Resistance 2008 Agenda
War, racism, environmental destruction, homophobia, sexism...
Turn Anger into Action!
¡Resistance 2008!
Agenda
Friday June 27 - Sunday June 29
Guthrie
Theatre, University of Technology
Entrance on Harris Street (near Central
Station)
Friday June 27
6pm Resistance Conference Opening
Panel: Confronting the empire: international
resistance from the Middle East to Latin America. Five years after the US-led
invasion of Iraq, imperialism is being challenged on all fronts: from the Iraqi
resistance, the Palestinian struggle, to the growing opposition to the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan in the First World. However, the biggest challenge to the
imperialist agenda is in Latin America, where the Venezuelan revolution is
showing that there is an alternative to the current system of wars and global
exploitation.
Presenters: Kiraz
Janicke; Correspondent for Venezuela
Analysis and Green Left Weekly in Venezuela
IsaacShuisha; Israeli peace activist
Tim Dobson; Wollongong Resistance organiser, is in an activist in
Wollongong NoWar Alliance
for more info click here
Saturday June 28
Panel: Rudd is no solution: taking on the ALP government's conservatism. Summary and voting on the
International Political Situation report Workshops: 1) What is Marxism, and why
we need a revolution. This
workshop will discuss the class approach, developed by Karl Marx, and how we
can apply a Marxist understanding to the world today to help develop radical
movements capable of getting rid of capitalism. It will look at the Cuban
revolution, and the revolutionary upsurges in France, and discuss organising
for revolution in this country. Presenter:
Ruth Ratcliffe, Adelaide member of the Democratic Socialist
Perspective. For more info click here 2) Sexism and the
struggle for women's liberation today. Women in Australia today receive, on average, just
three quarters of a male wage, and still take most responsibility for domestic
chores and the raising of the next generation of workers. Our bodies have been
made commodities and yet awareness of our rights is more widespread today than
compared to several decades ago before the "second wave" of the
women's movement. Why and how does capitalism need to foster
sexism, and how can we fight it? Presenter:
Katherine Bradstreet from Melbourne and Lauren from Brisbane- two feminist
activists in Resistance. For more info click here 3) El Salvador at a
crossroad. Since 1992, the year El Salvador's
horrific civil war ended, ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance), the party
founded by right-wing death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, has reigned
supreme. After decades of struggle, the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front) has grown in strength and authority, and is contesting the
upcoming presidential and statewide elections. As the continent-wide revolt
sweeps through Latin America, will El Salvador be the next Venezuela? Presenter: Alby Dallas Hobart Latin
American activist. For more info click here
Kevin Rudd's Labor Party
came to power following a nation-wide rejection of Work Choices, the inaction
on climate change, and a growing opposition to the Australia's role in imperial
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After an apology to the Stolen
Generations, the signing of Kyoto and 550 combat troops redeployed from Iraq
what fundamentally has changed? But the NT intervention, a
thinly veiled land grab, is being expanded, the coal industry's non-solution of
"clean coal" is being promoted, same-sex couples are still considered
lesser human beings, and the Australian government has reaffirmed its
commitment to war in Afghanistan and a "training
role" in Iraq. The panel of Resistance activists will
discuss politics under a Rudd government, and map out Resistance's campaign
plans and ideas to help build movements for radical action.
Presenters: Lauren Carrol
Harris; Key leader of the Walkout Against George (W.A.G) protests against
Bush, 2007 and environmental activist.
Farida Iqbal; Active in the campaign for same-sex marriage rights in the
ACT
Ewan Saunders; Brisbane activist around many social justice campaigns
including civil liberties, anti-war and indigenous rights.
more info click here
12.45pm
1.30pm Lunch
2.30pm
4)The Northern Territory intervention -
Justice: where the bloody hell are ya? The bipartisan military and police
intervention into Northern Territory communities reveals that institutionalised
racism is alive and well in Australia today. While Rudd's apology to the Stolen
Generations was a welcome, albeit symbolic, step towards reconciliation, the
government's expansion of the NT intervention into parts of Western Australia
and Queensland shows it is more concerned with removing land rights from remote
Aboriginal communities and returning to the paternalism of the past. This talk
will look at Australia's racist history, and discuss how we can help strengthen
the campaign against the intervention. Presenter:
Ash Pemberton and Bessie Dossetor Illawarra activists in the Aboriginal Rights
Coalition. For more info click here
5) The Tamil struggle
for self-determination. As
Tamil Eelam (North East Sri Lanka) and its people continue to face a state
sponsored genocide, the movement for Tamil self-determination remains the last
bastion of hope to a nation. Demonised as terrorists across the globe, the
plight of a race remains hidden from view through state propaganda. Listen to
members of the Tamil community as they highlight the oppression faced by its
people and the need for an independent Tamil homeland. Presenters: Tamil youth activists. For more info click here
6) Combating homophobia
and the case for same-sex marriage rights. The Rudd government says it is not homophobic: it
simply believes that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. But we
know homophobia when we see it, and many of us see it every day. Is homophobia
inevitable? Where does it come from and how do we counter it? Presenter: Rhiahnon Kennedy activist in the Murdock University queer
collective. For more info click here
4.30pm
Feature talk: Socialism in the 21st century - the Venezuelan revolution. There is
a revolution underway in Venezuela, the first revolution of the 21st Century,
in which the poor are organising to take control of their lives and resources
and communities. Led by President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela is at the forefront of
a powerful revolutionary movement that is spreading throughout Latin America in
a rebellion against US-enforced neo-liberal policies. The Venezuelan revolution
is giving inspiration and confidence to those struggling for social justice
around the world, by providing that imperialism is not invincible and
struggling to build 'socialism of the 21st Century' as an alternative to the
brutal capitalist system.
Presenters: Fred
Fuentes; Aide to an advisor to the Chavez government in Venezuela.Kiraz Janicke; Correspondent for Venezuela Analysis and Green Left
Weekly in Venezuela.Nelson Davila; Venezuelan Charge d'Affaires in Australia.
(TBC) For more info click here
8.30am Registration
9am
Feature talk: Can we make a revolution in Australia? To win socialism, we first have to get rid of the
capitalist system that stands in our way. But who is going to do this? The
capitalists aren’t going to suddenly get a social conscience and give up their
privileges. Some might, but not the class as a whole. It’s those who are
exploited and oppressed by the system that has an interest in changing it.
Moreover, we form the vast majority of society, 90% or more. So we are also the
people with the power to change it. This presentation will look at the dynamics
of capitalism and the power of the working class.
Presenters: Amy McDonell, Canberra Resistance activist. Dom Hale Brisbane Resistance activist. For more info click here
1)
The history of
the ALP - a sorry history of selling out. For
those of us who grew up under the Howard regime, the end of the Coalition
promised some exciting political changes. But eight months later, it's clear
that the fight for social and environmental justice is far from over. From the
massive subsidies to the coal industry, the lack of commitment to public
transport and sustainable technologies, the expansion of uranium mining, the
deportations of refugees, the continuation of anti-worker laws all reveal that
Labor serves the same masters as did the Coalition. With little difference
between the major parties, what's the alternative? Presenters:
Duncan Meerding Hobart Resistance activist and Chris Peterson Sydney Resistance
activist. For more info click here
2) Biofuels: Starving the poor to fuel the rich.
Poor countries, such as Haiti in the Caribbean, have
had most of their domestic food production destroyed by neo-liberal policies
that flooded their markets with cheaper products from the rich countries. Now,
millions are unable to afford basic foodstuffs due to the rapidly increasing
prices on the world market, largely caused by the production of bio-fuels.
Despite claims that biofuels are the "clean alternative" to petrol,
they have absorbed most of the increases in staple crop production and large
amounts of land (including rainforest) have been cleared to make way for the
"cash crop". What's the solution and what can we in rich Australia do
to help? Presenter: Leigh Hughes Canberra environmental activist. For more info click here
3) Troops out now: Iraq
and Afghanistan today. It has been seven years since the Australian
government sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq five years since the invasion
of Iraq. This workshop will look at the continuing imperialist occupations and
their justifications, as well as the need for a strong anti-war movement and an
end to the occupations. Presenters: Amber Pike
Sydney anti-war activist, active in the APEC anti-war protest, Stephen
Bansgrove Sydney Resistance activist and Tomas Rose Green Left Weekly journalist and Newcastle Resistance member. For more info click here
4) The Indigenous revolution in Bolivia today. This workshop will examine the social
movements in Bolivia from which the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) arose and
from which the country's first Indigenous president, Evo Morales, hails. It
will also examine what the MAS government has managed to do and its relations
with the social movements, in particular the movement for Indigenous rights. Presenters: Fred
Fuentes; Aide to an advisor to the Chavez government in Venezuela and Sean
Seymour Jones; Melbourne Latin American activist. For more info click here
5) Palestine: the 60-year struggle for justice against Apartheid Israel. This
workshop will look at the economic, military and ideological basis of Israel's
occupation of Palestine. Could a democratic one-state solution offer the basis
for peace in Palestine? The talk will also examine the growing resistance in
Palestine and Israel to the latter's militaristic policies. Presenters: Isaac Shuisha Israeli peace activist,
Malak S Sydney based Palestinian activist, Stuart Harrison part of the Deakin
University Friends of Palestine group. For more info click here
6) Nepal the newest
republic. In Nepal, one of the poorest nations in Asia, the people have
united to kick out the monarchy. After a 10-year "people's war",
involving a countrywide democracy movement, people power has finally This is initial agenda, it might be subject to change, stay tuned for more updates or call Brianna 9690 1230.ed the
240-year-old monarchy and its military rule. How did this
come about? Presenter: Ben Peterson, Green
Left Weekly journalist on Nepal. For more info click here
1pm Lunch
2pm Feature presentation: The world can't wait - system
change not climate change. The global food crisis and rising petrol prices have
added urgency to the debate about what we can do to halt climate change. In the
rich countries, such as Australia, the establishment is seeking to limit the
debate to one of individuals changing their personal habits. But this hasn't
worked: increasingly, as people realise the scale of the crises, they are
talking about solutions such as: stopping the big polluters and forest
guzzlers; upgrading and expanding public transport; and phasing out of fossil
fuels to renewables. Resistance is active with others in campaigns to stop
Gunns' pulp mill in Tasmania, the expansion of the coal industry in NSW and the
dredging of Port Phillip Bay. How do we involve more people and what are our
key tactical and strategic considerations for the campaigns over the coming
year?
Presenters:
Simon Cunich member of the Students of Sustainability organizing collective in
Newcastle. Mel Barnes Key leader of the Students against the Pulp
Mill campaign in Hobart.Zane Alcorn member of the Climate Camp organising collective in
Newcastle.
3.45pm
Greetings from Peter Boyle,
Democratic Socialist Perspective national secretary.
4pm Panel: Resistance - turning
anger into action. Throughout
history, young radical people have played a vital role in bigger and broader
movements for social change. From the 1960s youth rebellion involving
opposition to the Vietnam War as well as the struggle against racism and
sexism, to 1968 in Paris, to today's French youth who are leading the campaign
against President Nichols Sarkozy’s attacks on the education system, youth have
been at the front of the radical movements for change. How can we take the
spirit of past rebellions into our campaign work today? What are the essential
tools we need to involve more radical youth in the struggle for a better world?
Presenters: Brianna Pike Resistance National Coordinator
Andrew Rice Brisbane Resistance activist. For more info click here
6.00pm Conference close
