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Below is information on a series of conferences being held in New York City this fall on global justice. The first conference of the series, a one-day conference on September 20th, features Stanley Aronowitz, Calvin Butts, and Lori Wallach as keynote speakers.
These conferences are sponsored by Northeast Scholars for Global Justice, a new and growing organization of scholar-activists.
If you are interested in participating in the conferences, please register as soon as possible. The registration form follows the information on the conference.
Background: Northeast Scholars for Global Justice (NSGJ) was formed in winter 2002 by several New York City-area professors excited by the prospects of both studying the growing anti-globalization movement, or global justice movement, as well as participating in it. We decided that we would not be satisfied organizing a one-time conference where people meet briefly and have little opportunity for meaningful dialogue, and no opportunity for collective political action. Instead, we imagined a network in New York and the Northeast of scholar-activists who could work in an ongoing, collective effort as part of the global justice movement itself. In this spirit, we established NSGJ.
Northeast Scholars for Global Justice will employ our collective academic expertise to formulate proposals for global reform, and will engage in actions to carry out our plans. Our goals are ambitious, and challenging, since we seek an expanded (or renewed) role for intellectuals, as both thinkers and political actors. This dual role will alienate some people, but we believe that our role as students of society does not absolve us of the responsibility for acting to improve the world. Further, engaging in political action is one of the best means to understand how social change works, the anthropologist's method of participant-observation; action, indeed, enriches theory. And action itself is likewise enriched when it is informed by ideas and ideals.
Guided by the above principles, we settled on the following plans for NSGJ:
a series of conferences in fall 2002: We decided to hold three conference sessions, each of which will last for one day (See below for dates and location)
a non-traditional conference format: At our conferences, participants will not deliver papers but instead will be invited to join one of several working groups on various aspects of global justice.
the working groups: Working groups will be organized at the first
conference, to be held in September. They will then be encouraged to meet, either face-to-face or via email, between the October and December conferences, as well as during those conferences, in order to formulate proposals relevant to the working groups' topics. Groups will formulate concrete proposals and will present their ideas to other groups during the October and December conferences.
World Social Forum: Then, a delegation of interested conference
participants will take our proposals to the World Social Forum, held in
January 2003 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The World Social Forum, of ourse, is one of the leading international meetings for people working on global justice.
praxis: We will develop multiple strategies to implement our working
groups' proposals. For example, we are currently negotiating with sympathetic policymakers, both from the US and from the European Union, to attend our conferences, so that they may be inspired to try out our proposals. We would like to find a progressive mayor of a city to make her/his city a demonstration locale for our proposals. We are also discussing how to involve youth activists in our conference, so that they can help us agitate for our chosen reforms. future plans: As NSGJ develops, we hope to establish a global justice institute, to seek funds so that we can continue our theorizing and praxis in a more sustained way.
an international dimension: The members of the NSGJ Steering Committee have extensive international experience and connections, in India, China, Russia, Europe, and Canada. Our linguistic competence includes Hindi, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, French and Spanish; in fact Hindi and Russian are native languages for two of our members. We will use our international connections to link up with scholars across the globe, a process we have already begun with scholar-activists in India.
We know there are many scholars working on globalization, so we claim no special originality for NSGJ. What we hope to add to previous exemplary work, however, is a more multidisciplinary focus, a greater international scope, and a more explicit attempt to combine scholarship with activism. We are excited by the prospects for working, as scholar-activists, for global justice, and we invite all interested persons to join us.
CONFERENCE PARTICULARS
I. DATES: We will be holding three conferences, each lasting for one day. While it is possible to attend only one conference, we seek participants willing to attend all three, since this is central to our mission of establishing a network of scholar-activists who know each other, and work together collectively.
The three dates for the conferences are:
- Friday, September 20, 2002
- Friday, October 18, 2002
- Friday, December 13, 2002
Registration for the conferences is from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. All conference sessions will begin at 10:00 am and will conclude by 5:00 pm. Lunch will not be provided but we will provide ample time for enjoying area restaurants surrounding the conference site.
