORA: A FOREIGN POLICY CASE STUDY ANITA SINGH, DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

100 YEARS OF SOUTH ASIAN MIGRATION: RACE & GENDER IN THE CANADIAN IMAGINARY
SUNERA THOBANI, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

- TEA -

4:30PM SESSION 3: MIGRATION & COMMUNITY LABOUR

THE IMPLICATIONS OF MIGRATION FOR GENDER RELATIONS & COLLECTIVE ACTION: LESSONS FROM COMMUNITY FORESTRY IN THE MIDDLE HILLS OF NEPAL
BIMBIKA SIJAPATI BASNETT, NEPÂ SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

MIGRATION & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE NEPAL-INDIA BORDERLANDS
FRASER SUGDEN, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING

BEYOND THE HYDRAULICS OF DEMAND & SUPPLY: A CASE STUDY OF BHIL MIGRATION
KUMAR SANJAY SINGH, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

Patrick Bond on oil and financial crises with Attac, 18-19 November

ROUNDTABLE: Norwegian Experiences of Oil Policies - a toolbox for managing natural resources?
Oslo November 18, 2010

The last 10 to 15 years civil society in Norway has recognized that the Norwegian state, and Norwegian companies increasingly engage in commercial activities to extract energy abroad (petroleum, hydropower, and agro fuel). We also find that when your governments or peoples from developing countries ask what Norway did to secure wealth of the entire nation from such energy extraction the answer and guidance they get is far from complete. The Norwegian state answers that predictable access for foreign investments, and a tax regime that can provide revenue for government spending, and good governance is what has to be in place.

However, the full scale political means of national and local ownership, conditioned access to common energy resources, the politics that secured knowledge and technology in clusters related to the energy resource, strategies to secure employment and value addition, etc are not communicated. The preconditions, that a strong labour movement and strong municipalities had secured a social state that could play a role in securing safe working conditions and distribution of value addition. This is a solid part of the Norwegian experience.

The skilled energy history researcher from the University of Oslo – Helge Ryggvik, is asked to share this knowledge with us. The result is a rough guide to Norwegian energy experiences.

The Norwegian foreign energy politics include several means. Intended or unintended, many of them contribute to secure Norwegian economic interests abroad. We will argue that programmes such as Oil for development, Development investment fund – NORFUND, requests through trade agreements to liberalise energy services and secure investment treaties, and of course diplomatic support for Norwegian companies all add a legitimacy for Norwegian economic interests abroad, and aim at making other countries not to use policies that Norway used through its history.

This roundtable aim at sharing views on Norwegian (or other countries) energy activities in developing countries. Furthermore, for our partners/colleagues from developing countries to respond to the document and express what they think social civil society organisations in Norway can do to support their case in terms of their visions for future energy, environment, employment and economic justice in their countries and regions.

PROGRAMME

9 am: Welcome

9.10: Introduction to the Roundtable (10 min)
Heidi Lundeberg, Secr. General of the Latin America Solidarity Groups

9.20: A rough guide to Norwegian Experiences in petroleum policies (40 min)
Helge Ryggvik

Comments (10 min)

Jane Nalunga, SEATINI, Uganda

Patrick Bond, Centre for Civil Society, KwaZulu Natal University, South Africa

Juan Pablo Flores, Observatorio de los Recursos Naturales, Bolivia

Diamantino Nhampossa, National Farmers Union, Mozambique

10.30: A short break

10.40: Roundtable discussion

Some guiding questions

1) Are there policy means that the Norwegian Civil society should advocate for, to secure policy space for countries to energy security and climate protection?
2) What would eventually be hindrances at various levels to secure efficient policies, that would benefit from a advocacy cooperation
3) What processes and conditions should be in place for civil society and their political leaders to ensure genuine accountable processes in this policy area?
4) What challenges do you pose to future Norwegian foreign policy in the energy, climate and resource management sectors?

11.45: Lunch break

12.15: Continue discussion
Are there some common conclusions?

13.00: Short break

13.15: Summary
Helene Bank and Heidi Lundeberg

13.30: End of roundtable and information about activities in Norway Social Forum

Friday 19th November, 2pm- 4pm:
“From stock market crash to social crisis” (with Erik Reinert (NO), Sólveig Jónsdóttir (IS) and Patrick Bond (SA))

http://www.attac.no/omattac/nyheter/gk2010

Globaliseringskonferansen 2010
Publisert 16.11.2010

Finanskrisa har ført til ei sosial krise i Europa, utsiktene til en forpliktende klima-avtale i Cancun er labre, finansmarkedene får fortsatt dominere verdensøkonomien uten noen form for demokratisk kontroll og i Norge fører New Public Management-ideologien til en forvitring av velferdsstaten. Motkreftene som jobber for demokrati, miljøvern og sosial rettferdighet møtes på Globaliseringskonferansen, ble med du også!

Hver kveld blir det PubAttac på Kaffeglasset i Torggata. Alle nysgjerrige som vil vite litt mer om Attac i en sosial og uformell atmosfære er velkommen, sammen med gamle og nye medlemmer.

Attacs møter på konferansen:

FREDAG 19/11, 14.00-16.00: Fra børskrakk til sosial krise

Høsten 2008 sprakk finansboblen, og skapte panikk i finansmarkedene. To år etterpå har finanssektoren kommet seg, takket være statlige redningspakker til en samla verdi av 36.000 milliarder norske kroner. Men den økonomiske og sosiale krisen som følger av finanskrisen, i form av arbeidsledighet, velferdskutt og økt fattigdom, ser vi først nå begynnelsen på.

På dette møtet får dere høre beretninger om hvordan krisen slår ut for vanlige folk, som studenter, pensjonister og offentlig ansatte, i land i Europa så vel som i det globale Sør.

Til dette møtet inviterer vi innledere som kan berette om hvordan krisen slår ut for vanlige folk, som studenter, pensjonister, offentlig ansatte etc, i land i Europa så vel som i det globale Sør.

Innledere: Erik Reinert (NO), Sólveig Jónsdóttir (IS), Patrick Bond (ZA), Thanos Contagyris (GR)
Møteleder: Emilie Ekeberg
Arrangør: Attac Norge og Res Publica
Temaspor: Økonomi, finans og handel

A climate conference, old and new oil curses, and Norwegian ‘Good Samaritans’
Patrick Bond 23 November 2010

The stench of rotting blubber would hang for days over The Bluff in
South Durban, thanks to Norwegian immigrants whose harpooning skills
helped stock the town with cooking fat, margarine and soap, starting
about a century ago. The fumes became unbearable, and a local uproar
soon compelled the Norwegians to move the whale processing factory from
within Africa’s largest port to a less‑populated site a few kilometers
southeast.

There, on The Bluff’s glorious Indian Ocean beachfront, the white
working‑class residents of Marine Drive (perhaps including those in the
apartment where I now live) also complained bitterly about the odor from
flensing, whereby blubber, meat and bone were separated at the world’s
largest onshore whaling station.

Ever since, our neighborhood has been the armpit of South Africa. A bit
further south and west, in a black residential area, the country’s
largest oil refinery was built in the 1950s, followed by the production
and on‑site disposal of nearly every toxic substance known to science.

The whalers gracefully retreated into comfortable retirement in the
mid‑1970s, their prey threatened by extinction. Conservationists had
mobilized internationally, and thanks to the OPEC cartel, the cost of
oil for ship transport soared in 1974, so the industry ceased operating
in Durban. Even apartheid South Africa signed the global whaling ban in
1976.

What’s left is a small Bluff Whaling Museum where you sense the early
Norwegians’ Vikingesque stance: brave, defiant, unforgiving to those
they raped and pillaged, and utterly unconcerned about the
sustainability of the environment they had conquered. The Bluff’s
world‑class surfing waves regularly toss ashore decayed fragments of
sperm, blue, fin and humpback whales’ skeletons; tens of thousands were
killed.

Déjà vu, earlier this month, when an invisible cloud suffused with a
cat’s‑piss ammonia stench floated from the South Durban petro‑chemical
complex – the continent’s largest – across the still racially‑segregated
belt of 300,000 residents. Once again the community’s salt‑of‑the‑earth
rabble‑rouser, Des D’Sa of the South Durban Community Environmental
Alliance (SDCEA), called a picket against an uncaring municipal
bureaucracy on November 12, and in the next two weeks further protests
are planned in Durban against inadequate national energy policy and
global climate policy.

The unbearable smell, apparently emanating from the powerful corporation
FFS, lasted for days, reappearing again last Friday night. Further
south, the rotten‑egg sulfur odor from petroleum refinery SO2 emissions
is a permanent feature. These persistent pollution crises are a visceral
reminder: we must follow the example of Norwegian whalers on The Bluff,
gracefully retreating from capitalism’s reckless dependence upon oil,
coal and gas. It is a task that society cannot avoid much longer, as a
devastating climate change tipping point looms sometime in the next decade.

So nearly everyone was pleased, a fortnight ago, with the choice of
Durban to host the 2011 Conference of the Parties (COP) 17, the world
climate summit. Competition was tough. The conference centre in
beautiful Cape Town was rejected, according to a guest post on former CT
City Manager Andrew Boraine’s blog, because of “the high levels of
security required… The CT International Conference Centre (ICC) falls
way behind the ICC complex in Durban. You can lock it down completely
and keep the over‑the‑top protesters well away from the high level
attendees.”

Boraine, a Johannesburg NGO colleague of mine two decades ago when he
helped Alexandra Township civic associations defend their over‑the‑top
protests against apartheid, is now a public‑private partnership
facilitator. “Cape Town's proposal,” he rebutted, “took into account the
need to be able to lock down certain areas for government delegations
and VIPs.”

Sorry, I don’t accept the need for to safely insulate these rascals, for
last December in Copenhagen I witnessed how badly the VIPs performed
when tasked with making binding emissions cuts. Not only were none made
but even the 1997 Kyoto Protocol’s minor five percent cuts (measured
from 1990‑2012) were completely undermined.

SA and US presidents Jacob Zuma and Barack Obama joined Chinese, Indian
and Brazilian leaders in wrecking the last vestiges of UN democracy and
threatening their own societies (especially Zulu and Luo kinfolk who are
on the climate frontline), on behalf of the (mainly white‑owned) fossil
fuel industry and (mainly white) frequent fliers (like myself). Chief
negotiator for the G77, Lumumba Di‑Apeng, poignantly asked, “What is
Obama going to tell his daughters? That their [Kenyan] relatives’ lives
are not worth anything?”

At the COP 16 climate summit, lasting through December 11 in Cancun,
Mexico, these VIPs definitely need a strong wake‑up slap ‑ as activists
there gave World Trade Organisation negotiators in 2003 ‑ not a quiet
meeting place where they’ll just back‑slap.

Actually, the strategy many in civil society considered around this time
last year, was what Boraine unintentionally advocated: ‘locking down’
(and in) the world leaders inside Copenhagen’s Bella Centre, so they
would finally feel the pressure to sign a real deal, instead of the
sleazy Copenhagen Accord.

This would have involved blockades preventing delegates from departing
last December 19, the way activists did in September 2000 at Prague’s
ancient palace, where SA finance minister Trevor Manuel chaired the
World Bank’s annual meeting. The VIPs barely scampered to safety from
global‑justice protesters, after again doing nothing to reform
globalisation.

The plan to lock down the climate‑negotiating VIPs in Copenhagen was
considered and then abandoned when Danish police turned semi‑fascistic.
It’s not even an option worth discussing in Durban given that City
Manager Mike Sutcliffe regularly denies permission to peacefully protest.

But come to think of it, on 31 August 2001, a march of 15,000 to the ICC
led by the late Fatima Meer and Dennis Brutus against a pathetic UN
racism conference came close to barging in on the lethargic delegates.
Recall the activists’ valid complaints then: no UN discussion of
reparations needed for slavery, colonialism and apartheid, and no action
against Israeli racial oppression and occupation of Palestine.

The reason why next year, leading climate activists may decline the
opportunity to appeal to ICC elites – either asking politely, or
amplified with a chorus of vuvuzelas – is simple: rapidly‑rising disgust
with filthy leaders who cannot even clean up the world’s fouled
financial nests, judging by the recent South Korean G20 meeting, much
less planet‑threatening emissions.

The Cancun COP will again demonstrate that US and EU rulers will spend
trillions of dollars to pacify the world’s richest speculators in
financial markets, from Wall Street in 2008 to those holding state bonds
in Athens, Dublin and Lisbon this month. But they’ll balk at a few
hundred billion required annually to save the planet.

“If planet Earth was a bank, they’d have bailed it out long ago,”
British climate campaigner Jonathan Neale remarked to laughter at the
Norway Social Forum’s opening session last Thursday. The money is
certainly available in Oslo, thanks to a petroleum rainy‑day fund worth
$500 billion, the world’s second largest sovereign hoard.

Norwegians in the campaigning group Attac with whom I spent the last few
days are also intent on fighting what a workshop leader, Heidi
Lundeberg, last Thursday termed Norway’s “Good Samaritan masking the
face of our new oil imperialism”. Lundeberg’s edited collection for
Attac, Klima for ny Oljepolitikk (Oslo, 2008), demolishes Norway’s image
as responsible global citizen.

University of Bergen eco‑social scientist Terje Tvedt has also
complained that Oslo’s spin‑doctoring generates “an aura of
moral‑ideological irrefutability”. It’s especially irritating when
accompanying a revitalized eco‑Viking rape‑and‑pillage mentality, such
as growing collaboration with the likes of the World Bank, led by one of
the world’s most destructive men, Robert Zoellick.

The fake Samaritan tendency, evident when former prime minister Gro
Harlem Brundtland ran a 1983‑87 world ‘sustainable development’
commission, is being taken to extremes by current prime minister Jens
Stoltenberg and environment/development minister Erik Stolheim.

Workshop debate immediately ensued with the outraged director of the
Oslo government’s Oil for Development fund, Petter Nore, who back in
1979 coedited a great book, Oil and Class Struggle. “We are NOT the
Samaritan face of imperialism!”, he clamoured, yet his own reports
reveal the fund’s role in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, donating
millions to lubricate the US looting of petrol and gas, and supporting a
stable of venal oil‑rich African dictators.

Nore’s office also promotes carbon trading to mitigate the flaring of
gas at oil wells. He rewards both Northern financiers and Big Oil
polluters with ‘Clean Development Mechanism’ payola, buying ‘emissions
reduction credits’ for the Norwegian state in order to reform extraction
systems in which, at possibly the world’s worst site, the Niger Delta,
flaring has been declared illegal in any case.

As do so many ex‑leftist Scandinavian technocrats, Nore has capitulated
to the worst global trends. He’s using Norway’s oil‑infused cash‑flush
aid to reward corporations for what they should be doing free. Activists
from Port Harcourt’s Environmental Rights Action movement, led by Nnimmo
Bassey (co‑winner of the Right Livelihood Award last month) know better,
demanding that carbon trading must not legitimize illegal flaring.

The same problem can be found in another Norwegian Clean Development
Mechanism strategy: planting alien invasive trees in plantations across
several East African countries. This wrecks local ecology and pushes out
indigenous people, as my colleague Blessing Karumbidza from the Durban
NGO Timberwatch recently reported: “the Norwegian firm Green Resources
has entrenched itself in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania where it
looks to acquire at least 142 000 hectares of land… to plant exotic
trees (varieties of eucalyptus and pine) for the purpose of selling an
expected 400 000 tons of carbon credits to the Norwegian government.”

Along with Norway’s serious environmentalists and development advocates,
I find it heartbreaking that the government’s wonderful Soria Moria
declaration is being trashed by Stoltenberg and Stolheim. The 2005
manifesto promised a U‑turn, for example, through shifting funding from
the World Bank to the United Nations.

Even in the North’s most left‑leaning government, it was all fibbery, as
shown when Bank executive directors had a chance to turn down the
notorious $3.75 billion Medupi coal loan in April. The Norwegian
representative only managed a limp abstention, not the no! vote
demanded by a South African‑led global coalition of 200 concerned groups.

When Nore told the workshop that fifty governments had come to his
agency for assistance in managing oil resources, including South Africa,
I flashed back to South Durban’s oil grievances:
• massive greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to SA’s emissions of
CO2 per unit of per person GDP being twenty times worse than even the US,
• regular fires, explosions, and devastating oil pipe leaks,
• the world’s highest recorded school asthma rates (Settlers Primary)
and a leukemia pandemic,
• extreme capital‑intensity in petro‑chem production and extreme
unemployment in surrounding communities,
• a huge new pipeline to double the oil flow from Durban to Johannesburg
(already two children were killed after falling into unprotected
trenches), and
• an old airport earmarked for expansion of the petrochemical, auto and
shipping industries.

South Durban is one of the world’s extreme sites of climate change cause
and effect: well‑paid managers run leaky‑bucket toxic factories by day
and escape to plush suburbs by night, and gasping residents either
slowly die from the exhaust or wake in fear when the refineries erupt
with noxious fumes late at night. Yet thanks to one of Africa’s finest
eco‑social campaigning groups, SDCEA, the area can become an inspiring
site for fighting petro‑power and visioning alternatives.

Consistent with a global consensus that whales should be left in the
ocean, the only solution to the climate crisis is one that genuinely
decent Norwegian community residents, fisherfolk, environmentalists and
social activists are promoting in their own petrol‑rich Lofoten region.
The demand there is identical to one made by South Durban residents fed
up with smells far more damaging than the decomposing blubber of
yesteryear: “leave the oil in the soil!”

(Patrick Bond , based at the University of waZulu‑Natal Centre for Civil
Society ‑ and University of California‑Berkeley
Department of Geography, co‑edited a 2009 UKZN Press book: Climate
Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society.)

World Capitalist Crisis & Pan African Resistance

World Capitalist Crisis & Pan African Resistance & the launch of three books:

Date: Sunday November 21
Time: 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location Details: Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission Street in San Francisco at 3rd (BART: Montgomery or Powell Exit)
Speakers: Horace Campbell, Syracuse Univ. , Eunice Sahle, UNC Chapel Hill, Patrick Bond, UKZN South Africa & Patricia Daley, Oxford Univ.

Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics
(by Horace Campbell, publisher: Pluto)
World Orders, Development and Transformation
(by Eunice Sahle, publisher: Macmillan)
Zuma’s Own Goal: Losing SA’s ‘War on Poverty’
(coedited by Patrick Bond, publisher: Africa World Press)

This is a FREE event, open to the public. RSVP requested by email or phone PriorityAfrica@yahoo.com
or Tel: (510) 663-2255

This event was originally scheduled to be held at the African Studies Association conference. It has been moved to this location to support United HERE Local 2, which is in dispute with the St. Francis Hotel. The organizers affirm their support for these workers, honor their struggle, and ask for your solidarity.

www.priorityafrica.org

Patrick Bond at Race, Class & Developmental State conference 16 November

A Half-Century of Competing Political Economic Traditions in South Africa
By Patrick Bond, Presented to the conference on Race, Class and the Developmental State 16 November 2010, Port Elizabeth

The Red Location Museum and the Department of Development Studies, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 15- 16 November

Race, Class and Developmental State Conference Programme

Monday 15th November 2010

Colloquium opening in partnership with Mayor’s Office
Venue: City Hall (Vuyisile Mini Square)
Time: 17h00 for 17h30

18h00-18h10 Welcoming Address: Deputy Executive Mayor: Cllr Nancy Sihlwayi

18h15-1845 Professor John Saul
“The Working Class” and a Whole Lot More: On Conceptualizing “Revolution,” “Democracy” and “Development” in Contemporary South Africa.

John Saul is Professor Emeritus of Social and Political Science and African Studies at York University in Toronto and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Question Time

Book Launch Programme
The Struggle for the Eastern Cape; Subjugation and the Roots of South African Democracy 1800-1854 (Published byKMM ReviewPublication).

The Politics of a South African Frontier: The Griqua, the Sotho-Tswana, and the Missionaries (BaslerAfrika Bibliographien).

19h20-19h25 Introduction: Professor Devan Pillay

19h25-19h55 Author: Professor Martin Legassick

Tuesday 16th

Venue: Art Gallery (Red Location Museum)

09h00 -10h00
Chair: Janet Cherry

Jacklyn Cock
Connecting Bread, Land and Peace

Olajede Olayede

10h00 to 10h10 Coffee

10h10- 11h30
Chair: Olayede Olajede

Andrea Hurst

Legassick, Schopenhauer, and Monsanto: A Schopenhauerian take on the complexities of race, class and capital

Matthews Blatchford
Towards an evaluation of the South African Left

Steven Friedman
Whose Liberation? Why a Party-Forgotten Left Critique of ANC Strategy Has Contemporary Implication

11h30 – 11h40 Coffee

11h40 – 13h00
Chair: Ciraj Rassool

Teresa Connor
Bill Freund
The Union of South Africa; A Developmental State

Patrick Bond
Half-Century of Competing Political Economic Traditions in South Africa

13h00 – 14h00 Lunch

14h00 to 15h20
Chair: Mathew Blatchford

Janet Cherry and Richard Haines
The ‘working’ class without the ‘working’: The case of Kwazakhele

Ben Cousins
What is a ‘smallholder’? Class-analytical perspectives on small-scale farming and agrarian reform in South Africa

Ciraj Rassool

15h20-15h30 Coffee

15h20-15h40 Summary of the Colloquium.
Janet Cherry
Martin Legassick

Vote of thanks: Christopher Du Preez

PICTURES FROM THE CONFERENCE

Patrick Bond seminar on ecosocialism at Inst of Social Studies, 16 November 2010

Special Research in Progress Seminar - Patrick Bond

Ecosocialist Politics and Climate Justice
Patrick Bond has longstanding research interests and applied work in global governance and national policy debates, in urban communities and with global justice movements in several countries. He is professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies where since 2004 he has directed the Centre for Civil Society. His research focuses on political economy, environment (energy, water and climate change), social policy and geopolitics, with publications covering South Africa, Zimbabwe, the African continent and global-scale processes.
More

Event Details:
Date:16 Nov 2010 13:00 hrs until 14:00 hrs
Location: Room 4.01
How to get to ISS
Speaker: Patrick Bond
Contact: Annet van Geen or Bram Buscher
www.iss.nl

Patrick Bond at Historical Materialism conference, 12-14 November

Ecosocialist Politics and Climate Justice (tentative directions)
Slide Show from Patrick Bonds Presentation to the Conference

Financial Capital Before and After the Crisis (Socialist Register)
Date:Friday, 12 October
Chair: Greg Albo
Speakers: Sam Ashman, Patrick Bond, Adam Hanieh

Political Ecology in a Time of Crisis
Date:Sunday, 14 October
Chair: Giorgos Galanis
Speakers:
James Anderson and James Goodman – Crises of Capitalism and Ecology:
Capitalismʼs Three Contradictions and Conflicting Ecological Responses
Patrick Bond – Ecosocialist Politics and Climate Justice
Emanuele Leonardi – The Environmental Side of the Current Economic Crisis: Toward an Ecological Critique of Neoliberalism

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

www.historicalmaterialism.org

Patrick Bond at The ‘Progress’ in Zimbabwe Conference, 4-6 November

Holiday Inn - Bulawayo 3 – 6 November 2010

ZIMBABWE CONFERENCE ON ‘PROGRESS’BULAWAYO, 3-6 NOVEMBER
Rough notes typed by Patrick Bond

Will Zimbabwe again regress?
Patrick Bond, Bulawayo 12 November 2010

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal – If leaders of a small African country stand up with confidence to imperialist aggression, especially from the US and Britain, it would ordinarily strike any fair observer as extremely compelling. Especially when the nightmare of racist colonialism in that country is still be to exorcised, whites hold a disproportionate share of economic power and state’s rulers appear serious about changing those factors.

But that country needs a second glance. What may seem to some a progressive and brave government is upon closer examination a tyranny whose leader repeatedly acts against grassroots and shop-floor social solidarity, and notwithstanding rhetoric about land redistribution, is ultimately very hostile to its own society’s poor and working people, women, youth, elderly and ill.

“Progress in Zimbabwe” was the title of a four-day conference in Bulawayo last week, gathering mainly academics but also leading civil society strategists. It was organised by University of Johannesburg political economist David Moore and by Showers Mawowa of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) School of Development Studies and the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development.

Said Moore, “For many analysts, the end of progress is signified in the political projects of Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe African Nation Union-Patriotic Front [ZANU-PF] – not to mention the Government of National Unity.” It has been two years since South Africa’s then-president Thabo Mbeki negotiated dysfunctional power-sharing between Mugabe’s junta and Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Just before the deal took effect in early 2009, the local currency collapsed entirely, and is no longer used. On the upside, that move ended hyperinflation and empty shop shelves. The tiny elite is happier, as is the World Bank (not yet lending, but carefully looking over the state’s shoulder). Yet without any ability to earn hard currency, what is a peasant or the unemployed person (90 per cent of the workforce) to do?

A related problem: monetary policy is now set in Washington and Pretoria, since the US dollar and South African rand are now Zimbabwe’s core currencies. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe cannot stimulate the sickly economy because its governor, Gideon Gono, gave Zimbabwe “monetary gonorrhea”, a corrupting disease transmitted from his overworked printing press to the economy as a whole.

A $2 billion bill for Gono’s leftover local debt is being negotiated and another $5 billion plus in foreign debt remains unpayable. Progressives writing the National People’s Convention Charter in February 2008 demanded a debt audit before any World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans are serviced and, as happened similarly in Ecuador in December 2008, “the right of the people of Zimbabwe to refuse repayment of any odious debt accrued by a dictatorial government”.

Politically, progress against Mugabe’s dictatorship is terribly fragile, as the army is now being deployed in many hotly contested peri-urban and rural areas. Since paramilitary violence forced Tsvangirai to pull out of the mid-2008 presidential run-off election (after winning the first round – but, claimed Mugabe’s vote counters, with less than 50 per cent), a constitutional rewrite outreach process has provided space for 4000 meetings in recent weeks.

Many were marred by intimidation. Worse, a mid-2011 election announced by Mugabe promises a return to bad habits: outright violence, including murder, ending in poll thievery. The most likely scenario, according to leading commentator John Makumbe, “The MDC will win and Zanu (PF) will again refuse to concede power.” So back they will go into the cul-de-sac of renewed power-sharing talks.

History reviewed
Hence the “Progress in Zimbabwe” conference was devoted mainly to recording regress not progress, given Zimbabwe’s deep plunge. History needed reviewing, for after all the most banal measure of progress, that of the economics profession, is per person gross domestic product (GDP) and the point it began declining may surprise.

Per capita GDP didn’t begin its slide in February 2000 when President Robert Mugabe lost his first election (a constitutional referendum) and unleashed war veterans on white farmers. Nor was it on November 1997’s Black Friday, when the Zimbabwe dollar lost 74% of its value in four hours, a world record. Nor was it when the Washington-sponsored structural adjustment program began in 1991, nor when independence in 1980 meant the small economy’s re-articulation with hostile global capitalism after 15 years of sanctions.

If one thinks of progress in this conventional way, as GDP per person, then Zimbabwe began shrinking in 1974, as indeed was the case in most of Africa, as the world slowdown hit the poorest continent hardest, at a time when most African leaders had succumbed to neocolonialism. In Zimbabwe, overproduction of luxury goods, machinery and steel for a limited market left the economy with huge excess capacity at a time of shrinking confidence in Ian Smith’s racist Rhodesian Front regime. After liberation was won in 1980, the economy then recovered some of the lost ground in a growth spurt from 1984 to 1990.

Income in 1990 was much better distributed than under Smith’s white rule – or than under Mugabe’s kleptocracy after it became avaricious in the mid-1990s. A small black middle class had emerged mainly through the expansion of Zimbabwe’s civil service, though the World Bank successfully insisted that it shrink by 25% during the 1990s.

Sorting out the politico-ideological confusion in historical context requires, according to Sheffield-based Zimbabwean Ian Phimister, a “distinct paradigm of radical historiography”. But Muchaparara Musemwa lamented that their discipline still lacks cohesion and purpose. Phimister recommended the new book, Becoming Zimbabwe – featuring work by Alois Mlambo, Brian Raftopoulos and younger historians, which treats the contemporary degeneration in historical context.

By all accounts, a central challenge in an era of Mugabe’s state-sponsored “Patriotic History” – a mirror image of Rhodesia’s racist settler history – is recovery of the liberation tradition from damage done even before Independence in 1980, a task aided by the coming publication of Wilf Mhanda’s autobiography. Mhanda’s leadership of the Zimbabwe People’s Army offered an alternative liberatory trajectory, one Mugabe violently suppressed two years before signing the Lancaster House compromise deal that maintained the repressive state and white-biased property relations entirely intact.

Mugabe’s overarching need, it seems, is control of the telling of history – as a way to remind his subjects there was once a time when ZANU-PF was indeed a popular force, like fish swimming in the sea of the people. Regurgitation of that memory is what motivates the “talk left, walk right” project of crony nationalist capitalism, which Mugabe and so many other post-colonial despots adopted, as Frantz Fanon predicted in his 1961 book The Wretched of the Earth.

Today the main legacy of this struggle is “securocrat” control of the state. As Joshua Mpofu remarked, “Talking about political parties is like chewing gravel. Military culture never died, and a lot of public institutions are headed by brigadiers and generals.”

Land
Another memory is of a time when indigenous Zimbabweans controlled their land. According to Blessing Karumbidza, whose recent UKZN doctorate describes post-independence land experiences, there will be “a truly restructured and dynamic farming sector if and only if the support mechanisms and institutional regimes necessary for land and agricultural rationalisation are put in place”.

That’s not happening insists University of Zimbabwe (UZ) geographer Esther Chigumira: “Bifurcated land ownership continues, not by race but by class, favouring elites who are politically connected.” Those nationalists, recalled former war veteran and now UZ sociologist Wilbert Sadomba, emerged from internecine liberation movement feuds and “hijacked that revolution, in connivance with international capital. We war vets are opposed to both ZANU-PF elites and MDC elites. We see neither being able to take the country forward.”

Added leading liberation-era intellectual Ibbo Mandaza, “There was a ZANU-PF that we were part of, the liberation movement, and then there was Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, which is very different. Mugabe is essentially right wing, notwithstanding the anti-imperialist rhetoric.” As for his own role, Mandaza confessed, “We helped in many respects dress up an essentially right-wing regime in leftist clothing.”

Raftopoulos agreed: “This discourse threw off many African scholars, most importantly in the Mamdani debate. ” He was referring to the great Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani’s 2008 London Review of Books defence of Mugabe. The two most prominent scholars who are supportive of land redistribution, Mamdani and Sam Moyo, were invited but could not attend. In their place, Ben Cousins from the University of the Western Cape promoted the post-2000 land reform’s “changing structures of ownership and new agrarian structure”, concluding, “The positives probably outweigh the negatives.”

In the main A1 land program, he said, “about a third of the new farmers are succeeding, a third getting by, and a third getting out”. The negatives in Cousins’ list include “the collapse of large-scale commercial farms, which contributed to wide-scale economic decline; the motor force of land reform was the ZANU-PF power grab; the decline of the rule of law; violence.” Added Zimbabwean human rights advocate Elinor Sisulu, “food security, environment, HIV/AIDS, and the gender and class dimensions.”

No matter how Zimbabwe needed to end white domination of good farms before 2000, an overall judgment on the land invasions (which sporadically continue because 10 per cent of 4000 white farmers hung on by hook or by crook) will wait for long-term evidence. The spate of new research by those associated with Moyo and Cousins does show a few selective sites of success, especially in Masvingo province near the ancient Great Zimbabwe empire’s capital, but critics argue this is not a typical region.

MDC criticised
But opposition policies came in for equally harsh critique. “In the 1990s the motivation for the MDC was the struggle for social and economic justice – and that’s the crucial unique character of the MDC’s origins”, said Hopewell Gumbo of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development. “But the trend to neoliberalism within the MDC means we will not see progress. We need to look for new alliances and new formations.”

But the terrain is uneven, Harare-based urban civic organiser Mike Davies pointed out the profusion of petit-bourgeois suit-and-tie professionals among the capital’s NGO cadre: “They acquire a self-preserving aspect perhaps more concerned with continuation than function. They became more remote from their members, even elitist, losing their accountability, more concerned with meeting donor aspirations and requirements than serving the needs of their members.”

According to Davies, “opportunistic elements make every effort to preserve their positions, often at some cost to their member organisations and undermining their stated goals. In my opinion, we failed to identify and contain these elements as well as the vehicles that carry them. As a result, the super-NGOs captured the voices of civics and domesticated them for the consumption of an increasingly externalised audience of international donors and Zimbabweans in the diaspora.”

