Spivak

THE QUESTION OF SUBALTERNITY

A two-day seminar with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak at CENDEAC (Murcia, South Eastern Spain)  

1st and 2nd December // 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: The Question of Subalternity

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak will lead an intensive seminar at CENDEAC on the 1st and 2nd December 2009. It will be a unique opportunity to engage with Spivak’s thought, through a detailed analysis of some of her most influential texts. 

The seminar will discuss the history and usefulness of the elusive concept of the subaltern based on questions emerging from three texts by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak available in Spanish translation: “Can the subaltern speak?”, “Subaltern Studies: deconstructing historiography” and “Displacement and the Discourse of Woman”. The two sessions will be entitled: “The Subaltern: Use and Abuse” and “Women, Subalternity, and Strategic Essentialism”.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, is University Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University and holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Toronto and London and Oberlin College. She has published, Of Grammatology (translation with critical introduction of Jacques Derrida, De la grammatologie, 1976); Thinking Academic Freedom in Gendered Post-Coloniality (1993); In Other Worlds (1987); Outside in the Teaching Machine (1993); A Critique of Postcolonial Reason (1999); Death of a Discipline(2003), Other Asias (2007). And the forthcoming An Aesthetic Education in an Age of Globalization. She has also translated from Bengali, Mahasweta Devi: Imaginary Maps (1994); Breast Stories (1997), Old Women (1999); Chotti Munda and His Arrow (2002) and Ramproshad Sen’s (eighteenth century Bengali mystic): Song for Kali (2000). The texts “Translation As Culture” (2005), “Translating into English” (2005), and “Rethinking Comparativism” (2009) reflect her concern for the task of the translator.  “Righting Wrongs” (2001), and “Ethics and Politics in Tagore, Coetzee, and Certain Scenes of Teaching” (2004) give a sense of her dedication to supplementing vanguardism. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1983) has become a controversial classic.

Information and enrolment:

Attendance is free unless a certificate is required, in which case fees will be 30€ standard, 15€ for the unemployed, full-time students and OAPs, and free to Friends of CENDEAC. 

Language of the Seminar: English with simultaneous translation into Spanish. 

CENDEAC is accessible for wheelchair users and people with diminished mobility. Whenever possible, we will strive to provide on request a transcript of papers for users with impaired hearing. Auditorium Capacity: 140 people

For more information, including assistance with travel and accommodation, please visit our website: http://www.cendeac.net or contact yhernandez[at]cendeac.net

CENDEAC
Pabellón 5
Antiguo Cuartel de Artillería
C/ Madre Elisea Oliver Molina, s/n
30002-Murcia (España)
Tel.: +34 868 914 769
Fax: +34 868 914 149

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MONEY

King’s College London Reading Capital Society

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http://www.kclreadingcapital.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49539959 005

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1) Next session: ‘Money’

Following a fascinating session discussing the fetishism of commodities, the Reading Capital group asks…

What is money? Where does it come from? What makes certain commodities suitable as money? Could we live without it?

Joseph Choonara, former deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal (www.isj.org. uk), will introduce a discussion on:

‘Money or the Circulation of Commodities’.

Monday 23rd November ‘09 (NOTE CHANGE OF DATE): 6pm F-WB Room 2.43, Waterloo Campus, King’s College London

“It is not money that renders commodities commensurable. Just the contrary. It is because all commodities, as values, are realised human labour, and therefore commensurable, that their values can be measured by one and the same special commodity, and the latter be converted into the common measure of their values, i.e., into money. Money as a measure of value, is the phenomenal form that must of necessity be assumed by that measure of value which is immanent in commodities: labour-time.” (Marx)

All welcome - whether you have been reading Capital or just want to drop in for the talk – we aim to be accessible to all.

(Those wishing to read in advance should make their way to Chapter 3!)