II. LOCATION
All three conferences will be held in New York City, at House of the
Redeemer, 7 East 95th Street, New York, NY. All meeting spaces at House of the Redeemer are accessible to handicapped persons.
N.B.: Our organization is a secular one and has no affiliation with the group that owns House of the Redeemer. One of the institutions where several NSGJ organizers teach uses House of the Redeemer for NYC events, and we have found it to be a pleasant space and a good location.
III. KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
The September 20, 2002 conference begins, 10:00 am to 11:30 pm, with a
keynote panel. Confirmed panelists:
Stanley Aronowitz is a leading progressive scholar-activist, distinguished sociology professor at the City University of New York, and the Green Party's nominee for governor of New York. Aronowitz began his career as a factory worker and union organizer. He has published seventeen books and over 200 articles on the sociology of labor and on critical education, including American Labor and America's Future, The Jobless Future, and Postmodern Education and Education Under Siege, the latter two books written with Henry Giroux.
Calvin Butts is one of the nation's leaders in the fight for racial and
economic justice. He played a major role in challenging police brutality in New York City, led a national campaign against negative billboard advertising, and worked on numerous projects to revitalize Central Harlem, including the establishment of the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change. Butts has held a wide variety of leadership roles. He is currently president of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, president of the Council of Churches of the City of New York, and former president of Africare, an organization that works to improve the quality of life in rural Africa.
Lori Wallach is a public interest lawyer who is a central figure in the
movement to challenge corporate globalization. She and her colleague, Ralph Nader, were among the first activists to realize the full dangers of NAFTA and the WTO, and she founded and directs Global Trade Watch, a division of Nader's public interest organization, Public Citizen. Wallach's writings about corporate globalization and the WTO, her frequent lectures on the subject, and her expert testimony before Congress, have earned her the admiration of friends and foes alike.
IV. CONFERENCE AGENDA
After the keynote panel listed above, the September 20th conference will break into working groups, according to conference participants' interests. During the afternoon these groups will begin formulating proposals and strategies for implementing them. These proposal meetings will continue at the October and December conferences. In the later afternoon of each conference all participants will reassemble to present their preliminary proposals to other working groups.
The NSGJ Steering Committee has established the following working groups:
- global/local legal and economic structures--their democratic reform, with a focus on the World Trade Organization. This group will be facilitated by Jackie G. Smith, Sociology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, editor of the forthcoming book, Globalization and Resistance: Transnational Dimensions of Social Movements.
- community, micro and macro--how to foster richer social ties at the local level and strengthen grassroots political groups; the creation of new transnational communities and identities in an internationalizing,
post-nation-state world. This group will be facilitated by Steven Jones, from Campus Compact/Brown University.
- gender and sexuality--what the movements for gender and GLBT equity and those for economic justice can contribute to each other, both practically and theoretically. Facilitator TBA
- work and the workplace--In a world of increasing efficiency, and possibly major reductions in jobs, what should be the relation of work to subsistence and how does this affect the movement for economic justice? How might changes in work and the workplace, decreased work hours for example, be leveraged so as to strengthen communities, families, and the civic sphere? Facilitator TBA
- human rights and global justice: How can human rights organizations and principles be strengthened so as to promote greater global justice, and challenge repressive states, armies, and police forces? Facilitator: Mark Ungar, Political Science, Brooklyn College, editor of Violence and Politics: Globalization's Paradox and author of Elusive Reform: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Latin America
- global diasporas--the contributions of the global justice movement to the eradication of ethnic and racial conflicts; the role of culture in the post-nation-state world. Facilitator TBA
- media--How might internationalized media technologies be used to foster increased community and local creativity? What international structures could help assure greater media representation of underrepresented peoples and subjects, and challenge stereotypical and retrogressive depictions?
Facilitator: TBA
V. APPLYING FOR THE CONFERENCE
NSGJ seeks conference participants who view themselves as committed
scholar-activists, and those who hold strong opinions yet can work well with others. NSGJ is open to those from any discipline and we have no geographic restrictions on membership. Anyone who is willing to travel to New York City for the conferences is welcome.
