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CNS
eNews Aug 07ECOSOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
FOUNDATIONAL MEETING
UPDATE #2
Important information for participants in the ecosocialist meeting in
Paris in October.
This Update includes the location of the event and a Provisional Agenda,
as well as information that was previously posted.Purpose: This meeting
is a very preliminary first step: we will get to know each other, establish
a provisional organizing committee for an Ecosocialist International
Network, and begin discussions of projects and activities. Our main
goal will be to set a time, place and preliminary agenda for a larger
meeting in 2008, at which we hope there will be broad participation
from green-left activists around the world. It will not be an educational
event or an academic conference. It is an organizing meeting for people
who want to improve communication and coordination among ecosocialist
activists around the world.
Dates: Please Note: To ensure that there is sufficient time for discussion
and networking, we have arranged for the meeting to carry over to a
second day. The meeting will be held during the day on Sunday October
7, 2007, and in the morning of Monday October 8, 2007. We plan to begin
at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Place: The meeting will convene Sunday morning in salle Franklin, 60
rue Franklin, Métro mairie de Montreuil. (That’s the Town
Hall of Montreuil, which is on the eastern edge of Paris.)
The Monday morning session will be held in the National Assembly building
in Paris.
Agenda: The following is a provisional agenda, subject to amendment
by the participants:
0. Introduction and Welcome by members of the Convening Committee.
0. Self-introduction of participants.
0. Discussion of common initiatives for the coming year, including communications,
creation of a multilingual ecosocialist website, use of existing journals,
etc.
0. Discussion of a Second Ecosocialist Manifesto. Selection of a subcommittee
to write a draft for international circulation and discussion.
0. Discussion of objectives, date and location for a larger Ecosocialist
conference in 2008.
0. Election of a coordinating secretariat whose main task will be to
organize the next Conference.
Who Can Attend: The meeting is open to anyone who wants to contribute
to the work of improving communication and coordination among ecosocialist
activists around the world. If you plan to attend, please let us know
as soon as possible. Email ecosocialism[at]gmail[dot]comFees: There
is no registration or admission fee. We may ask for voluntary contributions
to defray some costs.
Expenses: Participants are responsible for all of their own expenses,
including travel, accommodations, refreshments and meals.
Accommodation: We cannot recommend or endorse any particular hotels,
but these hotels have been suggested as a guide:
0. One Star: 37 euros without wc, 59 euros with wc. Hotel des Alliés.
20 rue Berthollet, 75005 Paris. tel. 00 331 4331 47 52. e-mail allies@sequanahotels.com.
Web: http://www.sequanahotels.com/
0. Two Stars: 69 euros with wc Hotel Sunny. 48 Bd. Port-Royal, 75013
Paris. tel. 00331 4331 7986. e-mail infos@hotel-sunny.com
0. Three Stars: 230 euros Hotel Serotel. 2, rue Berthollet, 75005 Paris.
tel. 00 331 4336 2630. e-mail lutece@hotelserotel.com
0.
Related Event: This meeting follows the International Marx Congress,
October 3-6. For more information, go to http://netx.u-paris10.fr/actuelmarx/cm5/index5.htm
Further information: Ian Angus <ecosocialism@gmail.com> / Joel
Kovel <jskovel@earthlink.net>CONFERENCES, CONFERENCES
IDEAS INTO ACTION : THE TRIPLE CRISIS TEACH IN
Institute for Policy Studies and International Forum on Globalization,
14-16 September 2007
Three interlinked crises threaten the well-being of billions of people
and the ecological integrity of the planet: climate chaos, the end of
cheap oil, and the rapid depletion of water and other natural resources.
0. Program & Information PDF
0. Registration
Awareness of one of these crises: climate chaos, is growing around the
world. Yet, panic over climate change has led to a series of false solutions
rooted in an overblown faith in technological and market-based fixes.
“Peak oil” is largely denied by most governments. And the
third, natural resource depletion, is poorly understood and only loosely
regulated by poorly enforced multilateral environmental agreements.
IPS and the International Forum on Globalization co-host more than 60
of the world's leading thinkers confronting the triple crisis for a
public Teach-In at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium.
We implore you to participate in these critical discussions on the economic
and energy transitions that will move the globe toward a sustainable
and equitable future. Questions to <info@ips-dc.org>
IMPERIALISM AND RESULTANT DISORDER:
IMPERATIVES FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
5th International Conference of Critical Geography
Mumbai, 3-7 Dec 2007, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
The conference is an informal forum for politically critical discussion
and debate. The format of the conference will be varied and much more
akin to workshops, rather than the sort of activities typical of academic
meetings. The objective, besides promoting the further development and
diffusion of critical geographies, is to avoid a vertical transmission
of knowledge and to ensure a more democratic debate and effective progress
of ideas.
The primary and overarching theme is imperialism and social justice
and their social (political-economic-cultural) and environmental (socio-ecological,
physical) aspects. Representatives of political organisations, unions,
and social movements will be invited to address these inter-related
issues.
More information is available through the conference web site (http://www.5thiccg.org/).
Please submit any queries to the conference coordinators:
Swapna Banerjee-Guha <sbanerjeeguha@hotmail.com>
Professor of Development Studies, School of Social Sciences, Tata Institute
of Social Sciences,
Post Box No.8313, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India
Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro <engeldis@newpaltz.edu> / tel: 1/845/2572991,
fax: 1/845/2572992
Geography Dept, SUNY New Paltz, 11 Hanmer House, 75 S Manheim Blvd.
