By Karen Fredericks
SYDNEY — The International 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Conference, to be held at the University of New South Wales from April 1 to 4, is drawing unprecedented interest and enthusiasm from both local and international activists in the progressive movements.
Conference organiser Reihana Mohideen told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly the responses to invitations to participate in the conference indicate a renewed willingness among many on the left to begin the important task of rebuilding an active and internationalist left/green current.
"What makes this conference so exciting is that it is bringing together the most active people, the people who are more concerned with moving forward than with perpetuating old divisions", she said.
"There will be grassroots community activists from the Third World, like the worker, student and peasant organisers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka, as well as radical parliamentarians from the First World, such as Luciana Castellina from the Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) in Italy, and a representative of the Alliance in New Zealand. Closer to home, I'm very pleased that Senator Christabel Chamarette of the WA Greens will also be participating."
The PRC won the municipal elections in Rome late last year and will contest the national Italian elections in March from an extremely strong position. The New Zealand Alliance won two seats in the New Zealand elections in November and is likely to win substantially more under a newly instituted system of proportional representation.
Conference-goers will also hear Tony Cabardo, a central leader of Sanlakas, the new federation of progressive mass organisations in the Philippines, speak of a mass demonstration on the streets of Manila, sponsored by Sanlakas, in which 100,000 workers, peasants and students took to the streets in a dramatic show of left renewal. Sanlakas, in conjunction with other mass organisations, is planning to mobilise around 1 million Filipinos for May Day.
Dulce Maria Pereira, a black feminist activist and alternative senator for the Brazilian Workers Party (PT) in the state of Sao Paulo, will speak on the PT's campaign for the Brazilian elections, to be held late this year. Pereira works for the PT's television station, Workers' TV, coordinating coverage for its election campaign. The PT is currently polling well and could possibly win government in the upcoming elections.
Other international guests, such as Juan Antonio Blanco, former adviser to the Cuban Foreign Ministry and to the United Nations as part of the Non-Aligned Movement, and Peter Camejo from the USA, board member of the Environmental Federation of America and member of the National Executive of the Committees of Correspondence, will add their own experiences and perspectives.
"This conference is a unique opportunity to hear these activists' diverse political experiences first hand, and then to participate in the discussions which follow — the comparisons, theoretical conclusions and strategies for further action", says Mohideen.
The conference will also be addressed by Susan George, author of How the other half dies and A fate worse than debt, amongst other influential books.
"The enormous gulf between the First and Third Worlds, and the means by which this division is maintained, is a vital strand to the conference", says Mohideen. "The participation of Susan George, with her extensive experience and knowledge of issues such as Third World debt and hunger, and the part played by institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, will give a much-needed background for our discussion of the struggles being waged in individual countries.
"Capitalism today operates at an international level, and if we intend to pose a challenge to this rapacious world system we need to do the same thing", she says. "It is clear that we need to generalise our experiences, share our information and pool our resources. This conference is part of that process."
Mohideen says an important trigger to the current left/green renewal taking place in so many different countries around the world has been the collapse of the Stalinist regimes in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Barbara Einhorn, British author of Cinderella goes to market, a book which explores the effects of this collapse on women in eastern Europe, will give a feature talk based on the research for her book.
The conference will also feature a range of local Australian speakers on Aboriginal land rights, feminism, alternative media and environmental struggles. Australian speakers will also join international guests on panels to discuss strategy on a range of issues including human rights, electoral politics, red-green alliances and Australian imperialism in the Asia Pacific region.
"We believe this will be an inspiring conference", says Mohideen. "The thread which runs through the entire agenda is one of activism, of talking real politics, not merely theoretical politics. We want to discuss the kind of politics which gets people moving, and keeps them moving, in a progressive direction. These are four days in which we can remind ourselves that we are truly part of a worldwide movement with the capacity to bring about revolutionary change."