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2) Martin Wolf & Alex Callinicos Debate:

If you haven’t already, you can watch the event:

Alex Callinicos:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=k6CZAQvAMaY

Martin Wolf:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=AXKqqgwAIeI

Questions & Answers:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=hYpHLnlUrFg

or download the audio from:
http://rapidshare. com/files/ 302959451/ Wolf_Callinicos_ Full_Audio. wav
and a Palantypist’ s transcript:
http://rapidshare. com/files/ 305646664/ CallinicosWolf02 1009wholedebate. rtf

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3) Chris Harman – 1942-2009

The Reading Group was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Chris Harman. Only two weeks ago, Chris gave a brilliantly accessible introduction to the first chapter of Capital for the Reading Group. That he was able to make the most abstract and difficult part of Capital so unfailingly concrete is a testament to the power and clarity of his thought. He will be greatly missed. 

http://www.guardian .co.uk/politics/ 2009/nov/ 09/chris- harman-obituary

http://www.socialis tworker.co. uk/art.php?

Chris’s session for the Reading Group:
http://rapidshare. com/files/ 299965681/ Chris_Harman_ 27Oct2009. mp3

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KCL Reading Capital

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Don’t Look Back
Radical Thinkers and the Arts since 1909

Thursday 26 November 2009, 18.30–20.00

On the 100th anniversary of the Futurism Manifesto, join critical thinkers Terry Eagleton, Simon Critchley, Kate Soper, Eyal Weizman, and chair Alberto Toscano in exploring a century of radical thinking and the arts – and debating what lies ahead. The recent Futurism exhibition at Tate Modern reminds us of an age when politics and aesthetics were densely interwoven in an explosive rejection of the past. This distinguished panel will assess the legacy of modernism to ask how today’s radical thinkers might understand the role of the arts at the dawn of the twenty first century and beyond.

Speakers:

Terry Eagleton is Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster and author of Literary Theory: An Introduction, The Illusions of Postmodernism and Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate.

Simon Critchley is Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York and author of The Book of Dead Philosophers, On Humour and Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction.

Kate Soper is a Professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts and Languages at London Metropolitan University and author of To Relish the Sublime: Culture and Self-realisation in Postmodern Times and What Is Nature?: Culture, Politics and the Non-Human.

Eyal Weizman is an architect and Director of the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths College, University of London and author of Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation.

Chair: Alberto Toscano, editor of Historical Materialism, lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London and author of The Theatre of Production: Philosophy and Individuation Between Kant and Deleuze.

In collaboration with Verso to coincide with the of launch of Set 4 of Verso’s Radical Thinkers series.

Supported by New Statesman

Tate Britain  Auditorium
£8 (£6 concessions), booking recommended
For tickets book online
or call 020 7887 8888

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Despair

WHERE IS THE LABOUR PARTY GOING?

The next of The Commune’s London public forums is on the subject of the social role, degeneration and future course of the Labour Party. The meeting takes place from 7pm on Monday 23rd November at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross.

The discussion will be led off by Chris Ford from The Commune, Andrew Fisher from the Labour Representation Committee and David Bailey, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, and author of ‘The Transition to ‘New’ Social Democracy: the role of capitalism, representation, and (hampered) contestation’.

The Commune London Public Forum on the Labour Party: http://thecommune.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/where-is-the-labour-party-going-23rd-november-london-forum/

The Commune: http://thecommune.wordpress.com/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

American Empire

THE AMERICAN EMPIRE IN LIGHT OF THE GLOBAL CRISIS
‘THE GLOBALISATION LECTURES’

Organised by the Department of Development Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

University of London

Convenor: Professor Gilbert Achcar

2009-2010

This event is co-sponsored by Historical Materialism Conference 2009 (27-29 November)

A DEBATE BETWEEN PROFESSOR ALEX CALLINICOS AND PROFESSOR LEO PANITCH

Wednesday 25 November, 6:30pm, SOAS, Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, London WC1

Alex Callinicos was born in Zimbabwe. After teaching political philosophy for many years at the University of York, he is now Professor of European Studies at King’s College London. His most recent books are The Resources of Critique and Imperialism and Global Political Economy. His next book Bonfire of Illusions: The Twin Crises of the Liberal World will appear early next year.

