Education for Socialists

Rosa Luxembourg:

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:00:27 PDT

Essayist, memoirist, and critic Vivian Gornick, author of The Men in My Life and Fierce Attachments, and Paul LeBlanc, professor of history at La Roche University and editor of Rosa Luxemburg: Reflections and Writings.
Hosts: Marissa Brostoff
Broadcast Date: Jun 12 2011 Beyond the Pale

Rosa Luxemburg was a revolutionary icon, a pathbreaking Marxist theorist, and, according to the editors of Verso's new volume of her correspondence, a "fanatical" letter writer. Gornick and LeBlanc discuss--and debate--what Luxemburg's letters can tell us about women and communism at the dawn of the Soviet era.

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SLIDESHOW Countering the racist lies & building solidarity with refugees

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:53:35 PDT

[These are presentation notes to accompany the Powerpoint Presentation which was delivered by Paul Benedek to a refugee forum organised by the Socialist Alliance in Brisbane on October 27th, 2009 ]

Introduction

Focus of this is on countering the dangerous, racist lies – from politicians, from media – that create climate of fear, of scapegoating. Just what is behind this “fortress Australia” policy?

As Alex – Tamil spokesperson for the boat currently in Indonesia, where a recent hunger strike was held – told GLW: “When people are fleeing war and genocide, how can a country think protecting themselves is more important than helping these people? The world is for all of humankind, we are just like you except we do not have a country.”

“We are refugees and we want to get away from genocide”, Alex said. “There are women and children on board here. And we are not animals, we are people, but we are being treated inhumanely.”

Countering the racist lies & building solidarity with refugees

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The “Indonesia Solution”

New refugee colonialism – Australia using political pressure, and money, to “outsource” detention of (primarily Tamil) refugees to Indonesia. Tens of millions to Indo to halt and detain people fleeing genocide.

This is a slightly altered version of Howard Govt’s “Pacific Solution” – where poor countries like Nauru were bullied and bribed into being a dumping ground for refugees.

The idea of both these policies – Howard’s Pacific Solution and Rudd’s Indonesia Solution – is this: minimize Australia’s responsibility to these desperate people. Prevent them from reaching Australian territory and thus having access to the basic laws of Australia. The Howard govt even went so far as to excise parts of Australia – to say in effect “no you haven’t reached Australia, you still have no rights”. This policy came in the wake of the Tampa, where scapegoating refugees was used to win an election. Rudd is now following the same line…

These old Pacific and the new Indonesian solutions are not merely about 2 similarly placed countries jockeying about who takes refugees. It is essentially the rich, first world – which is massively better resourced to resettle refugees – putting up a fortress, and instead forcing refugees to poor countries. A sort of new “refugee imperialism”. Even have TV shows to underline the message “border security”!

Worse:

Indonesia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, meaning no guarantee of accepting refugees and giving them rights (indeed, few countries between the Middle East and Australia have signed the Refugee Convention).

Indonesia of course very poorly equipped to resettle people who have experienced war, genocide, trauma, psychological distress, injuries, torture and more. Lets be clear on this – even when listed with the UNHCR as a refugee, in Indonesia not permitted to seek employment, send children to school, or apply for residency

Now reports of detention centres in Indonesia where Tamil refugees are being beaten. So we went through long campaign end brutality of mandatory detention, to close horror camps like Woomera and Baxter…..yet these new “outsourced” camps are worse!

Recent report on Indonesia's detention centres: "... babies and children reside in maximum security

third-world jails"; asylum seekers "treated like animals. There are beatings fairly frequently at the hands of Indonesian military and Immigration officials. If anyone escapes the rest who are left behind will be beaten as a warning." In places like Mataram, Lombok, there are rats running around….extremely cramped conditions….People can't lie down at the same time so they can't sleep at the same time. In a prison in Pontianak ... around 50 men and unaccompanied boys are locked up in a big cell just smaller than a tennis court, a concrete cell behind bars. It's very hot and steamy and when the men do their business it flows into a ditch behind the building and just sits there and the stench is unbelievable.

Not just Indonesia – also Malaysia. Socialist Party of Malaysia statement against ‘collusion with Sri Lankan govt’ (note MSP will be at SA Conf)

Hundreds of Sri Lankan asylum seekers held at the Immigration Detention Centre at Kuala Lumpar Airport + another Detention Centre. Many women and children, including a woman in her 8mth of pregnancy

Reports that the Sri Lankan embassy were forcing a group of Sri Lankan refugees to sign agreements for repatriation – when refused to sign the agreements, the embassy personnel beat and kicked them to force them to sign the agreement.