New Paltz, NY 12561, USA THINKING THROUGH NATURE:
PHILOSOPHY FOR AN ENDANGERED WORLD
The International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP) invites
proposals for a conference at the University of Oregon, Eugene, 19-22
June 2008
Keynotes:
• Donna Haraway, Professor of History of Consciousness and Women's
Studies, UC Santa Cruz
• John Llewelyn, Emeritus Reader in Philosophy, University of
Edinburgh
• Gary Paul Nabhan, Director, Center for Sustainable Environments,
Northern Arizona University
• Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Saidye Rosner Bronfman Professor
of History of Architecture, McGill
Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome. Proposals are encouraged
on (but not limited to) the following topics:
*Environmental Ethics *The Aesthetics of Natural and Built Environments
*Environmental Restoration and Design *Architecture, Place, and Dwelling
*Humanities and Environmental Policy Development *Environmental Justice,
Social Ecology, and Ecofeminism *Traditional Ecological Knowledge and
Indigenous Perspectives *Non-Western and Comparative Approaches *Ecocriticism
*Ecophenomenology *Environmental Metaphysics and Theology
Proposals by 1 December 2007 to IAEP Secretary: Ted Toadvine <toadvine@uoregon.edu>HUMAN
FLOURISHING AND RESTORATION
IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL WARMING
Clemson University, September 5-7 2008
Confirmed speakers include environmental philosophers -
Philip Cafaro, Gene Eidson, Eric Higgs, Dale Jamieson, Andrew Light,
and Martha Nussbaum.
Proposal deadline November 30, 2007: http://www.clemson.edu/~athomp6/conference
BOOK MENTIONS
INSIDE SPIN: THE DARK UNDERBELLY OF THE PR INDUSTRY
by Bob Burton, editor, SourceWatch: www.sourcewatch.org
Inside Spin is the first behind-the-scenes investigation of the billion
dollar a year Australian PR industry. Using leaked internal documents,
FoI searches, interviews and court records, Bob Burton lifts the lid
on some of the most controversial campaigns run by leading Australian
PR firms. He reveals how they create bogus community groups, smear critics,
covertly mobilise think tanks and police to skew public debate in favour
of their corporate and government clients. He also shows how they court
journalists, government regulators and watchdog groups to smother dissenting
voices.
Published by Allen & Unwin, 2007
THE UNFINISHED STORY OF WOMEN AND THE UN
by Hilkka Pietila, former UN Secretary General of Finland
The Unfinished Story of Women and the United Nations covers more than
eighty-five years of history between women and inter-governmental organizations.
Unrecorded by history and untold by the media, this book recalls the
success story of women and the League of Nations and describes the unfolding
history of women at the United Nations for the advancement and empowerment
of women, especially in the 30 years since the First UN World Conference
on Women in 1975 in Mexico City and up to the ten-year review and appraisal
of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2005. This
book revises the 2002 publication Engendering the Global Agenda: The
Story of Women and the United Nations, 10th volume in the NGLS Development
Dossier series.
Download: http://www.un-ngls.org/pdf/UnfinishedStory.pdfIN HOUSE
BOOK REVIEWERS WANTED
Michael William, Deforesting Earth
Richard Walker, The Country in the City
L.M. Aguiar, ed, The Dirty Work of Neoliberalism
Zsuza Gille, From the Cult of Waste to the Trash Heap of History
Alf Hornberg, The World System and the Earth System
Sharon Spray, ed, -Loss of Biodiversity
Tim Palmer, Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement
J. Samuel Walker, Three Mile Island
Emails to: Roger Gottlieb <gottlieb@wpi.edu>
CALL FOR THEMATIC ISSUES
Suggestions and offers to edit special CNS issues welcome
Contact: Karen Charman <panaurora@earthlink.net>
ANYONE FOR THEORY PANEL?
I am the coordinator for the environmental political theory (EPT) section
of the Western political science association conference, which will
be held in San Diego, Mar 20-22, 2008. As far as I know the Western
is the only political science conference with a separate EPT section,
so even thought the Western is a "regional" conference, EPT
regularly draws people from all across North America, UK, Australia,
and elsewhere. I'd be happy to have/ help organize a CNS panel. Please
let me know if you have any thoughts: andrew.biro@acadiau.ca. The conference
call for papers is available at http://www.csus.edu/org/wpsa/call.stm.
Note that the deadline for submissions is Sept. 10. Cheers, Andrew
Reply to Andrew Biro < andrew.biro@acadiau.ca>
LOOKING FOR SHORT TAKES
Short Takes consists of features, limited to 500 words. Such items as:
the Op-Ed that wouldn't be accepted by a newspaper; a letter to your
society or the world; advice to activists; a question about process
or method of activism; a description of a successful action; a movie,
record/CD/tape or book review for activists; a poem or music with lyrics.
Short Takes should be in the personal mode, serious or humorous, targeted
to activists and thinkers. Your submission should support the creation
of a critical red-green politics.
Submissions to: Andi Bartczak <andiwbartczak@yahoo.com>THE POINT
IS TO CHANGE IT
NANO
31 July 2007, ETC Group <etcgroup@lists.etcgroup.org>
Over Forty Groups Release Fundamental Principles for Nanotech Oversight,
Citing Risks to the Public, Workers, and the Environment
With the joint release today of Principles for the Oversight of Nanotechnologies
and Nanomaterials, a broad international coalition of consumer, public
health, environmental, labor, and civil society organizations spanning
six continents called for strong, comprehensive oversight of the new
technology and its products. The manufacture of products using nanotechnology
a powerful platform for manipulating matter at the level of atoms and
molecules in order to alter properties–has exploded in recent
years. Hundreds of consumer products incorporating nanomaterials are
now on the market, including cosmetics, sunscreens, sporting goods,
clothing, electronics, baby and infant products, and food and food packaging.
But evidence indicates that current nanomaterials may pose significant
health, safety, and environmental hazards. In addition, the profound
social, economic, and ethical challenges posed by nano-scale technologies
have yet to be addressed.
As Chee Yoke Ling of the Third World Network explained, “Materials
engineered at the nano-scale can exhibit fundamentally different properties–including
toxicity–with unknown effects. Current research raises red flags
that demand precautionary action and further study.” She added,
“As there are now hundreds of products containing nanomaterials
in commerce, the public, workers, and the
environment are being exposed to these unlabeled, and in most cases,
untested materials.”