Leo Panitch is the Senior Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto, and the co-editor of The Socialist Register. His most recent books are American Empire and the Political Economy of Global Finance, and Renewing Socialism: Transforming Democracy, Strategy and Imagination.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Human Nature

HUMAN NATURE

Birkbeck ‘Marx, Individuals & Society’ Seminar

William Dixon will speak on: “Yes, there is a human nature”

Thursday 19th November, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1, 19:30 to 21:00, Classroom GOR B02

Contact for details: lukiezac@dircon.co.uk

‘Human Nature’ by Michael Jackson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjzer9dUWmg

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Tate Britain

ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT

Two Talks in the Series ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT
Tate Britain, London SW1

Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kristin Ross, ‘Democracy for Sale’
Setting out from the controversy over Ireland’s ‘no’ vote to the European constitution, this talk will consider the current global stakes of the more radical form of democracy associated with the Paris Commune. Kristin Ross is Professor of Comparative Literature, New York University. Her books include The Emergence of Social Space (1988) and May ‘68 and its Afterlives (2002).

Tuesday, 8 December 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kojin Karatani, ‘The End of Capitalism?’
Capitalism may be on the verge of extinction, but it will not end by itself, because states do everything possible to prolong its life. This talk will consider the role of the state in this context and the counter-politics it provokes. Kojin Karatani is the author of Architecture as Metaphor (1995) and Transcritique: On Kant and Marx (2003) and a founder of the New Associationist Movement in Japan.

Peter Osborne, an editor of the journal Radical Philosophy, will act as Chair and Respondent.

The Auditorium, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1
£8 each talk (£6 concessions) – price includes drink reception afterwards
Tate.org.uk/tickets or tel. 020-7887-8888

Anthropologies of the Present at Tate Britain: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/talks/anthropologiesofthepresent.htm
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profiel: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Work, work, work

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF EDUCATION AND WORK – UPDATE 9th NOVEMBER 2009

OUR MANDATE: The Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) brings together educators from university, union, and community settings to understand and enrich the often-undervalued informal and formal learning of working people. We develop research and teaching programs at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) that strengthen feminist, anti-racist, labour movement, and working-class perspectives on learning and work.

Our major project is APCOL: Anti-Poverty Community Organizing and Learning. This five-year project (2009-2013), funded by SSHRC-CURA, brings academics and activists together in a collaborative effort to evaluate how organizations approach issues and campaigns and use popular education.

To change your subscription settings, visit http://listserv.oise.utoronto.ca/mailman/listinfo/csewbroadcast

For more information about CSEW, visit: http://www.csew.ca

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EVENTS

FALL COLLOQUIUM: DEVELOPING THE VISION OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Wednesday, November 18
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
OISE Room 5 – 250
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto

With:

Kathryn Church, Associate Professor, School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University. Long-time ally and researcher with disability and mental health communities.

Winnie Ng, OISE doctoral student, well-known Toronto community activist and labour educator. Currently engaged in reimagining anti-racist learning.

What does an agenda for “workplace learning” look like from the perspective of workers with disabilities? From a racial and economic justice perspective?

Join us for these two dynamic presentations, with time for questions. You will also have an opportunity to meet with faculty and students in OISE’s Collaborative Program in Workplace Learning and Social Change.

Light refreshments will be served. For more information on the program, visit: http://aecp.oise.utoronto.ca/ae/programs/collaborative/wlsc.html

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CANADIAN LABOUR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (CLIFF) DEBUTS!

November 22-29, 2009

Imagine a world where thousands of films are made about workers and the conditions under which they live, work, fight, and succeed in their daily lives. In just a few days, the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF) will debut in Toronto. All screenings are free!

The launch at the Sheraton Centre at 4 pm on Sunday November 22 (site of the Ontario Federation of Labour convention) will be followed by six evenings at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto.

Hope you can join us for the grand opening on the 22nd – great films, music, speakers! And at the Bloor Cinema from Monday through Saturday. Details of the festival country-wide in dozens of locations Saturday-Sunday November 28-29 are available on the CLIFF website: http://www.labourfilms.ca

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TORONTO SOCIALIST ACTION PRESENTS REBEL FILMS: DR. STRANGELOVE

Friday, November 13
7 p.m.
OISE, 252 Bloor St. West, Room 2-212
St. George Subway Station
Everyone welcome. $4 donation requested.

93 minutes, 1964, B&W. An insane general starts a process towards nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop. Stanley Kubrick’s iconic spoof on the arms race makes a powerful case for nuclear disarmament. Science for Peace executive board member Jim Deutsch will speak about the current nuclear arms race, followed by an open discussion.