UNHCR and HRC of Malaysia denied access to the refugees. Yet SL govt officials can.

Despite some having UNHCR status, cant work. Of course, must work, so do so illegally, opening up to abuse. What if boss doesn’t pay them? Opens them to extortion.

The global refugee situation and Australia’s role

But to get a full understanding of whats happening in Australia and the region and with the Tamil refugees, it’s important we put it in the context of the global refugee situation.

There are around 42mill refugees and internally displaced people officially – however that no doubt understates the figure. It still doesn’t include the growing number of climate change refugees, which are not yet officially included in the UN definition of refugees. The amount of refugees globally is on the rise - wars, conflict, poverty and the effects of climate change are causing this. According to Amnesty, 1 person in 115 on the globe is a refugee

So what is Australia’s role in this global tragedy? Surely we are always told we are such a “generous” country?! Well, Australia's refugee intake is tiny in relation to this global situation. –Australia houses 1 refugee for every 1600 people. Compare to Tanzania, a poor country – 1 in 76. In Switzerland, 1 in 160.

Australia takes around 13,000 refugees per year total – at the start of the 1980s it was 20,000. The 1500 or so boat arrivals this year is just over 10% of the total refugees we will take. It is just over 1% of immigration (134,000). . Fewer than 1600 asylum seekers have come to Australia by boat this year. Labelling this a “surge” is a sham. Australia is in a position to take many more refugees than it now does.

Aren’t they “illegals”?

Rudd, the opposition and the media have casually used the false term “illegal immigrants” to describe the refugees.

To demonstrate their “illegality”, the navy is used to “repel” these people, as if they are an invading army….rather than desperate men, women and children seeking safety from war and genocide.

However, we must be clear – there is no such thing as an “illegal” asylum seeker. Both the UN refugee convention, and Australian law, make it perfectly clear that it is legal for people seeking asylum to do so in another country – whether they have papers or not, whether they arrive by boat or not – it is perfectly legal to seek asylum, and they have a right to be heard.

Indeed, when their cases are heard – after sometimes months or years being locked away cruelly after already experiencing the horror of displacement – around 85% are found to fulfil refugee criteria.

[By the way, this does not mean that the other small amount are ‘rorting’ the system, just that they may not fulfil the strict criteris….for example, people fleeing Tuvulu as their island goes under would not, under current law, receive refugee status.]

Boatpeople are ‘queue jumpers’, stealing the places of ‘genuine’ refugees waiting patiently in camps for their turn at orderly processing by the UNHCR

There is no such queue. In many places, there is no UNHCR office and no Australian embassy – including Iraq and Afghanistan

Now, I looked up Sri Lanka, yes there is a UNHCR! And indeed several offices - Colombo,

Vavuniya, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Batticaloa. However, please note that you can only apply to the Colombo office for refugee status. The UNHCR Field Offices cannot entertain any applications for refugee status. Great. So all a Tamil has to do is get free from the camps and go to the heart of Sri Lanka and then they may have a chance…..?!

Of course, actually going to a UNHCR office and/or expressing a desire to leave may literally put your life at risk or expose you to danger. It is in a countries interest to prevent a refugee reaching the UNHCR, since such an application for asylum is an indication of persecution or war in that country.

Even if you do gain UNHCR status, it can mean little. Australia has not taken one UNHCR refugee from Indonesia in the last 3 yrs! 24 of those who recently died when their ship sank off the coast of Indonesia had already been granted refugee status by the UNHCR in Jakarta.

Finally, the concept of a queue, in a humanitarian view, is ridiculous. Imagine the Victorian bushfires, being told – “well sorry, the limit is 10 per week….you’ll have to wait your turn….yet the 170 deaths in these bushfires is indeed small compared to the daily toll in Sri Lanka.

Myth: Refugees cost “us” greatly

Millions is being poured into “border control” - including for the military. Now tens of millions is being given to Indonesia to run what could be described as torture camps to “outsource” the Australian governments dirty work. Mandatory detention cost $104 per day – up until recently, disgustingly, refugees were billed for this amount – one Iranian refugee who suffered depression after 4yrs in detention, was billed for $268,000!

