Volume , Number 0
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Quiddity
Z Staff
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Special Report
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The Right
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Experiments
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Fog Watch
Edward Herman
American Newspeak
Wayne Grytting
A Global Left
Andrej Grubacic
Green Tide
Martin Donohoe
Social Forum
Nick Dearden
Public Health
Mitchel Cohen
Conservative Watch
Bill Berkowitz
An interview with Hanan Ashrawi
David Barsamian
Reproductive Rights
Eleanor j. Bader
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Life After Capitalism
Z will be attending the third annual World Social Forum from January 23 to 28 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This year, interestingly, instead of the state where the event is held being friendly to it, the entire country is friendly, with the new president of Brazil, Lula, scheduled to participate.
The first World Social Forum had about 10,000 participants from around the world. The second had about 50,000. The best guess is that this year over 100,000 people will converge for WSF 3.
The World Social Forum is a gigantic conference of panels, presentations, and celebrations. The event has two overarching themes: (1) Get together; (2) “Another world is possible.” In short: solidarity and vision.
The WSF has thus far emphasized the first message—get together. It includes a huge number of diverse viewpoints, projects, organizations, and movements concerned with creating a vastly more just, equitable, and caring world. While participants don’t all see eye to eye, they have nonetheless begun to develop a mutually supportive solidarity that is prerequisite to winning change.
Similarly, the WSF slogan, “Another World Is Possible,” has propelled the second message to pay attention to vision—on economics, politics, race, gender, ecology, and international relations. Participants have taken seriously the question, “What do you want?”
But beneath these shared and prioritized themes, two central tensions have characterized the WSF project to date. The first concerns who decides the WSF’s content and focus.
The WSF undeniably evolved from the top down. It was first an idea in very few heads. Key actors in Brazil have done the bulk of the work, but others in Europe, largely from French ATTAC, also participated, particularly in the planning. From its inception, there have been efforts to involve people outside those central circles in decision making—people who represent constituencies and organizations around the world. Accomplishing that, in a large and international operation, is bound to be difficult, which is one reason why it has been slow for the WSF. It must be admitted, as well, that those in charge haven’t been eager to give up the reigns. Nonetheless, there is progress and democratization seems within plausible range, assuming that the struggle continues and that advocates of participation and democracy make their desires and effective alternative approaches strongly felt.
What is perhaps a more important fact about WSF participation and democracy, however, is its proliferation. What began as a week of events in Porto Alegre has in three years stimulated activity all over the world. In Italy, which is an exceptional example but perhaps also a barometer, over 100 cities and towns have their own Social Forums. While Italy is the biggest success story, it is not alone in generating local activity. There are forums in cities, towns, and regions across the world, most recently in the United States. These proliferating forums are locally organized, focused, and motivated. The central WSF messages, to promote solidarity and vision, characterize the local projects too. Something is happening in all this venue building and coming together that is, at the grassroots, very participatory.
The second tension—after decision making—characterizing the WSF process has to do with its overall aims. Some argue that the WSF can only have so many gatherings before it is repeating itself. More, why gather if it is not to move on to some greater degree of organization. Shouldn’t we be increasing capacities for local shared activity as well as developing a shared international agenda? This tendency says, okay, we are moving forward, but now let’s build on our successes to generate a new kind of international movement. The countervailing opinion, however, is that the venue-building project should not be risked by trying to accomplish too much, too soon. The WSF should keep on with what has worked and leave the rest until well in the future.
Our own inclination is to feel that until the internal democracy problem is better dealt with, the goal of an international activist umbrella organization, or movement of movements, is out of reach. But, we also think that once greater international democratic representation and accountability are at hand, it will make sense to promote not only a forum agenda, but also an activist one.
Of course, in thinking about moving toward a higher degree of international unity and shared agenda, the question arises, how would an activist-oriented Social Forum (or other mechanism) combine all the many differences in politics and analysis of the participants without splitting at the seams?
One way might be to consider how a society combines different tendencies without splitting apart. Maybe the WSF, as an activist international, could become the sum total of all its participants, including all their agendas and contradictions.
From our perspective, one of the greatest needs of the WSF process if it is going to move toward an activist agenda is for radical activists to develop a greater coherence around new vision and strategy. In light of those feelings, Z has allied with a Brazil-based organization, Porto Alegre 3, to co-sponsor a conference within the WSF conference called “Life After Capitalism.”
At this year’s WSF, Life After Capitalism (LAC) will present sessions on program, strategy, and vision for 16 areas of social involvement including media, art, sexuality, work, religion, consumption, race, ecology, family life, education, class, international relations, health, the city, cyberspace, and globalization. It will have sessions presenting various economic and political visions and then also exploring and debating them. There will be sessions in which representatives from some of the major major movements all around the world—Brazil, Italy, India, Argentina, the U.S., England, etc.—present their organizing perspectives and then contrast and debate them, trying to see whether, indeed, they could become parts of an international “movement of movements.”