George Kimbrell of the International Center for Technology Assessment
continued, “Since there is currently no government oversight and
no labeling requirements for nanoproducts anywhere in the world, no
one knows when they are exposed to potential nanotech risks and no one
is monitoring for potential health or environmental harm. That’s
why we believe oversight action based on our principles is urgent.”
I. A Precautionary Foundation: Product manufacturers and distributors
must bear the burden of proof to demonstrate the safety of their products:
if no independent health and safety data review, then no market approval.
II. Mandatory Nano-specific Regulations: Nanomaterials should be classified
as new substances and subject to nano-specific oversight. Voluntary
initiatives are not sufficient. III. Health and Safety of the Public
and Workers: The prevention of exposure to nanomaterials that have not
been proven safe must be undertaken to protect the public and workers
IV. Environmental Protection: A full lifecycle analysis of environmental
impacts must be completed prior to commercialization.
V. Transparency: All nano-products must be labeled and safety data made
publicly available.
VI. Public Participation: There must be open, meaningful, and full public
participation at every level.
VII. Inclusion of Broader Impacts: Nanotechnology’s wide-ranging
effects, including ethical and social impacts, must be considered.
VIII. Manufacturer Liability: Nano-industries must be accountable for
liabilities incurred from their products.
Organizations can endorse the principles through: George Kimbrell <gkimbrell@icta.org>POSTCARD
FROM DENNIS BRUTUS US Social Forum, Atlanta, 27-29 June 2007 greetings
to all folks therein. atlanta/ussf went pretty well; exceeded expectations
of most. over 10,000 registered, attendance in all about 20,000; 900
workshops in churches, civic center and main library, encouraging support
of civic authorities. issues emphasised - as distinct from other forums;
concern for the disabled and gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered. stronger
emphasis on rights of indigenous peoples. some important projects were
initiated, including regional solidarity. perhaps most important - momentum
of social movements post Nairobi etc - was sustained; no swerve to rightward
more moderate direction - as was feared by some - and radical demands
asserted - exemplified by banner-slogan and text on publicity: Another
World is Possible; Another US is Necessary. congratulations and thanks
to all who made this possible. personal; took part in major Women's
Court event in Cathedral, Bush Impeachment Session in Central Library,
couple of poetry workshops, panels - No US Bases in Africa and elsewhere,
Future of Africa (troubling lack of knowledge of NEEPAD agenda being
bulldozed through Africa: some useful media work - especially directed
to South America and excellent interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy
Now. - best, dbCARBONS AND NUKES
From Zero Carbon Network Newsletter # 26 - 18/8/07
See also: www.nuclearfree.com.au
In Australia, the phoney nuclear debate continues - Weekend Australian,
Aug 18 ... At the APEC conference [Sydney, Sept] there will be a discussion
of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. In essence the objective of
GNEP is to provide justification for the sale of nuclear technology
to all countries regardless of whether or not they are a party to the
Anti Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. The idea is that the raw materials
from which nuclear weapons may be made will remain in the control of
the partnership; thus guaranteeing that the material can only be used
for peaceful purposes, i.e. for the generating of electricity. The strategy
of the nuclear lobby is simple. They will aim to demonstrate that as
long as the nuclear cycle is controlled by 'nice people', we have nothing
to worry about. They will point to advances in the engineering, which
makes the whole process 'safer'.
From [Prime Minister] Howard's address to a joint sitting of the Canadian
Parliament in May 2006: "In the energy area which is of course
allied to climate change, Canada and Australia have much in common.
We are the holders of the largest uranium reserves ... In May 2006 a
Senate Motion opposing import of nuclear waste was opposed by all Coalition
Senators.
After Howard's visit to Washington in May 2006, a new company was registered
in June 2006 - Australian Nuclear Energy Pty Ltd. Directors, Morgan,
Walker and de Crespigny (WMC) are major donors to the Liberal Party.
The company's business is nuclear power plants and an international
nuclear waste repository. In his interview with Katharine Murphy, The
Age, April 5, 2007, Morgan declared he was in for the long haul and
was considering power plants and waste dumps. At a uranium conference
in Adelaide in July 2006, he renewed his argument from the early 1980's
when WMC examined high-level nuclear waste storage: "To put together
an internationally managed repository would bring great standing in
the international community for Australia..." - Australian Financial
Review 3 August 2006. Morgan has promoted the idea of a global nuclear
waste dump for Australia in various media interviews including the ABC's
Jon Faine.
According to Anne Davies, Washington Correspondent for the Sydney Morning
Herald, a delegation of high-level officials from the US arrived in
Canberra in the week beginning 22 July 2007 to begin secret talks on
Australia's role in the GNEP. - Why is the media not joining the dots?
John Tons, ZCN President
ECOFEMINISTS STIR UP ECONOMISTS
Some eds may be interested in two transnational symposia on Ecofeminist
Perspectives in Ecological Economics held in conjunction with the International
Society for Ecological Economics Conference in New Delhi (Dec 06) and
the US Society for Ecological Economics Conference in New York (June
07).
More information: Ariel Salleh <treesprite@ozemail.com.au>
************
CNS eNews is a forum for sharing information on CNS workshops, new books
and articles, academic courses, activist campaigns, conferences, as
well as topics for future issues, and ideas for improving the journal's
style, content, outreach, and sponsorship.
eNews
March 2007
GRASSROOTS
ACTION Notes on the Nairobi WSF
CNS was modestly but actively represented at the seventh World Social
Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, held from the 20th to the 25th of January.
Terisa Turner and Leigh Brownhill, of Ontario and long-time investigators
within Kenya itself, brought the ecofeminist perspective to bear on
indigenous struggles. I connected with the active pro-Palestinian contingent
as a way of building relationships within that struggle. And Patrick
Bond, coordinator of our Durban group, led a large contingent from the
Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Patrick
was characteristically operating at warp speed. He estimated that he
was on three panels per day - for good reason, as there is nobody better
grounded in the political economy of the South.