The government is even sending furnished shipping containers from the Baxter detention centre — suspected of dangerously high formaldehyde content — to Christmas Island to house asylum seekers there.

A humane policy, that welcomed refugees and helped them settle here and build a better life, would be far less costly. Of course refugees can’t “contribute” when they are stuck in detention centres whether on Xmas Island or Indonesia, hunger striking for their rights. Instead of money being spent on razor wire, extreme security, military ships patrolling…money should be going to resettlement services, to help refugees join in the community, find work, housing, education, much needed healthcare and more.

For example – a parole system, with refugees living in the community, would cost $5.39 per day – compared to $104 per day for mandatory detention

Myth: Cracking down on ‘people smugglers’ will stop asylum seekers reaching Australia

While there are no doubt people smugglers who attempt to make the most money possible and often put asylum seekers lives at risk, the fundamental, unmistakable fact remains that ‘people smugglers’ fulfill a service that is absolutely necessary for those that use them.

As the barriers go up in on the rich-world fortresses, as the numbers of refugees to be taken by countries that have the resources to take them are inhumanely low, and as refugee services are unable to reach those suffering war or genocide – then asylum seekers are forced to turn to people smugglers to get to a country where they may gain sanctuary.

A simple question to the most racist, the most hardline, the Wilson Tuckeys or Philip Ruddock’s….if you and your loved ones were in a Tamil concentration camp; had seen other family killed; knew the monsoon season and horrific illness and death were coming…..if you had a chance to get out by a people smuggler, would you take it?

Kevin Rudd calls them “'scum of the earth' who should 'rot in jail and rot in hell'. But should Oskar Schindler was a “people smuggler”; a poor fisherman who tries to ferry a bunch of his community and himself to safety is a “people smuggler”. I have heard a brave Afghan Chaman Shah here in Brisbane say openly “without a people smuggler I would be dead”.

There is a humane way to undermine people smuggling….and that is, for well resourced governments like Australia to massively boost its refugee intake, and to facilitate refugees coming here. If those facing war and persecution knew that Australia – and other first-world countries – would let them in and help them get to countries like Australia, they wouldn’t have to risk their lives seeking refuge.

The navy ships that try to keep refugees out, that monitor leaky boats, that even – in the horrific case of the SIEV-X – appear to stand by while desperate refugee boats sink and hundreds drown….these navy ships instead could be used to bring people safely to Australia and settle them quickly into the community.

MYTH: Won’t a humane policy ‘open the floodgates’ and we will be ‘swamped’ by refugees?

Firstly, its worth noting that pre 1992 mandatory detention didn’t exist. There were no floods then, no swamping – just an ebb and flow of asylum seekers depending on the global situation, with applicants in hostels, who then went into the community once they had their refugee status.

This is the otherside of the argument that harsh policies will stop refugees coming. The reality is, regardless of the policies, refugees will flee when they need to. Yet – much as it crushes the inflated nationalism of Australians - refugees don’t want to be here! Given a choice, the vast majority would rather be in the places they and their families grew up in, where the language is familiar, where they are connected to the culture – as long as their lives were not at risk. The Tamils would rather be in Tamil Eelam – if there wasn’t genocide occurring. The Iraqis want to be in Iraq, the Afghanis in Afghanistan, where it not being bombed and occupied. A good eg is East Timor – despite being one of the poorest countries on earth, the vast majority of East Timorese who had sought refuge actually returned to this poor country when it finally won independence.

So, sorry, but there isn’t hordes ready to swarm Australia – they actually prefer a bit of culture to this redneck enclave!

Want to get rid of refugees? Then stop creating them!

The irony of the Australian govt formulating such anti-refugee policy, is that Australia has played an active role in creating refugees.

Australia eagerly was part of the coalition of the killing in the invasions and occupations of both iraq and Afghanistan – both creating tens or hundreds of thousands of refugees (along with killing over 1mill people in the case of Iraq).

In the case of Sri Lanka, Australia has been a close ally of Sri Lankas brutal govt, never whispering a word of caution as Sri Lanka engages in genocidal policies. [Joint military training?]

Another area where Australia is helping create refugees is the daily growing crisis of climate refugees, displaced from low-lying countries that are going under water, having their crop land poisoned by salt water, and facing ever worsening climate disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes and floods – which can’t be directly attributed to climate change, but are certainly happening more frequently and with greater impact due to climate change. In the face of this, Australia remains the greatest per capita emitter of CO2 in the world.

