Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 19:47:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Nick Treanor <•••@••.•••>
X-Sender: •••@••.•••
Reply-To: Nick Treanor <•••@••.•••>
To: "Richard K. Moore" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Int. Seminar GLOBALISATION and RESISTANCE (fwd)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Hi, Richard!
I don't know whether you have a subscription to A-Infos or not, but in
case this notice hasn't come to your attention, I thought I should send it
along to you, f.y.i.
All the best,
Nick Treanor (a cj-subscriber-ppi-list-member-and-again
(finally?)-cj-subscriber) :)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: (en) Int. Seminar GLOBALISATION and RESISTANCE
________________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/
________________________________________________
International Seminar
GLOBALISATION and RESISTANCE
The Social and Environmental Effects of "Free" Trade
Geneva, 16 to 31 August 1998
THIS IS A SEMINAR about the 800 million people who go hungry everyday, about
the women whose health is destroyed working in the textile industry for
miserable wages, about the indigenous peoples massacred by multinationals
for defending their lands, about the freedom of exploitation caused by
"free" trade.
About peasants squatting land all across the planet, about the battles
against big dams and other megalomaniac projects, about the struggle of the
Zapatistas in Chiapas, about the women and men who are daily defying
patriarchy, about the squatting of houses and streets to the rhythm of
drums, about the self governance of the thousands of workers who have taken
over their factories.
We have organised it to inform you and to heat up your adrenaline, to
inspire your rage and strengthen your hope.
CONTENTS
********
The seminar is divided into five blocks. The first block starts by defining
a series of basic concepts, such as development, globalisation,
neoliberalism, gender and sustainability. This is followed by a historical
perspective of development, from colonialism until the present day. (3 days)
The second block will be dedicated to theoretical descriptions and practical
discussions about gender relations, the environment, culture and technology.
(2 days)
In the third block, we will put the themes discussed in the second block
into more concrete terms, focussing on the study of the "development" of
agriculture and rural societies. In this block we will place a special
emphasis on the environmental, cultural and gender impact of the Green
Revolution and modern biotechnologies and patents on life. ( 2 days )
In the fourth block, we focus on studying the rules which shape the
globalised world in which we live. We will talk about the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), and its trade treaties which govern the world, the
financial casino which moves billions of dollars electronically every day,
regional integration agreements (such as Maastricht and NAFTA), and about
the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, which is currently being imposed
on us. We will also talk about the agreements which attempt to solve
environmental problems created by globalisation, such as the Climate
Convention, the Biodiversity Convention and the Montreal Protocol.. (4 days)
Finally, in the last block, we will discuss power structures and the
alternatives to such structures. We will analyse who runs the world today,
and how, and we will explore different alternatives. There will be
discussion of the pros and cons of diverse forms of action and of
organisation. As the last part, we shall talk about various processes of
co-ordination which can exist at different levels. (3 days)
The speakers will include a variety of activists, academics, authors and
representatives of different organisations. Some of them will be well known
authorities in their fields, some others unknown but experienced
practitioners. We will invite representatives of Indigenous peoples (who
will be in Geneva at the time of the seminar, participating in the UN
Working Group on Indigenous peoples) to come and talk about their struggles.
And we will also invite official representatives of several international
institutions and NGOs to talk - including people who will have a very
different view of the world than the organisers (for instance, we hope that
a representative of the World Trade Organisation will hold a workshop).
PARTICIPATION
*************
The seminar is open to everyone, regardless of age, previous knowledge or
experience around the issues.
The seminar will be held in the garden of a big house beside the Lake of
Geneva, just outside town. We'll be able to use the kitchen and bathrooms of
the house, but the seminar itself will be outdoors (excepting rainy days).
You should bring a camping tent and a sleeping bag with you. If you have no
possibility to get hold of a tent, let us know beforehand and we'll try to
find place for you.
Since the programme is dense and complicated, there will be some free time
to consolidate concepts, rest your minds, chat with other people. The
seminar will combine educational sessions in the mornings with workshops in
some afternoons. There will be two free days, and in 8 afternoons there will
be workshops, discussions, videos, dances, lake swimming, games, or what
else people want to do. For these activities we are counting on the
initiative and creativity of the participants, so remem-ber to bring your
videos, musical instruments, games materials, and sense of fun.
You'll have to be prepared for helping out with domestic work (cleaning,
cooking, etc) and to survive on vegetarian food (although you can of course
bring meat for self consumption). We also count on your respect for the
people whose garden we'll squat. And you'll also have to be prepared to live
for the two weeks in a group where no forms of discrimination or aggression
will be tolerated; there is enough of that out there, so we do not want to
deal with it also at the seminar.
LANGUAGES
*********
The seminar will be held in English and French. Depending on the interest,
there might also be translation into German and / or Italian.
FEES
****
The participation fee (which includes a place to put up your tent and food)
will differ depending on the region where the participant lives. For people
living in very rich Western countries (Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands,
France, etc) the fee will be 250 Swiss Francs (around 166 US$). For people
living in rich Western countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc) the fee will
be 200 Swiss Franks (about 133 US$). For most other people, the seminar will
be either for free or very cheap. For people staying only for a few days, a
DAILY fee of 15 Swiss Francs will be charged, no matter whether you live in
very rich or just rich countries.
THE ORGANISERS
**************
We are people who work together for social and environmental justice and
gender equality. We come from different places and work together but in an
autonomous manner, since we are all sick of big organisations (especially
political parties and other groups with their eyes on power). We do not have
a name or a legal status. We work on issues that are of concern to us,
hoping to inform and inspire as large and diverse a range of people as possible.
Interested?
***********
Send this form to the address below and we'll send you more information
Seminar "Globalisation and Resistance", c/o IAS. 5, Rue Samuel Constant.
1201 Geneva, Switzerland. E-mail •••@••.•••
Name:
Address:
Country:
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
Organisation/collective (if applicable):
Do you need a Swiss visa?:
How many days do you intend to come for? From until
Can you bring a camping tent? Can you share it with someone else?
Would like to organise any activity for the free time sessions? If yes,
please describe
***A-INFOS DISCLAIMER - IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE***
A-Infos disclaims responsibility for the information in this message.
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