The WSF itself was a mixed bag. Nairobi is a vital city, poisoned by
the toxicity of late-capitalist disintegration and strangled by nightmarish
traffic. The greatest burden is crime. Indeed, Nairobi seems to be bidding
for the laurel of the world’s number-one danger spot. The never
ending increase in the gap between rich and poor (with what has been
called the world’s largest slum), the flood of firearms (aggravated,
some said, by the latest US intervention in neighboring Somalia), a
culture of political corruption that extends to the police, even, perhaps
the aggressive individualism stemming from the fact that Kenya seems
to have been the African country least touched by socialism - all this
combines into an atmosphere that was downright frightening, and extended
into the precincts of the conference venue, where countless people had
one item or another filched, at least once at gunpoint. I got off lightly,
losing only a bag with some reprints and a book about Spinoza, but others
were relieved of laptops, vitally important papers, cell phones, etc.
And outside the conference a number of wanton murders - a friend who
lives there said that about fifty people had been killed in the course
of robberies in the past few months - suffused the whole atmosphere
with dread.
Then there are the chaos and confusion endemic to such an event, as
well as the overarching problem that afflicts the social forum movement,
that it inherently favors the NGO’s, with their built-in bureaucratic
conservatism, while being continually subject to co-optation by foundations.
But none of this can, as they say, kill the spirit, which bursts forth
in numberless forms and lifted our hopes. It may be a stretch to imagine
what is portended by the folks marching under a banner proclaiming that
“Another Western Sahara is Possible,” but it was wonderful
to see nonetheless. And many of the gatherings, often held in outlandish
settings such as different sections of bleachers at the national sports
complex, were nonetheless vibrant. One of the most promising lines concerns
CNS very directly, and should increasingly occupy our attention.
The Direction Forward
A special interest within the active Durban complex has been the emerging
politics of carbon justice, witness the recent release of their second
collection on the subject, Climate Change, Carbon Trading, and Civil
Society, edited by Patrick Bond, Rehana Dada, and Graham Erion (following
upon the publication in 2005 of Trouble in the Air). The essential point
is to subsume the struggle for a carbon-free world into that of environmental
justice. Terisa and Leigh are also actively engaged in this global movement,
as am I (working these days on a second edition of The Enemy of Nature
in which this theme has been foregrounded, and also on a video critique
of Al Gore, to be called “A Really Inconvenient Truth”).
Add in the recent Sydney conference on Global Warming, co-organized
by senior editors Ariel Salleh, Stuart Rosewarne, and the new CNS Associate,
James Goodman, and we see that our collective project is already moving
in this direction, as indeed it must.
In the matter of global climate change, all of the projects that occupy
CNS converge into a major opening in which our journal can make a tremendous
contribution to a humanly worthwhile future. We talk in the abstract
of ecosocialism, as the real transcendence of capitalism and its ecological
crisis. But ecosocialism is now given a concrete materiality. For the
“really inconvenient truth” is nothing other than the necessity
of breaking the logic of capital and its ceaseless drive to accumulate
in order to lift the curse of global warming. This defines the project
of CNS, and should do so in ever more focused and creative ways in the
period ahead.
One final note. We are thinking of having the next large-scale CNS conference
next year in Boston. More about this to come, but anyone interested
in contributing to planning should notify Danny Faber <dannyfaber@comcast.net>
as well as myself.
JoelECOLOGIA POLITICA
The 30 issues of the journal Ecologia Politica (in Spanish) from 1991
to 2005, edited by Joan Martinez Alier as a sister journal to CNS, are
now available in the web, www.ecologiapolitica.info
The journal continues to be published by Editorial Icaria, Barcelona,
under the editorship of Anna Monjo, Miquel Ortega, Ignasi Puig, and
Joan Martinez Alier. <Joan.Martinez.Alier@uab.catFROM THE WEBMASTER
Dave Channon writes:
I am building a web based contact network for CNS and your input would
be very helpful.
<http://www.cnsjournal.org/links.html>
CALL
FOR THEMATIC ISSUES
Anyone with ideas and energy for editing a special CNS issue ?
BOOKS
AND ARTICLES FROM EDS
Roger Gottlieb, A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and our
Planet’s Future (Oxford University Press, 2006) Roger Gottlieb
<gottlieb@wpi.edu>
Daniel Faber and Deborah McCarthy (eds.), Foundations for Social Change:
Critical Perspetives on Philanthropy and Popular Movements (Rowman &
Littlefield, 2005).
Daniel Faber <dannyfaber@comcast.net>
Joan Roeloffs (trans.), Victor Considerant, Principles of Socialism:
Manifesto of 19th Century Democracy, Washington Studies in World Intellectual
History, vol. 2.
Joan Roelofs is Professor Emerita of Political Science at Keene State
College, New Hampshire, an activist in Green and peace organizations,
and an editor of Capitalism, Nature, Socialism. Her broad interests
include French and British socialist thought, and practical decentralist
alternatives to globalization. She is the author of Greening Cities:
Building Just and Sustainable Communities (Bootstrap Press, 1996), and
Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism (SUNY Press, 2003).
Joan Roelofs <joan.roelofs@verizon.net>
Joan writes: Considerant’s Principes du Socialisme: Manifeste
de la démocratie au XIX siècle was first published in
Paris in 1843 as an introduction to a new journal, Démocratie
Pacifique, and then as a pamphlet in 1847. It was a predecessor and
important resource for Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto. Although
the leading disciple of "utopian" Charles Fourier, by the
1840s Considerant was promoting a moderate, eclectic variant of socialism.
Fourier's brilliant, eccentric visions of Harmonie had disappeared;
nevertheless, Considerant retained his basic principles of associated
labor; peaceful change; and a guarantee of adequate subsistence, work,
and education for all.
Considerant began his Manifeste by stating that the political principle
of democracy triumphed with the French Revolution, supplanting earlier
conceptions of right based on force or aristocratic birth. However,
after the Revolution, the economy had been left to chaotic free competition.
The result was increasing misery, hostility between capital and labor,
and the likelihood of revolution if a better system was not implemented.