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RESEARCH FORUM: THE PEOPLE’S RECESSION – ONE YEAR LATER

Social Planning Toronto Research and Policy Forum

Wednesday, November 11
9:30 a.m. – Noon
Lillian H. Smith Library,
239 College Street (just east of Spadina) Room BC

Please join us for our November forum with:

* Armine Yalnizyan, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Recession and realcovery: what’s community service got to do with it?
* Beth Wilson, Social Planning Toronto and the Social Planning Network of Ontario – SPNO’s hard hit: impact of the economic downturn on nonprofit community social services in Ontario
* Ann Fitzpatrick, Recession Relief Coalition – Taking action on the people’s recession

All are welcome but space is limited. Register at: http://socialplanningtoronto.org/news/research-forum-the-peoples-recession-one-year-later/

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LUNCHBOX SPEAKERS’ SERIES: NOVEMBER SPEAKERS’ PANEL – YOUTH FOR YOUTH INITIATIVES

Wednesday, November 18
Noon – 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Room 12-199

Speakers:

Hannah Feldberg – will discuss the concept of Me to We as a new kind of social enterprise; one which was first a philosophy and is now a movement carried by dedicated social justice advocates – the youth of today.

Liam O’Doherty – will explore how social media can empower youth organizing and how online, peer-to-peer collaboration is complimentary to traditional methods of activism.

Jeffrey Ma – will talk about why crossing borders can be easier than crossing the street, and the importance of connecting with people of different faiths and values, both internationally and here at home.

Bring your lunch and a mug – coffee, tea and water will be provided.

For more information, contact Lisa White at: secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca or visit our website at: http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca

This event will also be webcast live on the Internet. Please see our website at: http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca/english/webcast.php for detailed instructions.

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GOOD JOBS, STRONG COMMUNITIES! UNITE-HERE CAMPAIGN 2010

Join hundreds of members of Unite Here Local 75 as we celebrate our victories and launch our 2010 multi-city campaign for good jobs and strong communities!

November 10, 2009

5:30: Gather at City Hall for rally, March to Hyatt Regency Hotel
*Pre-rally activities at City Hall, 100 Queen St. W, Toronto
3:30-4:30 Press conference and welcome, Member’s Lounge, City Hall
4:30-5:30 Briefing: Looking back, moving forward. Council Chambers, City Hall

* Hear what the Hotel Workers Rising movement has won in Toronto and North America.
* Learn about the role of hospitality jobs in the road to economic recovery
* Meet members of the “Hyatt 100,” a group of non-union housekeepers from Boston fighting Hyatt’s efforts to outsource their jobs with low-paid agency work
* Learn about the fight for good hospitality jobs in Toronto, 2010.

Hotel Workers Rising: Standing up for good jobs and strong communities.
RSVP: info@uniteherelocal75.org

Find out more: http://www.uniteherelocal75.org, http://www.uniteherecanada.org, or http://www.unitehere.org.

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NEWS & VIEWS

CITY OF TORONTO’S CAPITAL BUDGET – HAVE YOUR SAY!

The City of Toronto’s proposed 2010 capital budget and 10-year plan were presented at the City’s Budget Committee on Tuesday, November 3. Find more details on how you can make a submission, read the analyst’s notes and more on the city website: http://www.toronto.ca/budget2010/.

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NEW STUDY IDENTIFIES PEAK TIMES FOR BRAIN INJURIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

TORONTO, Oct. 6 /CNW/ – August may be the cruellest month for brain injuries in Ontario’s construction industry, but a new study shows October is not far behind.

“We thought it was important to track these injuries month by month,” says Dr. Angela Colantonio, a senior scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and co-author of the study published this week in the journal Brain Injury.

Few academic studies have looked at brain injury among construction workers. Yet the construction industry – with approximately 400,000 workers in Ontario alone – is known to have a high rate of serious brain injury. The new study used data from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board on 218 cases of non-fatal brain injury which resulted in days off work in 2004-2005.

The authors weren’t surprised to find the highest number of brain injuries in the busy construction month of August, while December had the lowest number. But they didn’t expect to find a second peak of injuries in October. This may reflect a surge in work to complete projects prior to the winter months. Contributing factors, they speculate, could be shorter days to work, less light, and more adverse weather conditions. The authors want to do further study to find out if this seasonal pattern holds for other years.