Finally, LAC will bring its roughly 60 presenters together for various evening panels and discussions among themselves, trying to develop ties between their respective projects and also to discern common themes, as well as differences, that could be presented publicly near the end of the event.
Our intention is that the Life After Capitalism discussion will not end January 28. Conferences are wonderful, or can be. But what matters more is continuing the exchanges. To those ends, we will maintain a website at (www.zmag. org/lac.htm) that will feature as many of the LAC presentations as we can transcribe. We will also facilitate on-going discussions among the participants and with people throughout the represented movements.
So if you are going to be in Porto Alegre, by all means check out the Life After Capitalism events. We look forward to seeing you there. If you can’t make it to Brazil, don’t despair. We are going to transcribe as much as possible for the website. Also, we will be filming many LAC sessions, which will be available sometime in March from Z Video Productions.
Z Magazine Archive
Announcements
OCCUPY TOGETHER - Occupy Together is the unofficial hub for the various occupations springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. Towns and cities worldwide are participating.
Contact: http://www.occupytogether.org/.
MAY DAY - May 1 is May Day, also International Workers Day, celebrating the successful fight of workers for rights such as the eight-hour workday. A General Strike is called for May Day by many groups, and events are planned worldwide.
Contact: http://maydayunited.org/; http://www.may1.info/; info@maydayunited.org.
LABOR - The 2012 Labor Notes Conference, themed Solidarity for the 99%, will be held May 4-6, in Chicago. Thousands of union members, officers, and grassroots labor activists will attend the event, which features workshops, meetings and organizing opportunities.
Contact: 313-842-6262; http:// labornotes.org/conference.
MARIJUANA MARCH - On the first Saturday of May (this year: May 5) marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.
Contact: http://globalcannabismarch.com; http://cannabis.wikia.com.
AMERICAN MUSLIMS - KinderUSA will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a Fundraising Banquet Dinner in Los Angeles on May 5. The keynote speaker will be Norman Finkelstein. KinderUSA was founded as a group of concerned humanitarians and physicians, and has become a leading American Muslim charity organization helping families through health development and emergency relief.
Contact: http://www.kinder usa.org/.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE - SWAN (Service Women’s Action Network) will present Truth and Justice: The 2012 Summit on Military Sexual Violence in Washington, D.C. on May 8. The conferences will give survivors the opportunity to share their stories with congressmembers, policy experts and the general public; with key panels by military law and policy experts on major topics involving military sexual violence and survivors’ access to justice.
Contact: http://truthandjustice summit.org/.
MEDIA - The Alliance for Community Media Youth Summit 2012 will be held May 8 at Pierce College in Philadelphia, PA. The summit will consist of four one-day symposia that provide a public forum for discussion about media and news literacy in America. Participants will include educators, community leaders, media professionals, journalists, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and students.
Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org.
MOMS/BOMBS - Moms Against Bombs and the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action will honor the long history of women’s resistance to injustice, war and nuclear weapons on May 12. A full day of activities is planned, including Orientation to the Trident Nuclear Weapons System, Nonviolence Training, Action Planning and Preparation, Mother’s Day Proclamation for Peace, and a Vigil and Nonviolent Direct Action at the Bangor Trident Submarine Base.
Contact: Anne Hall, 206- 545-3562, annehall@familyhealing.com; gznonviolencenews@yahoo.com; www.gzcenter.org.
MOTHER’S DAY/PEACE - The Mother’s Day Walk for Peace began in 1996 for families who had lost their children to violence. On a day that celebrates mothers and children, the Walk became a place for families and friends to feel support and love with thousands of others who pledge their commitment to peace.
The day has also become a way for thousands of people to financially support the work of the Louis Brown Peace Institute. Mother’s Day is May 13.
Contact: http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/; http://www.ldb peaceinstitute.org/.
BRECHT FORUM - The Beginning Is Near: An Evening with Michael Moore & Cornel West, a special benefit for the Brecht Forum, will be held May 18 at Hunter College in New York City.
Contact: https://brechtforum.org.
LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s 44th annual conference, A Century of Bread and Roses, is scheduled for May 18-20 in Tacoma, WA.
Contact: PNLHA, 2402-6888 Station Hill Drive, Burnaby, BC, V3N 4X5; 604-540-0245; pnlha@shaw.ca; www.pnlha.org.
HOMELESSNESS - PM Press and First Presbyterian Church will host author Summer Brenner at the Conference on Homelessness on May 19 in Palo Alto, CA.