How then can progress emerge against both a sell-out to the Washington Consensus (by either or both of the leading parties) and Mugabe’s fake populist language and violence-prone delivery – short of awaiting his death, and then the inevitable ZANU-PF power struggle (between the Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions) that could be even more disruptive?

Mass action, solidarity
An answer came from the leading trade unionist present, Kumbirai Kudenga: “In terms of mass action, we need people without fear. If you’re not used to going to the ground, it’s hard. Mass action is for people who are used to the ground.”

She even provided a new vehicle: “We have a Democratic United Front for the workers, especially for mass action. What we need is support. Can you take down our email: zimlabour@gmail.com. That is if you are serious, we are there to act.”

For the rest of us, according to Raftopoulos, a renewed “international labour solidarity discourse is one of the best antidotes to Mugabe’s rhetoric”, especially the “exemplary solidarity” shown in April 2008 when in Durban, South Africa’s transport workers refused to unload 3 million bullets destined for Mugabe’s army from the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang.

Even if the conference was way too top heavy with talking heads and NGOers, all agreed that a new surge of such solidarity will be needed next year, when regress again trumps progress in Zimbabwe.

Patrick Bond is on sabbatical from the UKZN Centre for Civil Society. He now based at University of California-Berkeley Department of Geography. His books include Uneven Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe’s Plunge.

Draft Programme

Nov 2-3: Zimscon Papers and Planning

Nov 3: PM 14:00-16:00 Registration for ‘Progress Conference’

(1) Nov 3: PM 16:00-18:00 The Philosophy of Progress and Zimbabwe
Chair: David Moore
Speaker: John Hoffman
Discussants: Amanda Hammar, Colin Stoneman

November 4

(2) Nov 4 AM 1 8:30-10:00 Narratives of Progress: Zimbabwean Historiography
Chair: Gerald Mazarire
Author: Ian Phimister
Discussants: Muchaparara Musemwa, Pathisa Nyathi
Key Participants: Munyaradzi Nyakudya, Luise White

Break 10:00-10:30

(3) Nov 4 AM 2 10:30-12:00 Landed Economies: Farming & Farmers Then & Now
Chair: Itai Zimunya
Author: Blessing Karumbidza
Discussants: Jocelyn Alexander, Easther Chigumira
Key Participants: Bill Kinsey, Prosper Matondi, Lionel
Cliffe, Wilbert Sadomba, Ben Cousins, Philan Zamchiya,
Joe Hanlon

Nov 4 Lunch 12-13:00

(4) Nov 4 AM 3 13:00-14:30 Resources: Cursed or Blessed Political Economies?
Chair: Bill Freund
Authors: Showers Mawowa and Richard Saunders
Discussants: Joseph Chaumba, Sobona Mtisi
Key Participants: Claude Kabemba, Farayi Maguwu

Break 14:30-14:45

(5) Nov 4 PM 4 14:45-16:15 Roundtable: ‘Intellectuals’ and Progress in Zimbabwe
Chair: David Moore
Participants: Ibbo Mandaza, Prof. Maphathu-Ncube,
Brian Raftopoulos, Luise White

Break 16:15-17:00

(6) Nov 4 PM 5 17:00-18:30 SAPES Trust Policy Dialogue Forum
National Heroes, National Shrines and Joshua
Nkomo's Legacy: Policy Implications?
Chair: Cyril Ndebele
Presenter: Pathisa Nyathi
Discussants: Saul G. Ndlovu, Norma Kriger

Formal Welcome 19:00 - National Art Gallery: Bulawayo & Dinner

November 5

(7) Nov 5 AM 1 8:00-9:30 Economy and Society Restructured: New Formations
of Labour and Capital
Chair: Showers Mawowa
Authors: Lloyd Sachikonye & Godfrey Kanyenze
Discussants: Colin Stoneman, Rob Davies
Key Participants: David Mupamhadzi, Richard Kamidza

Break 9:30-9:45

(8) Nov 5 AM 2 9:45-11:15 Labour’s Past, Present and Future
Chair: Roger Southall
Author: Brian Raftopoulos
Discussants: Tapiwa Chagonda, Kumbirai Kudenga,
Hamadziripi Tamukamoyo

Break 11:15-11:30

(9) Nov 5 AM 3 11:30-13:00 The Parties & Their Politics
Chair: Norma Kriger
Author: Ibbo Mandaza
Discussants: John Makumbe, James Muzondidya
Key Participants: Nqobizitha Mlilo, Joshua Mpofu

Nov 5 Lunch 13:00-14:00

(10) Nov 5 PM 1 14:00-15:30 Civil Society: Strategies for Emancipation?
Chair: Amanda Hammar
Author: Kirk Helliker
Discussants: Erin McCandless, Mike Davies
Key Participants: Rose Marie Depp, Booker Maguire,
Mary Ndlovu, David Sanders, Frances Lovemore, Elinor
Sisulu

Break 15:30-15:45

(11) Nov 5 PM 2 16:00-17:30 Identities: Gender, Ethnicity, Race, Displacement
Chair: John Hoffman
Author: Josephine Nhongo-Simbanegavi
Discussants: Joy Chadya, Blair Rutherford
Key Participants: Amanda Hammar, Sabelo Ndlovu,
Sostina Takure, Pathisa Nyhathi

Break 17:30-17:45

(12) Nov 5 PM 3 17:45-19:00 Zimbabwe Compared: ‘Progress’ in the Rest of Africa
Chair: David Moore
Roundtable Participants: Bill Freund, John Saul, Roger
Southall, Luise White

Dinner 19:00 - Anywhere

November 6

(13) Nov 6 AM 1 8:30-10:30 Roundtable: Perspectives on Progressive Policies
Chair: Deprose Muchena
Participants: Patrick Bond, Bertha Chiroro, Fay Chung
Lionel Cliffe, Hopewell Gumbo, Jabusile
Madyazvimbishi-Shumba, Wilfred Mhanda, John Saul,
Elinor Sisulu, Colin Stoneman

Break 10:30-11:00

(14) Nov 6 AM 2 11-12:00 Wrap-Up
John Hoffman, Felix Fandyroy Moyo

Patrick Bond seminar on climate justice, 18 October

Please join us for our weekly Doing Debating Development speakers series: Climate Justice: Space, Scale and the Politics of Climate Change
by special guest
Patrick Bond, Director, Center for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Date:Wednesday, 18 October
Time:12:00pm - 1:00pm
Venue:3201 Hunt Hall

Patrick Bond has longstanding research interests and applied work in global governance and national policy debates, in urban communities and with global justice movements in several countries. He is professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies where since 2004 he has directed the Centre for Civil Society. His research focuses on political economy, environment (energy, water and climate change), social policy and geopolitics, with publications covering South Africa, Zimbabwe, the African continent and global-scale processes. In service to the new South African government, Patrick authored/edited more than a dozen policy papers from 1994-2002,including theReconstruction and Development Programme and the RDP White Paper.He held other positions at Johannesburg NGOs (the National Institute for Economic Policy,1996-97 and Planact, 1990-94); at the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Political and Administrative Studies (1989-90); and in Washington, DC at the Institute for Policy Studies, Pacifica Radio, MarketPlace Radio, and several international trade unions (late 1980s). He was also active in the international anti-apartheid movement and US student and community movements.

Among Patrick Bond's immense list of publications are the following books directly related to the topic of his talk: Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society: Negative Returns on South African Investments (co-edited with Rehana Dada and Graham Erion for Rozenberg Publishers and UKZN Press, 2008, 2007); Trouble in the Air: Global Warming and the Privatised Atmosphere (edited with Rehana Dada for CCS and TransNational Institute, 2005);Unsustainable South Africa: Environment, Development and Social Protest (UKZN Press and Merlin Press, 2002);

Patrick earned his doctorate in economic geography at Johns Hopkins (1985-92), following studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance (Philadelphia, 1983-85) and an undergraduate economics degree at Swarthmore College (Philadelphia, 1979-83). He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1961, and has a son, Jan (born in 1995).

Chris Benner, Ph.D.
Chair, Community Development Graduate Group
Chair, Geography Graduate Group
Associate Professor, Community and Regional Development
Human and Community Development Department
University of California Davis
1309 Hart Hall
One Shields Ave
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 754-8799
ccbenner@ucdavis.edu

http://hcd.ucdavis.edu/news/seminars.php

Human and Community Development Dept. University of California, Davis One Shields Avenue

Patrick Bond seminar on climate politics at Trinity College Dublin, 1 October

The Politics of Climate Justice, Debt and Development The annual TCD/UCD Development Research Lunchtime Seminar Series recommences on 1st October. This seminar series is organised jointly by TIDI at TCD and the Human Development Initiative at UCD. Prof. Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa will deliver the first seminar of the series. Sandwiches provided.

Date:Friday 1st October
Time: 1-2pm
Venue: TCD/UCD Innovation Academy, 3 Foster Place, off Dame St., Trinity College Dublin (please view map and directions here)
Contact: Adrian Corcoran, adrian.corcoran@ucd.ie, www.ucd.ie/hdi/ or tidi@tcd.ie

www.tcd.ie/tidi

467

Baruti Amisiat at the NADEL workshop on xenophobia 30 September 2010

NADEL
National Association of Democratic Lawyers
WORKSHOPS 2010 ENTRANCE FREE

WARNING
Residents laugh as foreigner burns in his own blankets

CERTIFICATES OF ATTENDANCE WILL BE ISSUED

WORKSHOP 1:
Xenophobia
What are you scared off?
Presented by Mr Baruti Amisi

VENUE: KWAZULU-NATAL LAW SOCIETY
TIME: 13H: 30– 14H: 30
DATE: 30TH SEPTEMBER 2010 - THURSDAY

WHO’S INVITED?
CANDIDATE ATTORNEYS; PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANTS; ATTORNEYS; ADVOCATES; MAGISTRATES; PROSECUTORS; COURT OFFICIALS; LLB GRADUATES; AND OTHER LEGALLY INCLINED INDIVIDUALS.

For further Information contact:
Harshna Munglee
( Chairperson: Workshops - NADEL PMB )
TEL: (033)3875411, FAX: (033)3875411/0866195447, EMAIL: info@hmung-lee.co.za
R.S.V.P NOW!!!!!
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE

Patrick Bond at Birzeit Univ conference, Palestine, 28 September

Geographies of Aid Intervention in Palestine

Recent scholarship has highlighted the little effectiveness of the aid industry in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories, and even its complicity in sustaining the Israeli occupation. A blind faith in economic development to keep alive the peace process, as well as the dominant post-conflict framework that has shaped most developmental interventions since the Oslo accords, have contributed to bury the root causes and socio-political realities of the Palestinian colonial context. Less research has been done about the developmental micro-geographies of aid intervention and the ways in which these practices are negotiated, implemented, and contested. The aim of this conference is thus to critically explore the ways in which aid intervention reshapes the socio-political, spatial, economic, and environmental relations, in addition to thinking about alternative forms of aid that respond to Palestinian needs and rights not only in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but beyond.

27 - 28 September 2010

Venue: Said Khoury Development Studies Hall - Birzeit University
Location Birzeit: Occupied Palestine
Organizers: Middle East and North Africa Research Group (Ghent University)
Center for Development Studies (Birzeit University)
Supporter:Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad ‐ University Development Cooperation (VLIR‐UOS)

Pre registration in this conference is not required

Conference Program

Monday 27th September 2010

8:15 - 8:45 Registration

8:45 - 8:50 Opening Remarks
Dr. Khalil Hindi - Birzeit University President

8:50 - 9:00 Opening Remarks
Samia Botmeh, Director of the Centre for Development Studies, Birzeit University

Sami Zemni, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Research Group, Gent University

9:00- 9:30 Keynote address
Sara Roy, Harvard University
Perspectives on Palestinian (de-)development

9:30 - 11:30 Session One: The legacy of Aid in Palestine's colonial present

Jamil Hilal, Independent Researcher
Civil society in the context of settler-colonialism and the establishment of the PA

Islah Jad, Birzeit University
NGOs and the Depolitization of Palestinian Social Movements

Jalal Al-Huseini, IFPO
The refugee aid industry during Oslo

Rina Jabareen, ADALAH
Aid and subjugation: Palestinians inside Israel

11:30 - 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 - 13:45 Session Two: Palestine as a humanitarian space

Didier Fassin, Princeton University
The humanitarian politics of testimony

Ilana Feldman, George Washington
Naive humanitarians, exemplary victims, and the limits of humanitarian space

Hassan Jabareen, ADALAH
The discursive and spatial performativities of law

Numan Kanafani, University of Copenhagen
The political economy of food aid to Palestine

13:45 - 14:45 Lunch break

14:45 - 16:45 Session Three: Development, Neoliberalism and Security

Mandy Turner, University of Bradford
The limits of peace building under Occupation: an analysis of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan

Dawood Hamoudi
Stop the Wall Campaign: Donor money and Israel's economic vision

Aisling Byrne, Conflicts Forum
The development of neo-colonial structures under the guise of state-building
Eileen Kuttab, Birzeit University
Building a neoliberal citizen: education and the reproduction of aid.

Tuesday 28th September 2010
9:00 - 9:30 Keynote address

Patrick Bond, University of Kwazulu-Natal
Post-liberation aid, finance and neoliberal public policy: The case of South Africa

9:30 - 11:30 Session Four: The political logics of donors (and recipients)

Khalil Nakhleh, Independent researcher and writer
Development mythology in Occupied Palestinian Authority Areas

Benoît Challand, New School for Social Research, New York
Foreign donors and the power to promote and exclude

Guy Burton, Birzeit University
Revenue without a cause: Arab financial assistance in Palestine

Ayman Abdel Majeed, Birzeit University
Perceptions of Palestinians towards international aid

11:30 - 11:45Coffee break

11:45 - 13:45 Session Five: Development under occupation

Raja Khalidi, UNCTAD
The economic dimensions of prolonged occupation: continuity and change in Israeli policy towards the Palestinian economy

Jad Isaac, ARIJ
Environmental Colonialism

Hassan Ladadweh, Birzeit University
Facing Palestine's uneven development

Fathy Khdirat, Jordan Valley Solidarity
The Eastern Border: developing Area C

13:45 - 14:45 Lunch break

14:45 - 16:30 Session Six: Encountering and contesting the aid regime

Iyad El Riyahi, Bisan
Palestinian development between sovereignty and dependence - the case of industrial zones in the West Bank.

Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, Badil
Political advocacy: reverting and challenging the neutrality of the aid paradigm

Nora Lester Murad, Dalia
Indigenous resource mobilization for Palestinian-led social change & development

16:30 - 16:45 Coffee break

16:45 - 17:45 Session Seven (roundtable discussion): Imagining alternative

Patrick Bond in Ramallah on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, 26 September

BNC Event: South African anti-apartheid strategy and BDS, then and now

The Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee(BNC)cordially invites you to a public presentation entitled
South African anti-apartheid strategy and BDS, then and now

by Professor Patrick Bond Political economist and professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies in South Africa. Professor Bond authored/edited more than a dozen policy papers from 1994-2002, in service to the new South African government. He was active in the South African anti-apartheid movement and the US student and community movements, and is currently active with the Palestinian BDS movement.

Time: Sunday, 26 September 2010, 6:00 pm
Place: Friends Meeting House

South African anti‑Apartheid Activist Addresses Palestinian Audience

Over 120 people filled the Friends Meeting House in Ramallah on Sunday
evening to hear from South African Professor Patrick Bond, a veteran
anti‑Apartheid activist and academic at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal.

Professor Bond's presentation, organised by the BDS National Committee
of Palestine (BNC) and chaired by Birzeit University academic Samia
Botmeh, a steering committee member of PACBI, focused on the efficacy of
the South African boycott campaign and useful lessons for the
Palestinian BDS campaign. Citing examples from history such as the Irish
boycott campaign of 1880 against British land agent Charles Boycott
(from which the tactic takes its name) and the Indian boycott of
imported British cloth, Professor Bond emphasised the crucial role that
boycott has played in many liberation campaigns, especially against
Apartheid South Africa, and the role it could play in attaining
Palestinian freedom and self determination.

Boycott began in South Africa as an indigenous tactic used by local
committees to reduce the bus fares in Alexandra, Johannesburg. In later
years, boycott was developed as an international weapon of solidarity to
support the struggle inside against Apartheid policies with notable
examples being the boycott of fruits, the sporting boycott and the
expulsion of South Africa from the International Olympic Committee in
1970. Government support for boycott and sanctions, most notably UN
Resolution 1761, passed in 1962, calling for a voluntary severance of
diplomatic ties and a cessation of trade with Apartheid South Africa
subsequently added an official component to the grassroots campaign.

Accompanying the presentation was a short film on the role of Chase
Manhattan Bank, whose refusal to roll over its short‑term loans lead to
a major financial crisis in South Africa and accelerated the end of
Apartheid. The strength of the anti‑Apartheid campaign eventually led
business leaders to seek reconciliation between their business interests
and the political demands of the ANC. It was in direct meetings between
ANC leaders and these business representatives that the transition of
capital’s allegiance from formal Apartheid was confirmed, dealing a
powerful blow to the Apartheid system. A price was paid by the South
African liberation movement, however, in the form of accepting some
liberal measures that would allow capitalists to maintain class
privileges in the post‑apartheid era. The film also showed the vibrancy
and strength of the grassroots movement which made South Africa
ungovernable in the last phase of apartheid rule.

Questions at the end of the presentation focused on role of churches in
the boycott, the fragmentation of the Palestinian national movement on
the ground in Palestine and the role of collaborating elites both in
Palestine as well as the South Africa. The meeting ended with a warning
by Professor Bond about the limitations of boycott tactics if not
anchored in sustained grassroots struggle in Palestine. The strength of
the boycott movement was only possible due to the uprisings in the South
African townships and its success in Palestine would similarly depend on
the revitalization of the nationalist struggle on the ground. Further,
Professor Bond warned that whilst South Africa provided a concrete
example of how Apartheid could be overcome, it also represented an
example of how Apartheid can reconstitute itself in economic forms which
precipitate an even greater degree of inequality along class lines
rather than racial ones. One can only hope that Palestine, in this
respect, can provide a new model of a post‑colonial experience in which
the horrors of colonialism are replaced by a future based on genuine
political social and economic justice and equality for all.
www.badil.org

Palestine liberation recalls anti-apartheid tactics, responsibilities and controversies
Patrick Bond 13 October 2010

On a full-day drive through the Jordan Valley late last month, we skirted the earth’s oldest city and the lowest inhabited point, 400 meters below sea level. For 10,000 years, people have lived along the river separating the present-day West Bank and Jordan.

Since 1967 the river has been augmented by Palestinian blood, sweat and tears, ending in the Dead Sea, from which no water flows out, it only evaporates. Conditions degenerated during Israel’s land-grab, when from a peak of more than 300,000 people living on the west side of the river, displacements shoved Palestinian refugees across to Jordan and other parts of the West Bank. The valley has fewer than 60,000 Palestinians today.

But they’re hanging in. “To exist is to resist,” insisted Fathi Ikdeirat, the Save the Jordan Valley (http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org) network’s most visible advocate (and compiler of an exquisite new book of the same name, free for internet download: http://www.maan-ctr.org). At top speed on the bumpy dirt roads, Ikdeirat maneuvered between Israeli checkpoints, through Bedouin outposts in the dusty semi-desert, where oppressed communities eke out a living from the dry soils.

Just a few hundred meters away from such villages, like plush white South African suburbs drawing on cheap black township labour, stand some of the 120 Israeli settlements that since the early 1970s have pocked the West Bank. The most debilitating theft is of Palestinian water, for where once peasants gathered enough from local springs and a mountain aquifer to supply ponds that fed their modest crops, today pipe diversions by the Israelis’ agro-export plantations leave the indigenous people’s land scorched.

From the invaders’ fine houses amidst groves of trees with green lawns, untreated sewage is flushed into the Palestinian areas. The most aggressive Israeli settlers launch unpunished physical attacks on the Palestinians, destroying their homes and farm buildings – and last week even a mosque at Beit Fajjar, near Bethlehem.

The Gaza Strip has suffered far worse. Israel’s ‘Operation Cast Lead’ bombing and invasion in early 2009, the 1400 mainly civilian deaths, the use of white phosphorous, political assassinations and the relentless siege are responsible for untold misery. International solidarity activists – including a Jewish delegation last month – are lethally attacked (nine Turks were killed in May) or arrested while trying to sail ships to Gaza with emergency relief supplies.

As Ikdeirat pointed out, the Jordan Valley’s oppression appears as durable, for Netanyahu vowed in February this year ‘never’ to cede this space to the land’s rightful owners. On our way back up to Ramallah for an academic conference, Ikdeirat looked down on his homeland from the western mountains, and outlined the larger struggle against geopolitical manipulation, land grabbing, minority rule, Palestinian child labour on Israeli farms and other profound historical injustices.

Given the debilitating weaknesses within Palestine’s competing political blocs - Hamas in besieged Gaza and Fatah in the Occupied West Bank, as well as the US-Israeli-Fatah-backed unelected government in Ramallah led by the neoliberal prime minister (and former World Bank/IMF official) Salam Fayyad - this is a struggle that only progressive civil society appears equipped to fight properly.

To illustrate the potential, 170 Palestinian organizations initiated the ‘Boycott, Divest, Sanction’ (BDS) campaign five years ago, insisting on the retraction of illegal Israeli settlements (a demand won in the Gaza Strip in 2005), the end of the West Bank Occupation and Gaza siege, cessation of racially-discriminatory policies towards the million and a half Palestinians living within Israel, and a recognition of Palestinians’ right to return to residences dating to the 1948 ethnic cleansing when the Israeli state was established.

The BDS movement draws inspiration from the way we toppled apartheid: an internal intifadah from townships and trade unions, combined with financial sanctions that in mid-1985 peaked because of an incident at the Durban City Hall. On August 15 that year, apartheid boss PW Botha addressed the Natal National Party and an internationally televised audience of 200 million, with his belligerent ‘Rubicon Speech’ featuring the famous finger-wagging command, “Don’t push us too far.”

It was the brightest red flag to our anti-apartheid bull. Immediately as protests resumed, Pretoria’s frightened international creditors – subject to intense activist pressure during prior months - began calling in loans early. Facing a run on the SA Reserve Bank’s hard currency, Botha defaulted on $13 billion of debt payments coming due, shut the stock market and imposed exchange controls in early September.

Within days, leading English-speaking businessmen Gavin Relly, Zac de Beer and Tony Bloom began dismantling their decades-old practical alliance with the Pretoria racists, met African National Congress leaders in Lusaka, and initiated a transition that would free South Africa of racial (albeit not class) apartheid less than nine years later.

Recall that over the prior eight years, futile efforts to seduce change were made by Rev Leon Sullivan, the Philadelphia preacher and General Motors board member whose ‘Sullivan Principles’ aimed to allow multinationals in apartheid SA to remain so long as they were non-racist in employment practices.

But the firms paid taxes to apartheid and supplied crucial logistical support and trade relationships. Hence Sullivan’s effort merely amounted, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it, to polishing apartheid’s chains. Across the world, taking a cue from the internal United Democratic Front, activists wisely ignored attempts by Sullivan as well as by ANC foreign relations bureaucrat (later president) Thabo Mbeki to shut down the sanctions movement way too early.

Civil society ratcheted up anti-apartheid BDS even when FW DeKlerk offered reforms, such as freeing Nelson Mandela and unbanning political parties in February 1990. New bank loans to Pretoria for ostensibly ‘developmental’ purposes were rejected by activists, and threats were made: a future ANC government would default.

It was only by fusing bottom-up pressure with top-down international delegitimization of white rule that the final barriers were cleared for the first free vote, on April 27 1994.

Something similar has begun in the Middle East, as long-overdue international solidarity with Palestinians gathers momentum, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s bad-faith peace talks with collaborationist Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas go nowhere. Yet if another sell-out soon looms, tracking the 1993 Oslo deal, we can anticipate an upsurge in BDS activity, drawing more attention to the three core liberatory demands: firstly, respecting, protecting and promoting the right of return of all Palestinian refugees; secondly, ending the occupation of all Palestinian and Arab lands; and thirdly, recognizing full equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Abbas and Fayyad are sure to fold on all of these principles, so civil society is already picking up the slack. Boycotting Israeli institutions is the primary non-violent resistance strategy.

BDS, says Omar Barghouti of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (http://www.pacbi.org), “remains the most morally sound, non-violent form of struggle that can rid the oppressor of his oppression, thereby allowing true coexistence, equality, justice and sustainable peace to prevail. South Africa attests to the potency and potential of this type of civil resistance.”

For more than 250 South African academics (plus Tutu) who signed a BDS petition last month, the immediate target was Ben Gurion University (BGU). During apartheid, the University of Johannesburg (UJ, then called Rand Afrikaans University) established a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for scientific exchanges with BGU, which came up for renewal at the UJ Senate on September 29 (details are at http://www.ujpetition.com/).

Perhaps influenced by Mandela’s ill-advised acceptance of an honorary doctorate from BGU, the UJ Senate statement was not entirely pro-Palestinian, for it promoted a fantasy: reform of Israeli-Palestinian relations could be induced by ‘engagement’. Shades of Sullivan empowering himself, to try negotiating between the forces of apartheid and democracy.

On the one hand, the UJ Senate acknowledged that BGU “supports the military and armed forces of Israel, in particular in its occupation of Gaza” – by offering money to students who went into the military reserve so as to support Operation Cast Lead, for example. To its credit, the UJ Senate recognized that “we should take leadership on this matter from peer institutions among the Palestinian population.”

On the other hand, in an arrogant display of constructive-engagement mentality, the UJ Senate academics – many of whom are holdovers from the apartheid era - resolved to “amend the MOU to include one or more Palestinian universities chosen on the basis of agreement between BGU and UJ.”

Fat chance. The UJ statement forgets that Palestinian universities are today promoters of BDS. Even Al Quds University, which historically had the closest ties (and which until Operation Cast Lead actually encouraged Palestine-Israel collaboration), broke the chains in early 2009, because, “Ending academic cooperation is aimed at, first of all, pressuring Israel to abide by a solution that ends the occupation, a solution that has been needed for far too long and that the international community has stopped demanding.”

The man tasked with reconciling UJ’s Senate resolution with Middle East realpolitik is UJ Deputy Vice Chancellor Adam Habib. In 2001 he founded our University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, and led substantial research projects nurturing progressive social change. Habib was banned from entering the United States from 2006-10, for his crimes of being Muslim and speaking at a 2003 anti-war protest, and he is probably the most eloquent and highest-profile political analyst in South Africa today.

However, Habib made a serious mistake, when recently remarking: “We believe in reconciliation... We’d like to bring BGU and Palestinian universities together to produce a collective engagement that benefits everyone.”

Even Habib’s enormous persuasive capacity will fail, if he expects liberal Zionists to recognize the right of Palestinians to self-determination and Israel’s obligation to comply with international law. Writing in the newspaper Haaretz in early October, BGU official David Newman celebrated Habib’s remark and simultaneously argued, point-blank (with no acknowledgement of the South Africa case), “Boycotts do nothing to promote the interests of peace, human rights or – in the case of Israel – the end of occupation.”

(Yet even Israel’s reactionary Reut Institute recognizes BDS power, arguing in February 2010 that a “Delegitimization Network aims to supersede the Zionist model with a state that is based on the ‘one person, one vote’ principle by turning Israel into a pariah state” and that “the Goldstone report that investigated Operation Cast Lead” caused “a crisis in Israel's national security doctrine… Israel lacks an effective response.”)

Habib deserves far better than a role as a latter-day Leon Sullivan uniting with the likes of Newman, and I hope he changes his mind about ‘engagement’ with Zionism.

After all, last year I witnessed an attempt to do something similar, also involving Habib and BGU. At the time of Operation Cast Lead and the imposition of the siege, Habib, Dennis Brutus, Walden Bello, Alan Fowler and I (unsuccessfully) tried persuading two academic colleagues - Jan Aart Scholte of Warwick University and Jackie Smith of Notre Dame - to respect BDS and decline keynote speaking invitations to an Israeli ‘third sector’ conference (http://web.bgu.ac.il/NR/rdonlyres/E6905E1E-6760-4E01-9BB2-D9161225BF97/0/ICTR_0209_En.pdf).

BGU refused to add Palestinian perspectives (a suggestion from Habib), and the lesson I quickly learned was not to attempt engagement, but instead promote a principled institutional boycott. Today as then, what Habib forgets is Barghouti’s clear assessment of power relations: “Any relationship between intellectuals across the oppression divide must be aimed, one way or another, at ending oppression, not ignoring it or escaping from it. Only then can true dialogue evolve, and thus the possibility for sincere collaboration through dialogue.”

The growing support for Palestinian liberation via BDS reminds of small but sure steps towards the full-fledged anti-apartheid sports, cultural, academic and economic boycotts catalyzed by Brutus against racist South African Olympics teams more than forty years ago. Today, these are just the first nails we’re hammering into the coffin of Zionist domination – in solidarity with a people who have every reason to fight back with tools that we in South Africa proudly sharpened: non-violently but with formidable force.

(Bond, a Durban-based political economist, was a recent visitor to Palestine at the invitation

Book Launch: Zuma's own goal 19 September 2010

ASAUK Biennial Conference 2010

16 – 19 September
St Antony’s College, University of Oxford

Sponsors: Royal African Society; Routledge; Journal of Southern African Studies; African Affairs/Oxford University Press; African Studies Centre and Rhodes Chair of Race Relations, University of Oxford; PLAAS, University of the Western Cape and IDS Sussex (for land panels).

ASAUK 2010 Conference Programme
St Antony’s College and adjacent locations, Oxford
Thursday 16th September 2010

10.00 – 14.00 Registration, Registration Desk, Hilda Besse Building
14.00-15.30 Panels A1 – J1
15.30 – 16.00 Tea and Coffee
16.00-17.30 Panels A2 – J2
18.00 – 19.00 Sub-plenaries

St Cross College

'States Creation and the Crisis of Governance in Nigeria', Prof Rufus Akinyele

Nissan Theatre, St Antony’s

Land Reform in South Africa’, Prof Lungisile Ntsebeza

19.00- 20.30 Supper – St Antony’s Hall

20.30–22.00 ASAUK AGM – Nissan Lecture Theatre, St Antony’s

20.00-21.30 Book launches and drinks, Combined Common Room, St Antony’s: Greg Mills, Why Africa is Poor (Penguin); Pnina Werbner, JoAnn McGregor, and others: three collections on displacement and contemporary African diasporas (Brill, Berghahn, and Journal of Southern African Studies).

Friday 17th September 2010

9.30 – 11.00 Panels A3 – J3

11.00 - 11.30 Tea and Coffee

11.30-13.00 Panels A4 – J4

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch – St Antony’s Hall, Hilda Besse Building

14.00-15.30 Panels A5 – J5

15.30 – 16.00 Tea and Coffee

16.00-17.30 Panels A6 – J7

18.00 – 19.00 Sub-plenaries:

‘The Zimbabwean Crisis and the Unresolved Conundrum of Race in the Post-colonial Period’, Dr James Muzondidya (Mary Kingsley Zochonis Lecturer),

Nissan Theatre, St Antony’s College

‘(In)visibility in African Cultures’ Dr Veronique Tadjo,
Combined Common Room, St Antony’s College

19.00- 20.30 Supper – St Antony’s Hall

20.30–22.00 Presidential Address - William Beinart; Announcement of the Distinguished Africanist Awards and Audrey Richards thesis prize - Megan Vaughan – St Antony’s Hall

Saturday 18th September 2010

9.30 – 11.00 Panels A7 – J7

11.00 - 11.30 Tea and Coffee

11.30-13.00 Panels A8 – J8

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch – St Antony’s Hall, Hilda Besse Building

14.00-15.30 Panels A9 – J9

15.30 – 16.00 Tea and Coffee

16.00-17.30 Panels A10 – J10

18.00 – 19.00 Sub-plenaries:

Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs on the US and Africa

Nissan Theatre , St Antony’s College

'Asian Solutions to African Problems: What Can Africa Learn about Development from South-east Asia', Dr Tim Kelsall

Combined Common Room, St Antony’s College

19.00- 20.30 Supper – St Antony’s Hall

20.30-21.30: Announcement of the African Affairs Author Prize and Oxford University Press Reception; Lionel Cliffe,‘Tribute to Basil Davidson’ - St Antony’s Hall

21.30 –23.00 St Antony’s Buttery - disco

Sunday 19th September 2010

9.30 – 11.00 Panels A11 – J11

11.00 - 11.30 Tea and Coffee

(PLEASE RETURN ALL KEYS TO THE REGISTRATION DESK)

11.30-13.00 Panels A12 – J12

16th-17th September, 9am to 5pm

Exhibition at Rhodes House Library:

‘Elections in Africa’ and ‘The Heinemann African Writers Series’.

