These conferences come at a crucial time. The immense popularity of Mike Moore’s films and radical authors such as John Pilger and Noam Chomsky show that people are trying to understand the world and recent events. Socialist Alliance made a huge effort to organise and mobilise activists in the campaign against the imperialist war in Iraq. Conferences like these are important to take activists the one step further – towards the conclusion that to defeat the imperialist war drive you have to win socialism.
Nikki Ulasowski reports that the agenda includes two plenary sessions, “Globalisation - Imperialism’s new name for speeding-up production” at 1pm and “Another world is possible - building a socialist alternative” at 3.30pm.
In between there will be a choice of workshops on: the revolutionary process unfolding in Latin America; the Free Trade Agreement; workers in Howard’s “Lucky Country”; the Australian arm of imperialism; and “After the road map - where to for Palestine?”
Another series of workshops starting at 5.15pm includes: “Refugees - from detention to forced deportation”; the anti-war movement in Australia and globally; outreach with socialist politics; socialists in trade unions; and building a socialist youth movement.
Registration is a recommended donation of $10 (waged) or $4 (concession) to help cover venue costs. For more information, phone Nikki on (08) 9218 9608 or click here to email: perth@socialist-alliance.org
Arun Pradhan reports that Victoria’s “Socialist Ideas Conference”, titled “Resisting the Empire” aims to engage with the broad anti-imperialist sentiment and help provide socialist solutions and strategies for action.
The conference will feature Humphrey McQueen, renowned Marxist author and intellectual, in a day of panels and workshops that will look behind the war drive and refugee crisis, and lay bare the underlying violence and inhumanity of capitalism.
It will also canvass the role of the Australian government - the US’s deputy sheriff in the Asia-Pacific region. Australia’s military intervention in the Solomons is just the beginning of a larger strategy to re-colonise the South Pacific’s “failed states” and make them once more safe for imperialist exploitation.
Arun says the conference is also an opportunity for the six Alliances branches in Victorian to focus resources on a state level. “We are planning to ‘paint Melbourne red’ with conference promotional material and have already produced our first round of leaflets”, he said.
The exact agenda is still being formulated and members’ input is welcome. For more information, or if you have ideas and/or can help with organising or publicising the event, click here to contact the Victorian SA conveners at: victoria@socialist-alliance.org, or click here to contact Arun at: arun@red-duck.org
Paul Benedek reports that the agenda for the NSW conference is still being finalised, but ideas being discussed include plenary sessions on “The struggle for a world without war” and “A socialist vision for an alternative to Carr’s Thatcherism”, plus workshops on militant unionism; socialist education and ideas; Latin America in revolt; and campaigning for a different world: anti-war, refugee rights, anti-corporate globalisation, and the next elections.
Guest speakers will include Dick Nichols, recently returned from a visit to Latin America, and Marxist writer Humphrey McQueen.
For more info’, phone Paul on (02) 9690 1977 or click here to email: nsw@socialist-alliance.org