Contact: First Presbyterian Church, 1140 Cowper Street, Palo Alto, VA 94301; http://www.pmpress.org/.
NATO/G8 - The Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda is organizing protests at the NATO and G8 meetings being held in Chicago, May 19-21. A legal, permitted, family-friendly march and rally are planned for May 19. An Occupy Chicago month-long occupation is being planned to begin May 1. The Network for a Nato-Free Future and American Friends Service Committee will also be hosting a Counter-Summit for Peace and Economic Justice May 18-19 at People’s Church in Chicago.
Contact: http://cang8.wordpress.com/about/; http://www.natofreefuture.org/.
ANARCHY FEST - A month-long Festival of Anarchy is scheduled for May in Montreal. The festival includes The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 19-20).
Contact: http://www.radical montreal.com/;http://www.anarchist bookfair.ca/.
TRUTHDIG - Truthdig.com will be gathering May 20-25 in New Mexico with other concerned people to assess current prospects for progressive change. Speakers include Dennis Kucinich and Chris Hedges.
Contact: http://www.truthdig.com/event/santafe.
FEMINIST SCI-FI - The feminist science fiction convention WisCon 36 is scheduled for May 25-28 in Madison, Wisconsin, featuring discussion and debate of sci-fi/fantasy ideas relating to feminism, gender, race and class.
Contact: WisCon, c/o SF3, PO Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701; concom35@wiscon.info; www.wiscon.info.
MULTICULTURE - The 25th Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) holds its annual conference May 29 -June 2 in New York City.
Contact: Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405- 325-3694; www.ncore.ou.edu.
BIKING - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides scheduled, music, exhibitors and more.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mail@bikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.
RADIO - The 37th Annual Community Radio Conference is scheduled for June 13-16 in Houston, TX with discussions and workshops.
Contact: National Federation of Community Broadcasters, 1970 Broadway, Suite 1000, Oakland, CA 94612; 510-451 -8200; conference@nfcb.org; www.nfcb.org.
PEOPLE’S SUMMIT - The People’s Summit for Social and Environmental Justice during Rio+20 is an event by global civil society that will take place between the 15 and the 23 of June at Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro—alongside the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio+20.
Contact: contato@rio2012. org.br; http://cupuladospovos.org.br/en/.
ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ACD) holds its annual conference June 21-24 in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops on civil rights, media, the Mideast, etc.
Contact: ADC, 1732 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington DC, 20007; 202-244-2990; convention@adc.org; www.adc.org/convention.
MEDIA - The 14th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 28-July 1 at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Participatory workshops and skillshares will emphasize DIY alternative media to advance visions of a just and creative world.
Contact: Allied Media Projects, 4126 Third St., Detroit, MI 48201; www.alliedmediacon ference.org.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 7-10 in Las Vegas, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
PEACESTOCK - On July 14 the 10th Annual Peace- stock: A Gathering for Peace will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. Peacestock (formerly “Pigstock”) is a mixture of music, speakers, and community for peace. The event is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 115 and has a peace-themed agenda.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.
POPULAR ECONOMICS - The Center for Popular Economics is holding its 2012 Summer Institute July 23-27 at Columbia University in New York City. No background in economics is needed for this intensive training. This year’s theme is Economics for the 99%.
Contact: Center for Popular Economics, PO Box 785 Amherst, MA 01004; 413-545-0743; programs@populareconomics.org; www.populareconomics.org.
CUBA/PASTORS - The 23rd annual Pastors for Peace Friendship Caravan to Cuba is scheduled for
July1-July 31. Volunteers will travel across the U.S and Canada collecting aid and educating about the unjust blockade against Cuba, before an orientation in Texas July 15-18, followed by an education program in Cuba July 21-29, and finally a return back to the U.S. People can participate by attending or hosting local events, donating materials, or sponsoring a traveler.
Contact: IFCO/Pastors for Peace, 418 W. 145th St., New York, NY 10031; 212-926- 5757; cucaravan@igc.org; www.pastorsforpeace.org.
COMMUNITY MEDIA - The Alliance for Community Media 2012 National Conference is scheduled for July 31-August 2 in Chicago. Hands-on workshops and skillshares will be offered by this grassroots coalition of community media groups. This year’s theme is Collaborate!
Contact: ACM, 1760 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500, McLean, VA 22102; www.alliancecm.org.
VETERANS - Veterans for Peace is holding the 27th annual convention August 8-12 in Miami, FL. This year’s theme is, Liberating the Americas: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contact: Veterans For Peace, 216 S. Meramec Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-725-6005; www.vfpnationalconvention.org
COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events and entertainment; scheduled for August 31-September 3 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.
Contact: Twin Oaks Communities Conference, 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, VA 23093; 540-894-5126; conference@ twinoaks.org; www.communitiesconference.org.