More

To ASAUK Conference participants

There was a wonderful response to the ASAUK call for papers with close on 450 abstracts and proposals submitted. We adopted an inclusive approach and tried to find space for as many contributions as possible. Apologies to those whose papers were not chosen. Given overall space constraints, we felt that it would be very difficult to run more than 10 parallel sessions. The gaps that have appeared in the programme are the result of recent withdrawals and there was not sufficient time to fill them.

We felt that a single overall thematic focus would exclude too many people. But we have tried to achieve some continuity and sequential debate by organising the conference around streams of papers on similar topics. There are particularly strong streams on: democratisation and elections; land and agriculture; literature; migration and diasporas. There are also smaller groups of panels on particular countries – notably South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Nigeria – as well as clusters on religion, environmental issues, small-scale mining, popular culture, heritage, urban livelihoods, development and range of other themes. We would like to thank the many panel organisers who have helped to make this such an interesting programme, especially Oliver Bakewell, Nic Cheeseman, Zoe Norridge, Paul Nugent, Robin Palmer and Ian Scoones.

We have not tried to assign chairs for the different panels centrally; stream and panel convenors have generally done so. Where a chair has not been appointed, we would appreciate it if one of the panel take responsibility for keeping time and fielding questions. As we noted in an earlier circular, when four people are presenting, each should talk for no more than 15 minutes, when three, not more than 20 minutes and when two, 25 minutes. This will ensure time for discussion. Please be disciplined – it will allow for productive participation and feedback.

We also mentioned in an earlier circular that powerpoint should be avoided unless essential for images or figures – particularly in four person panels. If you need powerpoint, please try to get the file to David Kerr by Tuesday 14th. We would also suggest, especially if you cannot get your file to David, that you go to the relevant room in the break before your panel and ensure that the file is loaded and works.

We do not have facilities for copying papers. If you would like to circulate a full paper, please bring the hard copies with you.

Information for the conference follows below as does the latest full list of panels and papers with rooms assigned. Abstracts arranged in the sequence of panels will be bound separately.

When you arrive, please go to the registration desk in the Hilda Besse building, St Antony’s College to collect your conference pack and keys. As there is not a sufficiently large room, there will not be a plenary at the beginning of the conference, so please go directly to the appropriate panel rooms by 2pm on Thursday. We will be holding academic sub-plenaries at 6pm each evening, and the closest there will be to plenary are the presidential address and awards in St Antony’s dining hall at 8.30 on Friday 17th.

We look forward to seeing you in Oxford. There are a large number of participants, well over 300, and all our resources and facilities will be at maximum capacity. Patience may be required and we may need some help. It should be an exciting and rewarding event.

William Beinart, ASAUK president and David Kerr, ASAUK administrator.

12th September 2010

Patrick Bond & Rick Rowden on the IMF and public health 7 & 14 September 2010

Priority Africa Network (PAN) EVENT: 082310

Contact: PriorityAfrica@yahoo.com

This and all Africa events in the Bay available at: http://www.priorityafrica.org/

Date: Tuesday(s), September 7 and 14
Time:12:30 pm on 9/7 brownbag &
6:30 pm on 9/14

Rick Rowden, author of
The Deadly Ideas of Neoliberalism: How the IMF has Undermined Public Health and the Fight Against AIDS”

September 7th, brown bag lunch at Global Exchange 2017 Mission Street in San Francisco Tel: (415) 255-7296

September 14th, World Affairs Council - Introduction by Patrick Bond
312 Sutter Street, San Francisco

Rick Rowden, PhD student in economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, and former senior policy analyst for the
Washington DC office of the international development NGO, ActionAid

Patrick Bond is senior professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies and a visiting scholar at the UC-Berkeley Department of Geography.

Bay Area local and anti-IMF activist, Rick Rowden, returns to SF to discuss his new book (London, Zed Books), and to answer your questions about the IMF, the global economic recession and how citizens are mobilizing with a rights-based approach for alternative economic policies.

Rick is an expert on the IMF, a former senior policy analyst for the Washington DC office of the international advocacy NGO, ActionAid,
which works with women’s rights organizations, small farmers and health and education activists in 45 countries around Africa, Asia and Latin America.

During the recent global financial meltdown, the IMF launched a public relations offensive in which it tried to re-invent itself, promising to change its unpopular economic policies that are attached as conditions on the loans it gives to developing countries during economic crises. But Rowden will dispel these myths, show what the IMF is really up to, and explain how its policies impact the economies of developing countries and in particular, how they undermine the financing which is desperately needed for public health services and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

He will also discuss the many ways in which networks of activists throughout the Global South are using a human rights-based approach to challenge these economic policies and open public spaces for a broader discussion of possible alternative economic policies for creating jobs and increasing
public investment.

A graduate of SF State, Rick Rowden taught Political Science at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and Global Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay before moving to Washington DC, where he spent nearly a decade working with activists around the world against the policies of the IMF, World Bank and WTO. Recently, he worked for the United Nations in Geneva and is currently doing his PhD in economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, India.

This event is organized by Priority Africa Network, ActUP East Bay, International Development Exchange (IDEX) and Global Exchange.

For more information, please contact PAN email: priorityafrica@yahoo.com or call (510) 663 2255

Priority Africa Network
Mailing Address: P O Box 2528
Berkeley CA 94702
Office: PAN/BAJI
1212 Broadway, Suite 812
Oakland CA 94612
Tel: (510) 663 2255
Fax: (510) 663 2257
PriorityAfrica@yahoo.com

http://www.priorityafrica.org

Book Launch (Zuma's own goal) 3 September 2010

A new book on South Africa’s socio-economic crisis
edited by Brij Maharaj, Ashwin Desai and Patrick Bond, with chapters by Gillian Hart, Ben Fine, Andries du Toit, Greg Ruiters, Prishani Naidoo, Franco Barchiesi, Fred Hendricks, Lungisile Ntsebeza, Enver Motala, Salim Vally, Carol Anne Spreen, Jackie Cock, Hein Marais, Mark Heywood, Mary Galvin, Lenny Gentle, Trevor Ngwane and James Ferguson

Patrick Bond at the International Commission of Jurists Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Camp, 31 August 2010

Capitalism, the Privatisation of Basic Social Services
and the Implementation of Socio-Economic Rights:
Challenges and Advocacy Strategies for Human Rights and Social
Justice Actors, Learning from the Johannesburg Water Defeat

by Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society,
University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society

Presented to the International Commission of Jurists
Southern Africa Socio-Economic Rights Camp:
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Advocacy and Litigation

Johannesburg, 31 August 2010

AGENDA
SOUTHERN AFRICA SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS CAMP:
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ADVOCACY AND LITIGATION IN
SOUTHERN AFRICA
BIRCHWOOD HOTEL, JOHANNESBURG, 30 AUGUST – 2 SEPTEMBER 2010
DAY ONE: 30 AUGUST 2010

8:30 - 9.00 Arrival and Registration of Delegates

SESSION ONE: OPENING CEREMONY

Session Chair: Martin Okumu-Masiga, Senior Legal Adviser

9.00 - 9.30 Welcome Address and Introduction of ICJ: Arnold Tsunga, Director, ICJ Africa Regional Programme

9.30 - 10.00 Introduction of OSISA and of the Symposium: Deprose Muchena, OSISA Deputy Director

10.00 - 10.30 Key Note Address by Prof N Barney Pityana, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa
“The Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the SADC Region: Using the Rule of Law as an Instrument of Effective Advocacy and Litigation”

10.30 - 10.45 Vote of thanks followed by Group Photo Session

10:45 - 11.00 TEA BREAK

SESSION TWO: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Session Chair: Justice Unity Dow, ICJ Commissioner

11.00 - 11.30 Conceptual and International Legal Framework for the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights –Professor Michelo Hansungule, Centre for Human Rights, UP & ICJ Commissioner

11.30 - 12.00 Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the African Regional System: Opportunities for Litigation and Advocacy by Human Rights and Social Justice Organisations – Commissioner Mumba Malila, Deputy Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

12.00 - 12.30 Protection and Promotion of Socio-economic Rights in the SADC Legal and Institutional Framework: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities, Justice Charles Mkandawire, Registrar of the SADC Tribunal and ICJ Commissioner

12.30 – 13.30 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

13.30 - 14.30 LUNCH BREAK

SESSION THREE: REGIONAL ADVOCACY AND LITIGATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: PRACTITIONERS’ EXPERIENCES
Session Chair: Irene Petras, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

14.30 - 15.00 Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: From the selection of cases to the implementation of rulings: Issues, Challenges and Strategies - Ms Angela Naggaga, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa

15.00 - 15.30 Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights before the SADC Tribunal: Issues, Challenges and Possible Strategies – Norman Tjombe, Legal Assistance Centre

15.30 - 16.00 Triggering and Building up Regional and Social Support for an Economic, Social and Cultural Right Litigation and Advocacy - Roshnee Narrandes, OSISA Policy and Advocacy Manager

16.00 - 17.00 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

17.00 - 17.30 HOUSEKEEPING AND CLOSE OF DAY ONE

DAY TWO: 31 AUGUST 2010

SESSION FOUR: DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Session Chair: Sandra Ratjen, Senior Legal Adviser, ECOSOC Rights, ICJ

9.00 - 9.30 Domestic Implementation of Socio-economic Rights with a Specific Focus on South Africa: Mechanisms, Challenges and the Role of Civil Society Organisations, Dr Christopher Mbazira, University of The Western Cape

9.30 - 10.00 Courts and the Enforcement of Socio-economic Rights: Centralising the Role of Civil Society Organisations, Christian Courtis, Program Officer, OHCHR

10.00 - 10.30 Budget Analysis and Monitoring for the Realisation of Socio-Economic Rights: Indicators, Benchmarks and Opportunities for Human Rights and Social Justice Advocates, Advocate Jacob Van Garderen, Director, Lawyers for Human Rights

:10.00 - 11.00 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

11.00 - 11.15 Tea Break

11.15 - 11.45 Mainstreaming Women, Children and Vulnerable Persons’ Needs in the Promotion and Protection of Socio-economic Rights in the SADC region, Alice Kanangoni: Communications and Gender Programme Manager

11.45 - 12.15 Challenges and Opportunities for the Protection of Workers’ Rights in Southern Africa, Mr Bongani Masuku, COSATU

12.15 - 12.45 Capitalism, the Privatisation of Basic Social Services and the Implementation of Socio-Economic Rights: Challenges and Advocacy Strategies for Human Rights and Social Justice Actors, Professor Patrick Bond, Director Centre for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu Natal

12.45 – 13.45 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

13.45 – 14.45 LUNCH BREAK

SESSION FIVE: CHALLENGES TO DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS

Session Chair: Louise Olivier, OSISA Law Programmes Manager

14.45 - 15.15 Litigation of Socio-E conomic Rights, with a specific focus on the right to health and HIV/AIDS: Tools, Challenges and Strategies for CSOs, Priti Patel, HIV/AIDS Project Lawyer, Southern African Litigation Centre

15.15 – 15.45 The Right to Education in the SADC Region: Challenges and Strategies for an Effective Litigation and Advocacy - Boaz Wakuru, African Network Campaign on Education for All

15.45 – 16.15 Land Reform Programmes and the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The case Studies of Zimbabwe and South Africa, Professor Shadrack Guto, UNISA

16.15 - 17.15 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

17.15 - 17.30 HOUSEKEEPING AND CLOSE OF DAY TWO

DAY THREE: 1 SEPTEMBER 2010

SESSION SIX: DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES (CONT)

Session Chair: Obiageli Oraka, Programmes Lawyer, West African Bar Association

9.00 - 9.30 Challenges to an Adequate Standard of Living including Housing, Food and Water in the SADC: Tools, Challenges and Strategies for Civil Society Organisations, Sandra Ratjen, Senior Legal Adviser, ECOSOC Rights, ICJ

9.30 - 10.00 Development Initiatives and the Protection of Socio-economic Rights: The case of the Lesotho Dam Project, Thuso Ramabolu, Transformation Resource Centre

10.00 - 10.30 Access to Water and Protection of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Botswana: Challenges and Opportunities, Alice Mogwe, DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights

10.00 - 11.00 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

11.00 - 11.15 Tea Break

SESSION SEVEN: BUSINESS ENTITIES AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL RIGHTS
Session Chair: Elijah Munyuki

11.15 - 11.45 Obligations of Business Entities in Respect of Economic, Social and Cultural ights: Professor Michelo Hansungule, Centre for Human Rights, UP

11.45 - 12.15 International Law, National Sovereignty and Access Rights in Relation to Mineral esources in Southern Africa, Fui Tsikata, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana

12.15 – 12.45 Ensuring a Greater Responsibility and Accountability in the Extractive Industry for Effective Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the SADC Region - Claude Kabemba, Southern Africa Resources Watch

12.45 – 13.45 DISCUSSION AND EXPERIENCE SHARING

14.45 – 14.45 LUNCH BREAK

SESSION EIGHT: WAY FORWARD

14.45 - 16.45 Developing Common Strategies for Effective and Strategic Advocacy for and Litigation of Socio-economic Rights and Drafting a Declaration and Plan of Action on ‘Enforcement of Socio-economic Rights in the SADC Region’ Facilitator: Arnold Tsunga, Director, ICJ Africa Programme

17.15 - 17.30 HOUSEKEEPING AND CLOSE OF DAY THREE

DAY FOUR: 2 SEPTEMBER 2010

SESSION NINE: CLOSING CEREMONY

Session Chair: Martin Masiga, Senior Legal Adviser, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

9.00 - 9.30 Guest speech 1: ‘The South African Foreign Policy and the Realisation of Socio- Economic Rights in Southern Africa: Advocacy opportunities for Civil Society Organisations’ By Mr Pitso Motswedi, Director, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, South African Department of International Affairs and Cooperation

9.30 – 10.00 Guest Speech 2: “Effective Realisation of Socio-Economic Rights in the SADC Region: Bridging the Gap between Human Rights and Social Justice Advocates” By Dr Godfrey Kanyenze, Director of the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe

10.00 - 11.00 Adoption of a Declaration and Plan of Action on ‘Effective Enforcement of Socioeconomic Rights in the Southern Africa’

11.00 - 11.30 Closing Remarks & Certificates to Participants Deprose Muchena, OSISA Deputy Director Arnold Tsunga, ICJ Africa Programme Director

11.30 - 13.00 Farewell Lunch

13.00 Departure

SOUTHERN AFRICA SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS CAMP: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ADVOCACY AND LITIGATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG, 30 AUGUST – 2 SEPTEMBER 2010

1. Conceptual Background
The evolution of international human rights law has revealed that civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights are two sides of the same coin of universal human rights. This was particularly evidenced during the 1963 World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna where the delegates reached the conclusion that, all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights particularly emphasises on the interdependence of human rights by recognising that the satisfaction of economic, social and cultural rights is a guarantee for the enjoyment of civil and political rights. Further, this African human rights instrument does not formulate socio-economic rights as rights that should be realised progressively as they are in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Such recognition provides the possibility to easily challenge SADC states’ reluctance or failure to protect, promote and fulfil socioeconomic rights. However, most challenges to human rights violations in the Southern African region have tended to focus on violations of civil and political rights even though economic and social rights are daily concerns of the people.

This gap is particularly due to lack of capacity of the lawyers and human rights activists as well as social justice practitioners that are interested in socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation. Lawyers and human rights activists, who are key actors in domestic human rights advocacy and litigation processes, need to have their technical capabilities of the enforcement of socio- economic rights enhanced. Development activists and practitioners, workers’ unions, consumer rights organisations, and several others drawn from the economic justice movement need to have their capacity to engage with the challenges of realisation of socio-economic rights strengthened. Unless the gap between legal enforcement on the one hand and norms and public policy in socio-economic rights advocacy on the other, is reduced, the two communities of activists will miss the opportunity to mutually enrich and reinforce each other’s work towards realisation of socio-economic rights in equal standing and footing as civil and political rights. Reducing the gap in conceptual understanding of, and advocacy for, socio-economic rights enforcement is a primary contribution to the realisation of pro rights based, pro-poor driven socio-economic public policy, and therefore for economic justice in SADC countries.

It therefore becomes worthwhile bringing together these actors to examine the different ways in which the substance and implications of socio-economic rights have been and should be articulated and implemented by policymakers and enforced by domestic courts and regional and international human rights bodies. It is also meaningful examining the content and the scope of the obligations that socio-economic rights impose on states and the various methods and strategies that can be used by human rights and social justice activists and NGOs to advocate for effective implementation of socio-economic rights and litigate violations committed by states and non-state actors.

The Southern Africa Socio-Economic Rights Camp will provide the opportunity to empower SADC-based lawyers and human rights activists, development practitioners, as well as labour and consumer rights advocates to grow their skills, learn from each other and sharpen their understanding of socio-economic rights and how to effectively collaborate in enforcing them.

2. Aim
The aim of the Southern Africa Socio-Economic Rights Camp is three-fold. Firstly, it will serve to bring together various actors involved in human rights and economic justice advocacy and litigation across the SADC region in order to reflect on the various principles, methods and strategies concerning socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation before national, regional and international human rights bodies.

Secondly, the camp will also constitute a privileged opportunity offered to the participants to share experiences in socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation in their respective countries, and to learn from each other’s strengths and challenges.

Lastly, the camp will enable the participants to come up with common strategies for socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation before SADC and African human rights bodies and in their respective countries.

This would allow for the development of shared values among the community of actors in the socio-economic justice movement in the SADC region around advancing, promoting and protecting socio-economic rights and standards regionally and domestically.

3. Project objectives
• To empower human rights and social justice lawyers and NGOs from the SADC region with the necessary knowledge and skills for socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation;
• To foster greater collaboration and building of synergies between actors in the legal sector and those in the socio-economic justice movement;
• To foster their capacity to effectively advocate for and litigate socio-economic rights regionally and domestically;
• To provide them with the opportunity to adopt common strategies for the litigation of socio-economic rights domestically, regionally and internationally;
• To allow participants to learn from each another’s experiences and challenges in socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation;
• To enable participants to come up with a declaratory response and a plan of action regarding cross-cutting issues affecting the realisation of socio-economic rights in the SADC region;
• To disseminate to the participants key materials on socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation;
• To raise public awareness on major socio- economic rights issues affecting the SADC region and on the declaration to be adopted by participants.

4. Project outputs and outcomes
• At the closing of the camp, the participants will be sufficiently empowered with the necessary knowledge of content of socio-economic rights and strategies for effective advocacy including litigation.
• The participants shall adopt a declaration and plan of action on the effective implementation of socio-economic rights in the SADC region.
• The declaration and plan of action on the enforcement of socio-economic rights in Southern Africa will be published and widely disseminated amongst human rights practitioners and the policy community.
• Creation of a network of socio-economic justice practitioners in the SADC region to allow participants to continue to share ideas and strategies from their respective countries.
• A media brief will be made after the camp to raise awareness on socio-economic rights issues affecting the SADC region and on the declaration and plan of action to be adopted by participants.
• Participants will also be expected to apply the knowledge acquired on socioeconomic rights litigation and other advocacy.
• A workshop report will be produced and widely disseminated.

5. Participants
To provide ample time for substantial discussions, the maximum number of participants is limited to forty-five. The participants will come from various Southern African countries and represent judges, lawyers and human rights defenders currently involved in or interested in socio-economic rights litigation or advocacy. As the camp will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, a number of South African human rights and economic justice practitioners and other grassroots NGOs will have an opportunity to share their experience in socio-economic rights advocacy and litigation. The applicant's professional and working experience, as well as future work plans will be key factors in the selection process. Geographical and gender representation as well as fluency in English shall also be taken into account.

6. Facilitators
Lectures will be given and group discussions led by resource persons from different parts of the region with special experience and expertise in socio-economic rights gathered through their work in non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations, and in academia.

7. Duration, Venue and Schedule
The camp will be held from 30 August to 2 September 2010 at Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa

Patrick Bond at Jubilee South Africa conference on ecological debt, 21 August

Jubilee South Africa National Council
Stay City, Johannesburg, 21 and 22 August 2010

Ecological Debt: Extractive Industries and Climate Change
Presentation by Patrick Bond

Agenda

Saturday, 21 August

8.30 – 10.00 Opening Session: Ecological Debt as the Next Frontier of Global Justice

Presentation by Patrick Bond, followed by Discussion

10.00 – 10.30 Tea

10.30 – 11.00 Introduction of the Independent Verification Committee

Credentials

Ratification of the Agenda

11.00 – 1.00 Resolution to the Impasse in the Organisation

Report on the May NEC Meeting and related developments

Addressing the tensions within the National Executive Committee

The Jubilee South Africa Bank Account

Jubilee South Africa’s Office, Records, Resources, Assets

Patrons, Affiliate and Associate Organisations, Membership

1.00 –2.00 Lunch

2.00 – 4.00 Areas of Work: Taking Our Campaigns Forward

Apartheid Debt and Reparations

Ecological Debt:

The Mining Campaign at Regional and Provincial Levels

4.00 – 4.30 Tea

4.30 – 6.00 Ecological Debt continued:

National Initiatives: Ianra South Africa; the World Bank and Eskom

International Solidarity

Debt, Finance, Macroeconomic Policy

Sunday, 22 August

8.30 – 10.00 International

SAPSN

Africa Jubilee South, Jubilee South Week of Action

The World Bank Bond Boycott

African Social Forum, World Social Forum

10.00 – 10.30 Tea

10.30 – 1.00 Strengthening the Organisation, its Governance and its Ability to Withstand Pressures

Reports on the State of the Provinces

Fundraising

Raising the Profile of the Organisation

1.00 Closure

George Dor
Jubilee South Africa
t +27(0) 11 336 9190/4/5 x132
f +27(0) 11 336 9196
h +27(0) 11 648 7000
c +27 (0) 76 460 9620
george@mail.ngo.za

Patrick Bond at the SA -Norway climate research seminar, 12 August 2010

Conference Programme

Climate change narratives, rights and the poor: Scientific knowledge, international political discourse, and local voices
Research Building Workshop
11-12 August 2010
Bergen, Norway

Tuesday, 10th August

Arrivals and dinner for foreign guests at Hanne på Høyden
(18:30 meeting at lobby Scandic Bergen City)

Hotel: Scandic Bergen City
Hakonsgaten 2 , 5015 Bergen
Telefon: +47 55 30 90 80 Fax: +47 55 30 90 91
E-post: bergencity@scandichotels.com

Wednesday, 11 August
Venue: Seminar room, Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI)
Jekteviksbakken 31

8:30 Meeting at the lobby of Scandic Hotel (walk to venue)

9:00 Introduction and goals of the workshop
Brief Presentation of research project, background paper and General Discussion

10:00-12:00 (short 10 minutes presentations and discussion):

Global narratives on poverty, climate and rights

Helge Drange, University of Bergen/Bjerknes, Norway
“What type of problem is climate change”

Des Gasper, Institute for Social Studies (ISS). The Netherlands
“Climate change and the narrative imagination: shortcomings of mainstream economic thinking and alternatives”

Trine Dahl, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, and Kjersti Fløttum, University of Bergen, Norway
“Climate change: from scientific papers to multivoiced narratives”

Kathryn Hochstetler, University of Waterloo, USA.
“The Global Politics of Climate, Poverty, and Rights”

Petra Tschakert, Penn State, USA
“Global narratives on adaptation”

Jill Johannessen, Bjerknes Centre, Norway
“Media narratives of the climate crisis and responses to pro-poor development”

12:00-13:00 Lunch at Law Faculty Cafeteria

13:00-15:00 (short 10 minutes presentations and discussion):
South Africa’s narratives on climate change and the poor

Richard Bellerby, Bjerknes Centre, Norway
“Climate change and scientific discourse in South Africa”

Patrick Bond, U. of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa
“What are the key issues for a critical appraisal of South Africa’s perspectives on climate change and the poor?”

Camaren Peter, University of Stellenbosch School of Public Management,
South Africa
“South Africa’s narratives on social development and environmental change”

Thorvald Gran, University of Bergen, Norway
“The role of South African Institutions”

Jan Froestad, University of Bergen, Norway
“Insuring sustainable development”

15:00-15:30 Coffee Break

15:30-17:30 (short 10 minutes presentations and discussion):

Climate change and the poor: Food and water security

David Battisti, University of Washington, USA
“Narratives on climate variability and food security”

David Hall-Matthews, Leeds University, UK
“Enforcing the right to food in the context of climate change. Democratic and constitutional possibilities”

Elisabeth Simelton, Leeds University, UK
“Global to local perspectives on food security in the light of socio-economic vulnerability to drought”

Jackie Dugard, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
“South Africa and the right to food and water”

Mercedes Biocca, University of Bergen, Norway
“Lessons from Latin America: local impacts of global ideas”

19:00 Dinner at Asun’s.
We will depart by public transportation from hotel at 18:30

Thursday, 12 August
Venue: CMI

9:00-11:30 (short 10 minutes presentations and discussion):

Climate change discourse, rights and the poor – legal and activist perspectives

Siri Gloppen, University of Bergen/Christian Michelsens Institute, Norway “Human rights, constitutional rights and conflict between rights in the context of climate change”

Jackie Dugard “A rights-based narrative of attribution for global warming: Towards equitable mitigation and adaptation”

Keith Syrett, University of Bristol, UK
“Climate Change and Human Rights: Building and Understanding of Legal and Discursive Strategies”

Pilar Domingo, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
“Rights discourses and mobilisation”

Jeni Barcelos, University of Washington, USA. “Strategies for harnessing the power of the academy and the law to promote fair and equitable adaptation strategies”

Brandon Derman, University of Washington, USA
“Climate change, law, and political space: The geographic and legal politics of mobilization for 'climate justice'”

11:30- 12:30 Lunch at Law Faculty

12:30-14:30 (short 10 minutes presentations and discussion):

Climate change and the poor: Between politics and scientific knowledge

Eystein Jansen, Bjerknes Centre, Norway
“Key issues on the science-politics debate and the IPCC”

Kjersti Fløttum,
“Science and politics in discourse”

Øyvind Gjerstad, University of Bergen, Norway
“Rhetorical patterns in climate policy texts”

Patrick Bond “Activism and policy: lessons from past and current resistance to national and global institutions”

Asun St. Clair “The co-production of knowledge, epistemic power and institutional legitimacy”

14:30-15:00 Coffee Break

15:00-18:00 Debate about research design, outputs, strategies for moving forward, and next steps

Dinner Reception at Bergen Resource Centre for International Development

Trevor Ngwane at Solidarity Peace Trust report on Zimbabwe, 30 July

Invitation to the Launch of a report and Video by the Solidarity Peace Trust, Friday 30 July 2010, 10.30 am- Devonshire Hotel -23 Jorisson Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

REPORT: A Fractured Nation
The report is an assessment of the effects of Operation Murambatsvina five years on. It looks at the combined effects of OM and the economic meltdown in the years that followed on the livelihoods and movements of Zimbabweans both within the country and in the diaspora. The findings show the continuing devastation of that operation and the meltdown of the years that followed and indicates the extent of the damage that needs to be addressed in future development policies. With the renewed threats of xenophobic violence on foreign workers in SA, Zimbabwean and other foreigners are trapped in a desperate vice of violence, desperation and poverty.

FILM: Poverty On Top Of Poverty

Hopley Farm is a large tract of land on the outskirts of Harare where the government dumped thousands of Murambatsvina victims in 2005. They were promised new homes, a developed infrastructure and a better life. What has transpired in Hopley in the five years since Operation Murambatsvina rendered hundreds of thousands homeless, mirrors the fate of IDP's across the country. The film also looks at whether the new inclusive government has made an impact on the lives of this group of people, who were uprooted because of their real or perceived support of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Speakers
Prof. Brian Raftopoulos – Director of Research, Solidarity Peace Trust

Tara Polzer – Forced Migration Project – Wits University - Johannesburg

Braam Hanekom - People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) – Western Cape

Trevor Ngwane – Centre for Civil Society – University of Kwa-Zulu Natal

Please RSVP to Emily Wellman at info@sugaractivism.co.za or 072 236 2712

Selvan Chetty
Deputy Director
Solidarity Peace Trust
www.solidaritypecetrust.org
0835561726

Press Conference on Xenophobia 28 July

PRESS RELEASE:Durban's Civil Society and Immigrants:The Xenophobic and Anti-Xenophobic Forces

DATE:Wed, 28 July 2010
TIME: 12:30-1:30pm
PLACE: UKZN Howard College Campus
Memorial Tower Building, Room #602

Xenophobia has hit Durban once again. As in May 2008, when thousands
were displaced from sites including Cato Manor, Bottlebrush, Umbilo and
Albert Park, once again the immigrant community is fearful. As in
January 2009, when a double-murder of immigrants occurred at Albert
Park's Venture Africa building, under the alleged leadership of Durban
city councillor Vusi Khosa, once again the city's leadership has been
dubious, at best. Attempts by the Centre for Civil Society and many
other groups in Durban to rally attention to the coming problem were
repelled by metro police (and National Intelligence), and only after a
long process was permission granted to hold an Anti-Xenophobia rally at
City Hall on July 3.

With the support of Atlantic Philanthropies and Strategy&Tactics, a
dozen researchers at CCS carried out a major study of the 2008-09
xenophobia in Durban, and the antidotes from civil society networks.
However, our findings are sobering: many of the problems associated with
xenophobia are structural. They can be solved with the cooperation of
the state and business, but Durban civil society is ill prepared to
address social crises such as unemployment, lack of affordable housing,
excessive retail competition in townships, and regional foreign policy
(especially in relation to Zimbabwe and the DRC). On Wednesday, a 105pp.
study of Durban will be discussed in the context of more than 1000 pages
of research findings by scholars associated with the Atlantic
Philanthropies.

We welcome you to join us for an hour, to get a better handle on
questions associated with xenophobia, and anti-xenophobia. Numerous
topics will be discussed, including the responsibility of civil society
organisations, the media, academics, the state and business.

For the Centre for Civil Society: Baruti Amisi, director of the CCS
Anti-Xenophobia Project: 083 683 8297 Patrick Bond, director of the
Centre: 083 425 1401

Press Statement and Invitation to Media Briefings

The South African Civil Society and Xenophobia study

(Strategy & Tactics, Johannesburg, July 2010)

Uprooting xenophobia in South Africa:

Can civil society regain its drive and mount a sustained response?

Will government face the facts and rise to the challenge?

In May 2008, South Africa was gripped by an outbreak of xenophobic
violence that spread from Alexandra, Johannesburg, across the country,
leaving 62 people dead, more than 700 injured or raped and tens of
thousands as homeless refugees.

In possibly the largest mobilisation since the voter registration drives
of 1994, civil society intervened to save lives, help the injured,
provide food and shelter, collect funds, shame politicians into action
and came out strongly against xenophobia in a series of marches,
rallies, vigils and coalitions.

In late 2008, the social research agency Strategy & Tactics (working in
collaboration with social and political scientists from multiple
universities and agencies, and migrants and their own civil society
organisations) began to investigate the causes of the violence and
whether the response to the crisis signalled a revival of South African
civil society echoing the role played by community organisations,
churches and other institutions in shaping democracy in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. Or was it 'merely' a crisis response*

The resulting and newly released 500-page report, South African Civil
Society and Xenophobia, is the most comprehensive study of the state of
civil society in over a decade.

As South Africa is once again threatened by the reality of xenophobic
violence, swift, informed and sustained responses to xenophobia are
needed. All sectors of society, including civil society and government,
must heed the learnings of May 2008. This study offers the following key
findings and recommendations:

* The xenophobic violence of May 2008 was caused by a combination of
deep structural social, economic and spatial inequalities, an on-going
reliance on cheap labour, housing shortages, township retail
competition, racism, a history of the use of violence to advance
sectional interests and a traumatically scarred national psyche. This
coincided in early 2008 with a desperately low national mood as the
economy seemed to be in freefall and the ruling party was in the midst
of factional splitting. All these factors combined to create ripe
conditions for the xenophobic outburst.

* The violence also took place against a background of huge population
shifts in the country as well as the region since the demise of
apartheid. In response to rural poverty, millions of South Africans have
moved to the cities. 'Desperation-based' migration caused by failed
economies and political conflict in countries to the North of South
Africa has increased dramatically.

* The abuse of the human rights of migrants and refugees by state
agencies in spite of a progressive Constitution and humane legislation
provides ripe conditions for xenophobia to thrive, as does an exclusive
nationalist political discourse.