A new feudal aristocracy of the wealthy capitalists had replaced the
old Nobility.
Monopolistic capitalism was decimating even the middle class, as small
owners and farmers lost all because of speculators, monopolists, and
the irrationality of free competition. Revolution and international
wars must be avoided by using social science, i.e., Charles Fourier's
theory of association, to organize society for peace and to ensure the
well being of all people. Communism was not the solution; both its appeal
to violent overthrow and its plan to equalize wealth were mistaken.
A new system was required for the productive development of resources,
which would recognize both the right to property and also the right
to work and an adequate standard of living. Political participation
should gradually be extended to all as the people's level of education
increased.
ISBN 0-944624-47-2 / 120pp $14.95
Independent Publishers - purchases - <frontdesk@ipgbook.com>
Maisonneuve Press - review copies - <orders@maisonneuvepress.com>
Title correction:
Patrick Bond, Rehana Dada and Graham Erion (eds.), Climate Change, Carbon
Trading and Civil Society: Negative Returns on South African Investments
(Amsterdam: Rozenberg, 2006). Patrick Bond <bondp@ukzn.ac.za>
FROM CNS MANAGING ED
Karen Charman writes:
Can editors please let me know their areas of expertise by sending in
a 100 word Bio.
Also please confirm how many submissions you can review per year - 3
is average.
Do you all have a copy of the CNS editing (format) guidelines?
Are you able to turn submitted articles around in 6 weeks?
Karen Charman <panaurora@earthlink.net>CONFERENCES
Global Warming: Energy Security or Energy Sovereignty?
University of Sydney, 2 March 2007
Global warming focuses our attention on energy supply. Can existing
non-renewable energy sources be cleaned-up? Should we shift to renewables
and how? Should we start with social and environmental justice? Should
we be questioning needs and looking at a reduction in energy-use, a
shift from growth-dependence to eco-sufficiency? Should we be talking
about energy security or energy sovereignty?
The first Australian CNS event was held at Sydney University on 2 March
07 organised by Stuart Rosewarme, Ariel Salleh, and James Goodman. It
was supported by the Department of Political Economy at the University
of Sydney and by the Research Initiative on International Activism at
the University of Technology Sydney. This day-conference brought together
speakers from non-government, corporate, party-political, and academic
contexts, to address economic challenges, international contexts, policy
possibilities, and community mobilisation. Around 80 people attended.
The program opened with Political Economy Perspectives chaired by Julie-Anne
Richards of the Climate Action Network, with presentations from Amanda
McCluskey, Portfolio Partners, "The Democratisation of share-ownership
and who really pays for climate change in the long term";
Tony Maher, CFMEU, "Democratic Energy Options"; Iain MacGill,
University of NSW, "The Politics of Renewables"; and Frank
Fisher, Swinburne University, "Thinking Rationally: Acting Green".
It moved on to explore Geopolitical Perspectives with Elaine Pryor,
CitiGroup, "Carbon trading: implications for Australian companies";
Gord Laxer, University of Alberta, "Canada's Tar Sands: America’s
new fuel tank?"; Noim Uddin, Macquarie University, "Sustainable
energy futures in developing Asian nations"; Cam Walker, Friends
of the Earth, "The Abuja Declaration on Energy Sovereignty".
The spectrum of Policy Perspectives was introduced by Arthur Rorris,
Secretary, South Coast Trades and Labour Council; Lee Rhiannon, Australian
Greens, "The Greens' Energy Policy"; and Geoff Evans, Mineral
Policy Institute, “Making Just Transitions”. A final panel
tapped into Community Perspectives with Nina Lansbury, Macquarie University,
"NGOs on Climate Change: Comparing Australia and the UK";
Steve Phillips, Rising Tide Newcastle, "At the coalface of climate
disaster - community action in the world's biggest coal port";
Cate Faehrmann, Nature Conservation Council "Mobilising the Community”;
Fran Bodkin, Dharawal Woman and author, “Indigenous Weather”.
Paul Brown, University of New South Wales, gave the thematic summary.
The dialogue was marked by several political fault lines - a major one
in Australia right now being the clash between environmental activists
and Green party versus trade unions reliant on coal mining for jobs.
This wedge is being manipulated by the Liberal (read conservative) Government
in the Federal election campaign. The fault line between North and South
was less explicit, though the unexamined eurocentric notions of the
"good life" held by some speakers were criticised both from
the floor and by the single indigenous speaker. The gender political
fault line remained implicit, though was very plain from the clustering
of women speakers in the Community panel.
Left
Forum
NYC, weekend of 9-11 March 2007 - <www.leftforum.org/leftforum2007/program.html>
Joel Kovel is active in the Israel/Palestine and Ecology sessions.
Victor Wallis is another CNS editor on the Left Forum program - chairing
a panel on "Social Critique in Science Fiction".
5th
International Conference of Critical Geography
Mumbai, 3-7 December 2007 Tata Institute of Social Sciences <www.5thiccg.org>
Between 1997 and 2005, four Critical Geography conferences have accomplished
much toward elaborating and refining critical geographies by stimulating
constructive debates, collaborative projects, and building connections
among critical geographers and other scholars and activists worldwide
(see the International Critical Geography Group web site, <http://econgeog.misc.hit-u.ac.jp/icgg/>.
Following these highly successful events, we invite you to join us,
the International Critical Geography Group, for the Fifth International
Conference of Critical Geography in Mumbai, India, 3-7 December 2007,
at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
The purpose of the conference is to provide an informal forum for politically
critical discussion and debate. We welcome all that are engaged in promoting
a critical politics, especially those related to the main conference
themes. The format of the conference will be varied and much more akin
to workshops, rather than the sort of activities typical of academic
meetings. The objective, besides promoting the further development and
diffusion of critical geographies, is to avoid a vertical transmission
of knowledge and to ensure a more democratic debate and effective progress
of ideas.