Their study also begins to raise questions about the time of day when many construction-related brain injuries occur. It identifies two peaks during the day: the hour before and the hours after lunch.

“Most of us know that lethargic feeling that hits just before or after lunch at work: our energy dips, it’s hard to focus but we have a job to finish,” says Dr. Colantonio. Other factors may also be distracting workers in anticipation of, or during, their lunch break – and affecting their attention on the job. “For construction workers, this could have devastating consequences.”

Doug McVittie, study co-author and assistant general manager and director of operations for the Construction Safety Association of Ontario (CSAO), says his group will circulate the findings to construction companies across the province, as well as labour and management health and safety committees. The results will also be shared with CSAO staff members who provide training and safety seminars for construction workers.

For further information: Carolyn Lovas, Media Relations Specialist, Toronto Rehab, (416) 597-3422, ext. 3837, Lovas.Carolyn@torontorehab.on.ca.

To read the study: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699050903036033

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BRIARPATCH MAGAZINE, NOV/DEC 2009: WORK & THE GREEN ECONOMY

The economic crisis has taken a grim toll on working people and on the labour movement. In its wake, can labour activists and environmentalists join forces to build a green economy that works for everyone? This is just one of the many questions we set out to answer in our annual labour issue, which also brings you a report on the sorry state of freelance journalism, a first-hand account of fighting fire in Canada’s Big Wild, an assessment of the prospects for union organizing in tough times, a look at the intersection of neoliberalism and volunteerism in New Orleans, and more.

To subscribe or order a copy of this issue, call 1-866-431-5777 or visit our secure online shop at: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/webstore.

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VIDEO: CF 61 (LOCKED-OUT CADILLAC FAIRVIEW WORKERS) TALK TO THE CROWD AT ST JAMES PARK, TORONTO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8az_8QpfQtI

CF 61 told the crowd how Cadillac Fairview has attacked the workers to avoid employing older workers. Information sheets being circulated talk about the malls to boycott during the 2009 Christmas Shopping season.

The OCAP TD Centre rally supported the 61 locked out and terminated employees of Cadillac Fairview. The CF 61 are represented by CEP Local 2003. Please visit the story of the workers struggle against the bank and their fight for justice here: ‘Solidarity with Toronto Dominion Centre employees under attack’: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104383668872  or visit: http://www.ceplocal2003.org/.

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CANADA/BRAZIL: TELL VALE THAT DIVIDE-AND-CONQUER WON’T WORK

Since being privatized in 1997, the global mining giant Vale has unleashed a vicious attack on workers. The company undermined health and safety standards in Brazil and now it’s set its sights on Canada. In 2009 negotiations with the United Steelworkers (USW), Vale claimed it needed deep concessions – despite making over $13 billion (USD) in 2008 net profits. The company’s strategy is to divide and conquer by undermining seniority and providing lesser benefits to new employees. 3,500 members of the USW rejected Vale’s demands and went on strike in mid-July. Vale has since announced it will hire replacement workers and force other union members to do the work of the striking miners. Meanwhile Vale workers throughout Brazil are struggling to hold on to jobs, earn a living wage, achieve minimum standards for safe working conditions, and guarantee basic labor rights. Vale employees and their unions in Brazil and Canada are fighting back together,
reaching out to workers in a global campaign for fair treatment at Vale.

To read more, click here: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=595

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PAY BONANZA CONTINUES FOR BANKERS

By Linda McQuaig – Source: rabble.ca

Some people were outraged last week by a report that a member of the kitchen staff of bailed-out Wall Street firm AIG had received a $7,700 bonus.

Surely that was far less outrageous than the million-dollar bonuses paid to others at AIG who actually carried out the firm’s financial business.

After all, the kitchen helper produced something that at least could be eaten. Apart from perhaps overcooking the Chateaubriand or leaving spots on the champagne glasses, what harm could the kitchen helper have done — compared to driving the world economy over a cliff?

To read more: http://rabble.ca/columnists/2009/10/pay-bonanza-continues-bankers

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JOB POSTINGS

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, SOCIAL PLANNING TORONTO (SPT)

Social Planning Toronto (SPT) is a non-profit community organization committed to independent social planning at the local and city-wide levels. We work to improve the quality of life for all people in Toronto through community capacity building, community education and advocacy, policy research and analysis, and social reporting.