* South Africans of all races are deeply xenophobic. Some sections of
government and the ANC are in denial about the extent of xenophobia in
the population and this has obstructed a considered strategic response
to the phenomenon.

* In May 2008, this ambivalence resulted in a weak response by the state
to the violence. It fell to civil society to deal with the crisis. Civil
society rose to the challenge in the largest mobilisation of citizens
since the early 1990s and caused some to question whether civil society
might regain its strength as a critical agent of social change.

* This was not to pass, however. While some strong regional coalitions
emerged they lost impetus once the moment of crisis passed. Many NGOs
returned to their core business once the crisis was over - to which
migrants were marginal. Civil society proved exemplary in mounting a
highly effective relief effort, but the effort did not translate into a
sustainable political agenda to address xenophobia and advance social
justice more generally. The moment was lost.

* Since 2008 civil society has failed to address the issue of xenophobia
systematically, neither through its programmes, nor by including
migrants as part of its constituency. Civil society must rise to this
challenge.

* The authors of the study conclude that violence against African
migrants will continue unless there are profound socio-economic and
attitudinal changes:

Business as usual cannot continue. The political rules have been
re-written, the administrative and judicial systems have been re-wired,
but at the social and economic levels South Africa has failed to move to
a point where we can regard ourselves as post-transitional, as having
arrived at the place envisioned by those struggling for freedom from
apartheid. Moreover, the period since 1994 has been punctuated by
sporadic calls for 'an RDP of the soul', or moral regeneration, based on
an acceptance that psycho-social damage has been done to all. If all
South Africans are to be liberated from their past, all South Africans
need a new moral compass, just as the economic order needs to be
fundamentally restructured and the social order re-imagined. Without
this delayed phase of transition, South Africa remains in limbo -
post-apartheid but not yet the non-racial, non-sexist democracy
envisioned in the Constitution. And while that [takes hold], the fertile
breeding ground remains in place for xenophobia, as it does for rape,
for violent crime, for racism and the other social ills. - Prof David
Everatt, South African Civil Society and Xenophobia

* The recommendations of the report are a call to action, providing all
stakeholders - civil society, political parties and the corporate sector
- with a blueprint to address xenophobia, advance social justice and
promote national cohesion and diversity in which foreigners are an
integral part of South African society.

Strategy & Tactics, the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (a partnership
between the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of
Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government), The Atlantic
Philanthropies, the Centre for Civil Society (University of
KwaZulu-Natal), the University of the Western Cape and Amandla Forum
hereby invite you to

Media Briefings on the South African Civil Society and Xenophobia study

Date: WEDNESDAY 28 JULY 2010
Time: 12h30 to 13h30
Venue: DURBAN - Centre for Civil Society, University of KZN, Howard
College Campus, Memorial Tower Building, Room 602

Contact persons/tel: Patrick Bond 083 425 1401 OR Baruti Amisi 083 683 8297

Nationally, media enquires about the content of the study can be
directed to the editor, Prof David Everatt: david.everatt@gcro.ac.za,
083 455 9466.

For media based in KwaZulu-Natal, media enquiries can also be directed
to: Prof Patrick Bond (pbond@mail.ngo.za, 083 425 1401) or Baruti Amisi
(amisi@ukzn.ac.za, 083 683 8297).

The list of contents and the first two chapters of the Synthesis Report
(Overview & Prospects and Summary of Findings & Recommendations) can be
accessed on the Centre for Civil Society website:
ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp*3,28,11,3658

The list of contents and the full report can be accessed on the websites
of Strategy & Tactics, the Gauteng City-Region Observatory and The
Atlantic Philanthropies: www.s-and-t.co.za/downloads.php#xenophobia
www.gcro.ac.za/news/xenophobia-reports-released

www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/learning/report-south-african-civil-society-and-xenophobia
(compressed files for easier download)

The study can also be ordered on CD (free of charge) by completing the attached order form and forwarding it to:
g.bayne@atlanticphilanthropies.org

Warm regards
The Atlantic Philanthropies

Anti Xenophobia Rally 3 July 2010

Flyers from the 3 July rally

Pictures from the 3 July rally

Symposium: Water, Rights and Prices: Theory and practice, 28 June

The Centre for Civil Society invites you to a symposium:

TOPIC: Water, Rights and Prices: Theory and practice in Durban,
Johannesburg and the world
SPEAKERS: Daria Roithmayr, Kim Adonis, Mary Galvin, Patrick Bond,
chaired by Dudu Khumalo
DATE: Monday 28 June 2010
TIME: 11am-2pm
VENUE: Memorial Tower Building #602, Howard College, UKZN

FIRST PAPER: “What’s Wrong with Rights? Rights, Race and Capital” by
Daria Roithmayr

TIME: 11am-noon

This paper argues that rights discourse serves to legitimate the
domination of capital over racial equality. The paper offers a weak form
of the argument, which states that rights discourse cannot promote
equality over capital, because rights discourse takes too much off the
table and opens the door to the sort of cost/benefit analysis it is
meant to suppress. The paper also offers a stronger form of the
argument, which states that rights litigation is actually
counterproductive, because it positions citizens as supplicants who are
dependent on the state, and requires that petitioners surrender their
most potent arguments.

SPEAKER: A law professor at the University of Southern California, Daria
Roithmayr writes and teaches in the area of critical race theory, with a
particular emphasis on persistent racialized poverty. Her forthcoming
book, entitled Them That’s Got Shall Get, argues that racial inequality
will reproduce itself over time structurally, even in the absence of
intentional discrimination. She has written several articles on the
usefulness of rights discourse in eradicating persistent inequality, and
has published in the South African Journal of Human Rights on whether
the school fee system violates the right to education.

SECOND PAPER: Developmental Pricing of Residential Water Use in South Africa: The Case of Gauteng, by Kim Adonis

TIME: noon-1pm

This paper outlines how it might be possible to construct a
developmental pricing model for residential water use in Gauteng. The
research will critically analyse the existing pricing model in order to
assess the efficacy of the model in achieving the goals of equity,
efficiency and sustainability. To date, little is known of the effects
of water prices on household consumption behaviour, in particular, how
households change their consumption in order to respond to the
increasing block tariff model that is currently used. As such, the
existing model does not set the block tariffs in line with expected
consumer behaviour and therefore omits the impact of marginal price
increases on the well being of households of different income groups.
This research will therefore seek to quantify the effects of the
existing block tariffs by estimating the price elasticity of demand for
water for various income groups.

SPEAKER: Kim Adonis, a PhD student in the UKZN School of Development Studies, works at KPMG and was formerly an official of the Economic Analysis Directorate at Gauteng Treasury. Her Wits University Masters dissertation investigated the paradigm shift in the management of water resources in South Africa since 1998, which essentially entailed the transition from supply to demand management of water resources. Her undergraduate education was at UCT.
octorate of Philosophy – Development Studies Research Proposal

Developmental Pricing of Residential Water Use in South Africa
Slide Show

Developmental Pricing of Residential Water Use in South Africa.
Dctorate of Philosophy – Development Studies Research Proposal

THIRD PAPER: Confrontational Municipal Hydropolitics in South Africa’s Developmental State Debate: Reactions to Durban’s Celebrated Innovations by Radical Social Movements, by Mary Galvin and Patrick Bond

TIME: 1-2pm

In this article, we aim to show how power relations in
post-apartheid South Africa have been both affected and reproduced by
contestations over water access, consumption costs and technologies
ranging from bulk supplies to household water and sanitation systems.
The confrontations came to a head during the 2000s at a time of
oft-advertised (albeit controversial) shifts in ruling party policy
philosophy from an emphasis on neoliberal macroeconomic constraints and
micro-commercialization to a ‘developmental state’. In the urban water
sector, these shifts have been led by the city of Durban (eThekwini
Metro). The city is celebrated across the world for innovations in ‘Free
Basic Water’ supply, water-less ‘Urinary Diversion’ (UD) toilets, and
community consultation. However, such processes were all fraught with
contradiction, and are better understood not simply as the success of
celebrated municipal leaders, but as the ever evolving outcome of a
Polanyian double-movement. Market-oriented state/corporate agents and
anti-market social forces (a half-dozen leading community-based
organizations) generated discourses during the 2000s that often ‘talked
past each other’, but that sometimes reached a point of confrontation
that shed both heat and light on water problems.

SPEAKERS: Mary Galvin has worked in South Africa as a researcher, development practitioner, and social justice activist since 1992. Her University of California PhD focused on development interventions by social change and technical NGOs and their impact on local socio political change in rural South Africa. She recently concluded a three year, multistakeholder research project and dialogue process called The Water Dialogues.
Presently, as Director of Umphilo waManzi (a non profit organisation),
Mary is conducting research on power dynamics in the water sector, while
planning a water quality campaign and projects related to climate change
and water.

Patrick Bond directs the Centre for Civil Society and has written many
articles and book chapters on water politics.

All are welcome; the seminar will be skypecast, so please contact
Patrick Bond at pbond@mail.ngo.za and patricksouthafrica (on skype) to participate.

(The World Cup makes the first paragraphs below appear as precise
descriptions of Fifagrad - SA's nine host cities - and yet, is this the
right language for the left, this urban rights-talk? Mark your calendars
for 28 June when we do a skypecast colloquium at CCS on rights with
specific reference to urban water. I think there will be doubts
expressed, based on left crits from law and some of the recent practical
experience in Joburg/Durban: running up against the hard edge of
liberal-capitalist-democratic juristics and public policy. My gut
feeling is that neoliberalism plus tokenist welfarism together cancel
out all the excellent aspirations expressed below. And it may be better,
therefore, to fast-forward to commons-talk instead.

Rio de Janeiro Declaration - Social Urban Forum, March 2010

In neighborhoods and in the world, fighting for the right to the city,
for democracy and urban justice

Preliminary draft for discussion
Transnational corporations, multilateral agencies and their advocates
have already foreseen the ideal XXIist century city: it is globalized,
tied by flows and hierarchies to the global markets; a city tied to the
few who control and rule the markets from their headquarters in the
global cities. Conceived and managed as if it was a corporation, this
city sails in the global competitive seas and its governance mirrors the
corporative management: marketing, competitiveness, pragmatism,
flexibility and decision-making processes centralization should be the
virtues of urban government.

Led by entrepreneurial mayors, free from public control and engaged in
public-private partnerships, this city would be able to seize
opportunities and secure its competitive advantages in the cities
market, competing for foreign capital, investments, tourists and
mega-events. This neo-liberal city, market oriented and market friendly,
is simultaneously consequence and condition of the structural adjustment
imposed by international consultants and by IMF, World Bank and other
multilateral agencies diffused recipes.

Perverse consequences
Its perverse consequences are, however, evident: more inequality,
increasing of unemployment and poverty levels, quality of life
degradation for millions, violence increase, frustration, despair.
Vulnerable groups, ethnic and cultural minorities, migrants and women
suffer particularly, due to the discrimination added to their misery.
The new standard, together with its characteristic urban scenarios,
imposes itself all over the world. The urban fabric is progressively
being decomposed. The city’s diversity and its encountering places, once
built by working class neighborhoods within the modern tissue have been
bulldozed or intentionally gentrified, and/or ethnically and socially
‘cleaned’. With them, the richness of a cultural and political life once
the symbol of those communities, of downtown areas and docklands is also
vanishing. It is a transfigured city, transformed into an agglomeration
of citadels for the wealthy, enclaves for middle classes, vulnerable
quarters for working classes, and ghettos for the poor and marginalized
groups.

New controlling tools have been developed resulting in the
criminalization of those who, defying the neo-liberal creed, fight for
social change and for an alternative urban scenario.

Inherited inequalities, largely a result of the modern city built
throughout the XXth century, get more and more acute. The calls on
private and corporate philanthropy and on the moralization of public
spaces do not hide the failure of policies focused at “alleviating
poverty” any longer. New international reports and papers, rich in empty
sentences and calls, but poor in poverty and inequality causal analyses,
and, most importantly, needing substantial plans to eliminate wealth and
power concentration – worldwide or inside regions and cities -, do not
bring any surprises or hopes.

Problems increasing with crisis
The most recent world crisis uncovered the real neo-liberal’s traits:
facing financial hardship – partly due to the city’s submission to
financial markets -, its proponents “re-discovered” and celebrated state
intervention! Bank owners and brokers lined up at the once slandered
State’s door, begging for help… Within two months, States provided a
larger amount of resources to the financial system than it had done for
“poverty alleviation” in decades.

Having its origins in the cities’ marketing and financial processes, the
crisis reflects itself over the very cities: more unemployment, more
homeless workers, more inequality.
Despite this recent and gross failure of the neo-liberal city, global
corpora ons and mul lateral agencies have nothing new to say. Real
Estate brokers and the big capital demand di! erent and generous
subsidies, as well as new forms of public-private partnerships. In
exchange they promise the weary “poverty allevia on” formulae. In a
number of countries, both in central and peripheral economies,
programmed state Þ scal crisis Þ nance public debts with growing shares
of their na onal budgets. In the context of a novel and even more
perverse distribu on of costs, the city is rea# rmed as the locus of
inequality and poverty produc on and reproduc on.

Capital only aims more profits
In a last and sorry effort, elites resort to systematic policies aimed
at de-politicizing the city, seeking to transubstantiate citizens into
consumers and shareholders or, else, into the “poor”. Citizens become
audience to mega-events and city-spectacles, giving life to a world most
cannot take part of, especially in peripheral countries.

That is not the whole story, however. There is a lot more to it. A lot
not shown or discussed in offcial conferences or in global reports.
There are alternatives for the neo-liberal model springing worldwide.
Not only in cities led by progressive, popular, and democratic local
governments, but also in some neighborhoods within cities under the
neo-liberal hegemony.

It is not an alternative model, but alternatives to the model, rooted on
different values and goals, different ideals of city, and on insurgent
urbanity and urban planning processes. It is more resistance than
revolution. Nevertheless, it is positive resistance.

Universalize social struggles
Despite its richness and universal character, it has been rarely
possible to look at these experiences as qualitative encompassing
processes, able to offer a way to challenge the current dominant urban
agenda. There have been rare opportunities to gather urban activists,
collective actors, movements and organizations who and which, in many
cities and countries, are making the practical critique of the
neo-liberal model, or researchers and progressive planners who are
making the theoretical critique to the urban pensée unique. There have
been even fewer opportunities to bring them altogether.

As such, we, at this moment, feel challenged to take a further aimed at
building and structuring a bold movement that can express our
international solidarity that will help us collect, organize and diffuse
our achievements, both concerning our daily struggles and concrete
experiences and our cultural and theoretical contends, all assuring
innovative planning canons and methodologies. It is time to give a
stronger and more consistent repercussion to our common efforts towards
building democratic, socially and environmentally just cities. Cities
where all inhabitants are simultaneously compromised with an equal
society and with the right to be equal in diversity.

Movements, organizations and individuals, assembled at the 1st Social
Urban Forum, in Rio de Janeiro, from March, 22nd through March, 26th,
after a number of debates and a rich exchanging experience, call upon
all those who struggle against the neoliberal city, at the markets’ and
capital’s disposal, to unite, in solidarity, conforming an international
movement for the right to the city, democracy and urban justice. In so
doing, we hereby reafirm our principles and fundamental compromises.

Our beliefs and hopes

# We believe in the construction of different cities, receptive to its
inhabitants instead of receptive to the capital, friendly to its
population and its needs before cities are friendly to the market and
its rules;

# We believe that, under the auspices of organized and autonomous
citizen participation through their organizations, it is possible to
elaborate and to implement policies and plans that further the
elimination of the great wealth and power inequalities in our societies;

# We believe academic and professionals should contribute to the
construction of collective action processes and should help workers and
urban residents in general to take their destiny and the destiny of
their cities into their own hands;

# We are committed to the struggle for reassuring the right to the city,
understood as a collective right of all to a city without discrimination
based on race, gender, sex, age, health, income, nationality, ethnic and
migrant conditions or on political, sexual and/ or religious
orientation. We also compromise with the universal right to preserve
group memories, heritage and cultural identity;

# We are committed to oppose each and every discrimination based on
race, gender or economic condition, and sexual or religious orientation;

# We are committed to struggle for housing policies aimed at dignifying
homes, in fully equipped urbanized areas close to the job market;

# We are committed to struggle against relocations and forced evictions
based on rhetoric environmental arguments, on calls for public order, on
development and/or patriot discourses mostly associated with mega
events, which favor real estate speculation, capital and status quo
governments;

# We are committed to struggle and ensure that social rights to the land
take precedence over property rights to the land;

# We are committed to struggle for land regularization and urbanization
of poor and/ or vulnerable areas and informal settlements and for public
policies encouraging the implementation of cooperative forms of work
and/or enhancing solidarity economy;

# We are committed to struggle for affordable and quality public
transportation, at unified and integrated fees in metropolitan areas,
and for public policies that encourage non-polluting transportation forms;

# We are committed to struggle against all forms of criminalization of
the poor, including street workers, homeless and in-migrants, especially
when occupying empty real state in order to shelter their families or
legal economic activities to support them. We also commit to struggle
against all forms of social movements criminalization, both in the city
and in rural areas.

# We are committed to demand basic transportation, health, housing,
educational, cultural, leisure and sports services, facilities and
equipments from the State. We also commit to struggle for public and
democratic control of such services, facilities and equipments.

# We are committed to struggle for public management and universal
coverage of sanitation systems, in as much as water services, which
shall not be privatized.

# We are committed to struggle against monopoly in mass media production
and distribution, currently in big corporations’ hands, ensuring their
democratiza on. In particular, we commit to struggle for community
broadcasting freedom, for their communication channels express a
diversity of opinions and cultures that constitute a major asset to our
cities.

# We are committed to struggle against all forms and manifestations of
environmental injustice and for environmentally sustainable cities.

# We believe that the construction of a just and egalitarian city is
tied to the struggle for the democratization of rural land access, for
the agrarian reform, for food production sovereignty, for
environmentally responsible agricultural practices, for safeguarding
family agriculture, traditional groups and indigenous populations modes
and means of production.

# We believe marketing practices and market friendly policies favor
environmental degradation and we struggle for economic and efficient
energy policies, for adequate treatment and recycling of solid, liquid
and gas waste and for increasing and democratizing urban green and
forested areas.

# We believe the cornerstone of urban plans and policies should be to
ensure universal access to dignifying housing, education, health care,
food, clothing, multiple forms of cultural expression, safe and stable
jobs and a healthy environment, instead of working for private
speculation and capital valorization.

# We advocate for public policies responsible for meeting these needs
and we believe human beings are more important than commodities, social
needs take precedence over the market logic, and cooperation and
solidarity are the founding stones of a worthwhile social behavior.

# We believe that National and Sub-national State structures are
decisive to achieve these goals. We are convinced, however, that their
agencies, tools and resources must be submitted and accountable to
public control and to bottom-up participatory decision making processes,
instead of being placed in the hands of bureaucrats, technocrats and all
kinds of advocates of vested interests.

To celebrate these collective principles and commitments:

1) We declare March, 25th the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE
RIGHT TO THE CITY, FOR DEMOCRACY AND URBAN JUSTICE.

2) We set a new appointment, two years from now and paralleling the next
UN-Habitat World Urban Forum, when we should all meet again, stronger
and more numerous.

In neighborhoods and in the world, Fighting for the right to the city,

For democracy and urban justice
Rio de Janeiro, 25 March, 2010

Attention

1) This proposal has been drafted by militants of movements and
organizations participating in the construction of the Urban Social
Forum in Rio de Janeiro.

2) This proposal should receive suggestions and amendments, especially
from organizations outside Rio, be them from Brazil or other countries.
Suggestions and proposals should be sent to cartadorio@gmail.com.

3) A final draft commission will be elected in the general assembly of
the Forum. This commission will prepare the final version of the the Rio
Declaration, taking upon suggestions and amendments sent to the email.

Patrick Bond on the World Cup, Washington, 9 June 2010

The 2010 World Cup, from sports to socio‑economics: with Briggs Bomba, Patrick Bond and Dave Zirin

Wednesday 10:30am, Wallace Global Fund, 1990 M Street, NW, Suite 250,
Washington, DC 20036

Political Economy of the World Cup
9 June 10:30 - 11:30

Africa Action and the Wallace Global Fund cordially invite you to join us for a live webcast of our Political Economy of the World Cup Breakfast Discussion, to be broadcast on Wednesday, June 9 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Wallace Global Fund with special guests Professor Patrick Bond and Mr. Dave Zirin. Bond and Zirin are leading thinkers, authors, and activists on socio-economic justice issues.

To watch the event live please go here

Patrick Bond is senior professor at University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies and director of the Centre for Civil Society in Durban, South Africa. He has authored numerous books on political economy and works closely with social movements, trade unions and environmentalists. He compiles a daily World Cup Watch here

Dave Zirin is a sports correspondent for the Nation Magazine. He has also authored numerous books such as Welcome to the Terrordome and A People's History of Sports in the United States. Zirin's column, Edge of Sports, appears on Sport's Illustrated's website and he is the host of XM satellite's weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio.

South Africa will be the first African nation to host the International Federation of Football Association's World Cup set to kick off on June 11, 2010. While preparations for the event have contributed to a wave of opportunities for South Africa, there has been a wide range of controversies surrounding the event. The discussion will focus on the following six red cards:

1. Dubious priorities, overspending
2. Fifa profits, political corruption
3. Debt & imports, economic crisis
4. Trickle-down promises broken
5. Democratic freedoms suspended
6. Protest met by repression

Don't miss what promises to be an exciting perspective on the political and socio-economic implications of the World Cup for South Africa.

For further information, please go here

GOAL!: Salon Event: Making its Mark - South Africa and the FIFA World Cup
Date:June 9, 12:00PM-2:00PM
VenueBusboys and Poets, 14th & V St NW, Washington, DC

In June, the first coin of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be tossed in host country, South Africa.

Amidst the entire African continents' excitement over its hosting debut, South Africa will once again make its mark as the midfielder of the seamless intersection of soccer fever and government and corporate accountability. Join labor, gender, peace and justice activists and true fans of the sport to make South Africa's mark count. Midfielders, strikers, forwards and defenders: Let the games begin!

Speakers:

Dave Zirin is a national sports writer and the host of Edge of Sports on XM Radio, where sports and politics collide. He recently authored The South Africa World Cup: Invictus in Reverse.

Emira Woods is the Co-Director of the Foreign Policy In Focus project at the Institute for Policy Studies, where she sheds light on issues ranging from debt relief, gender equality, trade and development to U.S. military policy. For more, read her latest article.

Tope Folarin is a Newman Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. His focus is on African politics, the racial-wealth divide in the United States and any intersections therein. His latest article is The World Cup And I.

Patrick Bond is a political economist and a professor at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, where he teaches political economy and eco-social policy. He also directs the Centre for Civil Society and is involved in research on economic justice, energy and water.

Patrick Bond at Grantmakers without Borders conference, 8 June 2010

Lunchtime Briefing: Debates in Global Justice Movements, a Decade On 1:00 to 2:15 pm
Location: Hawthorn

Over the last decade, international coordination of social movements—global justice, anti-war, climate justice, and many sector-based networks—was reflected in converging activism, strategy and increasingly politicized narratives. Still, divergences remain along South-North, class, race and other cleavages. Taking global examples and South African lessons in international solidarity, the World Social Forum, grassroots ownership, protest waves, environmentalism, anti-privatization and reactions to economic crisis (including xenophobia), Professor Patrick Bond of the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies considers potentials for movement-building in coming years.

Debates in and about Global Justice Movements, a decade on reflections on theory, history, scale politics, themes and narratives
Slideshow from Patrick Bond's presentation

Conference Programme
Grantmakers without Borders Website

Patrick Bond at the People's Dialogue 'Green Economy' seminar, 5 May

Venue: The Cottages Gender-links, Innes Road, Observatory, Johannesburg. Date: 5-7th May 2012

Background
We are recommending that participants arrive on the Friday, 4th May so that we can begin the seminar first thing Saturday morning. On Friday we will circulate documents and participants will have a chance to prepare for the seminar. Also, Friday will be an opportunity for networking and sharing the work and campaigns of your organisation. It would be good if you could bring relevant publications and information from your organisation to share with others.

Objectives

Develop a common understanding of the threat posed for communities and our common goods by the further commodification of nature and her services in the guise of the Green Economy.

Deepen our perspectives on alternative strategies and paradigms that can provide vision and hope.

Develop an action plan to guide the work of the People's Dialogue and its members towards the Rio + 20 Summit and beyond.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Rio+20 and the Green Economy: the need for a new paradigm
By Trust for community outreach and education

The People’s Dialogue invites your participation in an intercontinental seminar to be held in Johannesburg (5 –7 May 2012) on the green economy in preparation for the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. It takes forward discussions we have had as the People’s Dialogue in the context of the multi-dimensional crisis of civilisation. Specifically the seminar will focus on the need to develop alternative paradigms and development strategies capable of ensuring a decent life for all while guaranteeing the integrity of the planet.

The depth of the crisis and the increasing threat to life requires not just the framing of these alternatives but the development of advocacy strategies to promote these alternatives. The Rio + 20 UN Summit where the future of humanity and the planet will be debated and the parallel civil society People’s Summit will provide critical opportunities for coming to terms with the depth and severity of the ecological, economic and social crises we face as well as the different alternatives that need to be mobilised around.

The tortured and tiring outcomes of COP 17 and other recent global Summits that promised much yet delivered little should caution anyone that hopes that the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit, the so-called Rio + 20Summit will provide real solutions to our planetary crisis. The fact that the global elite have only allocated 2 and half days of discussions to the official Summit suggests there is nothing like the expectations that accompanied the initial ’92 Earth Summit. Almost twenty years on, hundreds of Summits and meetings later and thousands of pages of resolutions, declarations and protocols, the situation is much worse. The issues of unsustainability in respect of global warming, eco-system degradation biodiversity, ocean acidification, inequality, food insecurity are becoming dire.

One of the main issues for discussion at Rio+20 is the green economy. The real danger for civil society is that just as the concept sustainable development, the green economy proposals are extremely seductive while providing a cover for continued neoliberal policies.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the lead agency preparing the Rio Summit is pushing for nature to be precisely measured and valued, according to the ‘services’ it provides (cleaning water, capturing carbon and so on). This way nature’s services can be costed, offset and traded on markets, via credits, similar to carbon trading. Giving nature a monetary value or putting a price tag on it, is the best way to protect it, UNEP argues.

The approach has been heavily criticised by social movements and other civil society organisations as it would mean assigning private property rights to nature, commodifying and privatising nature. Leaving nature to the market would undermine the opportunities of communities and states to protect the commons. The proposed seminar would need to engage with this approach, especially in light of the carbon trading debacle.

As the People’s Dialogue bringing together popular organisations from Southern East and West Africa and Latin America we see Rio + 20 as an opportunity to deepen our critique, extend our common analysis as well as consolidating our exchanges on alternative paradigms based on a cross-sectional (feminist, indigenous, faith-based, labour, peasant, NGOs, etc.) cross-continental dialogue. Important and relevant people’s alternative processes and campaigns such as the Rural Women’s Assembly, the Million Climate Jobs and many others will be promoted in the seminar as concrete steps towards building alternative paradigms and strategies. In this way we will contribute to strengthening and building greater unity of the various platforms movements linked to the People’s Dialogue are already involved in. Here lies the greatest possibility for outreaching and advancing popular demands, struggles and alternatives.

A range of powerful social movements in Brazil, Latin America and across the world have come together to prepare a parallel People’s Summit to the UN’s Rio + 20 Summit. It is critical that African social movements and civil society are mobilised to intervene in these discussions at their country level, regionally and globally to ensure that the specificities of the multi-dimensional crises of Africa are integrated into global civil society’s platforms.
http://rio20.net

PHOTO'S

Alter-globalization Movements Conference 28 May

International Conference on Alter-globalization movements and the alternative ideas of Korea. Gyeongsang University Institute for Social Sciences (Jinju), Seoul, 28 May 2010

A political-economic perspective on climate justice within the alter-globalization movements Resistance to ‘shifting, stealing and stalling’ from Kyoto to Copenhagen to Cancun.
By Patrick Bond

A political-economic perspective on climate justice within the alter-globalization movements Resistance to ‘shifting, stealing and stalling’ from Kyoto to Copenhagen to Cancun
Slideshow for Patrick's presentation

Conference Programme

Osisa conference on climate and development in Africa, Pretoria, 21 May

Innovation, climate change, state and development
Slideshow from Patrick Bond's presentation

AGENDA

RETHINKING GOVERNANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: PROSPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE?

DAY ONE: 20 MAY 2010

SESSION 1: 09H00 – 11H00

THE BIG DEBATES

Democracy, Delivery and Innovation: Whither the Developmental State?
A number of scholars have noted that State intervention in the economy
is a universal feature common to all of the successful economies at an
early stage of their industrialisation, including the UK and the USA
which are today hailed as free market advocates. Yet there are still
many fundamental questions about how much State intervention is
appropriate in the African context. At this particular moment, where the
US and UK have been forced to accept that the market is not always
self‑correcting, and indeed have had to bail out major financial
institutions, many would argue that the global financial crisis has
precipitated a significant rethink in the role of the State and the ways
in which the Bretton Woods institutions function. Is such optimism well
placed? Has there been a real challenge to the Washington Consensus?
Panellists will look at whether the prospects for the Developmental
State in Africa are better today than it was before October 2008. They
will also address definitional issues: What do we mean when we speak of
a Developmental State and what are the roles of different actors in
bringing about such a State?

Welcome Remarks: Sisonke Msimang, Executive Director, OSISA

Facilitator: Bheki Moyo: Programme Director, Trust Africa

Panel:

Thomas Salomao: Executive Secretary, SADC Secretariat

Dr Rwakeza Mukandala: Vice Chancellor, University of Dar es Salaam

Dr Kojo Busia: Chief of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism Support
Section, Governance and Public Administration, Economic Commission for
Africa

Sisonke Msimang, Executive Director, OSISA

DISCUSSION

TEA BREAK 11H00 – 11H30

SESSION 2: 11H30 ‑ 13H00

Attractive Autocracies: Developmental States and Democracy
Many argue that Africa’s poor need economic growth and not democracy.
Indeed a number of States – feted by the West for their economic growth
– exhibit worrying tendencies on the democracy front. Does the
definintion of a Developmental State of necessity include civil and
political rights? Where do socio‑economic rights fit within this
framework? Is the dichotomy between development and democracy, a false
one in a Developmental State?

Facilitator: Professor Adele Liasu Jinadu, Lecturer, University of
Lagos, Nigeria

Panel:

Dr Chris Landsberg: Chair and Professor of Politics, and
Co‑Director of the Centre for African and European Studies (CAES),
University of Johannesburg

Godfrey Kanyenze: Executive Director, LEDRIZ

Dr Adebayo Olukoshi: Director, UN African Institute for Economic
Development and Planning (UNIDEP).

DISCUSSION

LUNCH 13H00‑ 14H00

SESSION 3: 14H15‑ 16H30

Developmental States: Lessons from Afar?

Facilitator: Joel Netshitenzhe, Policy Expert

Panel:

Prof Pamela Mbabazi: Dean of Development Studies, MUST, Uganda

Professor Xiao Lian: Executive Director, Chinese Centre for
International Economics, Beijing

Ambassador Han Soo Kim, South Korean Ambassador to South Africa

BOOK LAUNCH 16H30 – 17H30

Constructing a Democratic Developmental State in South Africa:
Potentials and Challenges ‑ Professor Omano Edigheji (Ed), Research
Director in the Policy Analysis Unit of the Human Sciences Research
Council (HSRC).

DINNER 18H30

DAY 2: 21 MAY 2010

SESSION 4: 09H00 ‑ 10H30

Natural Resources: Blessing or Curse?
There are numerous examples in Southern Africa, of States rich in
natural resources, but with abysmal development indicators. In the last
decade, economic growth in many Southern African countries has topped
the 10% mark: Angola, Mozambique and the DRC, growth fuelled by natural
resource exploitation have been siginificant. This panel looks at the
lessons learned about State intervention in Zambia, DRC & Botswana.

Chair: Facilitator: Claude Kabemba: Director, Southern African Resource Watch

Panel:

Dr Emmanuel Botlhale: Lecturer, University of Botswana

Dr Fernando Heitor Francisco: International Development, Consultant, Angola

Dr Charity Musamba: Executive Director, Foundation for Democratic
Process (FODEP), Zambia

Father Ferdinand Muhigirwa: Director, CEPAS

DISCUSSION

TEA BREAK 11H00 – 11H30

SESSION 5: 11H30 – 13H00

Diamonds are a Country’s Best Friend?
In a facilitated conversation, radio host John Perleman of Kaya FM, will
talk to key leaders in civil society, government and the private sector
in the region, about diamonds and the ways in which they have been used
to promote and undermine the notion of a Developmental State. The
discussants will look at positive and negative examples, with a view to
discussing the ways in which developmental states can and should be
managing the extraction and trade of diamonds.

Facilitator: John Perleman

Panel:

Farai Maguwu: Director, Centre for Research and Development,
Mutare, Zimbabwe

Tendai Biti: Minister of Finance, Government of Zimbabwe (tbc)

Georgette Biebie Songo: President, Caucus des Femmes Congolaises

Claude Kabemba: Director, Southern African Resource Watch

LUNCH 13H00‑ 14H00

SESSION 6: 14H00 – 16H00

Innovation, Climate Change, State and Development
Given the diminishing natural resources available to fuel industrial and
economic growth, what alternatives pathways are there? Is Southern
Africa in a position to leapfrog using technology, and what is the role
of policy and regulation around the environment, in fuelling growth? How
are we configuring thinking about the ‘green collar economy’?

Panel:

Thuli Makama: 2010 Global Goldman Environmental Prize Winner (Green
Nobel Prize), Executive Director, Yonge Nawe, Swaziland

Jonathan Neale: Green Collar Economy Activist Advocate and Leader, London

Patrick Bond: Director, Centre for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu
Natal, RSA

Muna Lakhani: Director, Institute for Zero Waste in Africa

DISCUSSION

TEA BREAK 16H00 – 16H30

SESSION 7: 16H30 – 17H00

Closure: Rapporteur: Key Conclusions and Next Steps

Patrick Bond on SA climate policy on TEDxUKZN, 14 May

South Africa and the Politics of Global Warming: From market destruction to climate justice
Paper presented by Patrick Bond

The School of Information Systems and Technology of University of KwaZulu-Natal is hosting a full day TEDxUKZN conference on 14 May 2010, under the theme “Africa,Change,the World, you can join the discussion on facebook. For more information please contact Prof. Manoj Maharaj.

The School of Information Systems and Technology is based within the Faculty of Management Studies and is currently headed by Professor Manoj Maharaj. The school operates on two sites, Pietermaritzburg and Durban (Westville) , with head office on the Westville Campus.
tedx.ukzn.ac.za

Live streaming of TEDxUKZN Conference

Memorial Tribute to Professor Fatima Meer 23 April 2010

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR FATIMA MEER

In celebration of her academic and intellectual contributions

Speakers include:
Professor Paulus Zulu
Judge Thembile Skweyiya
Professor Ashwin Desai
Other former colleagues

FRIDAY 23 APRIL 2010
5 FOR 5:30PM
HOWARD COLLEGE THEATRE
HOWARD COLLEGE CAMPUS, UNIVERSITY OF KWA ZULU-NATAL

Patrick Bond on South Africa, the World Bank, and Climate Justice, 9 April 2010

Patrick Bond and William Moomaw Debate on Climate Justice, South Africa and the World Bank

by Jason Pramas (Staff), Apr-13-10
• Debate
• Speech
Over 30 people attended an informal lunchtime debate on Climate Justice, South Africa and the World Bank last Friday between Prof. Patrick Bond of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Centre for Civil Society in Durban, South Africa and Prof. William Moomaw of Tufts University and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The event took place at the encuentro 5 movement space in Chinatown, and was chaired by Jason Pramas of Open Media Boston.

A 1 hour and 33 minute audio recording of the debate can be played below, and can also be downloaded in a variety of formats for non-commercial use at archive.org.

When: Friday, April 9, 2010, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Where: Encuentro 5 • 33 Harrison Ave, 5th Floor • Chinatown T Stop • Boston
Start: 2010 Apr 9 - 12:00pm
End: 2010 Apr 9 - 2:00pm

South Africa now has its 4th post-Apartheid president... But the country is more unequal than ever! It is also under consideration for a World Bank loan to “modernize” it ailing electrical power generation and distribution infrastructure. Revamping its grid would normally be a decisive opportunity to set a new course, redress inequalities and deveop a green strategy. But activist-intellectual Patrick Bond warns that the opposite seems likely with the Bank loan. It will strengthen the private sector and sharpen the gap between rich and poor: urban residents prepay their electricity at 4 times the rate of large transnational corporations. Further, the proposed loan will finance the world's 4th largest coal-fired plant and raise rates on working people.

On April 8, 2010, the World Bank will make its decision. Patrick Bond will reflect on the outcome.

Also invited to the conversation is Tufts University professor, William Moomaw who consulted with the World Bank and who is in support of the loan.

This Bank critic meets Bank supporter discussion allows for a reasoned engagement of ideas.

For Patrick Bond's biography, see:
http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp?10,24,8,55
For William Moomaw's biography, see: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/Moomaw/

See http://www.encuentro5.org for more directions. Also check website for updates before coming to the event.

http://www.justicewithpeace.org/node/1243

Manchester conference on environment and finance 15-16 April 2010

Hallsworth Conference on Financialisation and Environment: The Implications for Environmental Governance of the Global Financial Crisis
15-16 April, 2010, University of Manchester
Board Room, Arthur Lewis Building, 2nd floor

Please register at:
www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk

Financialisation and environment: the implications for environmental
governance of the global financial crisis

Finance capital has always, to some degree, played a role in
environmental management. However, over the last quarter century that
role has altered: finance has played a much more direct role in the
delivery of environmental policy in a range of issue-areas. That is,
there has been an intensification and extensification of the linkages
between the financial sector and the provision of environmental goods
and services. Whether it is the de-regulation of energy, the provision
of urban services such as water and sewerage, or the restoration of
wetland habitats, the rate, extent and conditions under which
environmental goods and services are made available have been
increasingly tied to the circulation and expansion of money capital in
its various forms. Marketised modes of governance in areas such as CO2
emissions have been increasingly linked to financial markets. The
environment, in short, has been one of the primary arenas through which
‘financialisation’ – that is, the expansion of financial products and
services into whole new domains – has played out in the last decade or
so. National and international environmental policy has sought to
marketise environmental services, privatise resource ownership, and
introduce commercial principles into resource and environmental
management. Central to these ‘neoliberal’ modes of environmental
governance are the monetisation of environmental goods and services, the
creation of new opportunities to produce and capture value by ‘making
nature pay’, and an expanded role in nature conservation and the
management of resources for private finance: in short, the
‘financialisation of nature’.

The current financial crisis has brought these new modes of governance
into question. The finance sector is currently under close scrutiny,
within and without, heralding a period of regulatory reform within the
sector as we look ahead. We are currently experiencing a moment of
profound questioning about the financial sector, a questioning that has
both an empirical component – how does it work, how can it be reformed –
and a normative one – who should the finance sector be for? Those
questions have particular relevance for a variety of different sectors
and services. The conference will examine the promiscuity of finance
(its capacity to enter a whole range of areas of environmental
governance), and also the variable extent to which finance dominates
over other concerns. In other words, we have a range of natural
experiments in leaving the provision of environmental goods and services
to the ‘logics’ money capital. The conference will open up a new
research agenda that has been under-explored. To date, ecological
modernisation has focused on production processes and, to a lesser
extent, on consumption: it has not thematised finance capital. At the
same time the literature on finance and financialisation has not paid
much attention to environment, except perhaps in regard to thinking
about the blockages/obstacles to financialisation. The questions the
conference will address include the following:

How, to what extent and in what ways has money capital has come to drive environmental outcomes in different economic and social sectors?

What are the implications of financial crisis for these modes of market-led environmental governance?

What role can and should the financial sector play in the provision of
environmental goods?

What are the implications for global justice and environmental
sustainability of different financial regimes in environmental governance?

Confirmed speakers at the conference include:
Ulrich Brand (University of Vienna), Patrick Bond (Centre for Civil Society, Durban), Larry Lohmann (Cornerhouse), Joan Martínez Alier (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Sam Randalls (University College London), Leonardo Sakamoto (Member of Brazilian Comission for the Eradication of Slave Labour and NGO Repórter Brasil), Christian Zeller (University of Salzburg)

www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk

Conference Program

Thursday, 15 April 2010

10:30 Welcome and Registration

11:00 Introduction – Erik Swyngedouw, University of Manchester

11:30 Debates on Economic Valuation and Payment for Environmental Services - Joan Martinez Allier, Autonomous University of Barcelona

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Carbon trading, new enclosures and eco-social contestation - Patrick Bond, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

14:30 The Financialisation of the 'Good Environment' and 'Good Environmental Citizen' – Samuel Randalls, University College London

15:30 Coffee

16:00 The Domination of Finance capital over Nature - Claude Serfati, University of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

17:00 Discussion

17:30 Close

Friday, 16 April 2010

10:00 The Role of Finance in the Ambiguous Post-Neoliberalising of Nature: A Research Program for the Agro-fuels Project -
Ulrich Brand, University of Vienna

11:00 Sugarcane in Brazil: Finance capital, Slave Labour and Deforestation
Leonardo Sakamoto, Brazilian Comission for the Eradication of Slave Labour and NGO Repórter Brasil -

12:00 Carbon Markets and Climate Change Larry Lohman, The Corner House

13:00 Lunch

13:30 Carbon Emissions as New Fields for (Finance) Capital - Christian Zeller, University of Salzburg

14:30 Processes of Exchange in the Carbon Credit Industry – John Broderick, University of Manchester

15:30 Coffee

15.45 Round Table: Financialisation of the Environment: What Governance?

17:00 Close

Patrick Bond speaks on climate debt, 5 May
Climate Debt Owed to Africa:
What to Demand and How to Collect?

by Patrick Bond, Director, Centre for Civil Society and
Senior Professor, School of Development Studies
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
For presentation to the Economic Justice Network
Post Copenhagen Climate Justice Conference, 5 May 2010, Johannesburg

Conference Programme

North Should Pay South Reparations for Climate Change
Stanley Kwenda (IPS) 14 May 2010

The North should pay reparations to the South for the effects of climate change.

This is the position of Professor Patrick Bond arguing the case for
ecological compensation that he believes the North owes to the South for
causing climate change.

He told IPS that, once a climate obligation debt is established, it’s a
simple question of how the funds should be delivered. Bond is director
of the University of Kwazulu Natal’s Centre for Civic Society (CCS) in
Durban, South Africa.

The CCS works with academics, researchers, civic society organisations
and grassroots organisations to find solutions to societal problems.

Citing a pilot project where Germany is paying reparations to a
community in Namibia, Bond said the reparations should be paid directly
to women because they suffer the burden of looking after the family and
therefore of climate change. Men often choose to squander whatever
little money is left or made available to the family.

Under the pilot project, the German government is paying people living
in a community in northern Namibia monthly allowances as compensation
for the privations of the colonial period when Germany controlled the
territory.

Bond's view was echoed at the climate justice conference where he was
speaking. It was hosted by the Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the
Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) on May 5‑6
in Johannesburg. The Christian Councils are church‑based organisations
that work in the southern African region to solve societal problems such
as climate change.

EJN specifically works to further economic justice in Southern African
Development Community (SADC) countries.

We are experiencing unusual drop in crop yields in many LDCs in SADC
which cannot be ascribed to anything other than climate change, Mithika
Mwenda, coordinator of the Nairobi‑based Pan African Climate Justice
Alliance (PACJA), told IPS. PACJA works to promote sustainable
development and environmental justice.

Another example is Mozambique which has suffered from either floods or
periodic droughts caused by little rain since 2001. As a result, its
government has been forced to spend money to bail out struggling
citizens and to finance adaptation strategies rather than development
initiatives.

We can’t blame the governments because the shift away from, for example
rain‑fed agriculture, costs huge sums. That is where we call upon the
international community which caused climate change to come to the
party, said Mwenda.

Regarding the recurring floods in Mozambique, Bond said, we expect to
see more of these. Shrinking coastlines cause the physical displacement
of people, typically the poor and most vulnerable. In this case it would
be women and peasant farmers (frequently the same people) who are on the
frontline because they lack the capacity to adapt.

In Zambia poor people face more than just the effects of climate change
but also have to deal with a government in denial. We are experiencing
floods even in (the capital) Lusaka but the government has deaf ears.
They claim that the floods are caused by bad drainage systems, George
Chibwana, advocacy officer of the Zambia Christian Council (ZCC), told IPS.

In all this, women suffer the most because traditionally they are the
ones who take care of the children, ensure that food is available and
prepared for the family, till the land and are often the ones to gather
firewood, said Chibwana.

Apart from this, cholera is on the rise and there is also a significant
rise in malaria which has always been the number one killer disease in
Zambia, he added.

Christian Aid estimates that 182 million people in sub‑Saharan African
countries, where three quarters of the world’s LDCs are located, could
die of diseases directly attributable to climate change by the end of
this century.

In Zimbabwe, a country which has registered negative economic growth for
the past 10 years, effects of climate change are a new threat to an
otherwise overburdened population. For the past five years, the
country’s low‑lying areas, such as the Lowveld, Zambezi Valley,
Muzarabani and those areas close to Mozambique, have witnessed recurring
floods.

This has forced many communities to move to higher ground and then
losing their pastoral and agricultural land and assets in the form of
livestock and crops.

Recent events in the SADC region, such as poor rains, have resulted in
low yield harvests in countries such as Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia,
Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Michelle Pressend, coordinator of the Cape Town‑based Trade Strategy
Group (TSG), explained to IPS that poverty goes hand in hand with
reliance on natural resources, which are often depleted by climate
change effects. The TSG is an informal network of trade activists
interested in developing strategies for orienting trade towards
sustainable development.

According to a PACJA’s 2009 climate change report, titled The Economic
Cost of Climate Change in Africa, climate change will combine with
social, economic and environmental factors to exacerbate Africa’s
vulnerabilities in the future, including water, food security, diseases,
conflict and degradation of natural resources. (END)

Patrick Bond at Clark University 8 April 2010

Patrick Bond speaks on Development, Environment and Social Struggle at
Clark University, 8 April

10.25‑11.30am: Development Policy class, Geog104:
RDP, GEAR and South African Development Policy”

12.00 noon “Carbon Trading: A Critique” and “Dennis Brutus: A Tribute”

3pm Worcester State College
Dennis Brutus Memorial

Global Day of Protest Against Proposed World Bank Loan for Coal 7 April 2010

When: Wednesday, April 7th, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Where: The park across from World Bank headquarters (1818 H Street NW).
Who: Friends of the Earth‑US, Africa Action, Avaaz and 350.org

CONTACT: Michael Stulman, Africa Action, (202) 546‑7961,
michael.stulman@africaaction.org
Kelly Trout, Friends of the Earth‑US, (202) 222‑0722, ktrout@foe.org
www.africaaction.org

Washington, DC ‑ The World Bank is scheduled to vote April 8 on whether
to approve a highly controversial $3.75 billion loan that would help
South African utility company Eskom build one of the largest and
dirtiest coal‑fired power plants in the world. The Eskom loan flies in
the face of the World Bank’s claims of alleviating poverty and
supporting sustainable development.

A global campaign against the World Bank and Eskom has been endorsed by
hundreds of organizations that represent millions of concerned citizens,
community, environmental, labor and academic constituencies, in South
Africa, the rest of the African continent and the world at large.

The protest comes just one day after residents located in the Waterberg
area of South Africa’s Limpopo Province filed a complaint with the World
Bank’s independent complaint body, the Inspection Panel. For more
information, click here.

What: “World Bankers” wearing black suits and flaunting sooty faces and
medical masks will converge around large smoke stacks and distribute
“coal dollars” to the public and World Bank employees, which will have
information about the loan and why the Bank should vote “no.”

More than 10,000 petition signatures from South Africans urging the
World Bank to reject this dirty coal loan will also be presented via a
giant voided check.

'Climate Politics or Carbon Trading?: The Story of Cap and Trade' 6 April 2010

CLIMATE POLITICS OR CARBON TRADING?
The Story of Cap and Trade
Film screening and discussion with Patrick Bond

Where: City University of New York Graduate Centre, Center for Politics, Culture and Place, THE CENTER FOR PLACE, CULTURE AND POLITICS * CUNY GRADUATE CENTER * 365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street
Room C198,
When:April 6, 6:30‑9pm

The Story of Cap and Trade (http://www.storyofcapandtrade.org, featuring Annie Leonard), launched on December 1, 2009 and was seen 400,000 times before the end of the (failed) Copenhagen Climate Summit. The nine-minute film helped open a global and US debate about the core modus operandi for top-down climate governance: commodification of the air. Patrick Bond, an advisor to the film, will address social, spatial and temporal features of climate politics in an era of fading financialization but durable neoliberalism.

PATRICK BOND is senior professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies in Durban, South Africa, where since 2004 he has directed the Centre for Civil Society: http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za. He has written or edited numerous books including Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society (2009); and Looting Africa (2006). He was a founding member of the Durban Group for Climate Justice and is active in Climate Justice Now!’s South Africa branch.

Moderated by ASHLEY DAWSON, Faculty Fellow, the Center for Place, Culture and Politics

Seminar: Patrick Bond on South African political economy, 5 April 2010

Seminar: South African Urban Protest and Political Economy ahead of the
2010 World Cup
Place: New York University Department of Sociology, 295 Lafayette St.,
4th Floor
Date: Monday, April 5
Time: 6:30‑8pm

What is the basis for apparently endless protests in South Africa's
cities, ranging from radical social movements to xenophobic eruptions?
Given worsening urban poverty, massive unemployment and rising
inequality, will deep‑rooted economic contradictions be amplified by the
World Cup in June‑July 2010, and can the state keep a lid on social
unrest? Patrick Bond presents a paper on the political economy of urban
crisis and resistance.

Patrick Bond is senior professor at the University of KwaZulu‑Natal
School of Development Studies in Durban, South Africa, where since 2004
he has directed the Centre for Civil Society. His work presently covers
environment (energy, water and climate change), economic crisis, social
mobilization, public policy and geopolitics. Amongst fifteen authored or
coedited books are: Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society
(2009); Looting Africa (2006); Talk Left, Walk Right (2006); and Elite
Transition (2005). Patrick earned his doctorate in economic geography
under the supervision of David Harvey at Johns Hopkins in 1993. He was
born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1961 and has lived in South Africa
since 1990.

South Africa’s bubble meets boiling urban social protest
By Patrick Bond

As the June‑July 2010 World Cup draws attention to South Africa, the
country’s poor and working‑class people will continue protesting at what
is now amongst the highest rates per person in the world. Since 2005,
the police have conservatively measured an annual average of more than
8000 ‘Gatherings Act’ incidents by an angry urban populace unintimidated
by the year‑old government of Jacob Zuma (Freedom of Expression
Institute 2009). In part the anger reflects the distorted character of
‘growth’ that South Africa has witnessed after adopting neoliberal
macroeconomic and microdevelopment policies after apartheid ended in
1994, and the logical resistance to commodification and of life (Polanyi
1957) and rising inequality playing out in the country’s slums. The
impact of the ongoing global/national economic crisis amplifies and
extends the existing, inherited contradictions. Social and labour
movements whose goals have been somewhat localist and corporatist,
respectively, may have to unite with environmentalists to pose much more
radical ways forwards in this context, although labour/communist
influence within the ruling African National Congress makes it difficult
for a united left front to emerge in civil society in the short or even
medium term.

A post‑apartheid urban cauldron of capitalist contradictions
As just one reflection of extreme uneven development, South Africa’s
cities have hosted the world’s most speculative residential real estate
bubble, with an inflation‑adjusted price rise of 389% from 1997‑2008,
more than double the second biggest bubble, Ireland’s at 193%, according
to The Economist (20 March 2009), with Spain, France and Britain also
above 150%. (The US Case‑Shiller national index was only 66% over the
same period.) Although there were many more houses built annually with
state subsidies in the post‑apartheid period for lower‑income people,
compared to the last decade of apartheid, World Bank advice in 1994
meant that these were typically half as large, and constructed with
flimsier materials than during apartheid; located even further from jobs
and community amenities; characterized by disconnections of water and
electricity; with lower‑grade state services including rare rubbish
collection, inhumane sanitation, dirt roads and inadequate storm‑water
drainage (Bond 2005).

In most provinces, the majority of the Gatherings Act incidents were
‘service delivery protests’ over low‑quality provision and the rising
cost of water, sanitation and electricity (Freedom of Expression
Institute 2009). Even after ‘Free Basic Services’ – a tokenistic 6000
liters per household per month of water and 50 kWh of electricity (with
small increases anticipated in 2010) ‑ were provided, the sharply convex
shape of water/electricity tariffs meant the rise in the second block of
consumption had the impact of raising the entire amount, resulting in
higher non‑payment rates, higher disconnection levels (1.5 million/year
for water, according to officials) and lower consumption levels by poor
people (Bond and Dugard 2008).

How did this happen, in a society that boasted one of the world’s
greatest urban social movements during the 1980s (Seekings 2000,
Mayekiso 1996), which in turn generated a powerful urban reform project
in the early 1990s, culminating in an African National Congress (ANC)
1994 campaign platform ‑ the ‘Reconstruction and Development Programme’
‑ which had insisted upon various forms of decommodified real estate,
especially housing finance? It turns out that these promises were
another case of ‘talk left, walk right’, because notwithstanding a
housing minister ‑ Joe Slovo ‑ who was also chair of the SA Communist
Party at the time (just prior to his death due to cancer in early 1995),
the December 1994 Housing White Paper set as a main task restoring ‘the
fundamental pre condition for attracting [private] investment, which is
that housing must be provided within a normalized market’. In practice
this entailed huge concessions to banks, alongside a drive to
commercialize municipal utilities (Bond 2000).

This was not merely the fault of a dying Slovo and his director‑general,
Billy Cobbett (subsequently director of the World Bank’s Cities
Alliance), for the dye was cast when neoliberalism was adopted in the
early 1990s by the late apartheid regime. The period was marked by
several policy shifts away from 1980s‑era sanctions‑induced dirigisme
carried out by ‘verligte’ (enlightened) Afrikaner ‘econocrats’ in
Pretoria, once the influence of ‘securocrats’ faded and the power of
white English‑speaking business rose during the 1990‑94 negotiations.
That period included South Africa’s longest depression (1989‑93) and
required Nelson Mandela’s ANC to periodically demobilize protest, until
in late 1993 the final touches were put on the ‘elite transition’ to
democracy (Bond 2005).

In the meantime, long‑standing ANC promises to nationalize the banks,
mines and monopoly capital were dropped; Mandela agreed to repay $25
billion of inherited apartheid‑era foreign debt; the central bank was
granted formal independence in an interim constitution; South Africa
joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on disadvantageous
terms; and the International Monetary Fund provided a $850 million loan
with standard Washington Consensus conditionality. Soon after the first
free and fair democratic elections, won overwhelmingly by the ANC,
privatization began in earnest; financial liberalization took the form
of relaxed exchange controls; and interest rates were raised to a record
high (often double‑digit after inflation is discounted). By 1996 a
neoliberal macroeconomic policy was formally adopted and from 1998‑2001,
the ANC government granted permission to South Africa’s biggest
companies to move their financial headquarters and primary stock market
listings to London (Bond 2005).

The basis for sustaining the subsequent property and financial bubble
came from two sources: residual exchange controls which limit
institutional investors to 15% offshore investments and which still
restrict offshore wealth transfers by local elites; and a false sense of
confidence in macroeconomic management. The oft‑repeated notion is that
under Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, ‘macroeconomic stability’ was
achieved since apartheid ended in 1994. Yet no emerging market had as
many currency crashes (15% in nominal terms) over that period: SA’s were
in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2006 and 2008. By early 2009, The Economist (25
February 2009) ranked South Africa as the most ‘risky’ of 17 emerging
markets, in large part because corporate/white power had generated an
enormous balance of payments deficit thanks to outflows of
profits/dividends to London/Melbourne financial headquarters.

Moreover, consumer credit had drawn in East Asian imports at a rate
greater than SA exports even during the 2002‑08 commodity price bubble.
If there was a factor most responsible for the 5% GDP growth recorded
during most of the 2000s, by all accounts, it was consumer credit
expansion, with household debt to disposable income ratios soaring from
50% to 80% from 2005‑08, while at the same time overall bank lending
rose from 100% to 135% of GDP. But this overexposure began to become an
albatross, with non‑performing loans rising from 2007 by 80% on credit
cards and 100% on mortgages compared to the year before, and full credit
defaults as a percentage of bank net interest income rising from 30% at
the outset of 2008 to 55% by year’s end (SARB 2009).

Overaccumulation, financialization and social inequality
In early 2009 at the World Social Forum, David Harvey (2009) specified
how these processes of financial‑speculative accumulation intersect with
class struggles in cities:

Since 1970 there have been 378 financial crises in the world.
Between 1945 and 1970 there were only 56 financial crises… My guess
is that half of the financial crises over the last 30 years are
urban property based… Since 1970, more and more money has gone into
financial assets and when the capitalist class starts buying assets
the value of the assets increases. So they start to make money out
of the increase in the value of their assets. So property prices go
up and up and up… So more and more low income people were brought
into the debt environment. But then about two years ago property
prices started to come down. The gap between what working class
people could afford and what the debt was too big. Suddenly you had
a foreclosure wave going through many American cities. But as
usually happens with something of this kind there is an uneven
geographical development of that wave.

‘Overaccumulation of capital’ at the global scale is the root process
behind the recent crisis, coming on the heels of a period of 35 years of
world capitalist stagnation, extreme financial volatility and
internecine competition that has had ruinous impacts (Foster and Magdoff
2009). The huge bubble in commodities ‑ petroleum, minerals, cash crops,
land ‑ disguised how much countries like South Africa stood exposed, and
indeed the early 2000s witnessed increasing optimism that the late 1990s
emerging markets currency crises could be overcome within the context of
the system. Moreover, even before the resources boom, by 2001 the rate
of profit for large South African capital was restored from an earlier
downturn from the 1970s‑90s, to ninth highest amongst the world’s major
national economies (far ahead of the US and China), according to one
British government study (Citron and Walton 2002).

Uneven geographical development is the basis for race/class segregation
in South Africa’s extraordinary built environment. In spite of greater
access to housing mortgage bonds and other forms of consumer credit for
working‑class people during the 2000s, the overarching process of
property speculation amplified that unevenness. In the US, leading
mainstream economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller (2009) have said
much the same, though they root the crisis in a distorted psychology of
individual investors (rather than in overaccumulated capital as does
Harvey):

[Speculative financial] events ‑ in particular the recent housing
bubble ‑ are driven by what John Maynard Keynes called animal
spirits, a naïve optimism at the intersection of overconfidence,
corruption, storytelling, and money illusion (another Keynesian
term, for views warped by currency’s nominal value instead of its
purchasing value). For some reason, in the late 1990s and early
2000s, the idea that homes and apartments were spectacular
investments gained a stronghold in the public imagination in the
United States, and in many other countries as well… Home prices have
fallen before. For instance, land prices fell 68 percent in real
terms in major Japanese cities from 1991 to 2006. But investors
didn’t want to hear that sort of talk… For evidence of the effect of
subprime lenders on the housing boom of the 2000s, consider that
low‑price homes appreciated faster than high‑price homes. And then
after 2006, when prices fell, the prices of low‑price homes fell
faster.

The South African version is still playing itself out, because after the
late 2004 peak year‑on‑year 30% increase in the most cited House Price
Index (Amalgamated Banks of South Africa 2009), five years later there
were steady declines in the year‑on‑year average house price at more
than 10% each month during 2009 (there is insufficient data available on
the distributional impact of a worsening real estate crisis).

Moreover, although the decline in corporate tax revenue drove the budget
deficit to a near‑record 7.6% of GDP estimated for 2009 and more than 7%
in 2010, South Africa was not pursuing a classical Keynesian strategy.
The state was simply carrying through massive construction projects
contracted earlier. Anticipated increases in state spending based upon
ruling party promises – especially for job creation (500,000 new jobs
were promised but in reality 2009 would see a million job losses) and
the launch of a National Health Insurance – were deferred by the new
finance minister, Pravin Gordhan (2009), in his maiden budget speech in
October 2009 and the follow‑up in February 2010.

The reality, though, was that high corporate profits were not a
harbinger of sustainable economic development in South Africa, as a
result of persistent deep‑rooted contradictions (Bond 2009, Republic of
South Africa Department of Trade and Industry 2009, Legassick 2009,
Loewald 2009):

• with respect to stability, the value of the rand in fact crashed
(against a basket of trading currencies) by more than 15% in real
effective terms in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2006 and 2008, the worst record of
any major economy, which in turn reflects how vulnerable SA became to
international financial markets thanks to steady exchange control
liberalization (26 separate loosenings of currency controls) starting in
1995;

• SA witnessed GDP growth during the 2000s, but this does not take into
account the depletion of non‑renewable resources ‑ if this factor plus
pollution were considered, SA would have a net negative per person rate
of national wealth accumulation (of at least US$ 2 per year), according
to even the World Bank (2006, 66);

• SA’s economy became much more oriented to profit‑taking from financial
markets than production of real products, in part because of extremely
high real interest rates;

• the two most successful major sectors from 1994‑2004 were
communications (12.2 per cent growth per year) and finance (7.6 per
cent) while labor‑intensive sectors such as textiles, footwear and gold
mining shrunk by 1‑5 per cent per year, and overall, manufacturing as a
percentage of GDP also declined;

• the Gini coefficient measuring inequality rose during the
post‑apartheid period, with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa
(2009 citing Statistics South Africa) measuring the increase from 0.56
in 1995 to 0.73 in 2006, while Bhorat, van der Westhuizen and Jacobs
(2009, 80) calculated a rise from 0.64 to 0.69, and the SA Presidency
(2008, 96) conceded an increase from 0.67 to 0.70 over nearly the same
period;

• black households lost 1.8% of their income from 1995‑2005, while white
households gained 40.5% (Bhorat et al 2009, 8);

• unemployment doubled to a rate of around 40% at peak (if those who
have given up looking for work are counted, around 25% otherwise) ‑ but
state figures underestimate the problem, given that the official
definition of employment includes such work as ‘begging’ and ‘hunting
wild animals for food’ and ‘growing own food’;

• overall, the problem of ‘capital strike’ ‑ large‑scale firms’ failure
to invest ‑ continues, as gross fixed capital formation hovered around
15‑17 per cent from 1994‑2004, hardly enough to cover wear‑and‑tear on
equipment;

• businesses did invest their SA profits, but not mainly in SA: dating
from the time of political and economic liberalization, most of the
largest Johannesburg Stock Exchange firms ‑ Anglo American, DeBeers, Old
Mutual, Investec, SA Breweries, Liberty Life, Gencor (now the core of
BHP Billiton), Didata, Mondi and others ‑ shifted their funding flows
and even their primary share listings to overseas stock markets mainly
in 2000‑01;

• the outflow of profits and dividends due these firms is one of two
crucial reasons SA’s current account deficit has soared to amongst the
highest in the world (in mid‑2008 exceeded only by New Zealand) and is
hence a major danger in the event of currency instability, as was
Thailand’s (around 5 per cent) in mid‑1997;

• the other cause of the current account deficit is the negative trade
balance during most of the recent period, which can be blamed upon a
vast inflow of imports after trade liberalization, which export growth
could not keep up with;

• another reason for capital strike is SA’s sustained overproduction
problem in existing (highly‑monopolized) industry, as manufacturing
capacity utilization fell substantially from the 1970s to the early
2000s; and

• corporate profits avoided reinvestment in plant, equipment and
factories, and instead sought returns from speculative real estate and
the Johannesburg Stock Exchange: there was a 50 per cent increase in
share prices during the first half of the 2000s, and the property boom
was unprecedented.

From burst bubbles to economic policy struggles
With this sort of fragile economic growth, subject to extreme capital
flight, it is no surprise that in the second week of October 2008, the
Johannesburg stock market crashed 10 per cent (on the worst day, shares
worth US$ 35 billion went up in smoke) and the currency declined by 9
per cent, while the second week witnessed a further 10 per cent crash.
Even the apparent death of South Africa’s neoliberal project in
September 2008, personified by former president Thabo Mbeki, whose
pro‑corporate managerialism was one reason for an unceremonious removal
from power, is misleading. The ‘populist’ ruling party leader Jacob Zuma
was intent on not only retaining Manuel as long as possible but
preparing a collision course with his primary internal support base,
trade unionists and communists. As Zuma put it to the American Chamber
of Commerce in November 2008, ‘We are proud of the fiscal discipline,
sound macroeconomic management and general manner in which the economy has been managed. That calls for continuity’ (Chilwane 2008).