Role of racism under capitalism

So if refugees account for only 10% of Australias migrant intake; and refugees by boat more like 1%; and Australia takes such a small proportion of refugees….then why is this manufactured into such a huge political crisis, with daily frontpage coverage, with major parties competing to be “tough”, even with elections fought on the issue of a few hundred people seeking safety????

That last example – the Tampa – gives us the answer, and its none too secret. Anti-refugee hysteria is useful for the system, a useful political tool, to find a scapegoat for societies problems. Think back to the Tampa – 2001, there was considerable anger at the Howard govt for selling Telstra, for attacks on unions, and esp for the GST -> these issues prob would have seen Howard lose the election…..but along came Tampa. Howard, with a willing media, and a “me-too” ALP “opposition”, skillfully turned the election away from those real issue that effected millions of the population, and on to a scapegoat….the Tampa refugees. “We decide who comes to this country and the ciurcumstances in which they come” Howard infamously bellowed in adverts draped in the flag, not too different to Pauline Hanson’s overt racism of the preceeding years.

So portraying refugees as “illegals” and stirring up racism toward migrants in general creates a convenient scapegoat for the government's failures. The government habitually appeals to racist and nationalist attitudes to draw support for, or distract from, unpopular actions.

Media’s role in racism

The corporate media has been a driving force behind the racist fear mongering

Use of false, racist language that promotes fear - “boatpeople”; “illegals”; “flood”;

The media played up every slur Liberal and Labour came up with. Then Liberal MP Wilson Tuckey told media the asylum boats were “a terrorist threat”.

The media has failed, and continues to fail, to bring accurate reporting on the horrors facing the Tamil people. If the community in Australia had knowledge over the oppression the Tamils faced for decades, the slaughter that has taken place, if ppl saw that reality – then we would see much more sympathy

Important we recognize the systemic racism – that the fault lies not with bigoted individuals, as offensive as they can be – but the media and politicians that fan this racism are the ones that should be held to account

Another reason for the racism – to break solidarity between the poor and oppressed.

Conclusion

Perhaps Labor is even more despicable than the previous government, given the hypocrisy. At least Howard was rather boldly bigoted – yet Rudd and his govt parade as supporters of human rights and “civilised values”….yet when a few hundred poor, desperate, persecuted refugees approach Australian, any humanity is “thrown overboard”.

Refugees are cast as a dark force threatening Australia. But a two-party political system that willfully breaks international law; engages in wars and supports genocidal governments; abuses people fleeing war and persecution; and whips up racism for political gain – this is the real danger.

In a just world, it’s the cynical politicians and their helpers, from Wilson Tuckey to Kevin Rudd – that would be the ones locked up, rather than desperate asylum seekers.

AUDIO: Capitalism and Climate Change -- Ian Angus

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:10:57 PDT

Ian Angus is the editor of climateandcapitalism.com and founder of the Eco-socialist International Network.

He is also associate editor of Socialist Voice and the director of the Socialist History Project.

Ian was on tour in Australia (Perth poster left) in the run up to the World at a Crossroads conference to be held in Sydney on the Easter weekend.

Ian’s talk addressed the link between our capitalist economic system and the degradation of our environment. This talk was recorded at the Adelaide South West Community Centre on Sunday the 5th of April.

This talk was broadcast on Radio Adelaide on the 8th of April

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Richard Wolff: real wages and the current economic crash

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:05:19 PST

from Tribeca Radio Podcasts » Steal This Radio

Marxist economist Richard Wolff explores the underpinnings of the crisis the capitalist system is facing today.

Tune in to STEAL THIS RADIO, hosted by Mitchel Cohen and broadcast only over the internet at NYTalkRadio.net (Click on “Listen Live”) on Friday, December 19th at 11 am, and repeated Tuesday, December 23rd at 8 pm.

Rick Wolff explains that real wages have not increased in the U.S. in almost 40 years, and that the capitalist class offered easy credit to compensate for that, which was a key factor in leading to the current crash. You can also read one of Prof. Wolff’s recent articles online

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The Enigma of Capital

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:57:08 PST

Source:The Enigma of Capital

City University of New York Graduate Center

Presentation by David Harvey
November 14, 2008
1 hour 2 minutes

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Public forum: "Market Meltdown: Capitalism and the Crisis of Neoliberalism" II

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:22:20 PDT

Jim Stanford, Economist, Canadian Auto Workers.

