Sado-Monetarism: The Other Capital Punishment
The IMF & World Bank in the Global Economic Order
Co-sponsored by: The School of International Studies, American
University
Plenaries:
Friday,
October 2: WARD 1
7:00 PM * Opening
Plenary - Sado-Monetarism: The Other Capital Punishment?
Chair: Njoki
Njoroge Njeh˛, 50 Years Is Enough Network
Walden Bello -
Focus on the Global South, Bangkok, Thailand
Amy Goodman -
Pacifica Radio=s
ADemocracy
Now,@
New York, NY
Doug Henwood -
Left Business Observer, New York, NY
elmira Nazombe
- Center for Women's Global Leadership, New Brunswick, NJ
Dennis Brutus
- Distinguished Prof. of Humane Letters, Franklin Pierce Coll.,
Rindge, NH
Saturday, October
3: WARD 1
9:00 AM * The
MAI, the IMF Bailouts, Debt, and other Hot Topics
Chair: Brent
Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth, U.S.
Soren Ambrose,
Alliance for Global Justice, Washington, DC
Nila Ardhianie,
Yayasan Duta Awam, Solo, Indonesia
Jaime Garcia Barron
- Tijuana, Mexico
Kofi Mawuli Klu
- Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign, Accra, Ghana/London, UK
Robin Round -
Halifax Initiative, Vancouver, Canada
Lori Wallach -
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, Washington, DC
4:30
PM: WARD 1
Resistance
& Success Stories in the Quest for Economic Justice for All
Chair: Marie
Dennis, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
Gustavo Castro
Soto - CIEPAC, San Cristobal, Chiapas, MexicoOronto Douglas - Environmental
Rights Action, (Port Harcourt, Nigeria)
Susan George -
TransNational Institute, Paris, France
Charlie Hinton
- 50 Years Is Enough Network, San Francisco, CA
Magda Lanuza -
Centro Humboldt, Managua, Nicaragua
Sunday, October
4: WARD 1
NOON
*Action & Direction: Carrying the Movement Forward
Chair: Susan
Thompson, Columban Justice & Peace Office
Patrick Bond -
Campaign Against Neo-Liberalism in South Africa, Johannesburg
Freda Catheus
- Association of Peasant Organizers of Lagonav, Haiti
John Cavanagh
- Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC
Kevin Danaher
- Global Exchange, San Francisco, CA
Cheri Honkala
- Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Philadelphia, PA
Deborah Toler - Black Radical Congress, Oakland, CA
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 3, 1998
Morning Plenary:
9:00 AM, WARD 1
The MAI,
the IMF Bailouts, Debt, and other Hot Topics
Chair: Brent Blackwelder,
President, Friends of the Earth, U.S.
Soren Ambrose,
Alliance for Global Justice, Washington, DC
Nila Ardhianie,
Yayasan Duta Awam, Solo, Indonesia
Jaime Garcia Barron
- Tijuana, Mexico
Kofi Mawuli Klu
- Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign, Accra, Ghana/London, UK
Robin Round -
Halifax Initiative, Vancouver, Canada
Lori Wallach
- Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, Washington, DC
Workshop Session A: 10:45
A.M. - 12:05 P.M.
A1. Influencing the Multilateral
Development Banks: Advocacy Campaigns Initiated by Southern NGOs:
WARD 205 This workshop
will focus on the Center for Democratic Education's successful advocacy
campaign methodology with case studies of advocacy campaigns assisted
by the Center in Belize with an indigenous environmental alliance;
in Guatemala with a land administration loan and consultative group;
and in Nicaragua on the country=s
external debt and the HIPC initiative. John Ruthrauff, Center
for Democratic Education
A2. Youth and the Global Economy:
Peer Education for a Just & Equitable Global Society: WARD 301
Think that structural adjustment, IMF
funding, corporate investment, and the MAI, are too complex to talk
about with your friends? Come experience how to present economic
realities in fun and easily- comprehensible ways to your fellow
high-school and college students. Find out how to organize support
for sustainable alternatives in communities around the world.
Colin Rajah, Overseas Development
Network; Martha Hannan, International Development Exchange; and
Shaun Skelton, Visions in Action
A3. MAI: Democracy for Sale?: WARD
102
This is an introductory popular education
session designed to help people understand the (MAI) Multilateral
Agreement on Investment. We will talk about where the MAI came from,
and its effects on countries and communities. We will explore how
the MAI is an important piece of the larger economic globalization
forces at work in the world today. (It is recommended that participants
also attend the MAI Free Zones: Local Organizing Around the World
workshop which will focus on ongoing actions and strategies to defeat
the MAI).Susan Thompson, Columban Justice & Peace Office
and Lisa McGowan.
A4. Making the Media Work: WARD
302
This workshop will examine the U.S.
media's coverage (or non-coverage) of international economic realities,
with some comparison to how the rest of the world treats the issues
in the media. The main emphasis of this session however will be
on tips and strategies activists can use to start making the media
work for them -- how to get the stories that should be reported
in the news. Abid Aslam, Inter Press Service and Sam Husseini,
Institute for Public Accuracy
A5. Debt and the International Financial
Institutions (IFIs): WARD 5
This workshop explores the role of
the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), particularly the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund, in the debt burdens
of developing countries. The workshop will address issues such as
the history of IFI lending to developing countries, the evolution
of the debt crisis, the current situation, and initiatives, both
governmental and from civil society, to address the debt burden.
The workshop will also explore the unique political role that the
IFIs play in the debt relief debate. Carol Welch, Friends
of the Earth; Lydia Williams, Oxfam America; and Derek MacCuish,
Social Justice Committee of Montreal
A6. A Tobin Tax on the Global Casino:
Regulating Speculative Capital While Raising Public Revenue: WARD
113
The Tobin Tax refers to a proposal
by Nobel Prize-winning economist James Tobin to levy a small tax
on all speculative international currency transactions (as opposed
to productive investments, which represent a very small percentage
of total movement of money around the globe). The tax is designed
to reduce market volatility and give governments room to set their
own fiscal and monetary policy. The tax would also generate enormous
revenue to offset the harmful effects of globalization. This workshop
will present the concept, the reasons for supporting it and barriers
to its implementation. It will then discuss political realities
in various countries (including the U.S.), followed by a strategy
session on ways forward. Educational materials will be available.
Robin Round, Halifax Initiative;
Ruthanne Cecil, Tobin Tax Initiative; and Carrie Lynch, Office of
U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio
A7. The East Asian Financial Crisis:
WARD 6
The ongoing collapse of the one-time
"miracle" economies of East Asia -- Thailand, Indonesia,
South Korea, and others -- has become the biggest financial crisis
of the late 20th century, and the toughest test for the neo-liberal
economic model pushed by the International Monetary Fund, the World
Bank, and the U.S. and its allies since the end of World War II.
This workshop will examine the on-the-ground impact of the crisis,
reflect on the origins of the crisis, analyze the reaction of the
international financial community, and look at the prospects for
the future.
Walden Bello, Focus on the Global
South; Nila Ardhianie, Yayasan Duta Awam; Allan Nairn, East Timor
Action Network and frequent contributor to The Nation; and Andrew
Wells, Asia Pacific Center for Justice & Peace.
A8. Ideas and Tools for Grassroots
Advocacy: HURST 208
This will be an interactive workshop
which will focus on several key aspects of grassroots advocacy--including
organizing meetings with members of Congress, generating grassroots
media in support of issues, ideas to build our political clout to
influence Congress. It will include some examples of specific campaigns.
Joanne Carter, RESULTS; Laura
Livoti, Economic Justice Now; and Bob Naiman, Preamble Center for
Public Policy.
A9. Corporate Welfare and the International
Financial Institutions: WARD 303
This is an overview of the corporate
welfare issue in how it has been debated in Congress; discuss the
corporate welfare subsidies of World Bank projects; analyze IMF
operations as free insurance for international banks and investors;
and discuss how and if the corporate welfare theme should be incorporated
into work on the IFIs. Rob Weissman, Essential Action; Andrea
Durbin, Friends of the Earth; and Gawain Kripke, Friends of the
Earth.
A10. Fostering Cooperation &
Empowering Learning in Haiti: WARD 304
Learn about some grassroots initiatives
in Haiti that are fostering cross-sector collaboration around literacy
and popular education. There will be reports on work with Wonn Refleksyon
(Reflection Circles) and community organizing and a new partnership
with Haitian Rotary Clubs and Rotary International in conjunction
with their international literacy campaign. Eddy Sterling,
Limyˇ Lavi and Chris Low, Beyond Borders.
A11. The Han Young Struggle: Challenging
the Free Trade Regime: HURST 209
A labor conflict of historic importance
is taking place at a small factory in Tijuana, where workers are
challenging the system of government-controlled unions in Mexico.
Workers at the Han Young factory have been on strike since May 22.
Their struggle helped to derail Fast Track last fall and is shaking
the underpinnings of NAFTA and other trade agreements. Hear from
a Han Young worker, who is a lead organizer for the independent
October 6 union. Trim Bissell, Campaign for Labor Rights and
Jaime Garcia Barron, Han Young worker.
A12. Countering Globalization Myths:
SIS 15
Fortune 500 corporations and their
think tanks are spending millions to "educate" the public
about the benefits of free trade and globalization. Their views
get widespread and often unchallenged media exposure. This is hardly
surprising, since a recent survey reveals that DC-based journalists
overwhelmingly favor free trade. This seminar will identify the
most pervasive and misleading claims of the promoters of corporate-driven
globalization and help participants articulate counter-arguments.
Sarah Anderson, Institute for Policy Studies and Kevin Danaher,
Global Exchange.
A13. Africa's Debt Crisis -
sponsored by Jubilee 2000 USA: HURST 205
This workshop will present recent analysis
and information of Africa's debt crisis. How are Africans fighting
for debt relief, working for, and demanding economic justice. Kofi
Klu, Jubilee 2000 Afrika; Affiong Limene Southey, Jubilee 2000 Afrika;
Bishop Mondlate, Mozambique; and Brian Ashley, Jubilee 2000 South
Africa.
A14.The UN: A Platform for Economic
Justice Advocacy? - sponsored by Jubilee 2000 USA: SIS 11
This workshop
will explore ways the United Nations can be used to advocate for
economic justice. Barbara Adams, UN-NGO Liaison Service
Workshop Session B: - 1:30 - 2:50 P.M.
B1. Gender
& Economic Globalization: WARD 5
A participatory
exploration of the global economy and how it affects women. You
will have the opportunity to participate in the AWomen
and Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) Simulation - pit your
survival skills against the economic powers of the universe. Susan
Thompson, Columban Justice & Peace office; Lisa McGowan; and
Alexandra Spieldoch, Center of Concern.
B2. Popular Education Module: Working
& Surviving on the Edge: Education for Marginalized Groups:
WARD 6
Globalization, high technology,
and the processes of government and corporate restructuring and
neoliberal policies have vastly expanded the numbers of people who
are marginal to the society and the formal economy, yet provide
an enormous source of profit. A new "slave labor" is emerging
on many fronts, from undocumented workers to prison labor; from
workfare workers, labor pools, and sweatshops to youth. Even formerly
stable middle class workers are affected. Come explore how these
groups are linked in the global economy, and what this means for
building a global movement for economic and social justice.
Carol A. Barton, Alternative
Women in Development (Alt-WID/NY) and Walda Katz-Fishman, Project
South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide.
B3. IMF 101: The Basics of the IMF:
WARD 205
The themes of this workshop include
the role of the IMF and how it has evolved to become one of the
most powerful actors in the global economy, the intense debate about
the real and perceived failures of the IMF, the reform agenda of
international civil society groups around the world, and political
opportunities to secure reform.
Carol Welch, Friends of the Earth
- U.S.; Angela Wood, Bretton Woods Reform Project; and Jo-Marie
Griesgraber, Center of Concern.
B4. Russia's Financial Crisis: Experts
at Work: SIS 15
The recent financial debacle in
Russia is just the most recent "bottom" that has been
hit in a series of catastrophes brought on by a combination of disastrous
economic policies, denials of democracy, and corruption. While the
unpopular and anti-democratic President Yeltsin and his cronies
are partly to blame, they could not have done it alone. The IMF
actually began advising the Russians before the dissolution of the
Soviet Union; both Gorbachev and Yeltsin accepted IMF advice over
their own advisers'. Yeltsin has also accepted IMF money, and then
gone on to attack Parliament, wage war in Chechnya, and stage a
come-from-behind election campaign by buying support with billions
of dollars' worth of giveaways. This workshop will examine the buildup
to today's crisis, with a special focus on the motivations of the
U.S. experts, many of them from Harvard's renowned Institute for
International Development, who designed programs that impoverished
millions and grew rich in the process.
Janine Wedel, author of a recent
cover story in "The Nation" ("The Harvard Boys Do
Russia") and Russian policy analyst Dmitri Glinksi.
B5. Privatization: The Threat to
Social Security's Future: HURST 10
The World Bank has positioned itself
as one of the leading proponents of privatizing Social Security
style programs around the world. In fact, when the debate became
hot here in the U.S., the Bank even sent one of their experts to
appear on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour to speak in support of privatizing
the U.S. system. The workshop will examine the current state of
the Social Security system and the case for privatization. The discussion
will include an analysis of the long-term projections, which show
that the system is sound for the foreseeable future and that any
problems that may arise in the distant future should be quite manageable.
The workshop will also demonstrate how privatization does not change
improve the situation in any respect, except insofar as it provides
a cover for reducing benefits to the elderly. The workshop will
also briefly examine the problems that have accompanied privatization
plans in other countries. Dean Baker, Economic Policy Institute.
B6. Exporting Repression: How World
Bank and IMF Programs Undermine Labor Rights: HURST 209
Using Brazil and Indonesia as case
studies, the moderators will provide analysis of the effects of
World Bank and IMF programs on workers in developing countries.
The case studies will illustrate the ways in which labor rights
have been seen by the IFI's as a necessary sacrifice to economic
"development," and will show how their programs have explicitly
acted to enhance "flexibilization" of the labor force
and otherwise to undermine workers' rights. Bama Athreya and
Colin Fenwick International Labor Rights Fund.
B7. From Apartheid to Neoliberalism:
The World Bank in Southern Africa: WARD 113
The workshop will place particular
emphasis on the region's two most powerful economies and most politicized
civil societies: South Africa and Zimbabwe. The World Bank has failed
to make substantial loans but has nevertheless carried out a sophisticated
tap-dance in South Africa, where repeated policy advisory interventions
have gone against the grain of demands made by the Democratic Movement
(in economic policy, land reform, housing, welfare, healthcare,
infrastructure and other fields). More clumsily in Zimbabwe, repeated
Bank policy suggestions (often backed by loans) have had a disastrous
effect, and even big business has taken to periodically ridiculing
Bank and IMF teams since the early 1990s. In both cases, popular
coalitions contesting neoliberalism have emerged, and in Zimbabwe
threaten to form the basis of a left-leaning opposition party led
by the trade unions. In South Africa, powerful civil society groups
continue to utilize the space gained in the 1994 transition from
apartheid, with little prospect of an official Left opposition until
after the 1999 election, but with creative trade union, community,
NGO and Communist Party activists pressing hard on the African National
Congress to rethink its terribly unsuccessful neoliberal approach.
Workshop presenters promise to name the names and detail the crimes
of key World Bank personnel. Patrick Bond, Campaign Against Neo-Liberalism
in South Africa; Brian Ashley, Jubilee 2000 South Africa; and Dennis
Brutus, Distinguished Professor of Humane Letters, Franklin Pierce
College.
B8. Disney/Haiti: Re-energizing
the Campaign: WARD 302
Out of the ashes of this struggle,
which seemed all but finished following cut-and-run by Disney's
largest contractor in Haiti and routine firing of union organizers
by other Disney contractors, a new hope is arising. Management at
the Megatex factory is negotiating with the union and has not fired
a single worker in the face of new international pressure. The U.S.
Embassy in Haiti is getting involved, fearful that its IMF-tailored
plans for cheap labor there may be falling apart. Even the Haitian
Ministry of Social Affairs has sent inspectors to the plant. Find
out how international solidarity is teaming up with workers in the
poorest country in the hemisphere to challenge the rule of corporations.
Trim Bissell, Campaign for Labor Rights.
B9. Popular Education Module: Korea:
The Asian Crisis and Its Players: HURST 205
An interactive simulation on Korea's
plunge into financial crisis and subsequent economic depression.
Meet the different players of the global economic game, learn their
motivations, strengths and weaknesses. Find out who wins the game
and who losses. Colin Rajah, Overseas Development Network (ODN).
B10. The ABCs of ECAs: Your Public
Money Supporting Corporate Investment Overseas: WARD 304
Debt owed by developing countries
and "countries in transition" to Export Credit Agencies
(ECAs) now exceeds the amount owed to multilateral creditors, including
the World Bank and the IMF. U.S. ECAs include the Export-Import
Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) which
have little to no regard for environmental standards or safeguards.
The ECA rationale for this lack of responsibility is that their
mission is to support export of goods and services from their country
to the developing world, and that the adoption of environmental
standards will make them uncompetitive with other ECAs (European
& Asian) that have no such standards. Case studies prove that
ECAs often back disastrous projects and play a dangerous role in
climate change: Three Gorges Dam in China, Freeport in Irian Jaya,
Mohovce Nuclear Power Plant, Chad-Cameroon pipeline and Lihir Gold
Mine in Papua New Guinea are just a few examples. Jon Sohn, Friends
of the Earth; Doug Norlen, Pacific Environment Resource Center.
B11. Sado-Monetarism and the AThird
Way@:
SIS 11
Tony Blair and Bill Clinton have
proposed a center-left alliance, a Athird
way@
in global politics. Such a center-left alliance may seem at first
like a joke, but it=s
no joke - it has the unfortunate potential for undermining a real
left progressive movement for some time to come. It could have a
negative impact on both U.S. and global politics. This workshop
will explore the potential result such a global dialogue might have
on efforts to end structural adjustment programs of the IMF and
the World Bank, oppose the MAI, and stop the Free Trade Association
of the Americas.
Chris Riddiough, Democratic
Socialists of America; Karen Dolan, Institute for Policy Studies.
B12. The Impact of Neo-Liberalism
on Indigenous Communities in Chiapas: WARD 102
Chiapas is the poorest state in
Mexico, and nearly a million indigenous people live in traditional
communities in the state. It is no coincidence that the Zapatista
uprising began on January 1, 1994, the date that NAFTA went into
effect. The impact of neo- liberalism has been profound. The presenters
will speak on the effects of neo-liberal economic policies on indigenous
communities an offer a profound look at the situation today and
expectations for the future. Gustavo Castro, Center for Economic
Investigation and Community Political Action (CIEPAC); Marina Patricia
Jiminez, Fray Bartolome Center for Human Rights; and Tom Hansen,
Mexico Solidarity Network.
B13. How One Congregation Is Fighting
World Debt on Four Continents: WARD 303
This workshop will highlight the
work of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, an international order of
women religious based in Notre Dame, Indiana. A brief history of
the congregation's work (past and present) on economic justice issues
(particularly with the World Bank and IMF) will be presented, along
with possible education/action strategies for other U.S. and international
religious orders. We'll show you how to access the resources produced
by the Sisters of the Holy Cross and where to find other resources
from national and international groups working for debt relief and
debt forgiveness. Ann Oestreich, Sister of the Holy Cross and
Mary Turgi, CSC Office of Global Concerns.
B14. Street Theater: A Dynamic Mobilizing
Tool - sponsored by Jubilee 2000 USA: HURST 208
This workshop presents street theater
techniques that any activist can use to dramatize an issue in a
public setting. Note: you don't have to be an accomplished
actor to attend this workshop. Street theater -- fun and eye-catching!
Amy Markowitz; Nate Osborne, East Timor Action Network; and Christopher
Myott, Friends of the Earth, U.S.
B15. Latin America's Debt Crisis
- sponsored by Jubilee 2000 USA: WARD 301
The debt crisis in Latin America
did not end in the 1980s or with the "Brady Plan." Come
to this workshop to hear about the status of Latin America's debt
and what Latin American activists and analysts are doing to demand
an end to continued debt slavery. Alejandro Bendana and Carlos
Pacheco, Nicaragua Jubilee 2000 Initiative; Marguerita Benda, World
Council of Churches.
Workshop Session C: SATURDAY, OCTOBER
3 - 3:00 - 4:20 P.M.
C1. Women's Labor and Economic
Globalization: WARD 6
A U.S. woman
on welfare is forced to pick up garbage in workfare - a new form
of slave labor. A migrant woman form Albania finds herself into
forced prostitution in Germany. A Mexican woman on the border with
the U.S. faces sub-minimum wages and sexual harassment in order
to feed her family. Come explore how women=
s labor is integral to the process of globalization. Who are the
responsible institutions and what are the points of intervention?
elmira Nazombe, Center for Women's Global Leadership and Carol
Barton, Alternative Women in Development (ALT-WID, NY).
C2. GDP: Does it Measure Economic
Progress? HURST 209
The IMF, World Bank, governments,
investors, the press all use Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the
barometer of economic performance. But GDP keeps hidden the social
and environmental costs of growth. The workshop shows how the use
of GDP and other conventional economic statistics, as well as current
IMF policies, perpetuate poverty and environmental degradation.
Participants will discuss U.S. and international efforts to change
these measure and to control the impacts of the IMF on the environment.
Christine Real de Azua, Accounting for the Environment and John
Fitzgerald, Accounting for the Environment; Jonathan Rowe, Redefining
Progress.
C3. AIt's
Getting Hot in Here@:
The Role of International Financial Institutions in Fueling Climate
Change: SIS 15
This workshop will explore the role
of international financial institutions (IFIs)--the World Bank,
OPIC, EXIM, and others--in creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of
growing greenhouse gas emissions due to a disproportionate investment
in fossil fuels in developing countries. We will explore the role
of IFIs--and the corporate interests they serve-- in Nigeria, Chad,
Cameroon, China, Burma and India. Daphne Wysham, Institute for
Policy Studies; Oronto Douglas, Environment Rights Action; and Francesco
Martone, Reform the World Bank Campaign
C4. Community-Based Monitoring:
Farmers Investigating World Bank Projects in Asia: WARD 113
This workshop will examine strategies
for grassroots monitoring of World Bank projects, with a focus on
empowering local communities to investigate the impacts of WB projects
on their communities and to organize to demand a central role in
the design and implementation of such projects. We will also look
at how Southern groups can utilize the Bank's binding environmental
and social policies to leverage needed change at the local project
level and discuss opportunities for Southern-Northern NGO strategic
collaboration. A case study of community monitoring of a World Bank
agricultural project in Indonesia will be presented. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman,
Pesticide Action Network; Nila Ardhianie, Yayasan Duta Awam.
C5. Economic Violence: The Policies
and Practices of Global Domination: WARD 304
"Economic
Violence" is a way of seeking, talking about and understanding
the economic world order as the majority of humanity always has:
as a system of vastly unequal power relationships maintained by
the use, or threat of violence. This panel will discuss the role
of economic violence B and the institutions and economic interests
that control it to disguise and/or legitimate this reality in terms
of law, economic law and military doctrine. We will discuss the
historic ability to render invisible or silent in the dominant discourse:
the interests of women, Native Peoples, the Peoples of the Global
South as their own subject and the value of nature. It will discuss
changes in language and organizing techniques to expose the current
genocidal level of economic violence that now kills 34,000 children
each day. John Mateyko, Campaign for a Moral Economy; Marie Dennis,
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns; and Tony Avirgan, Development
GAP.
C6. MAI Free Zones: Local Organizing
Around the World: WARD 5
The MAI organizing workshop will
discuss strategies for organizing locally, nationally and globally
to stop the MAI and similar investment agreements that increase
the power of corporations, trade away democracy and bypass the protection
of domestic court systems in the name of economic efficiency. Examples
of successful organizing campaigns to pass city council resolutions
opposing the MAI will be discussed and organizing materials will
be made available. There will be ample opportunity for all participants
to share experiences, raise questions and discuss strategies. Ruth
Caplan, Alliance for Democracy's MAI Campaign; Margrete Strand with
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch; and
Susan George, TransNational
Institute (on what is what is happening in Europe).
C7. The Three Gorges Campaign: Halting
the International Financing of a Monument to Authoritarianism: WARD
303 If built according to plan, the Three Gorges Dam would be the
world's largest dam. Supporters of the project claim the dam will
tame floods, provide electricity to China's bourgeoning cities and
improve navigation in the upper reaches of Asia's mightiest river.
Critics claim that the proposed mega-dam would cause extensive environmental
and social damage, force the resettlement of 1.9 million people,
submerge hundreds of archaeological sites, and forever destroy a
magnificent stretch of canyons known as the Three Gorges which has
for centuries been a source of inspiration for travelers, artists,
poets, and writers. China is not capable of, or planning to, build
the project on its own. Foreign equipment and financing are playing
a key role, which if stopped or severely scaled-back would deal
the project a major blow. Three Gorges is a political, not a development
project. It was effectively stopped prior to Tiananmen square when
successful efforts by Qing, an award-winning Chinese journalist,
exposed the project's true costs, impacts and risks, causing the
State Council to table the proposal for at least five years. All
in all, NGOs are following the money, With the project's unofficial
budget estimates at five to six times what was approved in 1992,
the demand for foreign assistance is growing. Concern over the deteriorating
health of China's banking sector resulting from the growing amount
of non-performing assets, combined with mounting skepticism of Asian
markets generally, should tighten international credit for projects
like Three Gorges. Doris Shen, International Rivers Network;
Dai Qing, author Three Gorges Dam, Changjiang! Changjiang! (Yangtze!
Yangtze!); and Sandy Buffett, Quantum Leap (National Wildlife
Federation).
C8. Structural Adjustment Programs
(SAPs) and the International Financial Institutions 101: HURST 208
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank have left their mark on the world most
harshly through SAPs, the neo-liberal policy packages they insist
indebted countries adopt before getting desperately-needed loans.
SAPs are almost 20 years old now, but have yielded no real success
stories. They have, however, plunged entire populations into perpetual
poverty, widened the gap between rich and poor, depleted countries'
capacity to feed themselves, and set standards of living and levels
of literacy back by decades. This international scandal is one of
the core reasons for the existence of the 50 Years is Enough Network.
This workshop will serve as an introduction: why do countries accept
SAPs? why do the IFIs want these policies imposed? What are the
range of effects? What countries have been living under structural
adjustment? Is there any end in sight? Soren Ambrose, Alliance
for Global Justice; Julia Mulaha, African Women=s
Economic Policy Network (AWEPON), and Dennis Brutus, Distinguished
Professor of Humane Letters, Franklin Pierce College.
C9. Understanding the Global Economic
Casino: HURST 205
This workshop will explore the rise
of finance capital and the recent volatility in global financial
markets. We will attempt to demystify the workings of global financial
markets and maybe even discover ways to fight the money merchants
(e.g., the Tobin Tax). Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange and Doug
Henwood, Left Business Observer.
C10. Stealth IMF: The Africa Growth
and Opportunity Act: WARD 102
When President Clinton visited Africa
in the Fall, he confided to aides that what impressed him the most
about Africa is that U.S. investment in Africa yielded the highest
return - about 31 percent - in the world. Therefore, Africa is ideal
for U.S. investment. The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act became
the Administration principal vehicle for accomplishing this objective.
The workshop intends to reveal why this measure is not in the interest
of the majority of Africans. In the words of A South African intellectual,
"This act is not about Africa growth, neither is it about any
opportunity for Africa." This is simply another means, among
several others advanced by the IMF and the World Bank, of ensuring
Africa's subserviency and exploitation in the global economy. Ezekiel
Pajibo, Africa Faith and Justice Network; Deborah Toler, Black Radical
Congress; Patrick Bond, Campaign Against Neo-Liberalism in South
Africa; and Lori Wallach, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.
C11. Preaching Beyond the Choir:
Organizing Inclusively Beyond One's Own Constituency - sponsored
by Jubilee 2000 USA: WARD 301
Too often we just "preach to
the converted" and we don't always reach out effectively to
communities of color. This workshop deals with how to reach out
to involve a diverse range of groups and communities in our organizing
for economic justice. Suzie Johnson, Africa Fund; Stephanie Seidel,
Bread for the World; and Marcia Thomas, US Aid for Africa.
C12. Organizing a Local Jubilee
2000 Campaign and Getting Your Local Church on Board - sponsored
by Jubilee 2000 USA: WARD 205: This workshop is intended for
activists interested in starting a Jubilee 2000 coalition or intensifying
the debt relief activism of their existing local or regional organization.
How do you get your local church or economic justice group on board?
It will cover organizational strategy and making an effective local
impact. David Bryden, Jubilee 2000 and Kathy Pomroy, Bread for
the World.
C13. Third World Debt: Root Causes,
Effects, Solutions, and Answering Difficult Questions - sponsored
by Jubilee 2000 USA: WARD 302 What's wrong with HIPC? A critique
of the World Bank/IMF official debt relief program, the HIPC Initiative.
How much will debt relief cost and who will pay? What about corruption?
How to prevent future crises? Jo Marie Griesgraber, Center of
Concern.
C14. Funding Extinction: Tropical
Rainforests of the Americas and Africa: SIS 11
The importance of tropical rainforests
to the stability and permanance of our global environment, and the
role of World Bank lending and IMF structural adjustment plans in
speeding their destruction. In the Americas and Africa, cycles of
debt and destruction are causing the largest mass extinction in
our planet's history. Using the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua as a
case study, the workshop will look at the role of timber exports
in short-term debt service and long-term dismantling of agricultural
economies, and the consequences of rainforest extinction for our
species. Orin Langelle, Action for Community and Ecology in Central
America (ACERCA), Magda Lanuza, Centro Humboldt; Patricia Awerbuch,
Rainforest Action Group of Delaware Valley; Erick Brownstein (Rainforest
Action Network).
Afternoon Plenary:
4:30 PM, WARD 1
Resistance
& Success Stories in the Quest for
Economic
Justice for All
Chair: Marie Dennis,
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
Gustavo Castro Soto - CIEPAC, San
Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico
Oronto Douglas - Environmental Rights
Action, (Port Harcourt, Nigeria)
Susan George - TransNational Institute,
Paris, France
Charlie Hinton - 50 Years Is Enough
Network, San Francisco, CA
Magda Lanuza - Centro Humboldt,
Managua, Nicaragua
SUNDAY, OCTOBER
4, 1998
Workshop
Session D: - 9:30 - 11:00 A.M.
D1. An Ill Wind: Globalization's
Impact Visited on the U.S. WARD 101
This workshop looks into how people
in the U.S. end up paying a steep price for the globalization policies
imposed by the U.S. government and the international financial institutions.
Three destructive policy patterns will be examined, from their roots
in neo-liberal economic policies to their impact on forcibly-marginalized
people in the U.S. The failed but immensely expensive "war
on drugs" that violates basic rights of citizens in both the
consuming and producing countries will be discussed by Sanho Tree
of the Institute for Policy Studies and Clarence Lusane of American
University. The hypocrisies and injustice of welfare "reform"
-- the clearest example of structural adjustment brought back to
its country of origin B
will be critiqued by Cheri Honkala of the Kensington Welfare Rights
Union. Chung wha Hong of the National Korean American Service Consortium
will diagnose the meaning of the scape-goating of immigrants by
U.S. politicians and policies. Tammi Coles, Washington Peace
Center; Chung wha Hong, National Korean American Service & Education
Consortium; Cheri Honkala, Kensington Welfare Rights Union; Clarence
Lusane, American University; Sanho Tree, Institute for Policy Studies.
D2. Development
Without Debt or Inflation: Local Currencies: WARD 103
This workshop/panel
will discuss why our existing monetary system, which relies on interest-baring
debt, tends to make the rich richer and the poor poorer and how
communities can develop an alternate monetary system. Local currencies
have caught on throughout the world because they promote both equity
and sound ecological investment. We will discuss local currencies
in terms of economic theory and of their current practical application
in a variety of communities in the U.S. Greg
Wilpert, Global Sweatshops Coalition; Margaret McCasland, Ithaca
Hours; and Edgar Cahn, Time Dollar Institute.
D3. The IMF and Militarization in
Africa: Lessons from Rwanda and Angola: WARD 105
Does the conditionality of the IMF
require force and militarism? What is the attitude of the IMF and
the World Bank to the arms trade? Did the IMF finance the authors
of genocide in Rwanda? What is the nature of the flip-flop of the
IMF in the war in Angola? To what extent do the ideas of free market
correspond to the ideas of patriarchy, violence, and militarism?
Horace Campbell, Syracuse University; Marc Mealy, AAD Strategic
Consulting Group; and Deborah Toler, Black Radical Congress.
D4. Oil and Development: Road to
Prosperity or Obstacle to Progress? WARD 107
In many countries around the world
development of petroleum resources has been promoted as an instrument
for improving the lives of poor people. However, more often than
not, the benefits of such development have gone principally to multinational
oil corporations and local elites in partnership with those corporations
while the purported beneficiaries are left with degraded lands and
disruption of their traditional livelihoods. This workshop will
focus on the gulf between the promise and the reality of petroleum
development. The experience of grassroots and international activists
concerned about the environmental and human rights implications
of the Chad-Cameroon oil and pipeline project will be highlighted.
Korinna Horta, Environmental Defense Fund; Samuel Nguiffo, Centre
pour l'Environnement et le Developpement;
Pastor Luc Norbert
Kenne, Ecumenical Service for Peace (Service Humanus),
Cameroon; and Francesco Martone, Reform the World Bank Campaign.
D5. Alternatives in the Age of Economic
Globalization: WARD 114
Join us as we explore the increasingly
vital subject of how civil society can "turn from defense to
offense" in advocacy on the global economy. Panelists will
discuss whether the global financial crisis and victories on fast
track, the MAI and the IMF have created political space to push
for "alternatives" to the financial and investment deregulation
agenda of globalization. Panelists will present approaches to controlling
speculative financial flows and regulating corporate investments
and engage participants in discussions of the advantages and disadvantages
of these options. Equally importantly, participants will discuss
strategies for ensuring that progressives have a voice in the ongoing
debate on the future of the world's "financial architecture."
Mark Vallianatos, Friends of the Earth, U.S.; John Cavanagh,
Institute for Policy Studies; and Mercia Andrews, South Africa NGO
Coalition.
D6. Earth Day 2000 As A Campaign
Catalyst for Transforming the International Financial Institutions:
WARD 201 Brief presentations proceed
a round table strategy session brainstorming the most effective
ways to use the momentum of Earth Day 2000 to implement our campaigns
to transform the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). How
do we halt IFIs funding of polluting fossil fuels and redirect investments
solely for sustainable environmentally-friendly energy sources!
Can we help the public understand that environmental issues and
social justice are linked? In Earth Day 1990, thousands of NGOs
and 200 million citizens from 141 countries joined together for
the largest environmental event in history. Earth Day 2000 presents
an opportunity perhaps more impressive than 1990 to transform how
we live with the Earth and each other. Mark Dubois, Earth Day
2000; Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies; and Steve Mills,
Sierra Club.
D7. Kyrgyzstan's Poison Profits:
What's a Little Cyanide for Pots of Gold? WARD 202
QUESTION: What do you get when you
combine the following -- A mountain of gold (the Kumtor gold mine
in the mountains of Kyrgystan); a government and a company withholding
information about the number of deaths (the Kyrgyz government which
owns 2/3 of the operation and the Canadian multinational company
Cameco which owns 1/3 of the operation); financing institutions
which don=t
seem to care very much about the local people or the environment
(the World Bank financer and insurer through the IFC and MIGA);
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), U.S. Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Canadian Export Development
Corporation (CEDC), and private banks including Chase Manhattan?
ANSWER: A cyanide spill: a poisoned
river (the Barksaun River), multitudes of sick and perhaps several
dead, and no one accepting responsibility. Come hear the story of
the May 20, 1998 Kumtor gold mine cyanide spill and learn about
the World Bank=s
larger role in Kyrgystan the country. Doug Norlen, Pacific Environmental
Resource Center; Kalia Moldogaziaeva, Human Development ATree
of Life@; and
Natalia Ablova, Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law.
D8. World Bank and Corporate Activism
for the 21st Century: WARD 203
Much has changed in the last 30
years of environmental and human rights activism. Governments are
ever more irrelevant as transnational corporations spread their
tentacles to every corner of the earth, the economy is globalized,
biodiversity is choked and international monoculture looms. Despite
the fact that much has been achieved in this past 30 years, we are
losing ground faster than ever. Dozens of new fires break out for
every one we manage to put out. How must our strategies change to
effect this new reality? How do our old strategies limit us? How
do we engage the public and build a grassroots movement while converts
to the religion of consumerism (you are what you buy) multiply across
continents? At this workshop we will examine new ideas in taking
on a World Bank which has shifted much of its resources to MIGA
and the IFC, and taking on a globally dominant economic system overwhelmingly
driven by private capital and fueled by consumption. Kelly Quirke,
Rainforest Action Network and Andrea Durbin, Friends of the Earth,
U.S.
D9. U.S. Farmers and the Global
Economy: WARD 204
This workshop
will explore how U.S. trade and investment policy dictate U.S. farm
policy and food safety standards. Special consideration will be
given to how NAFTA and GATT enabled passage of the 1996 farm bill,
leading to long-term economic crisis in rural America. The increasing
role of international financial institutions in farm policy will
also be discusses. Jim Potts of the National Family Farm Coalition
(NFFC) and Dena Hoff, an NFFC board member and sheep rancher from
Glendive, Montana.
D10. To Be A Woman -- WARD
205 A video presentation and discussion of the impact of
structural adjustment programs (SAPs) on African women. Women in
Uganda, Zambia, and Ghana describe how SAPs have affected their
ability to make a living, farm, or provide food, shelter, and education
for themselves and their families.
Julia Mulaha, African Women's
Economic Policy Network (AWEPON).
Closing Plenary,
NOON, WARD 1
Action &
Direction: Carrying the Movement Forward
Chair: Susan Thompson,
Columban Justice & Peace Office
Patrick Bond - Campaign Against
Neo-Liberalism in South Africa, Johannesburg
Freda Catheus - Association of Peasant
Organizers of Lagonav, Haiti
John Cavanagh - Institute for Policy
Studies, Washington DC
Kevin Danaher - Global Exchange,
San Francisco, CA
Cheri Honkala - Kensington Welfare
Rights Union, Philadelphia, PA
Deborah Toler - Black Radical Congress,
Oakland, CA
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