A few days earlier, Manuel was asked by The Financial Times (Lapper and
Burgis 2008) about the impact of the world crisis on South Africa, and
told his constituents to tighten their belts:

We need to disabuse people of the notion that we will have a mighty
powerful developmental state capable of planning and creating all
manner of employment. It may have been on the horizon in 1994 [when
the governing African National Congress first came to office] but it
could not be delivered now. The next period is likely to see a lot
more competitiveness in the global economy. As consumer demand falls
off there will be a huge battle between firms and countries to
secure access to markets.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund’s Article 4
consultation with South Africa confirmed the external pressures.
Ironically, the institution’s managing director, Dominique Strauss‑Kahn
(2008), proclaimed the same month that the IMF now supported a 2% budget
stimulus ‘everywhere where it’s possible. Everywhere were you have some
room concerning debt sustainability. Everywhere where inflation is low
enough not to risk having some kind of return of inflation, this effort
has to be made’. Pretoria should have qualified for such a Keynesian
seal of approval, but no, according to IMF (2008, 3‑12) staff who
prepared the annual Article IV Consultation paper, Manuel should instead:

• run a budget surplus, i.e., ‘an increase in public saving so as to
bring the structural public sector borrowing requirement to zero over
the next few years’, but bearing in mind that ‘cuts in the corporate
income tax could boost growth’;

• adopt privatization for ‘infrastructure and social needs’, including
electricity and transport by ‘relying more widely on public‑private
partnerships’;

• maintain existing inflation‑targeting (i.e. in the 3‑6% target range,
although inflation was more than 12% in 2008) and ‘raise interest rates
further if supply shocks resume or domestic demand pressures do not
dampen’;

• ‘open the economy to greater international competition’ by removing
protections against international economic volatility, especially
‘further liberalization and simplification of the trade regime’; and

• remove worker rights in labor markets, including ‘backward‑looking
wage indexation’ to protect against inflation.

To be sure, Manuel did not follow this advice; the Alliance left (the SA
Communist Party and Congress of SA Trade Unions) is powerful enough to
prevent it if he tried any one of the five, especially just before a
national election in 2009. Indeed, just as in the West, the SA central
bank came under heavy pressure to reduce interest rates ‑ by 5% from
late 2008 through mid‑2009 ‑ and the real prime rate fell to the 2%
range, down from a peak of 15% a decade earlier.

Surprisingly, the IMF’s 2009 Article IV agreement had a very different
tone, conceding that South Africa’s strategy was acceptable:

The expansionary fiscal stance is appropriate given the weak
economic outlook, and strikes the right balance between supporting
demand and preserving medium‑term sustainability. If output turns
out weaker than staff projects, the automatic stabilizers should be
allowed to operate in 2009/10 and 2010/11… The monetary policy
stance has been appropriate. The scope for easing may have been
exhausted if inflation is to be brought within the target range by
end‑2010, as the authorities intend (IMF 2009, 1).

Although as late as February 2009, Manuel claimed such moves would
prevent a recession, he was proven badly wrong in May when government
data showed a 6.4% quarterly GDP decline, the worst since 1984 during
anti‑apartheid protests, the gold price’s plummet and the tightening of
sanctions. Even in late 2008 it was apparent that labor would suffer
vast retrenchments, with a 67% reduction in average work hours per
factory worker, the worst decline since 1970. The economy is likely to
have shed a million jobs in 2009, especially in manufacturing and
mining. January 2009 alone witnessed a 36% crash in new car sales and
50% production cut, the worst ever recorded, according to the National
Association of Auto Manufacturers. The anticipated rise in port activity
has also reversed, with a 29% annualized fall in early 2009.

Repossessed houses increased by 52% in early 2009 from a year earlier.
The first quarter 2009 crash was, however, mitigated by the construction
industry, which grew 9.4% thanks to white elephant state infrastructural
investments: 2010 World Cup stadiums (hugely over budget and not
anticipated to cover operating costs after the soccer matches), an elite
rapid train service for Johannesburg‑Pretoria, a failing albeit
generously subsidized industrial complex (Coega),
port/airport/road/pipeline expansions, a vast new coal‑fired electricity
generator, and mega‑dams. But these big projects aside, the number of
building plans registered in 2008 was already 40% lower than in 2007.

Strategic implications for social resistance and the ‘right to the city’
What the contraction, relatively durable power relationships and
economic policy continuity together imply, is that social protests will
need to intensify and ratchet up to force concessions that help remake
South Africa’s built environment. As Harvey (2009) puts it, ‘My argument
is that if this crisis is basically a crisis of urbanization then the
solution should be urbanization of a different sort and this is where
the struggle for the right to the city becomes crucial because we have
the opportunity to do something different.’

One of the first strategies, however, is defense. Memories remain of the
prior downturn in South Africa’s Kuznets Cycle of roughly 15‑year ups
and downs in real estate prices. The resulting negative equity generated
early‑1990s housing ‘bonds boycotts’ in South Africa’s black townships,
in the wake of the granting of 200,000 mortgage bonds to first‑time
black borrowers during the late 1980s, once apartheid urban restrictions
were eased. The long 1989‑93 recession left 500,000 freshly unemployed
workers and their families unable to pay for housing. This in turn
helped generate a collective refusal to repay housing bonds until
certain conditions were met. The tactic moved from the site of the
Uitenhage Volkswagen auto strike in the Eastern Cape to the Johannesburg
area in 1990, as a consequence of two factors: shoddy housing
construction (for which the homebuyers had no other means of recourse
than boycotting the housing bond) and the rise in interest rates from
12.5 per cent (‑6 per cent in real terms) in 1988 to 21 per cent (+7 per
cent in real terms) in late 1989, which in most cases doubled monthly
bond repayments (Bond 2000).

As a result of the resistance, township housing foreclosures which could
not be consummated due to refusal of the defaulting borrowers (supported
by the community) to vacate their houses, and the leading financier’s
US$700 million black housing bond exposure in September 1992 was the
reason that its holding company (Nedcor) lost 20 per cent of its
Johannesburg Stock Exchange share value (in excess of US$150 million
lost) in a single week, following a threat of a national bond boycott
from the national civic organization. Locally, if a bank did bring in a
sheriff to foreclose and evict defaulters, it was not uncommon for a
street committee of activists to burn the house down before the new
owners completed the purchase and moved in. Such power, in turn, allowed
both the national and local civic associations to negotiate concessions
from the banks (Mayekiso 1996).

However, there are few links between the early 1990s civics which used
these micro‑Polanyian tactics successfully, and the 2000s generation of
‘new social movements’ which shifted to decommodification of water and
electricity through illegal reconnections (Desai 2002). The differences
partly reflect how little of the late 2000s mobilizing opportunities
came from formal sector housing, and instead related to higher utility
bills or forced removals of shack settlements. Still, there are profound
lessons from the recent upsurge of social activism for resistance not
only to the implications of world capitalist crisis in South Africa, but
elsewhere.

The lessons come from deglobalization and decommodification strategies
used to acquire basic needs goods, as exemplified in South Africa by the
national Treatment Action Campaign and Johannesburg Anti‑Privatization
Forum which have won, respectively, antiretroviral medicines needed to
fight AIDS and publicly‑provided water (Bond 2006). The drugs are now
made locally in Africa ‑ in Johannesburg, Kampala, Harare, and so on ‑
and on a generic not a branded basis, and generally provided free of
charge, a great advance upon the US$ 15,000/patient/year cost of branded
AIDS medicines a decade earlier (in South Africa, half a million people
receive them).

The water in Johannesburg is now produced and distributed by public
agencies (Suez was sent back to Paris after its controversial 2001‑06
protest‑ridden management of municipal water). In April 2008 a major
constitutional lawsuit in the High Court resulted in a doubling of free
water to 50 litres per person per day and the prohibition of pre‑payment
water meters (Bond and Dugard 2008), but the Constitutional Court
reversed this decision in September 2009 on grounds that judges should
not make such detailed policy, leading activists to commit to illegal
reconnections if required (Coalition Against Water Privatization 2009).

The ability of social movements such as in the health, water and housing
sectors to win major concessions from the capitalist state’s courts
under conditions of crisis is hotly contested, and will have further
implications for movement strategies in the months ahead. Huchzermeyer
(2009, 3‑4) argues that the Constitution mandates ‘an equal right to the
city’. However,

It was only in 2000 that the Bill of Rights was evoked by a
marginalized and violated urban community (represented by Irene
Grootboom) in the Constitutional Court. In what was received as a
landmark ruling, the Court interfered with the Executive,
instructing the Ministry of Housing to amend its housing policy to
better cater for those living in intolerable conditions. It took 4
further years for the policy changes to be adopted into housing
policy. Chapters 12 and 13 were added to the national Housing Code:
Housing in Emergency Circumstances and Upgrading of Informal
Settlements. In the following 5 years, these two policies have not
been properly implemented, if at all. Unnecessary violations have
continued and marginalized communities have had to resort to the
courts. However, the landscape has changed significantly. Whereas
the Grootboom case involved an isolated community with only a loose
network of support through the Legal Resources Centre which acted as
‘Friends of the Court’, today cases reach the Constitutional Court
through social movements such as Landless People’s Movement, Inner
City Tenant Forum, Abahlali base Mjondolo, Anti‑Privatization Forum
and the Anti‑Eviction Campaign. These movements coordinate,
exchange, and take an interest in one another’s legal struggles.

Huchzermeyer (2009, 4) suggests this strategy fills a ‘gap in left
thinking about the city (the gap derived from the Marxist ideology of
nothing but a revolution)’ and that the ‘Right to the City’ movement
articulated by Henry Lefebvre and David Harvey should include marginal
gains through courts: ‘Urban Reform in this sense is a pragmatic
commitment to gradual but radical change towards grassroots autonomy as
a basis for equal rights.’ After all, ‘three components of the right to
the city ‑ equal participation in decision‑making, equal access to and
use of the city and equal access to basic services ‑ have all been
brought before the Constitutional Court through a coalition between
grassroots social movements and a sympathetic middle class

Civil society tackles finance for global warming and energy underdevelopment, 4 April 2010

Slide Show: Eskom & the World Bank Sowing the Seeds of Destruction

Should the World Bank lend South Africa’s electricity company
Eskom $3.75 billion to build the world’s fourth-largest coalfired
power plant?
Who wins and loses?
Media statements, press coverage and commentary from
15 February - May 2010

STATEMENT FROM SA AND AFRICA CIVIL SOCIETY ON ESKOM’S PROPOSED $3.75 BILLION WORLD BANK LOAN.

Patrick Bond in Washington at Busboys&Poets Bookshop (5th & K Sts), 6pm

Patrick Bond in Boston v WB-Eskom loan, 9 April, noon - debate with Prof William Moomaw of Tufts University

Patrick Bond at Clark University, 8 April, noon - talk on climate politics

World Bank protest, 7 April, Washington

Patrick Bond seminar on climate politics, City Univ of NY, 6 April, 6:30pm

Patrick Bond at NYU on South African political economy, 5 April, 6:30pm

Patrick Bond in Berkeley, 4 April, 7pm

Trevor Ngwane at MARXISM 2010: Ideas to challenge capitalism, 1- 4 April 2010

Date and Time: Thursday , 01 April 2010 - 6:30pm to Sunday 4 April - 7:00pm
Location: University of Melbourne Student Union, Parkville (just north of the CBD)
Contact Name:Tessie
Contact Phone: 0410 861 093
Contact Email: tickets@marxism2010.com
Website: www.marxism2010.com

Marxism 2010 is a 4 day conference hosted by Socialist Alternative over the Easter weekend.

It will be bringing together hundreds of socialists and other left-wing activists from across Australia and the world. Marxism 2010 features international guest speakers from the US, Palestine, China, South Africa and elsewhere. But that is only a part of the event. There will be more than 60 sessions over the weekend, on topics ranging from radical history to the fight for women's and LGBTI liberation, imperialism and the Middle East, the global economic crisis and workers' struggles today.

Some of the International speakers and special events that will be featured at this year's conference are:

Renowned investigative journalist and documentary film-maker John Pilger.

Sameh Akram Habeeb. Palestinian journalist based in Gaza and founder of the Palestinian Telegraph - one of the first websites and electronic resources to operate directly out of Gaza.

Alyawarr spokesperson and leader Richard Downs, from Ampilatwatja community in the Northern Territory, who will speak on opposing the ongoing rollout of the NT Emergency Response (NTER) Measures and gather support for the community protest camp established in the middle of 2009 on his traditional country.

Trevor Ngwane. Veteran anti-apartheid activist and founder of the Anti-Privatisation Forum and the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee which led the fight against electricity and water cut-offs in South Africa's urban working class townships.

Ashley Smith. Ashley Smith is an American Marxist activist, journalist and editor. He is an organizer for the International Socialist Organization. He is on the editorial board of the International Socialist Review and has written for numerous left-wing publications such as CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, Socialist Worker, and ZNet.

Ignatius Mahendra Kusumawardhana. Vice Chairperson of the International Department, Working Peoples Association. Has previously been involved in struggles against the Soeharto dictatorship and more recently involved in campaigns to defend working class living standards against Government attacks.

From the Lower East Side to the Warsaw Ghetto: the Jewish radical tradition, given by long term Socialist Janey Stone

Did Lenin lead to Stalin? A debate between Adrian Jones a lecturer in Russian history at LaTrobe University and Diane Fields from Socialist Alternative

How real was the threat of fascism in Australia during the 1930s? Associate Professor of History at the University of Western Sydney Andrew Moore

Amongst the 60 sessions we will be having over the weekend, we will be holding two specialty streams, including: The Marxist foundations Stream and Women, Sexuality and Oppression. These streams in particular are devoted to addressing some of the core questions to do with Marxist politics, for all those who are coming into contact with Marxist ideas for the first time or are wanting deepen their understanding of revolutionary politics.

To find out more about these particular sessions or purchase tickets please click on the link marxism2010.com

Patrick Bond at the Conference on the right to water, 29- 30 March 2010

Maxwell School to host international conference on water rights

Dates: March 29-30, 2010
Locations:
Monday March 29 – Maxwell Auditorium (4pm - 7pm)
Tuesday March 30 – Maxwell Public Events Room (9am - 6pm)

Fighting for the Right to the City: Discursive and Political Lessons from the Right to Water
By Patrick Bond University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies and Centre for Civil Society, Durban, South Africa Presented to the Right to Water Conference 2010 Syracuse University, New York, 29 March 2010

The Maxwell School will host an international conference on “The Right to Water” on March 29-30. Lectures and discussions on local, national and global struggles for the right to water in communities around the world will be delivered by leading figures from the academic, policy and activist communities. Speakers will include experts from Central New York, such as Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, as well as internationally renowned experts such as Patrick Bond from South Africa.

According to SU geography professor Farhana Sultana, the conference chair and organizer, speakers will bring significant new insights into how to understand, recognize and apply a human right to water in differing geographical contexts. In recent years, struggles over the right to water have emerged as a focal point for political mobilization in a range of locations around the world.

This conference will look at various strategic possibilities for ensuring equitable access to water worldwide, including: How important is the human right to water and how is it mobilized in different regions? How influential are international discourses on rights in shaping access to water? How do broader international discourses relate to historical struggles for local water rights? Specific lectures by national and international experts will focus on water rights, governance and struggles in a number of countries around the world, as well as on legal and philosophical perspectives on the right to water.

The conference runs Monday, March 29, from 4-7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium and Tuesday, March 30, from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Public Events Room, Room 220 in Eggers Hall. All sessions are free and open to the public, but registration via the conference website or in person at the event is requested. For more information about the conference, speakers and the full conference program, visit www.maxwell.syr.edu/waterconference.

The conference has been generously supported by several sponsors across Syracuse University.

For details, contact Sultana at (315) 443-5633.
insidesu.syr.edu/2010/03/16/water-rights/

Conference Programme

[Monday, March 29, 2010
Maxwell Auditorium, Maxwell School]

4:00 PM Welcome Message: Mitchell B. Wallerstein, Dean of Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA

Introduction to Conference and to Speakers: Farhana Sultana, Assistant Professor of Geography, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA

4:30-6:00 PM Keynote Lectures in Plenary Session:
David Getches, Dean, Law School, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA – “Water Rights: A Matter of Natural Law, International Law, or Property Law?”

Bill Derman, Professor, Norwegian University of the Life Sciences, Norway – “The Right to Water in Africa: Some Considerations for the Future”

Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa – “South Africa’s ‘rights culture’ of Water Consumption: Breaking out of the Liberal Box and into the Commons?”

Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation, NY, USA – “Indigenous Rights to Water in the USA”

Darcey O’Callaghan, International Policy Coordinator, Food and Water Watch, USA – “Perspective from Practice: Current and Coming Trends in the Global Water Justice Movement”

Anil Naidoo, Coordinator, Blue Planet Project, Canada – “The Human Right to Water: Exploring the Challenges, Opportunities and Implications for Water Justice”

6:00-6:30 PM Question and Answer Session:
Discussion Moderators:
Farhana Sultana, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA
Alex Loftus, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

6:30-7:00 PM Closing Remarks - Farhana Sultana, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
[Public Events Room, 220 Eggers Hall, Maxwell School]

8:30 AM Opening Remarks and Introduction to Presenters:

Farhana Sultana, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA
Alex Loftus, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

9:00-10:30 AM Paper Session 1 – Philosophical Perspectives

Presenters:

Jamie Linton, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Queen's University, Canada – “The Human Right to What? Water, Rights, Humans, and the Relation of Things”

Chad Staddon & Tom Appleby, Senior Lecturers in Geography and Law, University of the West of England, United Kingdom – “A Right to Water? Geographico- Legal Perspectives”

Kyle Mitchell, PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde, Scotland – “Liberal Democracy and the Contestation for Rights Over the Freshwater Commons: Reinvigorating the Question of Property Within the Political Economy of Freshwater”

Philip P. Arnold, Professor, Department of Religion, Syracuse University, USA- “The Significance of Clean Water: A Haudenosaunee Perspective”

Sarah J. Halvorson, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Montana, USA – “The Right to Rename: Removing ‘Squaw’ from Montana’s Waterscape”

Chair: Alex Loftus

10:30-10:45 AM Break

10:45–12:15 PM Paper Session 2 - Struggles

Presenters:

Ilaria Giglioli, Graduate Student, University of Toronto, Canada – “Water Politics in Palestine between Privatisation and Military/Strategic Expropriation”

Krista Bywater, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, Grinnell College, USA – “‘Water for Life, Not for Profit’: Successful Anti-privatization Water Struggles in India”

Malini Ranganathan, PhD Candidate, Energy and Resources Group, University of California at Berkeley, USA – “The Right to Water as the Right to the City: Spatial Politics and Citizenship Struggles at Bangalore’s Urban Periphery”

Veronica Perera, Assistant Professor, Purchase College, State University of New York, USA – “Traveling Repertoires and Expanding Water Struggles in Latin America”

Rocío Magaña, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, USA- “Criminalizing Water: The Predicament of Humanitarian Aid and Unauthorized Migration in the Sonoran Desert”

Chair: Farhana Sultana

12:15–1:15 PM Lunch Break

1:15–2:45 PM Paper Session 3 - Governance

Presenters:

Jeremy Schmidt, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, Canada – “Scarce or Insecure? The Changing Ethics of Global Water Governance”

Cristy Clark, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia – “The Centrality of Participation to the Content of the Emerging Right to Water”

Andrea Keessen & Marleen van Rijswick, Professors, Law Faculty, Utrecht University, The Netherlands – “The Distribution of Water Rights and Water Duties within River Basins in European Water Law”

Daniel Marcovitch & Sylvain Rotillon, Vice President & Project Manager, Water National Comittee/ONEMA, Paris, France – “The right to water in France: a new preventive approach”

Jack P. Manno, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, USA – “Who Has a Right to Great Lakes Water?”

Chair: Alex Loftus

2:45–3:00 PM Break

3:00–4:30 PM Paper Session 4 - Legal Perspectives

Presenters:

Rachael Paschal Osborn, Executive Director, Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Washington, USA – “Columbia River Conflicts: Will Treaty Renegotiations Recognize the Right to Ecosystem Waters?”

Imran Khalid & Sharon Moran, Graduate Student & Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, USA – “Ethical Foundations for Water Management: The Applicability of ‘Restorative Justice’ Ideas to Water Problems”

Rachel Ordu Dan-Harry, Associate for Environmental Justice, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, USA – “Legislating the Right to Water in Africa: A Review of the Implementation of National Constitutions”

Jacinta Ruru, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Otago, New Zealand – “The Indigenous Right to Water: the hot debate in New Zealand”

Chair: Farhana Sultana

4:30–4:45 PM Break

4:45–6:00 PM Concluding Workshop Session

Moderators: Farhana Sultana & Alex Loftus

9:00 AM -6:00 PM Posters (All day in conference room)

Joseph Holler, PhD Student, Department of Geography, University of Buffalo, USA - “Water Rights in the Coupled Human/Environment Systems of Mount Kilimanjaro”

Lisa Seyfried, MA Student, Women’s Studies, George Washington University, USA – “Women, Water and Sustainable Solutions: A Feminist Theory Analysis of Sustainability”

Peter Stein, BA Student, International Relations, Colgate University, USA – “A Thirst for Neo-Liberalization: The Causes and Consequences of Water Privatization in Cochabamba”

Daniela Vizcarra, PhD Student, Department of Forest Resources, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, USA – “Water policy in Chile and the Southern Atacama Desert Situation”

Flavia Rey de Castro Pastor, MA Student, Department of Geography, Syracuse University, USA – “Water Vulnerabilities: Climate Change and Campesino Rights in the Peruvian Andes”

Full Programme in PDF format

Trevor Ngwane seminar on activism and global campaigns, 26 March

Date: Friday, March 26, 2010
Time: 12:00pm ‑ 2:00pm
Location: Valtiotieteellinen kirjasto (Helsingin yliopisto)
Street: Unioninkatu 35
City/Town: Helsinki, Finland

The seminar focuses on roles of and relations between local activism and
global campaigns in the context of poverty reduction and human rights.
Two activist speakers from Kenya and South‑Africa reflect on their
organizing experiences, and two academic researchers present their
comments.

Speakers:

Naomi Barasa Githii. Campaign co‑ordinator of Amnesty International
Kenya, will talk about Amnesty's campaign to support slumdwellers in
Nairobi.

Trevor Ngwane. Organiser of Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, also
affiliated with University of KwaZulu/Natal, will talk about anti‑privatisation campaigns in South Africa.

Ruth Reitan, University of Miami, author of the books Global Activism (Routledge, 2007) and The Rise and Decline of an Alliance (Michigan State University Press, 1999)

Ranabir Samaddar, Calcutta Research Group, author of the books Politics of Autonomy (Sage, 2005) Politics of Dialogue (Ashgate, 2005).

The seminar is held in English and chaired by Frank Johansson, director of Amnesty International Finnish Section and Teivo Teivainen, professor of World Politics.

The seminar is organized by Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research (University of Helsinki) and Amnesty International, Finnish Section.

www.facebook.com

Panel discussion: 'What is Arts and what is not?', March 25 2010

Please join us for a lunch-time arts seminar

Centre for Civil Society, UKZN & VANSA KZN Visual Arts Network of SA, KZN chapter Present

“What is art and what is not?”

Venue: The Centre for Civil Society, MTB 6th Floor Howard College Campus - UKZN.
Date: March 25
Time: 12h30-14h00

Panel includes:
Prof Cheryl Potgieter - Dean of Research / Professor of Psychology, UKZN
Peter Machen – artist / writer / critic / designer
Carol Brown – independent art curator
Themba Shibase – visual arts practioner / lecturer
Angie Buckland - photographer

Join us as we set aside the dictionary to grapple with meaning, definition, role and purpose of art in a contemporary South Africa.

This debate has been triggered by a multitude of recent instances where politics has bulldozed art. In particular the much-publicised reaction of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Lulu Xingwana to the Innovative Women Exhibition, featuring photographs by Zanele Muholi, at Constitution Hill last year.

“To place yourself before a work of art is a complex and potentially transformative experience. Sometimes that means looking at something you'd rather not see. But as the Minister of Arts and Culture, you preside over a realm in which that line between what you'd rather not see and what you need to look at is an ever-present factor, and a theme of much art,” Gabeba Baderoon in an open letter to the Minister of Arts and Culture: Minister Lulu Xingwana.

“This misconception of the mandate of a state arts and culture portfolio and the Minister’s squeamishness at same-sex love, or perhaps even at female sexuality regardless of its orientation, is bizarre. Female sexuality has, particularly in this country, endured remarkably more censorship in the arts than male sexuality.

Penises we seem to be able to deal with. Vaginas, if we must concede that they have something to do with female anatomy, we want at least to pretend that they are superfluous to issues of women’s rights and well-being,” considers Oliver Meth from the UKZN Centre for Civil Society.

Entry is free and all are welcome!

For more information:
Oliver Meth on Metho@ukzn.ac.za
079 584 4313

TO PROVIDE FURTHER CONTEXT:

Mike van Graan spoke about these issues in his opening address at The Time of The Writer in Durban recently. To listen to his speech, go to:

http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/bookcase/2010/03/10/13th-time-of-the-writer-opening-night/
A copy of his speech is attached

Gabeba Baderoon’s open letter to the Minister: A response to Minister Lulu Xingwana's comments about the Innovative Women Exhibition, is also attached.

VANSA is the national umbrella civic networking organisations serving the visual arts community made up of industry volunteers who campaign, lobby and network on behalf of the performers and artists in KZN and facilitate projects and initiatives to improve the arts industry.

To find out more: VANSA Organiser: Domy Cortes
Tel/Fax: +27 31 208 9430
Cell: +27 73 719 0444
KZNadmin@vansa.co.za
www.vansa.co.za

Arts Savvy is an initiative of VANSA KZN (and its sister organisation, PANSA). During the year there will be various workshops / lectures / master-classes and seminars. There will also be lectures prior to select productions and gallery exhibitions during the course of the year.

Patrick Bond on 'Organising for Climate Justice', Left Forum, NYC, 21 March

Programme

FRIDAY, MARCH 19

OPENING PLENARY
The Center Cannot Hold: Rekindling the Radical Imagination

Chair: Lorraine Minnite, Left Forum Board of Directors

Welcome: Jeoffrey Brackett, Provost of Pace University
Theme and Introduction: Bill Fletcher, Jr., BlackCommentator.com
Dialogue: Rev. Jesse Jackson

Discussant: Max Fraad Wolff, New School University Graduate Program, International Affairs

SATURDAY, MARCH 20
Session 1: SATURDAY, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Power From Below
Schimmel Auditorium
Frances Fox Piven (Chair) - The Graduate Center, CUNY
Max Fraad Wolff - New School University Graduate Program, International Affairs
Max Rameau - Take Back the Land
Frank Morales - Picture the Homeless
Robert Meister - UC Santa Cruz, Council of University of California Faculty Associations

Experiments in Popular Democracy: Is it Really Possible to Democratize the Capitalist State?
Student Union
Johanna Brenner (Chair) - Solidarity
Hilary Wainwright - Research Director, Transnational Institute New Politics Program; Sr. Research Associate, International Centre for Participation Studies, University of Bradford Dept. of Peace Studies
Sujatha Fernandes - Sociology, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Erik Olin Wright - Director, Series Editor of Verso's Real Utopias Project; Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Capitalism, Crisis and Alternative Possibilities
Multi Purpose Room
Critical Sociology
Walda Katz-Fishman (Chair) - Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University; US Social Forum; Board Chair, Project South
Lauren Langman - Global Studies Association, Loyola University of Chicago
David Schweikert - Loyola University of Chicago
Peter Hudis - Socialist Humanists of America, Loyola University of Chicago
Richard Wolff - Economics, UMass (Emeritus); International Affairs, New School University; Rethinking Marxism

Alternative Labor Organizations: Worker Councils and Rank and File Control
W613
Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society
Immanuel Ness (Chair) - Brooklyn College, CUNY
Dario Azzellini - Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitat, Germany Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
Maurizio Atzeni - Loughborough University
Peter Ranis - Peter Ranis, Emeritus, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Alan Tuckman - University of Nottingham
Victor Wallis - Socialism and Democracy Berklee College of Music

Clean Energy Transition: Decentralized Worker/Community Control vs. Centralized Corporate/State Control
W614
Bill Resnick (Chair) - KBOO Radio, 90.7fm; Portland Jobs with Justice
Howie Hawkins - Green Party of New York, Teamsters for a Democratic Union
Megan Finn - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 3 Solidarity

Post-Identity Politcs
W-615
Todd May (Chair) - Clemson, Philosophy and Religion
Harmony Goldberg - New York Study Group; Doctoral student, CUNY Graduate Center
Linda Alcoff - Hunter College, Philosophy
Kevin Alexander Grey - Author, Waiting for Lightening to Strike: the fundamental of Black Politics

Socialism in the 21st Century: Lessons from the Past
W510
Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation
Robert Capistrano (Chair) - Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation
Fred Magdoff - Monthly Review
Barbara Garson - Board Member, Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation
Leo Panitch - York University; Socialist Review
Salvador Aguilar Sole - University of Barcelona

Lessons from Latin American Social Movements for a US in Crisis
W612
Toward Freedom, Between The Lines Radio
Scott Harris (Chair) - Between The Lines Radio
Ben Dangl - Toward Freedom
Marina Sitrin - Author, Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina
Mario Murillo - Author, Voices of Resistance: Indigenous Radio and the Struggle for Social Justice in Colombia

Latin America: Moving Beyond Neoliberalism
W507
Hobart Spaulding (Chair) - History, CUNY (Emeritus); Left Forum Board Member; Editorial Board Member, Socialism and Democracy
Carlos Vilas - Universidad Nacional Lanus
Margarita Lopez Maya - Universidad Central de Venezuela
Gerardo Renique - City College, CUNY
Emelio Betances - Gettysburg College

Race and Recession: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats?
W626
Rod Bush (Chair) - Author, The End of White World Supremacy: Black Internationalism and the Problem of the Color Line
Glen Ford - Co-founder and Executive Editor, Black Agenda Report
Algernon Austin - Director, Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program, Economic Policy Institute
Dedrick Muhammad - Sr. Organizer and Research Associate, Inequality and the Common Good program, Institute for Policy Studies

The Chinese Proletariat and the State
W605
Ellen Rosen (Chair) - Research Associate, Center for Research on Women, Brandeis University
Dongping Han - History and Political Science, Woodrow Wilson College
Li Qiang - Director, China Labor Watch
Marc Blecher - History, Oberlin College

US Imperialism and Oil Politics: The Middle East, South Asia, and Africa
W608
Deepa Kumar (Chair) - Rutgers University
Michael Schwartz - SUNY, Stony Brook
Saadia Toor - College of Staten Island, CUNY; Action for a Progressive Pakistan
Lee Wengraf - International Socialist Organization
Deepa Kumar - Rutgers University

Nuclear Revival?
E326
Capitalism Nature Socialism
Karen Charman (Chair) - Managing Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism
Mary Olson - Director, Southeast Office, Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Edwin Lyman - Sr. Scientist, Global Security, Union of Concerned Scientists
Deb Katz - Executive Director, Citizens Awareness Network.