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Oct 6, 2008: Public forum:
Speakers:
• Introduction MP3 audio.
• Greg Albo, Professor of Political Economy, York University. MP3 audio | Video (includes introduction)
• Jim Stanford, Economist, Canadian Auto Workers.
• David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University.

A panel discussion followed by Q & A. This is part of the Socialist Project forum series.
7:00pm Monday October 6, 2008.
Room 2214, OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto.

Public forum: "Market Meltdown: Capitalism and the Crisis of Neoliberalism" III

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:22:03 PDT

David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University.

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Oct 6, 2008: Public forum:
Speakers:
• Introduction MP3 audio.
• Greg Albo, Professor of Political Economy, York University. MP3 audio | Video (includes introduction)
• Jim Stanford, Economist, Canadian Auto Workers.
• David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University.

A panel discussion followed by Q & A. This is part of the Socialist Project forum series.
7:00pm Monday October 6, 2008.

Public forum: "Market Meltdown: Capitalism and the Crisis of Neoliberalism" I

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:22:53 PDT

Greg Albo, Professor of Political Economy, York University.

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Original audio source

Oct 6, 2008: Public forum:
Speakers:
• Introduction MP3 audio.
• Greg Albo, Professor of Political Economy, York University. MP3 audio | Video (includes introduction)
• Jim Stanford, Economist, Canadian Auto Workers.
• David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University.

A panel discussion followed by Q & A. This is part of the Socialist Project forum series.
7:00pm Monday October 6, 2008.
Room 2214, OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto.

Capitalism video widget.

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:11:49 PST

You need to visit the site -- but here are the videos from Kapitalism101 packaged in the one widget. You may have to refresh after each play. But first, click here to see widget.

I collect with vodpod

Capitalist Economic Crisis

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:45:07 PDT

Capitalist Economic Crisis

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Peter Camejo speaking in 1976

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:58:59 PDT

Peter Camejo -- who died this week after losing his battle with cancer -- is heard here speaking in 1976 on the NBC network when he stood for the US Socialist Workers Party as its presidential candidate.

Source: Jon Flanders

I have slightly edited the interview and transposed it to mono mode. The poor quality is due to the original recording but it's a brilliant piece of socialist advocacy and showcases Camejo's skill for making socialist ideas accessible to a wide audience.

More on Peter Camejo

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Peter Camejo, socialist candidate for
mayor of Berkeley in 1967, speaks
to student rally against
tuition at U.C. Berkeley.
Photo by Brian Shannon

The Jobs for Women Campaign -- how women took on BHP and won

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:15:32 PDT

Jobs For Women campaign 'a landmark'

by Jim McIlroy

BRISBANE -- "We knew we had to have the support of migrant women, of the union, and of the community or we couldn't win," Robynne Murphy, an active participant in the Jobs For Women Campaign, launched in Wollongong in the early 1980s to win employment for women in the BHP steelworks, told a public forum organised by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance here on September 11. The JFWC broke through the men-only employment policy of the "Big Australian," and set an important precedent for jobs for women in traditional heavy industrial areas of the workforce.

The campaign, which was initiated by women members of the Socialist Workers Party (now Democratic Socialist Perspective), began in April 1980 with a claim before the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board. By July that year there were 50-60 women involved in the claim.

The campaign went through many ups and downs, with a final court settlement only being won in 1995. During that time, especially in the early years, the women organised pickets, a tent embassy outside the Port Kembla steelworks gates, circulated leaflets in six migrant languages and gained the support of the Federated Ironworkers Union and the majority of the male workers in the plant.

"It was an incredible experience, being applauded by so many men workers as they entered or left the site. We received 2000 signatures on our petition in one day during the campaign," Murphy told the forum.

In 1986, 34 women won $1 million in an initial settlement. "We were reported on the front page of many of the newspaper around the country," Murphy said. The JFWC then launched a class action suit for 800 women who had been unfairly denied jobs at BHP.

During the course of the campaign, the JFWC gained broad support from the union and labour movements, locally and internationally and from women's organisations around Australia. "The campaign is now studied in a number of university history and law courses," she added.

"The lesson is that you must organise, whether within a union, or elsewhere, if you are going to win," Murphy said. The JFWC was a landmark case in the history of both the women's liberation and trade union movements, she pointed out. "We need to learn its lessons for many of the struggles faced by women and workers today."