Conference theme: “Imperialism and resultant disorder: imperatives
for social justice”
The primary and overarching theme of the conference will be about imperialism
and social justice and their social (political-economic-cultural) and
environmental (socio-ecological, physical) aspects. Representatives
of political organisations, unions, and social movements will be invited
to address these inter-related issues.
Some thematic sessions are already in the process of being organised.
More information will be made available through the conference web site
as more sessions are organised. Please contact the organiser directly
if you would like to be included.
Valorising regions: modernisation and land usurpation
The session will focus on Special economic zones that have become a
significant option of the neo-liberal state in South Asia after China.
Contact: Swapna Banerjee-Guha <sbanerjeeguha@hotmail.com>
Land and other resource struggles in globalising cities and countrysides
The land question; Global take-over of water supplies by the few; Struggles
for control of the oceans and the question of over-fishing.
Contact: Blanca Ramirez <blare19@prodigy.net.mx>
Labour migration
Details will be forthcoming on the conference website.
Contact: Geraldine Pratt <gpratt@geog.ubc.ca>
Environmental justice and imperialism
Major issues covered will include social justice in regions exploited
for mineral and other resource, the impact of warfare, policing, and
militarism on people’s health (including the imprisonment of people),
the contribution of resource extraction regimes in different parts of
the world to the uneven making of national states and capitalism. Historical
examples are strongly encouraged that analyse strategies leading to
prevention or successes against environmental injustices.
Contact: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro <engeldis@newpaltz.edu>
Besides the above, we welcome a wide range of themes approached through
politically critical perspectives from activist, social movement, and
academic contexts. The following is by far not an exhaustive list of
examples of what could be covered under the framework of imperialism
and social justice:
Forced vulnerability to premature death in rural and urban settings
- Migration, displacement; Sexual and gender dissidence; Urban expansion,
rural transformations, rural-urban relations; Creation of precarious
jobs; Housing conditions and quality of life
Globalisation or imperialism?
- Supranational institutions and developing countries; National conflicts
and the role of imperialist powers; Ideologies of exclusion and exceptionalism
(dumping problems onto people living elsewhere); Militarisation and
security ideologies
Social movements: revolution or reform?
- Mobilisations against warfare; Political organising over migration
and forced displacement; The efficacy of struggles for wealth redistribution;
Global organising and effectiveness against global capitalist institutions;
Social movements and the question of resource access
Identity, community, solidarity
- National conflicts and the forging of identities and communities;
Contemporary issues of politics and religion; Islam and the gender question;
Multiculturality, cultural belongings, nation and culture; The stereotyping
of geographical regions and places and its repercussions; Strategies
for cross-cultural solidarity
Critical approaches and pedagogy
- New subjects and challenges; Imperialistic and technocratic scientific
discourses; Participative and alternative science; Questioning the “success”
of capitalism
Submitting abstracts, session descriptions / Deadline: 30th June 2007
Abstracts for paper/poster, performance, artwork
If you wish to present a paper (e.g., research results), a performance
(e.g., poetry), or artwork (e.g., photography), please submit a one-page
abstract or description of what you wish to present or issues you wish
to raise. Make sure to include your name, affiliation and/or complete
address, including e-mail, if applicable, the title of your presentation,
and any special needs (e.g., translation service, specific technological
media, wall space, chalkboard). Please note that we may not be able
to meet all your requests and that, for the sake of fostering dialogue,
we will not be able to accommodate more than five presenters per session.
If your institution or organisation requires that you submit a full-length
paper, please let us know so that we may be able to accommodate your
request.
Session descriptions (posters, workshops, roundtable discussions, etc.)
If you wish to organise a session, please submit the following information:
(1) a session title; (2) your name, affiliation, and complete address,
including e-mail, as applicable; (3) a one-page abstract or description
of what you wish to organise; (4) the names, affiliations, and contact
information of all invited presenters along with titles and half-page
abstracts or descriptions of all the presentations that will be featured
in the session; (5) any special needs (e.g., translation service, specific
technological media, wall space, chalkboard). Please note that we may
not be able to meet all your requests and that, for the sake of fostering
dialogue, we will not be able to accommodate more than five presenters
per session.
Conference participation format
To foster informal dialogue, the conference sessions will be organised
as open forums with a facilitator and translator, as needed.
Ten minute presentations
All presentations must be no longer than ten minutes, so as to give
plenty of time for people to engage in the issues raised in the session.
Make sure to focus only on the main point, questions, and/or findings
you wish to convey to the other participants. Avoid any academic jargon
or idiomatic expressions or slang; if this is unavoidable, ensure that
all terms are fully defined and explained in the abstract itself as
well as during the presentation. Using sketches and/or quoted text on
a projected transparency or chalkboard will be helpful. All session
participants will have the chance to read paper presentation abstracts
or performance and artwork descriptions prior to or during the conference
through the conference web site or the conference registration desk,
when the conference commences.
Sessions
Sessions must be carried out in an informal way and any academic jargon
or idiomatic expressions or slang, if introduced at all, must be fully
clarified and explained to the other participants. As session organiser,
you can elect to serve as facilitator or to seek someone else’s
help in facilitating the session. This can be done either prior to or
at the time of the session, whatever is most workable.
Please submit session and/or presentation abstracts/descriptions to
the conference coordinator at the following address:
Swapna Banerjee-Guha <sbanerjeeguha@hotmail.com> Professor of
Development Studies, School of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Post Box No.8313, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India
If you have problems posting materials through e-mail, please use the
following contact address:
Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro <engeldis@newpaltz.edu> Department of
Geography, SUNY New Paltz, 11 Hanmer House, 75 S. Manheim Blvd. New
Paltz, NY 12561, USA - tel: 1/845/2572991, fax: 1/845/2572992
Fees (in US Dollars) Deadline for reduced fee: 15th August 2007
Fees will cover the costs of registration and conference organising,
some simultaneous translation sessions (especially for keynote speakers),
inaugural and closing dinners, morning and afternoon teas and snacks,
and conference materials. For those wishing to participate in planned
field trips, there will be additional fees that will be specified in
due course. Payment procedures, registration form, and other information
will be posted to participants and will be available on the conference
web page <www.5thiccg.org>
Fees paid by 15th August 2007
Participants from Japan, Persian Gulf countries on the Arabian Peninsula,
North America, excluding Mexico, and Northern and Western Europe
Faculty 210 / Students 90
Participants from other countries
Faculty 75 / Students 25
Fees paid by 30th October 2007
Participants from Japan, Persian Gulf countries on the Arabian Peninsula,
North America, excluding Mexico, and Northern and Western Europe
Faculty 220 / Students 90
Participants from other countries
Faculty 85 / Students 25
Fees if paid at the conference
Participants from Japan, Persian Gulf countries on the Arabian Peninsula,
North America, excluding Mexico, and Northern and Western Europe
Faculty 230 / Students 90
Participants from other countries
Faculty 95 / Students 25
Fees for those observing, not officially participating (No conference
kit included)
Participants from Japan, Persian Gulf countries on the Arabian Peninsula,
North America, excluding Mexico, and Northern and Western Europe
Faculty 80 / Students 30
Participants from other countries
Faculty 50 / Students 20
We request colleagues to confirm their participation and complete the
payment requirements by 30th October, 2007. This will help make the
organisation of the conference more effective.
Conference venue and accommodations
The conference is hosted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
in Mumbai. Lodging information will be provided on the website for nearby
hotels. TISS does not have hotels in the immediate vicinity. Time distance
by taxi, bus or auto-rickshaw from the conference venue to each hotel
will be described on the hotel list. Hotel bookings must be made by
the participants. December being a tourist month in Mumbai, participants
are advised to reserve lodging well in advance. It will not be possible
for the organisers to guarantee any accommodation.
Less expensive lodging options for students and other qualified participants
A few rooms may be made available in the TISS hostel, details of which
will be included on the conference website once finalised. Such rooms
will only be available for students generally and for participants from
countries other than some of the OECD, as defined in the above fees
listing. Cheaper accommodations may also be available for the same qualified
participants at Mumbai University or at local research institutes, but
only for those registering by 15th August, 2007, and explicitly requesting
to be considered for such alternative lodging.
Meals
As meals will not be included as part of registration costs, we will
provide a wide range of options near the hotels and the conference venue.
A list of eating places with a map will be provided in the conference
kit. More information will also be available on the conference web site.
Conference schedule
Registration for the conference will start on 3rd December, 2007 at
11 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. The inaugural keynote address will be followed
by a Welcome dinner. Sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 4th
to 6th December. Day long field trips from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with four
options, will be organised for 7th December, followed by a closing dinner
in the evening. We will try to organise cultural events every evening
after the sessions.
** ** ** ** ** **
CNS
eNews January 07
Comrades
This mailout is the first of an occasional Capitalism Nature Socialism
bulletin or eNews.
Joel, Karen, Saed, and I had in mind something along the lines of the
old hard copy Eds Newsletter that Jim and Barbara did around 1990. But
this one will link into the journal website rather than fly through
the air on a postage stamp.
The idea is to help integrate our radical global network by exchanging
info on planned CNS workshops, recently published books and articles,
new academic courses and extra curricula activism, relevant non-CNS
conferences, as well as, topics for future thematic issues, and suggestions
for improving journal style, content, outreach, and sponsorship.
I've volunteered to set things in motion, but hopefully after a year
or so, this task can become the responsibility of another editorial
group, and later rotate again. For now, if you have news to share with
the CNS community, send it to:
treesprite@ozemail.com.au
Ariel
LOOKING
FOR SHORT TAKES
We are starting a new section in CNS, "Shorttakes," to be
compiled by Andi Weiss Bartczak of the New York editorial group. Quoting
her: "Shorttakes" will consist of short features, limited
to 500 words. I reserve the right to edit for length and jargon. I am
looking for such items as: the Op-Ed that wouldn't be accepted by a
newspaper; a letter to your society or to the world; advice to activists;
a question about process or method of activism; a description of a successful
action; a movie, record/CD/tape or book review for activists; a poem
or music with lyrics (printed).
"Shorttakes" should be in the personal mode, serious or humorous,
targeted to activists and thinkers. Your submission should support the
journal's mission of creating a critical red-green intellectual culture
in order to help develop red-green politics.
Please send submissions directly to Andi Bartczak andiwbartczak@yahoo.com
COLUMNIST
ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Kavita Philip has agreed to contribute as a regular CNS columnist from
California, but focusing on the global south. - In the next issue, she'll
update on the conference for India in December 07.
SYDNEY
CLIMATE CHANGE FORUM
Sydney CNS editors are working to enlarge the journal's base in Australia
by hosting a one day forum on Global Warming at the University of Sydney,
2 March 07.
Further information from Stuart Rosewarne S.Rosewarne@econ.usyd.edu.au
NEW
BOOKS AND ARTICLES FROM EDS
From
Rome, Giovanna Ricoveri writes: CNS-Ecologia Politica, the Italian journal
of political ecology, started in 1991. Last year the journal became
a monograph, and the board decided to publish at least one issue per
year. The editorial board remains; the publisher is now EMI, led by
Ottavio Raimondo. In 2005 we brought out Beni comuni tra tradizione
e futuro (The Commons between Past and Future) and last year - Ricccardo
Bocci and Giovanna Ricoveri (eds.), Agri-Cultura: Terra Lavoro Ecosistemi
(Agri-culture: Land Labor Ecosystems), EMI, Bologna, 2006, pp. 192,
Price euro 17 with CD. For 2007, we are working on two issues, one on
“the local” and another on “wars over natural resources”.
Agri-Cultura (2006) puts under trial the prevailing industrial and chemical
agricultural mode of production, which reduces the fertility of soil,
pollutes rivers, consumes large amounts of water, devalues agricultural
work and doesn’t guarantee food security. The vast majority of
the world population survives thanks to subsistence agriculture. But
subsistence is attacked by agribusiness multinationals in the North
(USA, Canada, Australia, Europe). The authors advocate learning from
the production experience and technical knowledge in small scale, organic,
and poli-functional agriculture. This should become yeast for a radical
change of both global economy and social values. - A copy of the Agricultura
contents page is attached.
Download
Table of contents PDF>>>
Giovanna
Ricoveri ricoveri2004@libero.it
would especially like to hear from bi-lingual Eds who might be able
to translate all or parts of the book for publication in English.
Hot
off the press from Durban: Patrick Bond, Rehana Dada and Graham
Erion (eds.), Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society: South
African CO2 Investments' Negative Eco-Social Returns (Amsterdam: Rozenberg,
2006).
An electronic version of the anthology may be available from Patrick
Bond bondp@ukzn.ac.za
Joel
Kovel's new book, Overcoming Zionism, will be published in
mid-to-late February by Pluto Press (US affliate, University of Michigan
Press). The book argues for a "one-democratic-state" solution
in Israel/Palestine on the grounds that Israel, as a "Jewish State,"
is necessarily and incorrigibly racist, along similar lines to Apartheid
South Africa - and thereby deserving of the same fate. Joel is interested
in travelling and speaking anywhere about the book and this subject.
Further info at <http://www.joelkovel.org>
: Contact <jskovel@gmail.org>
<jskovel@earthlink.net>
TEACHING
INNOVATIONS ...GRASSROOTS ACTION
Ariel Salleh is networking internationally to expand awareness of the
little known resolution for a "global moratorium on further GMO
releases" passed by the World Conservation Congress in 2004. The
IUCN Secretariat in Geneva is under corporate pressure to go slow on
implementing the moratorium mandate. This is no surprise, as the moratorium
proposal, sponsored by the Ecological Society of the Filippines, brings
us face to face with the fundamental immaturity of GM science. The call
for a moratorium by communities in the global south, challenges the
"business as usual" approach to "managing" GM risks
under national Biosafety regulation programs. The latter exercise in
repressive tolerance has merely served to suffocate GM debate in recent
years.
Further info on the IUCN website and from Ariel Salleh <treesprite@ozemail.com.au>.
2007
CONFERENCES
The World Social Forum is happening in Nairobi from 20-25 January 2007.
Information on all events is not available at time of posting, but the
next eNews will report-back.
CNS linked participants include Joel Kovel, CNS Editor-in-Chief; Patrick
Bond, Centre for Civil Society at University of KwaZulu-Natal; and ecofeminists
Terisa Turner and Leigh Brownhill of Guelph University.
A panel on Ecofeminism and Earth Democracy is planned; Vandana Shiva
has been invited to speak.
Centre for Civil Society WSF 07 Activities
Jan 21
The World Bank in Africa: What is it up to, why should you care, and
what can you do about it?
Bank Information Center - other organizations which may help lead the
session include:
Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South
Africa, Jubilee South,
Christian Aid, UK, National Association of Professional Environmentalists
(NAPE), Uganda
Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), South Africa, CEE Bankwatch
Network
African Perspectives on Nonviolence
'Ela Ghandi (South Africa)', 'Dennis Brutus (South Africa)', 'N.N. (Eritrea)',
'N.N. (Zimbabwe)',
Jan 22
Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation
and Power
Dag Hammarskjold Foundation with the Durban group on climate justice.
Opposing U.S. imperialism in the heart of the beast
Center for Economic Research and Social Change
Africa and the global political economy
RC02 Economy and Society Research Committee of the International Sociological
Association
The commodification of water: From social crisis to resistance
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
Global Civil Society: More or Less Democracy?
The Committee on Civil Society Research, Sweden
Jan 23
The Bamako Appeal and the WSF Process
Sociologists Without Borders - Thomas Ponniah, Sociologist Sin Fronteras
(SSF)', 'Chris Chase Dunn, RC02 Economy and Society Research Committee
of ISA', 'Immanuel Wallerstein', 'Dorothea Haerlin', 'Francine Mestrum',
'William Fisher', 'Judith Blau, Sociologists Sin Fronteras (SSF)', 'Patrick
Bond, Centre for Civil Society (CCS)', 'Francois Houtart'
Poetry & Protest: Dennis Brutus' life in the struggle
Aisha Karim and Lee Sustar, co-editors of the book, Poetry & Protest:
A Dennis Brutus Reader.
Where did the Second Superpower end?
TNI, Critical Network, NIGD - Nicola Bullard, Peter Waterman, Ruby van
der Wekken, Jai Sen, Christophe Aguiton, Gustavo Codas, Hilary Wainwright,
Michele De Palma, Immanuel Wallerstein, Moema Miranda, Michael Warschawski,
Teivo Teivainen, Giuseppe Caruso, Brutus
Jan 24
Energy Sovereignty: How do we get it?
International Oil Working Group, Friends of the Earth International,
Via Campesina, Environmental Rights Action Nigeria, groundWork South
Africa
CCS - Additional Activities
21 January - Revisiting the Bamako Appeal: Issues of democracy and substance
in world movement
Indian Institute for Critical Action: Center in Movement (CACIM) (Jai
Sen)
21 January - Global justice and ecological sustainability in management
of petroleum resources
ATTAC-Norway (Einaar Brathen)
22 January -The Role of the Church in Social Transformation
Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation
23 January - Open Space
Indian Institute for Critical Action: Center In Movement (CACIM)
** ** ** ** ** ** **
FROM
THE CNS MANAGING EDITOR
Karen writes: To improve our review and editing process, can Eds let
me know their areas of expertise by sending in a copy of your 100 word
Bio. Are you happy for it to go on the website?
Also, please confirm how many submissions you are willing to review
per annum - 3 is average. Contact Karen Charman managingeditor@cnsjournal.org.
CALL
FOR THEMATIC ISSUES
Suggestions are welcome along with offers to edit special CNS issues.
YOUR
IDEAS ON IMPROVING THE JOURNAL ** ** ** ** ** **
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