Playwrights Rekindle the Radical Imagination
W606
Karen Malpede (Chair) - Theater Three Collaborative
Najla Said - Twilight Theater Company, Theater Three Collaborative
Catherine Filloux - Watson Arts
Lydia Stryk - Berilla Kerr Award-winning playwright, Dramatists Guild and PEN American Center Member

Cooperatives, Class, and Value theory
E328
Rethinking Marxism
Maliha Safri (Chair) - Economics, Drew University; Associate Editor, Rethinking Marxism; Center for Popular Economics
David Kristjanson-Gural - Spilling Ink Writers' Collective, Bucknell University
David Ruccio - Rethinking Marxism
Ian Seda - Western Massachusetts Copwatch and Association for Economic and Social Analysis
Stephen Healy - Physical and Earth Sciences, Worcester State College; Contributor, Rethinking Marxism
Bruce Roberts - University of Southern Maine

Criminology and Social Justice: Establishing a Strong Theoretical Foundation
W504
Dr. William Calathes (Chair) - Criminal Justice, New Jersey City University; independent human rights attorney
Jason WIlliams - New Jersey City University
Christine Bell - New Jersey City University

The Crisis and Capital Accumulation: Is the Role of the State Changing?
W602
Union for Radical Political Economics
Rina Garst (Chair) - Union for Radical Political Economics
Jerry Joffe - St. John's University
Armagan Gezici - Keene State College
Terrence McDonough - Economics, National University of Ireland Galway

Race to the Top - Millions of Children Left Behind
W610
Radical Teacher
Susan O'Malley (Chair) - English, Kingsborough, CUNY; Liberal Studies, CUNY Graduate Center
Jean Anyon - Social and Educational Policy, CUNY Graduate School
Tara Buhl - Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Stan Karp - Editorial Board member and frequent contributor, Rethinking Schools

Organizing Strategies to Combat the Radical Right
W616
David Sprintzen (Chair) - Founder/Officer, Long Island Progressive Coalition, Citizen Action on Long Island; President of Long Island Jobs with Justice
Alan Charney - Political Director, US Action
Ed Ott - Former Executive Director, New York City Central Labor Council; Distinguished Lecturer, Murphy Institute, CUNY
Peter Sikora - Communications Workers of America, Working Families Party

How Things Change As They Stay The Same: Talking Through Racial Categories, Politics, and Organizing in the 21st Century
W621
Matthew Birkhold (Chair) - Heavy Thinkers, Binghamton University
Kazembe Balagun - Heavy Thinkers, Brecht Forum
Melanie Bush - Adelphi University
Jill Humphries - Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education, Queens College

Teaching About Palestine
E323
Radical Teacher
Richard Ohmann (Chair) - Wesleyan University (Emeritus); Author, English in America, Politics of Letters, and Making and Selling Culture
Ammiel Alcalay - Queens College; CUNY Graduate Center
Anthony Alessandrini - Kingsborough Community College, CUNY
Ellen Cantarow - Independent journalist

The Fight for Public Higher Education in New York City
E329
(Chair) - Larry Hales - Students for Educational Rights, CUNY Campaign to Defend Education
Claudia O'Brien - CUNY Campaign to Defend Education
Conor Reed - City College Student Union, International Socialist Organization

Neo-Liberalism, State Repression and the Crisis of Indian Democracy
W601
Biju Mathew (Chair) - South Asia Solidarity Initiative
Mohammed Junaid - CUNY Graduate Center
Lalit Batra - CUNY Graduate Center
Sangay Mishra - Drew University
Preeti Sampat - Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan, Workers and Peasants Solidarity Forum
Ahilan Kadirgamar - South Asian Solidarity Initiative

Undermining Capitalism: The Stella D’oro Strike, Committed Art, and Revolutionary Change
W617
John Maerhofer (Chair) - English, Queens College, CUNY
Greg Nuñez and Priscilla Aviles - Independent filmmakers
Tony O’Brien - International Committee, Professional Staff Congress, CUNY
Mike Filippou - Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, Shop Steward, Local 50

Revisiting the Legacy of Women's Liberation in Maoist China
W618
Di Bai (Chair) - Drew University
Tao Qingmei - Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Xurong Kong - Kean University
Xueping Zhong - Tufts University
Li Onesto - Revolution newspaper

Conducting Critical Social Science Research
W609
Critical Sociology
George Sanders (Chair) - Oakland University
Ishay Landa - The Open University, Ra'anana, Israel
Paul Paolucci - Eastern Kentucky University
Ricardo Dello Buono - Manhattan College

The Empire Strikes Back: Obama and the Teabaggers - (R)evolution and Counter(R)evolution
W622
John Kim (Chair) - Culture Clash
Vanessa Nisperos - Culture Clash
Calvin Williams - Culture Clash

The Crisis That Gives the Capitalist Class Nightmares
W511
Critique
Suzi Weisman (Chair)
Michael Hudson
Hillel Ticktin
Lea Haro
Jack Rasmus

From Roman Gospels to Jewish Shakespeare: Rethinking Our Cultural Paradigms
W619
Jenny Greeman (Chair) - Resident Director, Dark Lady Players; Program Manager, New Perspectives Theater
Kathleen Potts - Theatre and Speech, CUNY City College; Playwright-in-residence, Monarch Theater Company
John Hudson - Dramaturg, Dark Lady Players

Exporting the Culture Wars: Who is Spreading Neocolonial Homophobia to Africa and Why
E325
The Public Eye
Pam Chamberlain (Chair) -
Kapya Kaoma - Project Director, Political Research Associates; Episcopal Priest
Frank Mugisha - Leading member, Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG)

Beyond Fair Trade and Micro-Finance: Gift and Solidarity Economies
W623
otherworldsareposssible.org
Andy Lin (Chair) - Coordinating Committee Member and Artistic Coordinator, Other Worlds
Cheyenna Weber - Organizing Director, Responsible Endowments Coalition
Rachel Wallis - Media and Education Coordinator, Other Worlds
Jessie Reilly - Co-Administrator, Time Interchange New York (T.I.N.Y.) Timebank

Developmental Terrorism in India Today
W503
Sanhati
Panayiotis T. Manolakos (Chair) - Sanhati
Svati Shah - Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, UMass-Amherst
Sirisha C. Naidu - Sanhati; Economics, Wright State University
Siddhartha Mitra - Sanhati

Rethinking Historical Materialism : Scottish Origins and Engelsistic Revisions
W604
Prof. Norman Levine (Chair) - Executive Director, Institute for International Policy
Frieder Otto Wolf - Free University of Berlin; European Parliament member since 1984
Danga Vileisis - Free University of Berlin

Session 2: SATURDAY, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Reimagining Society: The Nature of the Task
Schimmel
Z Communications
Chris Spannos (Chair) - ZNet
Barbara Epstein - Socialist Review; History, UC Santa Cruz.
Bill Fletcher Jr. - BlackCommentator.com; Co-Author, Solidarity Divided
Michael Albert - Co-founder, Z Magazine and ZNet

The Fiscal Crises of the States
Student Union
Democratic Left
Michael Hirsch (Chair) - Democratic Socialists of America; New Politics Magazine
James Parrott - Associate Director and Chief Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute
Katie Romich - Organizer, Communications Workers of America
John Cameron - Organizer, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Economic Democracy as an alternative to capitalism
Multi Purpose Room
Costas Panayotakis (Chair) - New York City College of Technology, CUNY; Capitalism Nature Socialism
David Schweickart - Loyola University
Cathy Mulder - John Jay College, CUNY
Michael Menser - Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Food Coalition

Lessons from Venezuela: Achievements and Failures
W613
Venezuela Analysis
Gregory Wilpert (Chair) - Editor, Venezuelanalysis.com; Sociology, Brandeis University
Daniel Hellinger - Webster University
Steve Ellner - Universidad del Oriente
Carlos Martinez - AuthorVenezuela Speaks!

What Does it Mean to be a Revolutionary in Our Times?
W615
Walda Katz-Fishman (Chair) - Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University; US Social Forum; Board Chair, Project South
Jerome Scott - League of Revolutionaries for a New America; U.S. Social Forum
Lenina Nadal - New York Study Group
Manju Rajendran - Left Turn
Johanna Brenner - Solidarity

Transnational Labor Movements
W510
Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society
Jamie McCallum (Chair) - CUNY Graduate Center
Beverly Silver - Johns Hopkins University
Verity Burgmann - University of Melbourne
Robyn Rodriguez - Rutgers University
Saket Soni - New Orleans Center for Racial Justice

Obama's Militarized Status Quo in Latin America W612
NACLA Report on the Americas
Christy Thornton (Chair) - History, NYU
Mark Weisbrot - Center for Economic and Policy Research
Suzanna Reiss - University of Hawaii
Joseph Nevins - Vassar College

Strategizing to Build Real Self-Governance
W507
Capitalism Nature Socialism
Karen Charman (Chair) - Managing Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism
Robert Parry - Publisher and Editor, Consortiumnews.com
Richard Grossman - Independent historian
Joel Kovel - Editor in Chief, Capitalism Nature Socialism

Capitalism and Toxics Pollution: The Fight for Public Health
W511
(Chair) - Lois Gibbs - Center for Health, Environment & Justice
Joel Shufro - New York Committee for Occupational Health and Safety

Progressive Religion and the Fight for Democracy
W626
Religious Socialism, Journal of DSA Religion and Socialism Commission
Rev. Peter Laarman (Chair) - Executive Director, Progressive Christians; Contributing Editor, Religion Dispatches
Rev. Luis Barrios - John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; Associate Priest, St. Mary's Episcopal Church in West Harlem
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou - Sr. Minister, Lemuel Haynes Congregational Church; Fellow-in-residence, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
Tricia Sheffield - Assistant Minister for Administration, Middle Collegiate Church

Capitalism, Economy, and Religion: A Christian-Marxist Dialogue
W605
Charlene Sinclair (Chair) - Union Theological Seminary, Poverty Initiative
Brigitte Kahl - Union Theological Seminary
Jan Rehmann - Union Theological Seminary, Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism
Richard Wolff - Economics, UMass (Emeritus); International Affairs, New School University; Rethinking Marxism

Afghanistan/Pakistan/Yemen: Obama's New War
W608
International Socialist Review
Aaron Amaral (Chair) -
Richard Seymour - Lenin's Tomb
Saadia Toor - Action for a Progressive Pakistan, College of Staten Island
Ashley Smith - International Socialist Review

AIDS, Sex and Culture : Global Politics and Survival in Southern Africa -Author Meets Critics
E326
(Chair) - Hylton White - New School for Social Research
Zolani Ngwane - Haverford College
Mandisa Mbali - Yale University
Ida Susser - Anthropology, Hunter College; CUNY Graduate Center

America's Two Depressions: One Economic, One Psychological
W606
Harriet Fraad (Chair) - Manifesto Group; International Psychohistory Association
Andres Ramirez - Education, Rhode Island College
Khalil Saucier - Sociology and Africana Studies, Rhode Island College
Richard Greeman - English translator of Victor Serge

Can Obama Be Moved? Movement Strategies to Pressure Party Politics
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
E328
Margit Mayer (Chair) - Free University, Berlin
Jenny Brown - Co-chair, Alachua County Labor Party, National Women's Liberation
Pete Sikora - Working Families Party, Communication Workers of America
Ethan Young - Portside, Brecht Forum
Eric Mann - Labor/Community Strategy Center, Los Angeles

Telling The Story of Working Class Life, Work, and Organization - In Non-Fiction and Fiction
W504
Monthly Review Press and Cornell ILR Press
Steve Early (Chair) - Former Communications Workers of America organizer, Author, Embedded With Organized Labor
Manny Ness (Chair) - Editor, WorkingUSA; Political Science, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Suzanne Gordon - National Writers Union, United Auto Workers
Jane Latour - Associate Editor, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 37’s Public Employee Press
Michael Yates - Associate Editor, Monthly Review
Tim Sheard, - Critical Care Nurse
Gregory A. Butler - Interior Systems Carpenter; Shop Steward in local 608, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America; GANG BOX: Construction Workers News Service
Alternative Perspectives on Marxist Crisis
Theory and the Current Economic Crisis
W602
Union for Radical Political Economics; Science and Society
Paddy Quick (Chair) - St. Francis College
Julio Huato - St. Francis College
David Kotz - Economics, UMass-Amherst
David Laibman - Science and Society
Fred Magdoff - Monthly Review

The Honduran Coup and Its Aftermath
W610
NACLA Report on the Americas
Greg Grandin (Tentative Chair); Chris London (Backup Chair) - Alexander Main - Center for Economic and Policy Research
Adrienne Pine - American University
Rodolfo Pastor - Embassy of Honduras

Social -Security Systems in Comparison: Europe and the US
W610
(Chair) Robin Blackburn, New Left Review, New School University
Lucy apRoberts, University of Paris-Nanterre, European Institute of Wage Workers
Daniel Ankarloo, Malmö University, Sweden
Ruurik Holm, coordinator, Left Forum, Finland

The Crisis of Black Politics and Left Wing Opportunism
W621
Nellie Bailey (Chair) - Co-founder, Harlem Tenants Council
Glen Ford - Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report
Anthony Monteiro - Associate Director, The Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought, Temple University

The Black Internationale
E323
Rod Bush (Chair) - Sociology and Antropology, St. John's University
Komozi Woodard - Sarah Lawrence College
Charles Pinderhughes - Boston College
Michael Simanga - Author, In the Shadow of the Sun

Recent Transformations in Chinese Marxism
E330
Norman Levine (Chair) - Executive Director, Institute for International Policy
Duan Zhongqiao - School of Philosophy, Remnin University of China
Feng Ziyi - Philosophy, Beijing University
Wei Xiaoping - Director, History of Marxist Philosophy; Philosophy Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Yang Haifeng - Philosophy, Beijing University

No More Affordable Housing Scams: Community Control of Land in New York City
W601
Progressive Planning
Tom Angotti (Chair) - Hunter College, CUNY; Planners Network
Frank Morales - Picture the Homeless
Francesca Manning - CUNY Graduate Center

Puerto Rico Can't Wait To Be Free
W617
Ana M. Lopez (Chair) - Tulane University
Elma Beatriz Rosado -
Aleida Centeno Rodriguez -
Julio Rosado Ayala -

Left Out: Building Social Movements in a Culture of Isolation
W618
Jonathan Matas (Chair) - Painter/muralist, teaching artist
Jason Farbman - NYU; former Green Party candidate for State Rep.; antiwar organizer
Karina Claudio - Make the Road NY’s LGBTQ Justice Project; poet and performance artist

Organizing against Budget Cuts and Austerity in New York City
W609
(Chair) - Megan Behrent - Teachers for a Just Contract; International Socialist Organization
David Hoskins - Students for Educational Rights; CUNY Campaign to Defend Education
PSC-CUNY member, TBA - Take Back Our Union member, TBA -

Solidarity in Latin America: Solidarity Economy and Bolivarian Socialism in Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela
W622
Mark Rego-Monteiro (Chair) - Park Slope Food Co-op member/Co-owner; International Community Sustainable Development, NYU
Ike Nahem - Coordinator, Cuba Solidarity NY; Teamsters Union Member
William Camacaro - Chairperson, Bolivarian Circle NY

Can the White Left Organize Against Racism in the White Community
W619
Bok-Keem Nyerere (Chair)- National Association of Kawaida Organizations
John Garvey - Dean, CUNY
Geert Dhondt - Political Economics/Economic History, John Jay College

The Materiality of Nations
E325
Neil Davidson (Chair) - Geography and Sociology, University of Strathclyde
Radhika Desai - Politics, University of Manitoba Visiting Fellow, DESTIN, London School of Economics
John Riddell -

Stand Alone Slide Presentation/Talk on Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918
W623
Jeffrey B. Perry (Chair) - Independent scholar

Parents, Teachers & Students Unite: Health, Sustainability and Social Justice Through the School Food movement
W503
Nancy Romer (Chair) - Psychology, Brooklyn College, General Coordinator, Brooklyn Food Coalition
Jan Poppendieck - author, Free For All: Fixing School Food In America, Hunter College, Sociology
Kristen Mancinelli - City Harvest policy analyst
Roxanne Henry - Food Bank For New York City
Kristen Schoonacker - Wellness in the Schools, parent PS 295 Brooklyn
Jeralyn Beach - School Food Coordinator, Brooklyn

Indigenous Mobilization and Resistance in the Andean Nations
W604
World War 4 Report
Bill Weinberg (Chair) - WBAI Radio, World War 4 Report
Gerardo Renique - CUNY
Mario Murillo - WBAI Radio, Hofstra University

False Alternatives to Capitalism: Proudhonism and its Progeny
W628
Marxist-Humanist Initiative
Mike Dola (Chair) - Marxist-Humanist Initiative; student at Hunter College
Anne Jaclard - Marxist-Humanist Initiative; the New SPACE
Andrew Kliman - Pace University
Greg Meyerson - North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Michael Joseph Roberto - North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Session 3: SATURDAY, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Going Undercover: The Yes Men and Gumshoe Journalists Discuss Subterfuge and Satire in Activism and Investigative Journalism
Schimmel
TBD (Chair) -
Andy Bichlbaum - Co-founder, The Yes Men; Co-director, The Yes Men Fix the World
Mike Bonanno - Co-founder, The Yes Men; Co-director, The Yes Men Fix the World
Ken Silverstein - Investigative reporter and DC editor, Harper's magazine
Imagining Our Way from Here to There
Student Union
Barbara Epstein (Chair) - Socialist Review; History, UC Santa Cruz.
Leo Panitch - Socialist Review; Canada Research Chair, Comparative Political Economy; Political Science, York University
Greg Wilpert - Sociology, Brandeis University; ZNet; Editor, Venezuelanalysis.com
Stanley Aronowitz - Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center

Roundtable on Left Strategies in the Core Capitalist Countries
Multi Purpose Room
Transform!
Walter Baier (Chair) - Coordinator, Transform Network
Patrice Cohen-Séat - French Communist Party, Espaces Marx
Ruurik Holm - Left Forum, Finland
Sam Gindin - Socialist Project, Toronto
João Romão - Bloco de Esquerda and Cultra, Portugal
Greg Albo - Socialist Register
Richard Wolff - Economics, UMass (Emeritus); International Affairs, New School University; Rethinking Marxism
Cornelia Hildebrandt - Die LINKE; Rosa Luxemburg Foundation

The 'PIIGS,' Baltics, and Hungary: Economic Crisis on the EU’s Internal Periphery
W613
Left Business Observer
Doug Henwood (Chair) - Editor, Left Business Observer; Contributing Editor, The Nation
Jeffrey Sommers - Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (Faculty and Curator of the Andre Gunder Frank Memorial Library)
Mark Weisbrot - Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Salvatore DiMauro - Geography, SUNY New Paltz; Co-Editor, Human Geography

How Should Friends of Labor on the Left Respond To Conflicts Within and Between Unions?”
W614
WorkingUSA
Manny Ness (Chair) - Editor, WorkingUSA; Political Science, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Steve Early (Chair) - Former Communications Workers of America organizer, Author, Embedded With Organized Labor
Sal Rosselli - Interim president, National Union of Health Care Workers
Andrea van den Heever - UNITE HERE Local 34, Yale University
Cal Winslow - Fellow, UC-Berkeley; Co-Director, Mendocino Institute
Stephanie Luce - School of Professional Studies, The Murphy Institute, CUNY
TBA - Representative of SEIU/Workers United

The US Social Forum and US Social Movements: The Road from Atlanta to Detroit 2010
W615
Walda Katz-Fishman (Chair) -Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University; US Social Forum; Board Chair, Project South
Jerome Scott - League of Revolutionaries for a New America; USSF National Planning Committee
Rose Brewer - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; USSF Gender Justice Working Group
Harmony Goldberg - New York Study Group; Graduate Center of the CUNY

A Panel Discussion on Anarchism and Marxism
W510
Andrej Grubacic (Chair) - San Francisco Art Institute, International Workers of the World
Cindy Milstein - Institute for Anarchist Studies; Renewing the Anarchist Tradition
Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz - Historian/writer

Envisioning Real Utopias
W612
Verso Books
(Chair) - Erik Olin Wright - Director and Series Editor of Verso's Real Utopias Project; Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Ruccio - Economics, University of Notre Dame
Peter Staudenmaier - Cornell University

Pro Sports Without Owners
W507?
edgeofsports.com
Spring Super (Chair) - Queer Rising and International Socialist Organization
Mark Naison - Fordham University; Author, Communists in Harlem During the Depression
Dr. Walter Beach - Former Cleveland Brown; Amer-I-Can.
Dave Zirin - Sports Correspondent, The Nation; Author, A People's History of Sports in the United States

Social Movements And Everyday Life
W511
Critical Sociology
Ricardo Dello Buono (Chair) - Manhattan College
George Sanders - Oakland University
James Russell - Eastern Connecticut State University
Graham Cassano - Oakland University
Troy Rondinone - Southern Connecticut State University

More than a Year into the Health Reform Debacle: What Direction for Real Health Care Justice?
W626
Physicians for a National Health Program
Martha Livingston (Chair) - SUNY College at Old Westbury; Vice-chair, Physicians for a National Health Program, New York-Metro chapter
Oliver Fein - Dean, Weill-Cornell Medical College; National President and local Chair, Physicians for a National Health Program
Leonard Rodberg - Urban Studies, Queens College; Research Director, New York-Metro chapter, Physicians for a National Health Program
Katie Robbins - National Coordinator, Healthcare-NOW
Laurie Wen - Healthcare-NOW, Private Health Insurance Must Go Coalition
Bill Henning - Communications Workers of America, Local 1180

Is Climate Change Hot Enough to Rekindle the Imagination of the Left? (Part I of II)
W605
New Politics
Jenny Greeman (Chair) - Resident Director, Dark Lady Players; Program Manager, New Perspectives Theater
Richard Greeman - Secretary, Victor Serge Foundation; Co-Founder; Praxis Research and Education Center
David Schwartzman - Geochemical Society; American Geophysical Union
Brian Tokar - Institute for Social Ecology Climate SOS

Radicals and NYC Politics
W608
Charles Barron (Chair) - Operation Power
Paul Washington -
Inez Barron - State Assemblywoman, New York's 40th District

We Must Be Good at Learning: Brecht Forum at 35
E326
Kazembe Balagun (Chair) -Brecht Forum
Max Uhlenbeck - Left Turn, Brecht Forum
Liz Mestres - Brecht Forum
Lisa Maya Knauer - Sociology/Anthropology. UMass Dartmouth

After the Earthquake: Who's Killing Haiti?
W606
International Socialist Review
Edna Bonhomme (Chair) -
Peter Hallward - Middlesex University
Roger Leduc - Haiti Liberte
Ashley Smith - International Socialist Review
Ray LaForest -American Federation of State, Country and and Municipal Employees, District Council 1707; WBAI Radio; Pacifica Radio Network

Dirty Gas, Oil, and Coal: The Fossil Fuel Problematic and Some Solutions
W504
Capitalism Nature Socialism
Karen Charman (Chair) - Managing Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism
Julian Rodriguez-Drix - ShaleShock Alliance and Alliance for Climate Education
Mike Roselle - Climate Ground Zero
Terisa Turner - University of Guelph
Richard Grossman - Independent historian

The Right to the City: Global Perspectives
E328
Peter Marcuse (Chair) -
Tatiana Schor -
Fiona Jeffries -
Vinay Gidwani -

Rescuing the Concept of Internal Colonialism from the Dustbin of History
W602
Charles Pinderhughes (Chair) - Boston College
Davarian Baldwin - Trinity College
Komozi Woodard - Sarah Lawrence College
Michael Simanga - Author, In the Shadow of the Sun

The American Left and the “Black Question”: From Politics to Protest to the Post-Political
W610
Platypus
Benjamin Blumberg (Chair) - Platypus Affiliated Society
Tim Barker - Columbia University Student
Pamala Nogales - Platypus Affiliated Society
Christopher Cutrone - Platypus Affiliated Society

Exonerate The Rosenbergs? Robert & Michael Meeropol React to Morton Sobell and Other New Developments
W616
National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case
Gerald Markowitz (Chair) - Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Grad Cente
Robert Meeropol - Youngest son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg; Founder/Executive Director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children; Board of Directors, NCRRC.
Michael Meeropol - Oldest son of the Rosenbergs; John Jay College Interdisciplinary Studies Program
Miriam Schneir - Co-author, Invitation to an Inquest
David Alman - President of the NCRRC; Founding Member with Emily Alman of the original Rosenberg defense committee.

Iran: Current State of Affairs
W621
Reza Ghorashi (Chair) - Richard Stockton College of NJ
Thomas O'Donnell - The New School, Graduate International Affairs
Hamid Zangeneh - Economics Widener University, Editor of JIRA
Hamideh Sedghi; PhD - Harvard university

The Awesome Power of Union Democracy and its Implications for Dramatic Social Change
E329
Daniel Gross (Chair) - Executive Director, Brandworkers International Executive Committee Member, National Lawyers Guild Labor & Employment Committee
Kevin Harry Harrington - Vice President, Transport Workers Union Local 100 Member, Take Back Our Union
Sandy Pope - President, Teamsters Local 805 Former International Rep, IBT, during legendary UPS Strike
Vance Hinton - Member, Industrial Workers of the World, Starbucks Workers Union; Henry George School

Revolution in Nepal
E323
Fanshen Wong (Chair) - Kasama Project
Mike Ely - The Kasama Project
Eric Ribellarsi - The FIRE Collective

Direct Action, Self-Determination and the Housing Crisis
E330

Dennis Brutus memorial, 11 March 2010

DENNIS BRUTUS (1924-2009)
Poetry and Protest Colloquium, 11 March
SCHEDULE OF SPEAKERS

HOWARD COLLEGE AUDITORIUM, 9am-5pm

POEMS (throughout): Vonani Bila, Mphutlane wa Bofelo, Comrade Fatso, Faith ka Manzi, Deena Padayachee, King Zorro, Shepherd Zvavanhu

9-9:30am – WELCOME, BRUTUS FILMCLIPS
Vishnu Padayachee, Patrick Bond, Faith Manzi

9:30-10:30am - ANTI-APARTHEID POLITICS

Oliver Meth (chair), Tony Brutus, Phyllis Naidoo

10:30am-12pm – LITERARY & POETIC LIFE

Shauna Mottiar (chair), Monika Idehen, Andrew Martin, Priya Narismulu, Sandile Ngidi, Ron Singer, Claudia Wegener

12-1pm - RACIAL JUSTICE, SPORTS

Molefi Ndlovu (chair), Tor Sellstrom, David Zirin

1-2pm - INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY Dudu Khumalo(chair), Joseph Ayee, MP Giyose, Hopewell Gumbo, Julian Kunnie, Lubna Nadvi

2-5pm – SA PROGRESSIVE POLITICS Percy Ngonyama (chair)Roy Chetty, Ashwin Desai, Desmond D'Sa, Rico Euripidou, MP Giyose, Claudia Martinez-Mullen, Andile Mngxitama, Alan Murphy, Orlean Naidoo, Molefi Ndlovu, Trevor Ngwane, Alice Thomson

5pm - African drums, walk to Sneddon Theatre

SNEDDON THEATRE, 5-9pm

5:30pm: BRUTUS FILM: ‘I am a Rebel’

5:30-7pm: BRUTUS' POLITICAL TRADITIONS Poetry by Vonani Bila, panel with Ashwin Desai, Ela Gandhi, Trevor Ngwane, David Zirin

7-7:30pm: intermission

7:30-9pm: FIGHTING GLOBAL APARTHEID Music/poetry by Madala Kunene, Cde Fatso Harold Wolpe Lecture in honour of Brutus, by Yash Tandon

Dennis Brutus

Dennis Brutus, who has died aged 85, was a noted poet and father of the
movement to isolate apartheid South Africa from international sport. He
was a highly effective protester against the racist regime, first within
South Africa and then, after 18 months in prison, in exile, travelling
constantly to campaign for sports sanctions.

Published: 05 Mar 2010

Best known as founder of Sanroc, the South African Non‑Racial Olympic
Committee, as a rival to the official committee Sanoc, he became a
familiar figure in the corridors of Olympic power. Sanroc's
brilliantly‑conducted campaign persuaded individuals and international
sports federations that to compete in South Africa, or even against
South Africans, was to condone apartheid.

After the historic transition from rule by the National Party (NP) to
the African National Congress (ANC), Brutus was virtually written out of
the history of the period, because he had only for a time, while living
in England, been a paid‑up member of the ANC. Though he had worked
closely with Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders, he prided himself on
his independent base in Sanroc.

Born in Southern Rhodesia, Brutus was entitled to British citizenship;
this was revoked at the time of Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. He
struggled to gain asylum in the United States, where he had made his
career in university teaching, until 1983, when a judge ruled that he
would be in serious danger in South Africa.

When Brutus returned to South Africa in 1991 for the first time in 25
years, he was still travelling on a United Nations document. He was
reluctant to apply for his citizenship to be returned, as he did not
believe he had ever lost it.

Much of Brutus's poetry belonged to the literature of protest, though he
acknowledged John Donne as the greatest influence on his early work,
before his prison term: afterwards his style became more sparse. He saw
no tension between the two sides of his life, noting that many poets had
been men of action. He published 12 volumes, the first in Nigeria in
1962, which were for many years banned in South Africa. The best known
is probably Letters to Martha and other Poems from a South African Prison.

Dennis Vincent Brutus was born at Salisbury – now Harare – on November
28 1924 of coloured (mixed race) South African parents. He studied
English at Fort Hare University College in South Africa, gaining a BA
with distinction, and started an LLB at Witwatersrand – interrupted by a
banning order forbidding him to publish, teach or attend gatherings.

In 1963 he was arrested for defying the ban, but escaped to Swaziland
while on bail. He was rearrested by the Portuguese in Mozambique and
handed over to the South African police, who shot him in the back when
he made a further attempt to escape.

After serving 18 months on Robben Island he made his home in London,
where his wife and children remained, then became a professor of English
at Northwestern University in Chicago. He taught at numerous American
universities, latterly at the University of Pittsburgh.

Brutus founded the South African Sports Association (SASA) in Port
Elizabeth in 1958, to persuade international sports federations to
derecognise their South African affiliates. For him the policy of
multiracialism adopted by some South African sports bodies, whereby
non‑whites were allowed representation through a separate branch, was
not adequate. His goal was non‑racialism, with no distinction of race,
in a sport's ruling body or in its branches.

His ultimate purpose was to persuade the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) to withdraw recognition from the National Olympic Committee of
South Africa, and to this end in 1962 SASA spawned Sanroc. Brutus's
memorandum of May 4 1959 to the IOC, setting out the situation in South
African sport, was the founding document in the struggle to isolate the
apartheid state.

The IOC, which has always aspired to universality, was in no hurry to
exclude South Africa; instead it urged the official Olympic committee,
Sanoc, to conform with the Olympic Charter, which allows no racial
distinctions in sport. Sanoc could do little to influence the National
Party government, and despite some concessions, its invitation to the
1964 Tokyo Olympics was withdrawn; none was sent for Mexico City in
1968, and in 1970 the IOC withdrew recognition from Sanoc. No South
Africans competed in the Olympics under that nation's colours until
Barcelona in 1992.

Brutus was largely responsible for Rhodesia's exclusion from the 1972
Munich Olympics. In 1976 there was a dispute within Sanroc, which he
won, about boycotting the Montreal Games, if the IOC did not punish New
Zealand for having played rugby against South Africa. Twenty‑nine
nations, all of them African except Iraq, did boycott, but Sam Ramsamy
and Jean‑Claude Ganga (president of the Supreme Council for Sport in
Africa), both later to be IOC members, opposed his action.

He had a great gift for influencing newspapers, calling out protesters
and persuading people and organisations to drop contact with South
African sport, but lost control of the organisation he had created. At
the time of the Montreal games, Brutus nominated Ramsamy to chair
Sanroc, as he was living mostly in America and it was based in London.

In 1984, at the Los Angeles Olympics, they again disagreed. Brutus had
heard that the IOC's executive board was planning to readmit South
Africa; he persuaded The New York Times to run the story, then arranged
a demonstration outside the IOC's hotel, against Ramsamy's wishes.

Brutus became marginalised from Sanroc, and in 1988 Ramsamy expelled
him. Sanroc split, with Brutus still president of one faction, and in
South Africa the National Sports Congress, aligned with the ANC, was set
up in competition with the South African Council of Sport (Sacos), which
had been the only umbrella organisation for non‑racial sport since 1973.
The NSC favoured an early return to world sport; Sacos believed it
should be delayed until apartheid had been demolished.

When Brutus returned to South Africa in July 1991 he was marginalised
because of his identification with Sacos, whose patron he had become. He
was convinced South Africa should not have rushed back into the
Olympics, and had tried so to persuade Mandela shortly before South
Africa's readmission. He believed this hasty action had caused sport to
be even more controlled by whites than before, and that some grassroots
interracial sport had disappeared in the pursuit of excellence and
commercial advantage.

He received numerous political and literary awards, and honorary
doctorates from several American universities. In the United States he
campaigned against the death penalty, and in 1997 was elected to the US
committee of Amnesty International. He deposited his papers at the
National English Literary Museum, Grahamstown.

Dennis Brutus, who died on December 26, married, in 1950, May Jagger.

They had four sons and four daughters.

The Telegraph, UK

Patrick Bond on SA economic policy, 2 March 2010

DURBAN SINGS is a pilot project collaboratively initiated and collectively developed by Molefi Mafareka Ndlovu, community research scholar at the Centre for Civil Society (CCS, UKZN), and Dr. Claudia Wegener, a visiting scholar from the University of the Arts London (UAL), together with 50 young people from 12 Durban community organizations, many of them now trained and networked as editorial collectives of audio producers for micro-media hubs in their local organizations and areas.