Original audio source

This is a recording of another talk on the same topic delivered by Robynne Murphy to the Brisbane branch of Resistance, two days later, on September 13th.

Some related reading available online:

History of the DSP

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:27:45 PDT

History Of The DSP 1960s To 1980s By Christopher Pickering

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Stalinism

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:04:57 PDT

Stalinism by Christopher Pickering

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: soviet union)

Ecology Against Capitalism

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:01:34 PDT

Ecology Against Capitalism by Christopher Pickering

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The Militant Minority Movement

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:10:21 PDT

Talk delivered by Jim McIlroy to a Brisbane DSP branch meeting August 12, 2008. Jim explores his recently published compendium on the (Australian) Communist Party's trade union work in the 1920s and 1930s under the banner of the Militant Minority Movement. Copies of the document should be available from Resistance Bookshops.

Militant Minority Movement August 12 2008

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Original audio source

Text of Militant Minority Resource

Roberto Perez resources

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:05:32 PDT

GLW coverage of tour
Transitions to sustainability
Cuban experience: the challenge of fossil fuels and climate change [ Roberto Perez ]
Roberto Perez 's tribute to Australian permaculturalists
Roberto Perez on bio-fuels, agribusiness & the food crisis
Cuban permaculturist: "Climate change means we must change"
Roberto Perez Live in the NinFM Studio
Roberto Perez - Empowering Community - Part 1
Roberto Perez - Empowering Community - Part 2
Roberto Perez - Empowering Community - Part 3
Roberto Perez - Empowering Community - Part 4

The coming economic & environment meltdowns ...and the possibilities for fighting back [Part 2]

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:02:37 PDT

The planet is facing a meltdown - from the global financial system to the unprecedented environmental crisis. Almost everyone from stockbrokers to scientists to economists agree the situation is dire.

Yet Wall Street banks are given hundred-million-dollar bailouts, while millions face home foreclosures. In the 3rd world it's worse - crops are used to provide fuel for thirsty 1st-world SUVs, while 100 million more people face starvation due to the growing food crisis.

The disregard for the hardship of the majority has seen food riots and strikes hit over 30 countries.

How can we understand the crisis, how is it effecting the "Rudd honeymoon" and how can we organise for sustainable, people & planet-centred solutions?

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Paul Benedek (pictured right) explores the impact of this global envonoment crisis and how we can begin to fight back in a talk delivered to a Green Left Weekly forum in Brisbane on July 15, 2008.

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The coming economic & environment meltdowns ...and the possibilities for fighting back [Part I]

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:02:37 PDT

The planet is facing a meltdown - from the global financial system to the unprecedented environmental crisis. Almost everyone from stockbrokers to scientists to economists agree the situation is dire.

Yet Wall Street banks are given hundred-million-dollar bailouts, while millions face home foreclosures. In the 3rd world it's worse - crops are used to provide fuel for thirsty 1st-world SUVs, while 100 million more people face starvation due to the growing food crisis.

The disregard for the hardship of the majority has seen food riots and strikes hit over 30 countries.

How can we understand the crisis, how is it effecting the "Rudd honeymoon" and how can we organise for sustainable, people & planet-centred solutions?

Jim McIlroy (pictured right) explores the roots of this global crisis in a talk delivered to a Green Left Weekly forum in Brisbane on July 15, 2008.

Jim's suggested reading guide:

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Audio and video guide to the Climate Change Social Change Conference

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:08:28 PDT

This guide will be updated as more media items are made available. For updates subscribe to media via feed or by email.

A conference to strengthen radical social action to stop climate change
April 11-13, 2008, Sydney, Australia

AGENDA

Friday April 11 Redfern Community Centre

10.30-12 noon

Major workshop:

Indigenous communities, climate change and the struggle for country [Audio]--

Sam Watson, Biri Gubba, Munnejarl man from the Brisbane Murri community; activist since high school
Pat Eatock, Kairie community elder, Aboriginal Rights Coalition, Sydney, secretary NationalAboriginal Alliance

1 2.30pm
Major workshop

Nuclear is still not the answer [Audio]

Jim Green, Friends of the Earth anti-nuclear campaigner
Wenny Theresia, Australian Student Environment Network
Genevieve Kelly, anti-Lucas Heights reactor campaigner, lecturer University of Western Sydney