Please use the form below to apply for the conference, and include the
appropriate fees.
NSGJ is intentionally independent of institutional funding. While we plan to seek foundation support in the future, we currently are using our own personal funds to get the group started. Nonetheless, we are committed to keeping costs low, so as to make it easy for people to attend all three conferences.
N.B.: We regret that we cannot make refunds of conference payments.
Conference fees:
By September 10: $90 for the series of three conferences; $40 for those
attending only the 9/20 conference
After September 10 and at the door: $110 for the conference series; $50 for 9/20 only
Please note that, due to the nature of the conferences and the organization we seek to build, we hope to attract as many people as possible who will attend all three conferences, and participate in a working group. Therefore, we will give priority to those who register for all three sessions. The conference attendance is limited to 100 people, both due to space limitations and our desire to keep the group relatively small. If it becomes necessary to turn away any conference applicants, we will turn away those who have not registered for all three conferences.
VI. HOUSING
The meeting location, House of the Redeemer, has approximately 18 rooms
available for rent. If you need housing, please contact them directly (the sooner, the better) at 212-289-0399. Be sure to tell them you are attending the NSGJ conference, so that they will waive the two-night minimum stay. All rooms have single beds. It is $80 per night for a single and $100 for a double, both with shared bath. A single with a private bath is $125.
Accessibility: Please note that while meeting rooms at House of the Redeemer are accessible to handicapped persons, overnight rooms are not.
Please address any questions about the conference to Marty Schoenhals. Please put "NSGJ" in the subject head of the email and send the email to:
MSchoenhal@aol.com. (Note that my surname has a final 's' but my email
address does not.)
APPLICATION
Application for Northeast Scholars for Global Justice conferences
Instructions: Please answer the following questions and mail with a check for the appropriate amount. Mail by US mail (not by email) to:
Dr. Maryann Caputo
Treasurer, NSGJ
4405 Wilshire Lane
Oakdale, NY 11769
- Today's date:
- PERSONAL INFORMATION
a) Your name: Family name, given name:
b) Complete mailing address:
c) Email address (This is the address to which we will send all information about the conference.):
d) Telephone numbers:
e) Institutional affiliation: Department, Institution and your rank:
- MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
In order to assist our conference planning, it would help us to know more about you. (The following questions are asked in this spirit, and not with the desire to create an exclusive/elitist membership for NSGJ. We truly appreciate your taking the time to answer these questions.)
Please write a description of yourself, in point form or in narrative form (approximately 3-5 sentences), addressing these topics:
-What is your basic research and/or teaching focus?
-Citations of any major publications
-Please briefly describe your prior activist activities, if any.
-Please briefly describe any scholastic or political activities, not
described previously, which relate to global justice
- WORKING GROUPS
a)Have you read the description of the Northeast Scholars for Global Justice conferences carefully, and are you willing to participate in one of the working groups on global justice?
b) Which working group would you tentatively be interested in joining? (You can change your selection later.) A list of working groups, and brief descriptions, is in the conference information above.
c) May we share the information about you in this application with the
appropriate working group facilitator?
- Is there anyone whom you would recommend as a good facilitator for one or more of the working groups? If so, please give name, full contact information, and a brief statement of why this person would be capable, intellectually and organizationally, of leading the given working group.
- PAYMENT
Please enclose a check for the appropriate amount. N.B. We regret that we cannot refund fees for those unable to attend any of the conferences.
Make the check payable to "Northeast Scholars for Global Justice" and mail, along with this application, to the address mentioned above.
Conference fees:
Registration and payment received by August 15: $70 for the series of three conferences (9/20, 10/18 and 12/13); $35 for those attending only the conference on 9/20
By September 10: $90 for the series of three conferences; $40 for those
attending only the 9/20 conference
After September 10 and at the door: $110 for the conference series; $50 for 9/20 only
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