The project has a base at the university as a CCS outreach initiative - it includes training and workshops for recording, interview, audio-editing, oral history and IT skills; oral history data-collection, on-line and off-line archiving, project management, public presentations, networking, blog-editing, and broadcasts. An extensive on-line audio archive is uploaded at www.archive.org and collections of oral history interviews from Clermont, Folweni, Inanda, Ntuzuma, Marianridge, Mzinyathi, Umlazi and the inner city are networked via their own blogs, the 'switch-board' blog at www.durbansings.wordpress.com and a 'community portal' at the CCS web-site: http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp?11,62

DURBAN SINGS is funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Editors presenting the project for discussion at the City Cultures Seminar:
Bewerley Webster (Mariann Coordinating Committee, Mariannridge)
Bongisipho (Malungisa Youth Development, Mzinyathi)
Peter Shea (Ubuntu Babasha, Clermont)
Nokulunga Mthethwa (Abasha, Inanda Newtown A)
Claudia Wegener (radio continental drift, CCS Visiting Scholar)

Date: Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Time: 12:30-14:00
Venue: ccrri seminar room, 2nd floor George Campbell building, South Campus, Howard College Campus. Use the south entrance into the building; and Entrance 3 on Rick Turner (Francois) Road if driving.

Enquiries: ccrri@ukzn.ac.za or 031 260 1599/3904/3902

CCS anti-xenophobia research workshop, 27 February 2010

ANTI-XENOPHOBIA RESEARCH/ACTION WORKSHOP CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY, STRATEGY&TACTICS and DURBAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
DATE: 27 FEBRUARY 2010
TIME: 9AM-3:30PM
VENUE: MEMORIAL TOWER BUILDING L2 (in tallest building at Howard College)

Research papers
Xenophobia in Bottlebrush: An investigation into the reasons behind the attacks on African immigrants in an informal settlement in Durban.

Xenophobia and Civil Society: Durban’s Structured Social Divisions

Agenda
9:00-09:30 Tea with muffin + film screening
9:30-09:45 Welcome: Patrick Bond, Introduction to Durban Case Study: Baruti Amisi, Faith ka Manzi, Sheperd Zvavanhu, Orlean Naidoo, Nokuthula Cele, Trevor Ngwane

9:40-10:30 Presentation of Durban Case Study
(1) Patrick Bond: Overview of Durban Case Study
(2) Trevor Ngwane: Bottlebrush
(3) Baruti Amisi: Migrant Voices

10:30-11:00 Presentation by Nobi Dube, Ramaphosa Case study and
Summary of recommendations from national case studies by Jenny Parsley

11:00-12:00 Discussion

12:00-12:15 Presentation of themes from research and ways forward, with Trevor

12:15-13:00 Breakaway Groups (geographic areas and interests) with Amisi and Trevor

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-14:30 Presentations by Breakaway Groups

14:30-15:00 Discussion and anti-xenophobia strategies facilitated by Amisi and Trevor

15:00-15:15 Concluding Remarks: Patrick Bond

15:15 Vote of thanks: Baruti Amisi

Workshop Themes:
1) Civil society, social movements, and the state
Explore where we stand in relation to state-society relations in the post-Polokwane period, as more grassroots and union opposition to the state emerges

2) Refugees and migrants, xenophobia, civil society and social movements
Explore how social movements integrate issues facing migrants and refugees, and how to strengthen refugee and migrant organisations

3) Access to funding, capacity building, civil society and migrant organisations
Explore access to funding/ capacity building for migrant, SA and integrated organisations, and strategies in relation to funders (especially for CBOs)

4) Fragmentation of the urban poor, social movements, and civic literacy.
Explore the nature of political education and consciousness, and the interrelationships of protest, advocacy and political awareness during an era of welfarist/humanitarian interventions

5) Xenophobia, local strategies, national coalitions and transnational/interregional networks.
Explore how people move across racial, socio-economic and political denominations, including in the provision of political solidarity (e.g. Zimbabwe, Swaziland, DRC)

Press Conference: Keep our South African Coal in the Hole! 22 February 2010

Critics of World Bank financing for Eskom announce global “No Coal Loan” campaign

LOCATION: (simultaneous)
Durban: International Convention Centre, 45 Bram Fischer Road
Washington: Sierra Club headquarters, 408 C St NE
DATE: Monday, 22nd February 2010
TIME: 4pm South Africa time, 9am EST (Washington)
SPEAKERS: South Durban Community Environmental Alliance: Desmond
D’Sa groundWork, FoE SA: Siziwe Khanyile
Earthlife Africa eThekwini: Alice Thomson
Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee: Trevor Ngwane
Climate Justice Now! SA: Rehana Dada
Centre for Civil Society Environmental Justice Project: Patrick Bond
Sierra Club International: Mark Kresowik

These and dozens of other civil society organisations will announce a
global campaign against the World Bank and Eskom, with the intention of
preventing a $3.75 billion loan (possibly $4 billion) that would
dramatically raise South Africa’s world-leading carbon emissions and the
price of electricity to ordinary people. The organisations represent
millions of concerned citizens, community, environmental, labour and
academic constituencies, in South Africa, the rest of the African
continent and the world at large.

For more information:
Bobby Peek
+27-82-464 1383 (cell)
+27-33-342 5662 (landline)
bobby@groundwork.org.za

BACKGROUND
The World Bank is trying to lend $4 billion to the Johannesburg-based
parastatal Eskom, the world’s fourth largest power company and Africa’s
largest carbon emitter (with 40% of South Africa’s total emissions). The
loan is mainly to finance the world’s fourth most CO2-intensive power
plant (Medupi, in the Waterburg).

The Bank also aims to finance privatised power generation,
notwithstanding the abject failure of public-private partnerships in
South African infrastructure, including electricity and water.

The loan would fly in the face of the Bank’s attempt to portray itself
as climate-friendly financing, and will generate a vast, unnecessary
debt – both a financial debt to South Africa’s poor and also an expanded
climate debt owed by South Africa to the rest of Africa, for overusing
its fair proportion of the continent’s CO2 carrying capacity.

For communities near the coal fields (40 new mines are requested by
Eskom to supply its new generators) and coal-fired stations, the
externalised costs imposed by Eskom are extremely high, including the
complete degradation of water sources, air pollution, a frightening rise
in mercury associated with coal, and other health burdens.

The loan is being pursued at a time of intense controversy surrounding
Eskom mismanagement. In its last annual reporting period, the company
lost R9.7 billion ($1.3 bn) mainly due to miscalculations associated
with hedging aluminium prices and the SA currency.

Both the chairman and chief executive office lost their jobs late last
year amidst unprecedented acrimony.

Meanwhile, Eskom continues its giveaway prices - the world’s cheapest
electricity, heavily subsidised by all other users - to several large
export-oriented metals/mining multinational corporations (headquartered
in London, Melbourne, Luxembourg and Zurich, where profits flow, thus
exacerbating SA’s dangerously high international payments deficit),
dating to scandalous late-apartheid-era, multi-decade ‘Special Pricing
Agreements’ deals.

These deals should be rejected as odious, and as recently as August
2009, Eskom leaders publicly admitted that they would have to be
reconsidered – but they haven’t been. In early 2008, repeated national
blackouts finally led to cuts in supply to some of these firms, showing
that the deals could legitimately be violated. Moreover, the crash of
metals and minerals prices dramatically lowered demand.

Demand-side management – a tried and tested alternative which the World
Bank claims to endorse (but hasn’t considered in this case) - would
mitigate the need for new power plants. Moreover, South Africa’s massive
renewable energy potential has not even begun to be tapped. Eskom was
given responsibility for rolling out more than a million solar-powered
hot water heaters over three years, and after two years, can claim only
a thousand.

Having lost the vast majority of South Africans’ trust, Eskom began
raising prices by more than triple the inflation rate in 2008. From 2009
to 2012, the price of a month’s normal electricity use in an ‘average
township household’ is anticipated to rise from R360 ($47) to R1000
($132), according to Eskom. These price increases will have an extreme
adverse impact, leading to a major increase in disconnections (and
illegal reconnections, hence electrocutions) of poor households, that
can best be described as ‘underdevelopment’.

Ironically, the World Bank and its hired-gun ‘Expert Panel’ (which
reported on February 18th) insist that the proposed Eskom loan will have
a ‘developmental’ impact. The civil society coalition vigorously object
that the core problems listed above were downplayed or simply ignored in
Bank staff and Panel research, and we therefore question both their
competence and climate/poverty commitments.

The Bank is in an untenable position, as it soon releases a new Energy
Policy and also campaigns to take on additional responsibilities for
channeling finance related to climate change. The proposed Eskom loan
should disqualify the Bank from any further role in climate-related
activities.

Critics insist that if the Bank intends to raise $180 billion in new
capital from member groups prior to the Bank/IMF Spring meetings in late
April, it will have to shelve this loan, because the world’s citizens
will object that this represents business as usual financing at a time
energy transformation is increasingly urgent.

In turn, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa - which is due to
issue its statement on the proposed Eskom tariff hikes on Wednesday,
February 24th - will have to go back to the drawing board and
recalculate a fair rates increase for Eskom - without its expensive and
unnecessary World Bank loan.

In addition, the national budget announced by Finance Minister Pravin
Gordhan on February 17th will have to be rejigged, because a large
proportion of it is reliant upon foreign financing; of South Africa’s
2010 anticipated inflows, a substantial amount was expected from the Bank.

Critics are gaining momentum:
* Communities and environmentalists have begun to protest the Eskom
loan, including at the firm’s Durban headquarters on February the 16th.

* The main metal manufacturing trade union, the National Union of
Metalworkers of South Africa, announced opposition to the loan on
February the 18th. Other unions threatened strikes against the price
hikes and Eskom labour practices.

* The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, which had the highest
African profile at the December 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, has
endorsed the no-loan demand, on grounds of environmental damage.

* The South African Council of Churches, which played a key role in
criticising the World Bank due to its apartheid financing, has also
expressed opposition to the loan.

* Eskom is suffering an upsurge of illegal electricity connections in
communities, as their prices become prohibitive.

In sum, this is a company that can be fairly described as a poor credit
risk.

Dozens of organisations across the world have committed to oppose the
World Bank’s proposed Eskom loan. They are contacting the Executive
Directors of the World Bank from each country to demand a ‘no coal loan’
vote at any director’s meeting at which the loan is tabled. In advance
of the Bank’s recapitalisation efforts, the critics are ready to take
even more vigorous action against the Bank itself - including revival of
the “World Bank Boycott“ which cost the Bank support from many major
bondholders over the past decade (including the world’s largest pension
fund, the city of San Francisco, the Calvert Group, and university and
church endowment funds).

For the sake of environmental justice, the surrounding communities, the
citizenry, the workers, Eskom customers and the continent of Africa (and
all other sites affected by climate change), the Bank will have no
choice but to withdraw this loan. Eskom will then have no other choice
but to negotiate an appropriate energy mix and financing strategy with
constituencies they have so far ignored.

CURRENT LIST OF ENDORSEMENTS: (21 February 2010)

South African Organizations
Airport Farmers Association;
Alternative Information Development Centre;
Anti Privatization Forum;
Austerville Clinic Committee;
Buhlebuyeza
Centre for Civil Society Environmental Justice Project;
Clairwood Ratepayers Association;
Diakonia - Durban;
Earthlife Africa Durban;
Eastern Cape Environmental Network;
Environmental Monitoring Group;
ESGIG
groundWork, Friends of the Earth, South Africa;
Federation for a Sustainable Environment;
General Industries Workers Union of SA
Greater Edendale Environmental Network;
Isipingo Environmental Committee;
Isipingo Ratepayers Association;
Joint Action Committee of Isipingo;
KwaZulu Natal Subsistence Forum;
Merebank Clinic Committee;
Merebank Residents Association;
Noordhoek Environmental Action Group;
Pietermaritzburg Association for Christian Social Awareness;
Socialist Group
South African Council of Churches;
Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute;
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance;
Southern Cape Land Committee;
The Workers World Media Production;
Timberwatch;
Trust for Community Outreach and Education;
Umphili waManzi;
Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance;
Wentworth Development Forum;
350.org
Climate Justice Now! Gauteng representing:
Boitshoko Home Based Care;
Ceasefire Campaign;
Citizens United for Renewable Energy and Sustainability;
Displaced Rates Payers Association;
Earthlife Africa, Johannesburg;
Ecumenical Women’s Prayer in Action;
Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation;
Inner City Resource Centre;
Kathorus Concerned Residents;
Off the Ground;
The Benchmarks Foundation;
Tsogang Youth Group;
South African Chemical Workers Union (Gauteng);
South African Council of Churches (Gauteng);
Soweto Concerned Residents;
Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee;
Springs Eco Friends;
Well Worn Theatre;
Youth Agriculture Ambassadors;
Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Gauteng)

African organisations:
Citizens for Justice (Malawi);
Environmental Rights Action (Nigeria);
Friends of the Earth Ghana (Ghana);
Justice Ambiental (Mozambique)
Pan African Climate Justice Alliance;
Yonge Nawe (Swaziland).

Global:
Bangladesh: Solidarity Workshop
France: Pres.Noe21
Germany: Urgewald
India: Community Environmental Monitoring - A Project of The Other Media
India: National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers
Italy: Campagna per la riforma della Banca mondiale
Namibia: Earthlife Africa
The Netherlands: Both Ends
United Kingdom: ClientEarth
United Kingdom: World Development Movement
United States: Africa Action
Unites States: Concerned Residents of Portland, NY + People Like Us
Unites States: Friends of the Earth, US
Unites States: Bank Information Center
Unites States: Green Delaware
Unites States: Global Exchange
Unites States: International Forum on Globalization
Unites States: Oil Change International
United States: Pacific Environment
United States: Sierra Club
United States: Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
United States: Valley Watch, Inc.

Workshop on Private Public Partnerships 22 February

PPP – PRIVATE PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS
A One-Day Workshop POWER INDABA
22 February 2010 Durban International Convention Centre

Facilitator: Peter METCALFE

Part One - Introduction

09:00 Defining PPP - Private Public Partnerships
Infrastructure Privatisation?
Why PPP - Private Public Partnerships
Peter METCALFE
Chairman The Foundation for the Development of Africa

Part Two – The Government and PPP

10:00 The Role of the National Treasury in PPP
Presenting guidance provided by National Treasury in PPP
Presenting National Treasury expectations in PPP
Presenting a Step by Step process in structuring a PPP
Karen BREYTENBACH
Senior Project Advisor: PPP Unit
South African Treasury

11:00 Open Discussion

11:30 Refreshments

Part Three – The Financial Implications of PPP

12:00 Financial Implications – The Risks?
Paul EARDLEY-TAYLOR
Standard Bank

13:00 LUNCH

Part Four – The Legal Aspects

14:00 Legal Considerations for a PPP - Private Public Partnerships
Concessions
Service Contract
Lease Contracts
Management Contracts
Build – Operate - Transfer
Other
TBA

15:00 Case Study – Civil Society and PPP
PPPs from a civil society perspective: What stakeholder engagement will have to grapple with
Patrick BOND (Prof)
(Director Centre for Civil Society)
University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)

15:45 Refreshments

16:00 Case Study – Project Management and PPP
Rwandan Government case study on managing Public- Private partnerships, through entrenchment of a National Project Management Process
Michael SIME
Business Development & Facilitator
TenStep SA & Sub-Sahara Africa

16:45 The Triple Bottom Line
Economics
Social
Environment
Peter METCALFE
Chairman
The Foundation for the Development of Africa

17:00
Open Discussion
Close of Workshop

Economic Justice Course 20 February 29 May 2010

ALI ABUNIMAH, ELECTRONIC INTIFADA FOUNDER, JOURNALIST AT UKZN

As part of the CCS Economic Justice series, we will host a guest speaker
from 10am‑11am in Memorial Tower Building, room L2 (second floor):

ALL WELCOME!

Ali Abunimah, a writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab‑American
affairs, lives in Chicago. His articles have appeared in The New York
Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times,
The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jordan Times, Lebanon's Daily Star and
Ha'aretz, among others. He is frequent guest on local, national and
international radio and television, including public radio and
television, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the BBC and many others. Abunimah lectures
frequently at colleges in the United States. He was born in the United
States and grew up in Europe. Both of his parents are originally from
Palestine. He received his BA from Princeton University and MA from the
University of Chicago. Abunimah travels often to the Middle East and is
a full‑time researcher in social policy at the University of Chicago.
Recent book contributions include No Justice, No Peace, in The
Anti‑Capitalism Reader, edited by Joel Schalit. New York: Akashic
Books, 2002; The US Media and the New Intifada (with Hussein Ibish) in
The New Intifada, edited by Roane Carey. New York: Verso Books, 2001;
The Palestinian Right of Return (with Hussein Ibish), Washington, DC:
ADC, 2001; The Media's Deadly Spin on Iraq (with Rania Masri) in Iraq
Under Siege edited by Anthony Arnove. Cambridge, MA: South End Press,
2002 (Updated Edition).

Durban renewable energy site visits 10 February 2010

Durban renewable energy site visits by Minnesh Bipath, SA National Energy Research Institute with Muna Lakhani and Patrick Bond
10 February 2010

7:45am – meet at petrol station, corner Rick Turner and Belair Rds

8-9am – site visit to Cato Manor biodigester, with Faith Manzi and
Joe Grant

9-11am – Durban University of Technology biodiesel from algae with Prof Faizal Bux

(9am – Patrick in staff selection committee meeting at UKZN)

11am-1pm – Bisasar Road methane-electricity conversion with Rehana
Dada, Khadija Sharife and Durban Solid Waste representative

1-2pm – lunch (Davenport Road) with Trevor Ngwane and Baruti Amisi

2-4pm – Kingsborough biodiesel algae site visit

Socialist Register Workshop on Crisis 6 February 2010

South Africa’s financial bubble and boiling social protest
by Patrick Bond (pbond@mail.ngo.za)

Senior Professor, School of Development Studies and Director, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Presented in absentia to the Socialist Register Workshop on Crisis, Toronto, 6 February 2010

Socialist Register Workshop
Preliminary Public Sessions

Friday, Feb 5, 1:30-3:30pm, Verney Room, 6th Floor, York University
'The Subsumption of Labour to Finance'
Riccardo Bellofiore, Dick Bryan, Susanne Soederberg

Friday, Feb 5, 7:30-9:30pm, Koffler Auditorium, Spadina Circle, University of Toronto
'China, Japan and the USA: Together in Crisis?'
Ho-fung Hung, R. Taggart Murphy, Johanna Brenner, Sam Gindin

Workshop Sessions for Register Contributors
Verney Room, 6th Floor, York University

Saturday, Feb 6

9:30am-10:00am, Opening Remarks
Greg Albo, Vivek Chibber, Leo Panitch

10:00am-12:00pm, Nature of the Crisis
Dick Bryan, David McNally, Alfredo Saad-Filho

1:00pm-3:00pm, Global Dimensions
Ben Fine, Jan Toporowski, Patrick Bond

3:00pm-5:00pm, Eastern Promises?
Adam Hanieh, Ho-fung Hung, R. Taggart Murphy

8:00pm, Dinner

Sunday, Feb 7

9:30am-12:30pm, Financial Markets
Riccardo Bellofiore, Doug Henwood, Susanne Soederberg

1:30pm-3:30pm, Social Impacts
Johanna Brenner, Ursula Huws, Sam Gindin & Nicole Aschoff

3:30pm-4:30pm, Concluding Session: Planning the Volumes

Patrick Bond on climate change & Brutus Memorial at WorldSocial Forum 28 January 2010

MEMORIAL FOR DENNIS BRUTUS
Thursday, 28 January, 19-20:00h
(in conjunction with Daniel Bensaid memorial)
Next to Gazometro, Armazém 06 Cais do Porto

On 28 January from 7-8pm, the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society invites you to share your memories of Dennis.

Dennis died on 26 December, aged 85. We join with comrades celebrating the life of Daniel Bensaid, to explore Dennis’ political and literary legacy, with a forward emphasis on how his life guides our own, today and in future. Dennis was a leading presence in the World Social Forum from 2001-08. We will discuss his poems and prose, youth and apartheid incarceration, lifelong independent-left positioning, humanitarian style, commitment to nonviolence, non-racial sporting accomplishments, anti-racist/capitalist politics, contributions to the global justice movement and internationalism, no-compromise environmentalism and never-ending community/labour solidarity. We welcome your inputs, and will add these to the book we anticipate publishing in his honour in mid-2010.

For more information contact Patrick Bond: bondp@ukzn.ac.za or +27 83 425 1401.

Seminar:Novo Ordenamento Mundial / New World Order Planning New World / New World Order

Local: (venue) Cais 7. Location: Pier 7.
Participantes: Walden Bello, Taoufik Ben Abdallah, Patrick Bond, Antônio
Martins, Socorro Gomes

Para mais informações: For more information:

Fórum Social 10 Anos Grande Porto Alegre: http://www.fsm10.org

Seminário internacional Dez anos depois: desafios e propostas para um outro mundo possível: http://seminario10anosdepois.wordpress.com/

International seminar Ten years on:challenges and proposals for another possible world: http://seminario10anosdepois.wordpress.com/

www.ecoagencia.com.br

Planning a New World Climate Order: ‘Seal the Deal’ or ‘Seattle the Deal’?
by Patrick Bond Centre for Civil Society, Durban

Presented at the 10th World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, 28 January (9am-noon, Pier 7)

The Copenhagen Accord that US President Barack Obama persuaded leaders of the BASIC countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China - to sign at literally the climate summit’s last minute on December 18 is a telling reflection of the limits to top-down ‘global governance’, and suggests the potential instead for bottom-up transformation. The deal followed extremely harsh police repression against nonviolent protesters outside the Bella Centre, and inside, a ‘Green Room’ process in which Denmark’s conservative ruling party leaders cherry-picked 26 countries to represent the world. When even that small group deadlocked, allegedly due to Chinese intransigence and the overall weak parameters set by the US, the five leaders – Obama, Lula da Silva, Jacob Zuma Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao - attempted a face-saving last gasp at planetary hygiene.

Not only did the Accord fail on its own terms, missing even its first January 31 deadline for signing on and declaring cuts. The UN climate chief, Yvo de Boer, then conceded no binding deal was likely even at the Mexican meetings in November 2010. Moreover, Obama’s strategy meant the World Trade Organisation’s divide-and-conquer political style would become the norm for UN climate negotiations - if indeed the UN remains a site of negotiation, instead of the more likely G20, starting with the expected G8 decommissioning near Toronto in June 2010 - to the obvious detriment of climate victims, especially in Africa and small islands.
READ FULL PAPER

Social forum leftists decry climate talks failure
By Alan Clendenning (The Associated Press)

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil ‑‑ Activists at the World Social forum say world
leaders' failure to forge a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen
shows the planet's most powerful nations are incapable of setting
important global policy.

Patrick Bond of South Africa's Centre for Civil Society says the outcome
of December's climate change talks means that people cannot trust the
elites to generate a new world order for the climate.

Bond spoke Thursday, on the fourth day of the forum. The gathering is an
annual countercultural demonstration against the World Economic Forum
now under way in Davos, Switzerland.

He also said rich countries and big emerging‑market nations want to
promote and expand fossil fuel industries that contribute to global
warming.
www.miamiherald.com

Sul‑africano propõe nova ordem climática mundial: Patrick Bond sugere uma pressão social contra o uso de combustíveis fósseis
Sandro Schreiner

A perspectiva de um Novo Ordenamento Global foi um dos quatro temas de
debates, ontem, dentro do módulo Elementos da Nova Agenda II, do
Seminário Internacional. A discussão foi realizada no Armazém 6, do Cais
do Porto. Dentro desse tema, chamou a atenção a defesa feita pelo
professor sul‑africano, da Universidade de KwaZulu‑Natal, Patrick Bond,
para a constituição de uma nova ordem climática mundial. Segundo ele, é
necessário que os movimentos sociais organizados pressionem os governos
nacionais contra o uso indiscriminado dos combustíveis fósseis,
principalmente o carvão e o petróleo. Não podemos esperar que as elites
dominantes nos ajudem. É necessário que esse novo ordenamento climático
venha de baixo, forçando controles regulatórios nacionais mais rígidos,
sustentou.

Para Bond, os integrantes de movimentos sociais devem, ainda, intervir
nas agências nacionais de planejamento. É importante, pois são elas que
estabelecem condições para que empreendimentos econômicos, entre eles a
exploração mineral, possam ser implantados, disse.

Outro destaque ficou por conta do presidente do Comitê para a Anulação
da Dívida do Terceiro Mundo (CADTM), o belga Eric Toussaint. Ele
questionou a ideia de manter o modelo atual do FSM apenas como um espaço de debate e troca de ideias. Para Toussaint, é preciso um instrumento internacional para determinar prioridades em termos de demandas e objetivos. Ele crê que a formatação de um calendário comum de ação, ou seja, um elemento de estratégia universal seria imprescindível. Se o fórum não permite isso, deve‑se construir outro instrumento, que não elimine tudo aquilo que já conquistamos, mas que tenha também a capacidade de tomar iniciativas práticas de discussão para um novo ordenamento, enfatizou.

Toussaint avaliou que, entre as perspectivas, está a ideia do presidente
da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, de criação de uma Quinta Internacional
Socialista. Ela reuniria movimentos sociais e partidos de esquerda.
Pode ser uma proposta interessante, desde que haja um diálogo entre
partidos e movimentos sociais que a torne um instrumento de convergência
para a ação e a elaboração de modelo alternativo, disse.

Ainda foram discutidos ontem, no módulo Elementos da Nova Agenda II, A
Organização do Estado e do Poder Político, Direitos e
Responsabilidades Coletivas e Como Construir a Hegemonia Política.
sandro@correiodopovo.com.br
http://www.redportiamerica.com/sulafricano_propoe_nova_ordem.html

Dennis Brutus tribute, with SMI & Durban community groups 23 January 2010

A tribute to Dennis Brutus will be held by Durban civil society on 23
January, noon‑2pm, at Howard College Auditorium. An additional
colloquium on Brutus' political/literary life will be held in mid‑March.

Programme

13:30 ‑ Photos

14:00 – Introduction and Welcome

14:05 ‑ Poetry Reading

14:10 ‑ Address

14:25 ‑ Cultural Item

14:30 ‑ Tributes from Organisational Representatives

15:00 ‑ Poetry Reading

15:05 ‑ Further Tributes

15:30 ‑ Poetry Reading

15:40 ‑ Film Screening : I am a Rebel

16:40 ‑ Vote of Thanks and Closing Comments

17:00 – Close of Programme

A common hate enriched our love and us....
Dennis Brutus

Escape to parasitic ease disgusts;
discreet expensive hushes stifled us
the plangent wines became acidulous

Rich foods knotted to revolting clots
of guilt and anger in our queasy guts
remembering the hungry comfortless.

In draughty angles of the concrete stairs
or seared by salt winds under brittle stars
we found a poignant edge to tenderness,

And, sharper than our strain, the passion
against our land’s disfigurement and tension;
hate gouged out deeper levels for our passion

a common hate enriched our love and us.

(Hosted by the CCS, SMI and UCAF)

Friends gather to pay tribute to Brutus
Noelene Barbeau Daily News 25 January 2010

The Howard College Auditorium at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was
filled to capacity on Saturday as friends and colleagues paid tribute to
people's champion and anti-apartheid activist, Professor Dennis Brutus.

A man often described as a poet of the people, Brutus, 85, was
diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and died last month at his
son's home in Cape Town.

Dr Deena Padayachee, a friend and his doctor, said yesterday was a
fitting farewell because a roving microphone allowed for feedback from
the audience about a man who had influenced their lives. An audio-
visual presentation on Brutus's life was also part of the programme.

Dennis was very humble, unassuming and highly intelligent. He was very
approachable and could explain the most complicated of matters very
simply whether he was talking about Shakespeare or racism, Padayachee said.

Dennis wasn't bitter, angry or remorseful at the time of his death,
despite there being no medical aid for veterans and not receiving a
state pension.

Many of the doctors and specialists went the extra mile for him and
didn't charge him a fee. Even hospital fees were reduced.

Dennis was an old-world gentleman, who lived with dignity and always
respected other people even when he criticised them. I learnt a great
deal from him, said Padayachee who also praised Brutus's friends and
fellow UKZN colleagues Professor Patrick Bond and Claudia Martinez
Mullen who were with Brutus every day and took him to his appointments.

Mullen described Brutus as her best friend. She had known him for five
years and had met him at the university.

Dennis and I shared the struggle together for students to have better
education and a dignified life, she said.

The worst day of her life was when she heard Brutus had cancer. It was
a shocking and emotional moment. We shared beautiful memories together
and I will always remember his clear, limpid eyes, she said.

Desmond D'Sa, South Durban Community and Environment Alliance
co-ordinator, re-called on Saturday that Brutus would always attend a
protest, be it against war, to chase an Israeli ship out of the Durban
Docks in support of the people of Palestine,to support of the Niger
Delta people fighting for their land, or the protest in support of the
Early Morning Market and the poor traders.

To me it's clear Comrade Dennis knew the past, could see the present
and could predict the future.

Never before has there been a man who has a touched me and many of the
people of South Durban and Durban, not only with their presence but
their commitment, drive and passion to stand up for the downtrodden,
oppressed and marginalised, he said.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za

CCS cohosts Climate Justice Now! on electricity hearings strategy, 15 January 2010

Climate Justice Now! on electricity hearings strategy

From South Durban Community Environmental Alliance:

In December 2009 NERSA announced public hearings on Eskom’s proposed
revenue application – the multi‑year price determination 2010/11 to 2012.
These hearings are to be held in different centres and on account of this many organizations registered to make verbal submissions on the 18th January 2010 at the ICC Durban Exhibition Centre starting at
09.00am until 15.00pm .

Climate Justice Now! SA (CJN!SA) in conjunction with the Centre for Civil Society will be hosting a public meeting on the NERSA hearings on 15th January 2010 at 09h30 at Howard College, UKZN.

Bobby Peek from groundWork will be speaking on Eskom's application to NERSA and David Hallowes from groundWork will be speaking on The World Bank and Eskom. There will be time for input, discussion and questions.
All are invited to attend.

Any queries about the UKZN meeting should be directed to Alice Thomson
on 0314659038

Patrick Bond debates NHI at Idasa, CT, 19 January 2010

Idasa Roundtable: National Health Insurance in South Africa: Exploring Some Key Questions

Date: 19 January, 2010
Time: 08h30 – 13h30
Venue: Town House Hotel, 60 Corporation Street, Cape Town

Introduction
Access to quality health care for all remains a key challenge facing democratic South Africa. Debates concerning the optimal ways of addressing this challenge have acquired an increased urgency given the possibility of the introduction of a system of National Health Insurance (NHI).

The roundtable aims to foster healthy debate amongst a range of stakeholders on some of the key questions relating to such a proposed system. The focus is firstly on the likely financing risks and opportunities of such a system, and secondly on the potential roles of the private and public health sectors in its implementation.

The roundtable will be divided into two 90 minute sessions. Each session will commence with two brief presentations, followed by open discussion.

The roundtable will be chaired by Ivor Jenkins of Idasa.

Roundtable Programme

09h00 – 09h30 Registration and Welcoming Tea

09h30 – 11h00 Session 1: Financing National Health Insurance: Some Risks and
Opportunities
Speakers:

Mr. Alex van den Heever - Independent Economist

Prof. Patrick Bond - Director of the Centre for Civil Society and Senior Professor of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal

11h00 – 11h30 Tea Break

11h30 – 13h00 Session 2: The Role of the Public and Private Sector in NHI
Implementation
Speakers:

Dr. Clarence Mini - Director: Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern
Africa

Mr. Tebogo Phadu – Policy Research Coordinator, ANC Policy Unit

13h00 – 14h00 Closing, followed by lunch

CCS cohosts Climate Justice Now! on electricity hearings strategy, 15 January 2010

Climate Justice Now! on electricity hearings strategy

From South Durban Community Environmental Alliance:

In December 2009 NERSA announced public hearings on Eskom’s proposed
revenue application – the multi-year price determination 2010/11 to 2012.
These hearings are to be held in different centres and on account of this many organizations registered to make verbal submissions on the 18th January 2010 at the ICC Durban Exhibition Centre starting at
09.00am until 15.00pm .

Climate Justice Now! SA (CJN!SA) in conjunction with the Centre for Civil Society will be hosting a public meeting on the NERSA hearings on 15th January 2010 at 09h30 at Howard College, UKZN.

Bobby Peek from groundWork will be speaking on Eskom's application to NERSA and David Hallowes from groundWork will be speaking on The World Bank and Eskom. There will be time for input, discussion and questions.
All are invited to attend.

Any queries about the UKZN meeting should be directed to Alice Thomson
on 0314659038

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