2.454.15pm
Concurrent workshops

Elite co-option of the environment movement [Audio] Mike Barker doctoral candidate, Australian School of Environmental Studies
Griffith UniversityCamp for Climate Action, Wenny Theresia

Sydney Girls High School

6 for 6.30pm:
Public meeting:

Climate change and its social roots [Audio]

John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review; author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature [Video]
Patrick Bond, University of KwaZulu-Natal; editor of Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society
David Spratt, Carbon Equity, co-author Climate Code Red
James Goodman, social researcher, University of Technology in Sydney

Saturday April 12 Sydney Girls High School

9.30-11am
Plenary

Climate change solutions: what role for the market? [Audio]

Patrick Bond
John Kaye, Greens NSW MLC
Stuart Rosewarne, co-editor Journal of Australian Political Economy and Capitalism, Nature, Socialism
Renfrey Clarke, Green Left Weekly

11.15am 12.45 pm
Major workshop

The Cuban experience: the challenge of fossil fuels and climate change [Audio]

Roberto Perez, Cuban biologist and permaculturalist, Antonio Núñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Cuban NGO

Concurrent workshops

Equity in energy consumption: Getting the prices right for people and the environment [Audio & Slideshow] Patrick Bond
Critical anthropology of global warming [Audio] Hans Baer --anthology lecturer Melbourne University

On the precipice: why climate is an emergency, David Spratt

Protecting jobs and the environment [Audio] Tim Gooden Secretary Geelong Trades and Labour Council; Ben Courtice AMWU Victorian branch environment activist; Cam Walker Friends of the Earth Melbourne; Steve Phillips Rising Tide

1.453.15 pm
Plenary

Ecology, capitalism and socialism --John Bellamy Foster [Audio]

3.30 - 5pm
Major workshop

Power privatization and the environment [Audio]

Matt Thistlethwaite, Unions NSW deputy assistant secretary
John Kaye, Greens NSW MLC
Dick Nichols, author Environment, Capitalism, Socialism, Socialist Alliance national coordinator

Concurrent workshops

Marxism and the environment, John Bellamy Foster [Audio]
Are liveable cities just a dream? Dave Holmes [Text], Green Left Weekly and managing editor Resistance Books; Peter Droege professor, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, author, Urban Energy Transition: from fossil fuels to renewable power
Climate change and the global South beyond Third Worldism [Audio], James Goodman, IanMacGregor, University of Technology, Sydney
Biomass, biofuels and meat production: shifting to sustainable, low emission agriculture, Zane Alcorn and Trent Hawkins Resistance; Katrina Byrne Animal Liberation

6pm
Conference dinner

Roberto Perez: Cuba from economic collapse to sustainability

Roberto is a Cuban biologist and permaculturalist, Antonio Núñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Cuban NGO

Sunday April 13 Sydney Girls High School

910.30 am
Plenary

Transitions to sustainability [Audio & Slideshow]

Mark Diesendorf, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW
Adrian Whitehead, Zero Emission Network
Stephanie Long, Friends of the Earth Australia's international climate justice spokesperson
Roberto Perez

10.3010.45 am
Conference Greetings

Minister Counsellor Nelson Dávila Lameda,
Venezuelan Chargé d'Affaires in Australia

10.45am 12.15pm
Major workshop

Sustainable energy solutions [Audio & Slideshow]

Mark Diesendorf -- Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW

Concurrent workshops

Why we must ration the future [Audio] , Damien Lawson
Climate refugees, adaptation issues in the global south, Stephanie Long
Individual and collective solutions: getting the balance right [Text & Audio], Terry Townsend Democratic Socialist Perspective and editor of Links; Lauren Carroll-Harris Resistance
Cutting emissions, ditching coal, Graham Brown former coal miner; Angela Nagle RisingTide
Food security, eating oil and the future of agriculture: permaculture solutions, Robyn Francis international permaculture design and sustainability consultant, educator and facilitator

12.151.15 pm

Venezuela Solidarity Action [Video]

Venezuelan televison coverage of rally [Video]

1.15 2.45pm
Major workshop:

Radicalising the Australian climate change movement [Audio]

Simon Cunich, Resistance
Vanessa Bowden, Climate camp
Mel Barnes, Students Against the Pulp Mill
Ben Courtice, World Environment Day, Melbourne

Concurrent workshops

Setting up ecosocialist networks in your city [Audio], John Rice -Adelaide ecosocialist network
Securing water in a warmer Australia, Renfrey Clark Green Left Weekly
Drought-resistant plants and fart-free pastures: can GM crops save us? Adam Breasley former researcher, Australian Gene Ethics Network; Frances Murrell Mothers Against Genetic Engineering (MAdGE); Louise Sales Greenpeace
Energy revolution: Cuba and Venezuela, Tim Anderson political science lecturer, Sydney Uni,Marlene Obeid solidarity activist

3 4.45 pm Plenary & resolutions

Strategies for winning [Audio]

Dick Nichols
John Rice, Adelaide Ecosocialist Network
John Bellamy Foster
Read Conference statement

4.45 5pm
Conference close

Climate Change Conference DVD's now available

Thu, 08 May 2008 04:06:41 PDT

Climate Change | Social Change conference

DVDs available

Thanks to Actively Radical TV

AU$10 each or $35 for set of 4 (plus postage) available through Resistance Bookshops or online

VIDEO ONE

Friday 11^th April – Public meeting

Climate change and its social roots

John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review; author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature

Patrick Bond, University of KwaZulu-Natal; editor of Climate Change, Carbon Trading and Civil Society

David Spratt, Carbon Equity, co-author Climate Code Red

James Goodman, social researcher, University of Technology in Sydney

Saturday 12^thApril – Plenary

Climate change solutions: what role for the market?

Patrick Bond

John Kaye, Greens NSW MLC

Stuart Rosewarne, co-editor Journal of Australian Political Economy and Capitalism, Nature, Socialism

Renfrey Clarke, Green Left Weekly

VIDEO TWO

Saturday 12^thApril – Feature workshop

Cuban experience: the challenge of fossil fuels and climate change

Roberto Perez, Cuban biologist and permaculturalist, Antonio Núñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Cuban NGO, featured in The Power of Community: how Cuba survived peak oil

Plenary

Ecology, capitalism and socialism

John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review; author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature

VIDEO THREE

Saturday 12^thApril – Feature workshop

Power privatisation and the environment

Matt Thistlethwaite, Unions NSW deputy assistant secretary

John Kaye, Greens NSW MLC

Dick Nichols, author Environment, Capitalism, Socialism, Socialist Alliance national coordinator

Sunday 13^th April – Plenary

Transitions to sustainability

Mark Diesendorf, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW

Adrian Whitehead, Zero Emission Network

Stephanie Long, Friends of the Earth Australia's international climate justice spokesperson

Roberto Perez, Cuban biologist and permaculturalist, Antonio Núñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Humanity

Renfrey Clarke, Green Left Weekly

VIDEO FOUR

Feature workshop

Radicalising the Australian climate change movement

Simon Cunich, Resistance

Vanessa Bowden, Climate camp

Mel Barnes, Students Against the Pulp Mill

Ben Courtice, World Environment Day, Melbourne

Strategies for winning

John Rice, Adelaide Ecosocialist Network

Cam Walker, Friends of the Earth Melbourne

John Bellamy Foster, editor of Monthly Review; author of Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature

Dick Nichols, author Environment, Capitalism, Socialism, Socialist Alliance national coordinator

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CC|SC conference organising team

Sustainable energy solutions

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:56:27 PDT

Workshop with Mark Diesendorf (Institute of Environmental Studies, University of NSW) at the Climate Change Social Change Conference April 13th, 2008

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Original audio source

Watch Slideshow:Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy [Diesendorf]

Strategies for winning

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:20:11 PDT

The final plenary session at the Climate Change Social Change Conference on April 13th, 2008.

Speakers:

Dick Nichols
John Rice
John Bellamy Foster
Pip Hinman

Read conference statement [Text]

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Original audio source

Critical anthropology of global warming

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:25:01 PDT

A workshop delivered to the Climate Change Social Change Conference on April 12th, 2008.

Speaker: Hans Baer -- anthropology lecturer, Melbourne University.

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Original audio source

Radicalising the Australian climate change movement

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:25:41 PDT

A workshop delivered to the Climate Change Social Change Conference on April 13th, 2008.

Speakers:

Simon Cunich, Resistance
Vanessa Bowden, Climate camp
Mel Barnes, Students Against the Pulp Mill
Ben Courtice, World Environment Day, Melbourne

Popout

Original audio source