SPT has a full-time Communications Officer position available. This position will be of interest to individuals who have a proven track record working in the area of communications focused on community development and action.

This position encompasses the development and implementation of the overall communications, public relations and media strategies of SPT.

Responsibilities include:

* Develop and implement internal and external communication strategies/policies;
* Prepare SPT annual communications plan;
* Design, edit and disseminate all SPT publications, print and promotional materials (e.g. reports, newsletters, journals, periodic publications, brochures, written and electronic bulletins, flyers, press releases, etc.);
* Manage information on the SPT website (using a popular content management platform) including all content both textual and visual;
* Write and develop press releases, articles, speeches, media advisories, media kits, and cultivate media relations;
* Supervise placement students and volunteers as appropriate.

Application deadline is November 22. For a complete copy of the job description and application info visit: http://socialplanningtoronto.org/news/position-opening-communications-officer/

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VOLUNTEER WITH CLIFF- CANADA’S ONLY NATIONAL LABOUR FILM FEST!

The Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF) is now accepting volunteer applicants to help out with our inaugural festival. Our not-for-profit festival celebrates films about workers, for workers and by workers.

Volunteers can be involved in many aspects of the festival from suggesting recent films for inclusion to helping throw media-related events like the one we are planning for Labour Day! As our festival launch draws closer we will also need people to help distribute leaflets, assemble media kits, as well as helping manage other volunteers. During the festival itself we’ll also need help taking tickets and individuals to act us ushers. There’s a place for everyone.

Upon request, volunteers will receive a letter reflecting their commitment and involvement in the festival. Don’t pass up this unique opportunity to see the inner workings of a festival in its first year!

All volunteers should be: 18 years of age or older willing to attend a mandatory volunteer orientation session, committed, friendly, team players.

The festival launches November 22nd in Toronto and runs until November 29th. It launches country-wide November 28th. We will be holding volunteer orientations sessions in August through the start of November.

Please e-mail us at: festival@labourfilms.ca with the word “Volunteer” in the subject line.

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PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, CANADA WORLD YOUTH

Type: Definite term contract, part-time: 17.5 hours/week
Organization: Canada World Youth http://www.cwy-jcm.org
Location: Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, Canada

Main responsibilities: In keeping with Canada World Youth’s policies,

* Plan and support program activities.
* Provide direct administrative and logistical support to the programs.
* Ensure effective communications between the various constituencies of the programs.
* Liaise with volunteers participating in team support activities.
* Perform a number of accounting functions.
* Ensure the layout and production of training and/or information tools.
* Revise and maintain up-dated program-related information systems.
* Write various letters, reports and other documents.

Application deadline is November 10. For the complete job description and application info visit: http://www.planetfriendly.net/gwd.php?id=9594

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JOURNAL ARTICLES

Cities and the making of modern Europe
Friedrich Lenger
Journal of Urban History published 14 October 2009, 10.1177/0096144209349891
http://juh.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/0096144209349891v1

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Grounding the regime of precarious employment: Homeless day laborers’ negotiation of the job queue
Damian T. Williams
Work and Occupations 2009;36 209-246
http://wox.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/3/209

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“The worse you behave, the more you seem to be rewarded”: Bullying in nursing as organizational corruption
Marie Hutchinson, Margaret H. Vickers, Lesley Wilkes, Debra Jackson
Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Volume 21, Number 3 / September 2009
http://www.springerlink.com/content/dt2532t401756817/

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Social inequality, lifestyles and health – a non-linear canonical correlation analysis based on the approach of Pierre Bourdieu
Kirstin Grosse Frie, Christian Janssen
International Journal of Public Health
http://www.springerlink.com/content/u5783l3785780r34/

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Money

CHANGE IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA

You are invited to two events to mark the publication of my book:

CHANGE IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA: POWER, MONEY AND PEOPLE

Simon Pirani

Published this month by Pluto Press

On Thursday 3 December, at 6.30-8.30 pm, a BOOK LAUNCH will be held at the Calthorpe Arms, 252 Grays Inn Road, London WC1 (5 mins walk from Kings Cross, Russell Square and Chancery Lane tubes). All welcome!

On Wednesday 2 December, at 7.0 pm, I will give a talk about the book, followed by discussion, at Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 (2 mins walk from Kings Cross tube). (Note. This is the place to hear a talk: there won’t be one at the book launch!)

There is more information about the book here: http://www.powermoneyandpeople.com

And you can order it from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Change-Putins-Russia-Power-People/dp/0745326900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256217505&sr=8-1

Please pass this on to others who might be interested.

Best wishes
Simon Pirani

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Capitalism in Crisis

TOWARDS A MARXIST ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL CRISIS

The International Institute for Research and Education: http://www.iire.org

Seminar: Towards A Marxist Analysis of the Global Crisis

On 2-4 October, the IIRE held its first international Economy Seminar on the Global Crisis. Thirty-six participants, economists and non-specialists, from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America attended the three-day event which was open to activists from different tendencies of the radical left.

The objectives of the seminar were to analyse the nature, characteristics and consequences of the current global economic crisis, from perspectives relevant to social activists, and to fortify the global network of Marxist economists. All talks will be available at the IIRE podcast, which we expect to launch with the next newsletter. For now it is possible to download all the talks in one file (original languages, more than 500MB).

Three main questions guided the various sessions of the weekend. First, what is the nature or cause of the crisis? Second, what are the social, economic and political consequences? Finally, what are the links between the current economic crisis and the global ecological and food crises? A solid look at Keynesianism, Ernest Mandel’s contribution on long waves and economic cycles and a (self-) critical take on discourse and propaganda were activities that peppered the debates.

The seminar kicked off with a well-attended public meeting on the crisis with guest speakers Chris Harman of the SWP in Britain and IIRE fellows Michel Husson of the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies and Claudio Katz of the University of Buenos Aires.

François Chesnais (France) opened the seminar itself with an introduction on the role that the so-called financialisation of the economy had in the global crisis. He stated that the crisis cannot be labelled either financial or financialised. Rather, the current crisis has its roots deep in the process of capital accumulation, which, revealing its contradictions, should lead us to look at the dynamics of productivity, the rate of profit and its distribution. The discussion that followed generated a debate between over-accumulation versus under-consumption as explanations for understanding the crisis.

Ozlem Onaran (Turkey), Claudio Katz (Argentina) and Bruno Jetin (France) presented reports on the conditions of the European, Latin American and Asian economies. The debates paved the way for a deeper understanding on how the crisis is perceived and dealt with in the different regions. Participants concluded that an essential characteristic of the crisis is the lack of de-linking tendencies among countries and continents; on the contrary, the efforts to save capitalism have been concerted and almost unanimous.

Michel Husson (France) and Klaus Engert (Germany) analysed the crisis in the framework of the theory of long waves. According to this theory, elaborated by IIRE founder Ernest Mandel, it is possible to use important endogenous factors, i.e. related to the logic of capital and its internal contradictions, to explain the general fall in accumulation that began during the 1970s and has not yet concluded. This discussion left open the possibility of a new ascending wave of economic growth and capitalist accumulation dependent on such exogenous factors as a radical change of the relationship of forces between the classes. One of the conclusions, therefore, was that another wave of attacks on the working class is most likely on its way.

Eric Toussaint (Belgium) emphasised that there is no automatic link between the fact that the crisis is being paid for by workers and the popular masses, and an increase of social struggles. Political, ideological and organisational factors will also play a role in the development of the struggles.

Esther Vivas (Spain) and Daniel Tanuro (Belgium) brought in a fundamental analytical dimension with their introductions: the economic crisis cannot be observed in isolation from the global ecological and food crises. Vivas presented the causes and structure of the food crisis: the current model of agricultural and livestock production is in a large measure responsible for climate change. Tanuro demonstrated how the official, ruling class responses to climate change are insufficient, unreal, irrational and even put us in more danger. He argued that eco-socialists should push for and end to unnecessary production, the retraining of workers in affected sectors and the development of a new agricultural model instigated by radical anti-capitalist measures.

Overall, the analyses revealed that the crisis is systemic, that those who are paying for it are the popular and working classes, and that now, more then ever, it is necessary to build an emancipatory, global anti-capitalist and eco-socialist project.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk