[PEN-L:12432]
QUERY *
[PEN-L:12431] Re: slurs
I have had a lot of heated exchanges with Ajit over the years and yet we are still good friends and Ajit is VERY capable of laughing at himself in the middle of a fierce discussion! I could say that I have joined the Indian cultural space Ajit refers to, except that that space is also shared by many European experiences I have had so I am not sure it is "West" versus "East". Paul * Paul Zarembka, supporting the RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Web site at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka and using OS/2 Warp. * On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Ajit Sinha wrote: > Let me add one thing here. The problem here could be cultural as well. I > hope I'm not condemning all Indians of impolitness, but it is true that > Indians argue among friends with a lot of passion and not much concern for > politness. But heated philosophical and political arguments usually do not > affect personal relationships and friendships. In West, I have noticed that > people attach their ego a bit too closely with the ideas they are arguing > for. So i need to be more sensitive about that. Cheers, ajit sinha
[PEN-L:12430] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Greetings, On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: > Shawgi A. Tell wrote: > > > It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. > >"Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the > >case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of > >the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and > >underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the > >last 20 years. > > Yes all this is true - but the unemployment series is consistent over time > (with minor discontinuities, of course), meaning that contrary to your > original assertion there is no longterm uptrend in unemployment in the > world's leading capitalist power. Just was wondering how this fact fit into > your crisis model. In Europe the levels of unemployment remain extremely high. In the U.S., Canada, and Europe the levels of youth unemployment are considerably higher than the already extremely high levels of unemployment for the general population. In countries like Spain, Italy and France, for example, youth unemployment is in the upper double digits. In the U.S., unemployment for youth in the inner cities can reach 50%. Rosy 1992 Census data puts the unemployment rate for 16 to 19 year old Hispanic males at nearly 30%. The unemployment rate for Black 20 to 24 year old females was well over 20%. The unemployment rate that year for white males aged 20 to 24 was roughly 10%. It is estimated that the supply of low-skilled workers, compared to the number of jobs available, is so large that it would take 10 to 15 continuous years of economic expansion to provide enough jobs. Capitalism has never had such a long period of sustained economic growth - recession is its middle name. In a Harlem study of fast-food job seekers - a common first job for young people - there were 14 applicants for every individual hired. Among the applicants not hired, 3/4 had not found work a year later. In the ghettos of the 100 largest cities, there were 10 adults without a job for every 6 people who had one. Add to this reality the tens and thousands of immigrants that are being cut off welfare and it becomes clear that it is bourgeois society that cannot satisfy the basic needs of humans. U.S. corporations cut over 230,000 jobs in the first five months of 1996 - the fastest in a decade and 34% more jobs than the same period in 1995. This level of cuts is 6.5% higher than 1993, the highest year of job elimination this decade. A total of 615,186 jobs were eliminated that year. Job insecurity is a major problem, affecting the vast majority of people. The fear of going from having a job and being able to provide for your family, to literally being homeless and without hope of finding work, is a reality for many and a constant anxiety for all but the wealthiest handful. [Snip...] > Doug Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12429] Re: Not gruntled
In a message dated 97-09-17 12:12:02 EDT, you write: >So the task for non-rigid Marxians and other socialists is to >take the insights of postmodernism (about language, about the construction >of subjects) and move beyond them - to devise a non-vulgar foundationalism, >and to rethink class as the fully complex thing it is. Post-Sokal >exuberance is no excuse to think the old verities have now been >self-evidently restored. > >Doug I've often thought that pomo has significant insights--the problem being finding the insights amongst the dreck. One thing pomo has done, well in a few cases, and poorly in many, is to begin describing the contradictions within classes and groupings, rather than seeing classes as the proverbial black boxes--once tagged, acting exactly the same all the time. Mao's leadership genius in China (NOT to suggest that Mao was a pomo) was his interweaving of Marxism with Chinese culture and the existing class structure with all its contradictions--not the layering of theoretically pre-defined classes on existing cultural structures. In looking at the United States (as the place I have the most knowledge of), I think the value of some pomo research has been to gather raw data on inner-class divisions which can be used to strengthen class analysis so that it actually reflects the culture of the United States. To grow functioning resistance movements, and combat the deep divisions within communities, it is really necessary to understand how class, race, ethnicity, and gender interact. maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12428] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
At 11:44 AM 9/17/97 -0700, Doug Henwood wrote: >Shawgi A. Tell wrote: > >> It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. >>"Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the >>case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of >>the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and >>underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the >>last 20 years. > >Yes all this is true - but the unemployment series is consistent over time >(with minor discontinuities, of course), meaning that contrary to your >original assertion there is no longterm uptrend in unemployment in the >world's leading capitalist power. Just was wondering how this fact fit into >your crisis model. I reply (WS): The criticism of the official statistics does not have to imply deliberate 'doctoring' of the numbers (to my recollection, that point was already debated on this list). In fact, employment statistics can be criticised along the same lines as other economic aggregates, such as GDP -- namely, that the reported figures do not distinguish between qualitatively different phenomena. For example, GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator) uses the methodology that does distinguish between "assets" and "liabilities" and producse an indicator that, unlike the GDP, shows a decline of the US economy. The current employment ststistics reflect the number of jobs (lost or created) without reflecting their quality. That is, the elimination of one good job and creating two shitty ones in its place (cf. Reskin & Roos, _Job Cues, Gender Cues_ discussing how "feminization" is connected to job quality) *within the same job classification category* counts as a net gain. However, introducing Braverman's concept of deskilling into employment statistics will qualitatatively distinguish between different kinds of jobs: "good jobs" will be weighted diferently than "lousy jobs" and when such weights are implemented it may turn out that labor statitics will look quite differently from those we know: that there is an actual loss of skilled jobs to the hi-tech- equipment-low-IQ-operators kind of jobs. regards, wojtek sokolowski institute for policy studies johns hopkins university baltimore, md 21218 [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (410) 516-4056 fax: (410) 516-8233 POLITICS IS THE SHADOW CAST ON SOCIETY BY BIG BUSINESS. AND AS LONG AS THIS IS SO, THE ATTENUATI0N OF THE SHADOW WILL NOT CHANGE THE SUBSTANCE. - John Dewey
[PEN-L:12427] CFP: "Globalization from Below"
please post and forward... "Globalization From Below: Contingency and Contestation in Historical Perspective" an international conference at Duke University, Durham, NC February 5th-8th, 1998 Second call for papers: abstracts due November 1st 1997 Confirmed keynote speakers include Mary Louise Pratt If globalization is such a multivocal and complex process, constituted by numerous axes of domination and innovation, why have its analyses tended to be so singleminded and monolingual? We invite papers on topics such as the following: * globalization in historical context * "disorganized" labor and "disorganized" capital * from slavery to emancipation * the politics of the family and the post-welfare state * forced labor, wage labor, affective labor, immaterial labor * the black Atlantic, the cosmic race: hybridities and traditions * struggle and revolution * gendering the global economy * capital flight as response to labor movement(s) * identity, ethnicity, and culture in flux * internationalism and post-nationalism * technology and resistance: the internet protest and organization * women and global networks * the environment and environmentalism * development and its discontents * labor history: workers and workers' movements in a global market * national responses to increasing capital mobility * prostitution in migrant economies * contesting the old/new world order * intellectual property, the privatization of information, and free trade * the autonomy of capitalist command; the anatomy of new social movements * the "postwork" society, from unemployment to pensions * place, space and globalization * gender, race, labor & imperialism * the Atlantic economy in the age of revolutions * from the plantation to las maquiladoras * Domestic work and international migration * wages for housework: the price of reproduction * communication networks: spreading subversion, disseminating ideology * peripheral modernities and the third world in the developed heartland * the welfare state in a global society * the country and the city: urbanizations and nationalisms * reactive capital, working class autonomy Please send one-page abstracts by November 1st 1997 to: Jon Beasley-Murray, Vince Brown, or Paul Husbands "Globalization from Below" conference Center for International Studies Box 90404 Duke University Durham, NC 27708-0404 fax. (919) 684-8749 tel. (919) 286 3526 email [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] conference webpage: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~spoons/global/ Sponsored by the graduate seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Trent Foundation, and Duke University's Center for International Studies. All (graduate and faculty and other) submissions welcome. - Further information: "Globalization From Below: Contingency and Contestation in Historical Perspective" This conference is concerned with "globalization" as a dynamic, contested and often contingent process. Rather than concentrating upon the huge, apparently irresistible structures that have shaped our world in the last 500 years we will look rather at how different people and groups in specific situations and places have struggled to come to terms with, and often conduct resistance against, the developing global system. Globalization is all too often defined in strictly economistic terms, but by drawing attention to the negotiations that have constituted globalization at the local level we hope to understand it in more complex and nuanced ways. In so doing we hope to re-conceptualize globalization as a process that is and has been more open-ended and full of possibilities than is generally recognized. Is there a fixed direction inherent in globalization? Or have global processes sometimes historically resulted from ad hoc responses to specific conditions and local resistances--both organized and disorganized? How have temporary stratagems come to seem--or come to be--such overwhelming forces? The current wave of globalization has transformed the composition of the various forces and groups that make up the global system--allowing perhaps new social movements or multinational conglomerates to come to the fore. Thus traditional alliances are restructured and historic antagonisms dissipated or rekindled. We propose a historically informed investigation into the balance of power and states of struggle that result.
Re: [PEN-L:12415] Re: Not gruntled
I'll bite on Doug's bait. While I'm not at all a fan of pomo et al., I also don't think it's fair to say that Sokal nailed it in any fundamental way. What I think he showed is a sociological flaw in the pomo community: an unhealthy stew of sycophancy, opportunism, and pretension that should (as Doug points out) not be unfamiliar to marxists. I hope that the episode leads to a glasnost in that world, although the problems I have with their approach run deeper and will probably persist. Peter Dorman
[PEN-L:12426] Re: Consistency and Respect
Colin, I have been off-line for a few days trying to get bugs out of my new computer. So I just came across your message when I back online today. On reflection, I think you are right (about my failure not my smarts). Thanks for calling me to account. I'll try to do better in the future. In solidarity, Michael At 12:05 PM 9/15/97 -0700, Colin Danby wrote: >It's good that people on the list are quick to defend >Buddhists, even from relatively oblique references that >might be interpreted as indicating a lack of respect. > >Can a similar level of courtesy and respect be extended >to Muslims? I'm a little surprised that an anti-Muslim >joke could go up on the list with little comment (save >an alert note by Harry C) and no apology (Sept 8, the >one about Kuwaiti women walking ten paces ahead due to >landmines) and then the same person who posted that joke >would go after Max's Buddha-can-you-spare-a-dime aside, >which strikes me as far less offensive in terms of the >cultural stereotypes it calls upon. > >I think Michael E is completely sincere and said some >smart things, especially on stereotypes being a general >problem and not just a concern of those stereotyped. >But it is worrying that we have a climate in which >anti-Muslim stereotypes go largely unchallenged and >perhaps are not even perceived as such. > >Best, Colin > >
[PEN-L:12425] Riding the Rails
When Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell decided to make a documentary about teenagers who rode the rails during the Great Depression, they placed an ad in "Modern Maturity", the magazine of the American Association of Retired People (AARP). To their astonishment, they received 3,000 moving and detailed replies. The film focuses on a group of nine men and one woman who reminisce about their experience as hobos. Their interviews are interspersed with archival footage from the 1930s and they add up to a revealing portrait of how young people coped with the ravages of unemployment. "Riding the Rails" is not just about the hardships of riding in boxcars, panhandling or living in shanty-towns. It is also about the romance of the railroads. For many young people, including some from affluent families, freight trains were an escape from the routines and banality of small-town life. One interviewee says that "We thought it was the magic carpet . . . romance, the click of the rails." This fascination with trains persisted into the 1940s and 50s. Jack Kerouac often hopped on freight trains when he wasn't tooling across Route 66 in his Hudson. He was fascinated with hobo life and saw this as an expression of freedom and individuality. So do the interviewees in "Riding the Rail" who are about as endearing a group of 70 and 80 year olds that I have encountered in a film since Julia Reichert's 1983 documentary "Seeing Red." It is no coincidence that nearly all of the former hobos eventually became involved with radical or trade union politics. For most of the interviewees, it was poverty that drove them to ride the rails. They often got on a train headed in the direction where they thought work was plentiful. They had the same sort of illusions as the Okies in Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." They soon discovered that there were no jobs. When they got off a boxcar, they would be met at the outskirts of a town by a sheriff who'd tell them, "We don't have work for grown men with families. How do you expect us to find a job for you?" Instead, they would often survive in hobo camps on the outskirts of where they would eat every two or three days. They would make forays into town and panhandle for nickels and dimes. The sight of teen-aged beggars scandalized public opinion and was a primary factor in the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which put tens of thousands of impoverished adolescents to work. It is a sign of the times that the Clinton administration lacks the political will to push for these sorts of programs. The documentary includes scenes from William Wellman's "Wild Boys of the Open Road," a 1933 feature that is being shown with "Riding the Rails" in New York City's Cinema Village. "Wild Boys of the Open Road" is a remarkable film. It depicts the hobo life of two teenage boys and one girl in shockingly unsentimental terms. One of the boys loses a leg in a rail yard accident and the girl is raped by a railroad bull (cop). This is not John Ford's "Grapes of Wrath", with its burnished, sentimental tableaus of life on the open road. It is a film that has more in common with Bunuel's "El Grito" or Hector Babenco's "Pixote", films that depict the suffering of poor kids on the streets of Mexico and Brazil in the most unflinching manner. Perhaps the only explanation for the frankness of "Wild Boys of the Open Road" is that it was made before any of the New Deal major social programs had been implemented, including the CCC. Wellman must have been appalled by the misery of America's children and made a movie without illusions. It is too bad that so few films come out of Hollywood that have the same courage to depict the suffering of our own children today. Louis Proyect
[PEN-L:12424] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Shawgi A. Tell wrote: > It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. >"Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the >case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of >the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and >underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the >last 20 years. Yes all this is true - but the unemployment series is consistent over time (with minor discontinuities, of course), meaning that contrary to your original assertion there is no longterm uptrend in unemployment in the world's leading capitalist power. Just was wondering how this fact fit into your crisis model. > Additionally, while there is talk of jobs created, there is little >or no talk of jobs destroyed. Nor is there talk of the sort of jobs >created and destroyed. As in the Canadian case, most jobs created in the >U.S. are part-time; low-paying; with few, if any, benefits; and with >little, if any, room for mobility. More and more people in the U.S. are >working part-time. It is also the case that those who have "lost" their >full-time jobs, if and when they do find another full-time job, earn >considerably less than what they were earning at the original full-time >job. What must also be remembered is that job insecurity is quite high >among American workers. Unlike the previous paragraph, much of this one is untrue. First, the job creation figures are net of jobs destroyed. Second, while many of the jobs created in the U.S. are part-time and low-paying, many aren't; there are also quite a few high-end jobs - what's missing are ones in the middle. Third, there's no long-term uptrend in part-time work as a share of the workforce in the U.S. And fourth, there's apparently no long-term uptrend in job insecurity in the U.S., as measured by the GSS and Gallup. That doesn't mean that everything is hunky-dory, of course. U.S. labor should be in the strongest bargaining position it's been in since the 1970s. The Teamsters probably wouldn't have struck, much less won, at UPS were the unemployment rate at, say, 7%. This sub-5% U rate might not last forever, so let's take advantage of it while we can. Doug
[PEN-L:12423] WSJ on UNCTAD report
The Wall Street Journal September 16, 1997 International: The Dark Side of Freer Global Markets U.N. REPORT FORESEES WORKER BACKLASH By Bhushan Bahree Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal GENEVA -- Western industrialized nations are the leaders so far in globalization, but they may face a political backlash from the middle class over growing job insecurity, a United Nations report says. "Growth and development do not automatically bring about a reduction in inequality," said Rubens Ricupero, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which presented the report. Mr. Ricupero, once Brazil's finance minister, cited the United Parcel Service strike involving issues that included parttime work, French strikes in 1995, and electoral changes in western Europe (presumably in the United Kingdom and France) as evidence of an impending backlash. "The 1920s and the 1930s provide a stark and disturbing reminder of just how quickly faith in markets and openness can be overwhelmed by political events," he told a news conference. In an interview, UNCTAD's chief economist, Yilmaz Akyuz, said a backlash could take any form, including "xenophobia in Europe and Islamic fundamentalism" elsewhere. Mr. Akyuz said UNCTAD's study of income distribution globally showed that "certain groups and classes are in absolute decline," and there was apprehension, especially among workers, about globalization's benefits. UNCTAD's report is likely to irk proponents of liberalized markets and officials of such institutions as the World Trade Organization, who contend that globalization and freer movement of goods, services, technology, and capital spread benefits all around. The report said industrialized countries erroneously favor anti-inflation policies instead of job creation and adequate pay; that freer markets in many countries entice investors to seek short-term capital gains instead of long-term productive investment; and that liberalization so far favors industrialized countries and denies trade advantages to developing nations in such areas as textiles and agriculture. The result, UNCTAD said, was a global glut of labor and easy exit routes for capital, resulting in a contest between countries. This was made worse in some countries that had embraced the Big Bang theory of liberalization, opening their doors wide before their economies were able to deal with the consequences of footloose funds. The report was written before the recent financial crisis that began in Thailand and spread to other countries in Asia, an area that otherwise was a main beneficiary of globalization. UNCTAD found that the income gap between the rich and the poor, between nations and within nations, was widening. "Globalization was supposed to close the gap, but it hasn't," Mr. Akyuz said.
[PEN-L:12422] Re: language-t
Richard Duchesne wrote: >What about pre-linguistic mental capacities, say in the first two >years of a child? This is possible, but should we call that >"thinking"? Are you saying learning is possible without thinking? If so, then a child learns nothing during the "pre-linguistic" period of life. And as a primary caregiving parent and a former pre-school teacher, I assure you that this is not the case. What young children do is think. Constantly. They learn to classify, arrange, sort, order. Thinking is essential to these tasks. They have to constantly consider "How does this thing or experience resemble or differ from other things and experiences?" They do this using sensory/somatic data and memory, direct physical experimentation, and, to a great extent, language. The language they use, however, is receptive rather than productive. Just because they can't speak doesn't mean they don't understand a hell of a lot of what is said around and to them. Still, they learn and think about, for example, the category of weight long before they linguistically understand such an abstract concept or even hear the word. As far as thinking being impossible without words, I have a friend who is an accomplished musician. He tells me his songs appear in his head as musical tones. Words only enter when he thinks about how his songs appear or begins to set them down on paper. He can play them before writing them down and they are still only musical tones. That might be why he is a musician, because he can banish language and make room for something else for even a brief period. Is the act of creating the song then not thinking? Is creativity different from thinking? As a former pre-school teacher and a current instructor of creative writing, most of my adult life has been spent in fostering creativity and I would claim that creativity of any kind is the highest form of thinking. My friend is fortunate enough to be a person in love with HEARING, an act which does not require language. His highest form of thinking is a paeon to the sensory world he loves. Though he might claim that a crashing wave or rain dripping in the redwoods is language. tom wood
[PEN-L:12421] re: Affluenza/Running Out of Time
Given the discussion on the list re the Affluenza program, it's interesting to note the differences in the earlier Running Out of Time documentary (1994), also fronted by Scott Simon and produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting & KCTS/Seattle. I think Oregon PBS produced the Affluenza documentary. The format & tone of the documentaries are very much the same. In Running Out of Time, which looks at the stressed out American, working hours, etc, there is some much more attention to the role of social movements in dealing with the problem historically, eg union efforts to reduce the working week. Also, attention to solutions includes calls to raise the minimum wage, the need to reduce length of the work week, the need for universal pension & health benefits etc. It does this in a comparative analysis of the U.S. vs. Japanese and German attitudes and practices. Juliet Schor's work gets much more coverage than it does in Affluenza. It's interesting to see that Affluenza avoids most of this. Is this because the right wing revolution in 1994 cut back PBS funding & one shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you? (They can expect Jesse Helms to get after them anyway for using old TV ads for cigarettes as an indicator of the problems created by Affluenza). Or is the explanation more benign? Perhaps the amazing thing is that a show like this makes it to broadcast TV at all in such an Affluenza society... cheers, Brent McClintock Economics Carthage College Kenosha, Wisconsin 53140-1994
[PEN-L:12420] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Greetings, On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: > Shawgi A. Tell wrote: > > >Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high > >levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis > >of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery." > > Since U.S. unemployment is the lowest it's been in over 20 years, and since > employment has been growing pretty strongly for nearly 5 years, does that > mean the U.S. has recovered from the crisis, is exempt from it, or simply > hasn't come down with the disease yet? > > Doug It's relevant to keep in mind that "official" data is inaccurate. "Official" data often portrays a rosier picture than what is actually the case, as if roughly 5% unemployment were acceptable. The fact of the matter is that millions of Americans remain unemployed and underemployed. Further, purchasing power has generally decreased for the last 20 years. Additionally, while there is talk of jobs created, there is little or no talk of jobs destroyed. Nor is there talk of the sort of jobs created and destroyed. As in the Canadian case, most jobs created in the U.S. are part-time; low-paying; with few, if any, benefits; and with little, if any, room for mobility. More and more people in the U.S. are working part-time. It is also the case that those who have "lost" their full-time jobs, if and when they do find another full-time job, earn considerably less than what they were earning at the original full-time job. What must also be remembered is that job insecurity is quite high among American workers. By the Bureau's own account, job growth over the next few years will be greatest in areas such as truck driving, waiting tables, janitorial, clerical, health care and so on. In a related vein, the tendency for the rich to get richer and the poor poorer is very much in motion in the U.S. So too is the ruination of the so-called "middle class." In the last 20 years, income has increased significantly for the richest fifth of the population and decreased for the poorest. Also, the rising rate of bankruptcies and debts for more and more people should not be overlooked. For two years in a row, both Canada and the U.S. have experienced record bankruptcy rates. Basically, all societies based on the capitalist economic system will experience all the problems and crises inherent to such an economic system. All the problems of capitalism will remain unsolvable as long as the aim of the economy is making maximum capitalist profit. The minimum wage, for example, reflects this reality. A basic law of capitalism is to push wages to the lowest level necessary to produce and reproduce the needed work force. Keeping the wage level at poverty level also acts as downward pressure on the wages of all workers - as does the existence of large numbers of unemployed workers. The capitalist rulers and their politicians are not attempting to solve the problem of poverty, nor can they. The life those at the bottom are forced to lead, as unemployed, underemployed or minimum wage workers, is however a serious concern for the rest of the population. Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12419] apec-L: Creating Democracy in Vancouver (fwd)
> > >Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 07:02:09 -0700 (PDT) > >From: The Vancouver International of Hope <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: apec-L: Creating Democracy in Vancouver > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Precedence: bulk > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >X-UIDL: 2576647c158dc374e67452ac7e325bc2 > > > >[Please forward and post widely] > >Vancouver, Salish Territory > > > > -- CREATING DEMOCRACY -- > > A Community Gathering > > CARNEGIE CENTER > >Main and Hastings > > VANCOUVER > > Saturday, October 4th > > 10am to 6pm > > FREE > > > >Creating Democracy is a gathering of members of the Eastside Vancouver > >community. We intend to hold workshops and discussions on issues of both > >local and international interest. Our goal is to collectively discuss the > >effects of the corporate agenda and to creatively build alternatives to > >it. Everyone is welcome to attend. > > > >WORKSHOPS INCLUDE: > > * Housing in the Downtown Eastside > >* What the Heck is APEC? > >* Drugs and the Eastside > > * Indigenous Struggles in Chiapas > > * the Harassment of Latinos in Vancouver > > * the Legacy of Che Guevara > >* the Ecology of the Vancouer Bioregion > > > > > >Free food and childcare. > > > > Facilitated by the > >VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL OF HOPE > > "A Zapatista-inspired gathering of local activists resisting > > neo-liberalism and creatively building alternatives." > > > > For more information: > > 251-9914 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > -30- > > > > > > > > PEACEWIRE > www.peacewire.org/pw > A project of END the ARMS RACE and the Public Education for Peace Society > 405-825 Granville Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 1K9 CANADA > ph:(604) 687-3223 fax:(604) 687-3277 > >
[PEN-L:12418] Asia Pacific Soilidarity Conference (fwd)
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:37:53 +1000 > > ASIA PACIFIC SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE: > SYDNEY AUSTRALIA APRIL 1998 > GLEBE HIGH SCHOOL, GLEBE > > > ALL WELCOME > > Organised by the Asia Pacific Institute for Democratisation and Development. > > Contact: > Dr Helen Jarvis, C/-School of Information, Library and Archive Studies > (SILAS) University of NewSouth Wales, Sydney NSW 2052 Australia. > Or Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Or fax to: 02-96901381 > > The conference aims to be a unique gathering of activists, researchers and > academics. Your support, attendance and participation is what will make > this conference a success. > > Register early (save up to 20%) and send your suggestions for specific > themes for discussion under the general framework of supporting > democratisation, self-determination and social justice and opposing the > neoliberal austerity offensive. > > Submissions for papers > > The Institute also welcomes applications to present papers at the > conference. All are welcome to submit such papers. The conference aims and > the names of special guest speakers are further elaborated below. A contact > address is noted above. > > A Region Of Struggle and New Thinking > > Governments, corporations, banks and international financial institutions, > all talk of the Asia Pacific region as the region of miracle growth, of > accelerated development, of economic boom. For millions of other people, > the picture is different. It is a picture of political and social struggle > for basic human rights, for a sustainable economic and social order. The > massive worker and student struggles in South Korea against new labour > laws, the sharpening struggle against the dictatorship and cronyism in > Suharto's Indonesia; the continuing uprising of the East Timorese people > for self-determination; the labour struggles and renewal in the Philippines > in the face of Philippines 2000 neoliberal offensive; the ongoing war on > the island ofBougainville; the conflict in Sri Lanka over national rights > of the Tamil people and authoritarian government are just some examples of > struggles in the region. > > ATTACKS ON DEMOCRACY > > The strengthening of authoritarian practices as a means of defending the > austerity and economic restructuring policies have become major concerns > throughout the region. Laws to ban trade union organisers from worksites in > Australia; outright bans on independent trade unions in Indonesia; > restrictions and harassment of non-government organisations in Malaysia are > examples of this tendency. > > These restrictions are part of a pattern of general resistance to > democratisation by governments throughout the region. > > COMMUNITY RESISTANCE > > But at the same time there are innumerable initiatives to fight this trend. > > New political movements have emerged in Indonesia; old movements are > transforming themselves in the Philippines; an unofficial trade union > movementcan force the South Korean government to retreat; Malaysian > democrats rally to the cause of the East Timorese; the Burmese democrats > still refuse to surrender;anti-neoliberal activists are elected to the New > Zealand parliament. > > These are just a few of the many examples of democratisation initiatives in > theregion. > > 1998 ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCARCY AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE > > The Asia Pacific Institute has called the 1998 Asia Pacific Solidarity > conference as away to bring as many people as possible together to discuss > these issues andstruggles and to assess what fighting for democratisation > and for socially justdevelopment can do. The conference aims to bring > together political activists,NGO workers, intellectuals and academics from > different ideological traditions. > > > ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUTE for Democratisation and Development > > The Asia Pacific Institute for Democratisation and Development is a new > initiative in the Asia Pacific region. During February to May 1997 a range > of individuals involved in political movements, community organisations and > universities consulted over the need for greater regional co-ordination > > and dialogue regardingthe current struggles against authoritarianism, > violations io the right to self-determination and the social and economic > impacts of the world-wide neoliberal offensive. An interim council was > formed to establish the Institute. The provisional aims of the institute > were agreed as follows: > > 1. To promote research and disseminate ideas on the issue of how to ensure > asocially just and environmentally sustainable development as well as > rounded democratisation. > > 2. To facilitate dialogue and cooperation between the academic community, > theNGO community and the peoples' movements (parties, trade unions, > campaign committees, etc) > > The interim council comprises academics, political leaders and > communityactivists from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri
[PEN-L:12417] slurs (II)
Oops. I missed the following in Ajit's missive, which might have been misinterpreted as a comment by me: >>Let me add one thing here. The problem here could be cultural as well. I hope I'm not condemning all Indians of impolitness, but it is true that Indians argue among friends with a lot of passion and not much concern for politness. But heated philosophical and political arguments usually do not affect personal relationships and friendships. In West, I have noticed that people attach their ego a bit too closely with the ideas they are arguing for. So i need to be more sensitive about that. << I've been told that US folks are much more sensitive about such than are the Brits, Ozzies, etc. However, seeing academic papers being given in several venues, I've noticed that academics often get into caustic commentary that isn't helpful and often gets personal. There are some similarities between academic and sectarian behaviors. Anyway, I think that sensitivity about the possibility of insulting someone is a good thing, promoting intellectual discussion. that's all from me today. Three missives is too much. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/fall%201997/ECON/jdevine.html "A society is rich when material goods, including capital, are cheap, and human beings dear." -- R.H. Tawney.
[PEN-L:12416] Re: August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Shawgi A. Tell wrote: >Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high >levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis >of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery." Since U.S. unemployment is the lowest it's been in over 20 years, and since employment has been growing pretty strongly for nearly 5 years, does that mean the U.S. has recovered from the crisis, is exempt from it, or simply hasn't come down with the disease yet? Doug
[PEN-L:12415] Re: Not gruntled
Terrence Mc Donough wrote: >I also think this discussion is a small manifestation of an ongoing >process which is of more importance. With the Sokal affair marking a >turning point, the Marxist left has sought to distinguish itself from >identity politics and its theoretical manifestation in pomo, >separating itself from the more negative aspects of this tradition. This provides an excellent pretext to bring up a point I've been meaning to for a while now. I got as big a kick out of the Sokal affair as the next guy. But where exactly has it gotten us? Did it do any more than confirm that Stanley Aronowitz is a vain fool, a fact that was fairly well established before the publication of Sokal's paper? Yes, it showed that the "science studies" crowd really doesn't know that much about science - but does that mean that critical study of science is now no longer necessary? Does it show that "postmodernism," whatever that means exactly, is "wrong," whatever that means exactly? As a result of the Sokal business, and the controversy that developed here in the run-up to last December's Rethinking Marxism conference, I started reading a bunch of the bashable stuff - stuff that I'd never read, or read so long ago I'd forgotten. Well, you know, they're not stupid people (ok, Baudrillard is a goofball, but he's an easy target). Derrida's book on Marx is pretty silly, but can any Marxist ever reject the idea that texts are not the last word on truth, but are socially constructed? That "meaning" often operates through effacement and exclusion? It'd be hard for an economist not to be exasperated by Foucault, for whom economics was a 19th century concern (we're no longer beings who work, you see, but beings who speak), but there's still a lot of there there. And Judith Butler has an absurdly inflated conception of discourse, and an absurdly reductive conception of Marx(ism), but she can make you think, which is more than I can say for what I've heard at the last five Socialist Scholars Conferences. Oversimplifying greatly for this medium, my position has evolved from thinking that all that stuff is silly & wrong to finding some of it so (e.g. Donna Haraway and her inexplicably influential Cyborg essay) - but in any case, it has to be engaged. In fact, you could argue that "pomo" now is in a position similar to what Marxism was 30 years ago - hardened into some kind of orthodoxy, hermetic and uncurious. In their rejection of vulgar base/superstructure models (and all other forms of the dreaded foundationalism), our pomo comrades have gotten lost in discourse; in their perpetual refinement of difference, they've lost any vocabulary for solidarity. So the task for non-rigid Marxians and other socialists is to take the insights of postmodernism (about language, about the construction of subjects) and move beyond them - to devise a non-vulgar foundationalism, and to rethink class as the fully complex thing it is. Post-Sokal exuberance is no excuse to think the old verities have now been self-evidently restored. Doug
[PEN-L:12414] Re: slurs
> From: Ajit Sinha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [PEN-L:12401] Re: slurs > Let me add one thing here. The problem here could be cultural as well. I > hope I'm not condemning all Indians of impolitness, but it is true that > Indians argue among friends with a lot of passion and not much concern for > politness. But heated philosophical and political arguments usually do not > affect personal relationships and friendships. In West, I have noticed that > people attach their ego a bit too closely with the ideas they are arguing > for. So i need to be more sensitive about that. Cheers, ajit sinha Without getting into the substance of the thread on language or the specific words beween others on this list, which I have archived for future deep consideration, I'd like to second this point about differing cultural norms of politeness, particularly relevant to e-mail. Around my Jewish parents' dinner table in the Jersey suburbs of NYC, "you're nuts" had about the same rhetorical temperature reading as "please pass the salt," but a visitor of ours from the Midwest took great umbrage to such remarks. She was nuts, but that was not why we divorced years later. MBS === Max B. SawickyEconomic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-8810 (voice) Ste. 1200 202-775-0819 (fax)Washington, DC 20036 http://tap.epn.org/sawicky Opinions above do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute other than this writer. ===
[PEN-L:12413] wriston@paradise.com
This week I have been reading Walter Wriston's feisty little 1992 book "The Twilight of Sovereignty, etc," an exuberant paean to a galactic world of knowledge workers the "limits to growth" people never knew. Wriston takes a whole chapter to trash the common instruments of economic measurement, especially the GNP. Listen to a representative riff from that chapter (Where We Stand): The standard industrial codes that once told how industry is organized are now out-of-date. Of the twelve major code divisions, only two reflect the service industry, although about 80 percent of Americans work in a service business. Accurate numbers are available on the number of brakemen on American railroads but not on the number of computer programmers. This is but one example of why today's econ- omy cannot be fitted into yesterday's standards. If basic macroeconomic measurements, such as the GNP and productive capacity, do not mean what they once did, the question then becomes: Can we construct new, more reliable measures of the kind of economy we now have? Well, I always thought there was something hokey and astigmatic about the GNP, but I wasn't ready to call it out on Main Street like Wriston, and long before computers appeared in every office Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem were already around to tell us that every year billions of woman-hours of housework and child-rearing were disappearing into The Great Bit-Bucket In The Sky without so much as an audible whimper. No doubt many books have appeared since Wriston's with the same thesis. Just how are labor and its yields figured in present company, pray? valis Occupied America -- By viewing economic issues as subordinate phenomena and securing the freedom of all to sleep beneath the bridges of Washington, the GOP has convinced at least itself that the very best of good societies will be conjured --
[PEN-L:12412] Re: slurs
maggie coleman wrote, >In a message dated 97-09-16 03:51:58 EDT, Tom Walker writes: > >>3. All resolutions of the 1969 Conventions of the Students for a >>Democratic Society are to be published in Durruti. It is our conviction that >>these resolutions will be at least, if not more, meaningful to the workers >>in Durruti as in English. > > >I would like to propose one more resolution. Durruti can be shortened to a >one syllable word which is easier to express, and, at the same time, and in >all circumstances, will have the same usevalue, though perhaps not the same >exchange value: Duh. >maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Actually Durruti is not a language at all but the name of a Spanish anarchist leader during the Spanish civil war. The resolution was not written by me but by the "Louis Lingg chapter of the Students for Democratic Society" in 1969. Louis Lingg was a 19th century Chicago labor activist who was hanged for being one of the organizers of the Haymarket Square demonstration for the eight hour day. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^ knoW Ware Communications Vancouver, B.C., CANADA [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 688-8296 ^^^ The TimeWork Web: HTTP://WWW.VCN.BC.CA/TIMEWORK/
[PEN-L:12411] Re: the beautiful poor
I think it is true that the (catholic) church has not always been monolithic on the subject of the poor. (Or women for that matter; St. Bernadette the patron saint of Ireland for instance ran abbys and performed at least one abortion, two unusual things the church today would not have smiled upon). The constraint against speaking other than the party line I was trying to point out for Sr. Nirama is new since the Bishops met in South America (some twenty years ago) and declared that the role of the church should be empowerment for the poor. The post JohnPaul popes have been trying to rein 'em in ever since. The Jesuits (the marine corp of the church) have always been a bit of a handful in the discipline department for the papa. Sometimes this is good, since they are usually in out of the way places and the church heirarchy will often shrug 'em off. Politically the Jesuit orders are all over the map, though and nothing comes to mind off hand that would betray a history of Jesuit feminism. >On Tue, September 16, 1997 at 18:41:16 (-0700) [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >>In a message dated 97-09-16 06:08:05 EDT, [Bill Lear] write[s]: >> >>>What about in Central America? How did the Jesuits relate to the >>>Catholic hierarchy, and to the women and the poor there? >> >>In case you forgot, the original topic was statements made by the nun >>replacing Sister Teresa in India. If your suggestion is to list catholic >>offenses against women world wide, then I would be doing nothing but writing >>email for the next few months or years. If you would like to take up the >>project of specifying every country where catholic offenses against women >>have taken place, be my guest. maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >In case you forgot, it was you who brought the topic far beyond its >original focus with the following claim: > >However, I certainly agree that catholicism always puts the most >backward/patriarchal spin on any local culture. > >My suggestion was not to list catholic offenses against women >worldwide, my question was, I thought, quite transparent: How did the >Jesuits behave relative to this Pope-centered monstrosity while under >attack from the U.S.? Did they break with the women-bashing tradition >of the catholic hierarchy in order to defend themselves and the >oppressed? Did they break with this tradition at all? Was the >injunction to exercise a preferential option for the poor a selective >one which maintained the obnoxious, traditional misogyny? Was it, in >short, true that they put put the sort of spin you mentioned on the >local culture, or did they fight against this tendency? > > >Bill
[PEN-L:12410] New Business Week Poll on NAFTA expansion
>Business Week September 22, 1997 > BW/HARRIS POLL: FREER TRADE GETS > AN UNFRIENDLY RECEPTION > > President Clinton kicked off his campaign to secure >''fast track'' authority to > negotiate trade deals on Sept. 10. His objective is to >expand existing > free-trade deals such as the North American Free Trade >Agreement. Americans, > however, don't think much of fast-track power, and >they don't want freer trade. > Most support NAFTA as is, although they say it hasn't >affected them personally. > They worry that future deals will hurt jobs and eat >into wages. Support for > Clinton's plan is strongest among younger, >better-educated Americans. Overall, > Democrats oppose expanding NAFTA. For a more detailed >analysis of the poll's > results, see the accompanying story, "A Deeper Look at >the Numbers." > > FOR AND AGAINST > Do you favor or oppose NAFTA, the North American Free >Trade Agreement signed by > Canada, Mexico, and the United States? >APRIL '95 SEPT. '97 > Favor 48%42% > Oppose39%36% > Don't know13%22% > > WHO BENEFITS? > Do you think Mexico, Canada, and the United States >have benefited from, been > harmed by, or have not been much affected by NAFTA? > BENEFITED HARMED NOT DON'T > AFFECTED KNOW > Mexico > April '9551% 13%22% 14% > Sept. '9757%7%15% 21% > Canada > April '9529%8%40% 23% > Sept. '9729%5%34% 32% > United States > April '9523%30% 35% 12% > Sept. '9726%34% 23% 17% > > PERSONAL EFFECTS > Do you think you have personally benefited from, been >harmed by, or not been > much affected by NAFTA? > Have benefited 7% > Have been harmed 12% > Not been affected 71% > Don't know 10% > > IS BIGGER BETTER? > President Clinton wants to extend NAFTA to include >other Latin American > countries. Do you favor or oppose this plan? > Favor 34% > Oppose 54% > Don't know 12% > > FAST-TRACK FACTOR > President Clinton is asking Congress to renew >fast-track authority for him, so > he can negotiate trade deals with other countries. >Should Congress renew > fast-track authority for the President or not? > Should renew fast-track authority 36% > Should not renew fast-track authority 54% > Don't know 10% > > SMALL PRINT > NAFTA includes side deals covering environmental and >labor standard protections > in Mexico and Canada. Do you think such side deals >should be included in any > extensions of NAFTA to other Latin American countries >or not? > Should be included 49% > Should not be included 40% > Don't know 11% > > ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES > In your opinion, should U.S. free-trade agreements >with other countries seek to > protect the environment or not? > Should seek to protect environment 87% > Should not seek to protect environment 10% > Don't know 3% > > LABOR LOVE > Should free-trade agreements with other countries aim >to lift the labor > standards for workers in other countries or not? >
[PEN-L:12409] re: slurs
I wrote: >In response to my sermonette, Ajit Sinha writes: >> I'm sorry I don't understand what this is all about. Sounds more like Jorge Bush and Denesh DeSuza led attack on "pc" even though "pc" was their own creation and not Duke University's.<< >Ajit, I know you reject politeness as "middle class," but I don't think such insults (or your previous ones) help anyone, including you.< He replies: >> Well, who is getting too sensitive now? I don't think I insulted you. But if you think, then I'm sorry. << apology accepted, though I wasn't looking for that exactly. More importantly, I am trying to avoid flame-wars, which often arise from such misunderstandings of others' positions. >>I'll show some sense of humor here. I know you are not as conservative as Jorge Bush and Denesh Desuza--that goes without saying, but we are only trying to push certain line of reasoning and see how far does it go. Fact of the matter is that you write on almost every issue on pen-l on daily basis. [I'm trying to avoid doing it daily, but what the heck. Most of my New Year's resolutions are flops.] To mostly a reader of pen-l like muself (who has pretty much stoped participating as it is) you sound like an unofficial official voice of pen-l. << I hope I am not official in any way. But I do see encouraging the growth of a pen-l consensus as a good thing. >>So once in a while I try to give you some heat, which you interpret as insult.<< Giving me heat unfortunately encourages my over-participation. >>May be here the same language critique we are talking about is relevant. You yourself classify your post as "sermonette".<< That's called "self-deprecation." Frankly, I think a sense of humor about oneself is important in an era when we face the strong possibility of an extremely long shit-storm of reaction and utter nonsense (what Wilhelm Reich called the "moral plague"). >>Now, who gives sermons? So when you speak on pen-l, you assume a position of power, and we have to endure it on daily basis, and when that position of power gets questioned in some serious way (e.g. the value debate last time), you time and again interpret it as insult.<< "position of power"? This seems to be a gross dilution of the meaning of the word "power." Have you ever used the delete button rather than reading someone's missives all the way through? I do it all the time. It undermines any pen-l poster's "power" with the flick of a button. "time and again"? As far as I can remember, I haven't explicitly interpreted anything as an insult on pen-l, except perhaps in my debate with Harry Cleaver years ago concerning the L.A. riots. After the latter, I learned to ignore insults. I think the reason why I made an exception for you, Ajit, is that I remember how I was giving a short talk at URPE camp once and you interrupted me several times in a combative way. >>So may be you need to think about your own perception of what is going on a bit critically. And I'll do the same. << Everyone should do so. Let me add one thing here. The problem here could be cultural as well. I hope I'm not condemning all Indians of impolitness, but it is true that Indians argue among friends with a lot of passion and not much concern for politness. But heated philosophical and political arguments usually do not affect personal relationships and friendships. In West, I have noticed that people attach their ego a bit too closely with the ideas they are arguing for. So i need to be more sensitive about that. << Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/fall%201997/ECON/jdevine.html "Elvis is god." -- religion for the 1990s.
[PEN-L:12408] not gruntled
Terry McD writes: >Politically correct" was used within Maoism as a term of self satire, meaning, as Jim states, holding overly rigid views. I'm not sure this term was used widely on the left, < I know for a fact that the term "PC" had the satiric meaning in the non-Maoist left, at least in the SF Bay Area. Buttons saying "Politically Correct" were for sale and in fact I have one in my collection. It's hard to imagine anyone wearing such a button in full seriousness. There was even a cover of MOTHER JONES showing Ed Asner holding such a button in front of one of his eyes. I doubt that this lacked humorous content. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/fall%201997/ECON/jdevine.html "Elvis is god." -- religion for the 1990s.
[PEN-L:12407] August Unemployment Figures (Canada)
Unemployment figures for August reveal a continuation of the chronic high levels of unemployment which is one of the features of the deepening crisis of the capitalist system, referred to as the "jobless recovery." The official unemployment rate in August remained 9 percent for the second consecutive month. According to figures released by Statistics Canada September 5, employment grew overall by 55,000 in August. The report does not indicate how many jobs were destroyed during the same period. It does, however, note that the return of 59,000 people to the labour force cancels out the 55,000 new jobs. What this reveals is the extent to which the "official unemployment" rate hides the actual number of unemployed. Hundreds of thousands of people without jobs are not included because they are not "officially looking for work". Over 50 percent of the 55,000 jobs created in August were part-time, and StatsCan reports that the rate of growth of part-time jobs since February has been twice that of full-time employment. At the same time, the jobs lost during the same period were three times more likely to be full-time. As a result, the proportion of workers with part-time hours has increased to 19.4 per cent of the workforce. Human Resources Development Canada estimates that over 65 percent of part-time workers would take full-time jobs if they could find any. CPC(M-L), 9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12406] Cuban Communist Party Prepares For Fifth Congress
The Cuban Communist Party is carrying out preparations for its Fifth Congress, to be held in Havana from October 8-10. The Party has just concluded broad-based discussions on the document The Party of Unity, Democracy and the Human Rights We Defend which will be presented in its final form for adoption at the Congress. More than 230,000 joint meetings were organized to discuss the document. They were attended by members of the Party and the Young Communist League, trade union sections, student brigades and assemblies of the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women and the Association of Small Farmers. In total, it is estimated that some six and a half million people participated in the discussion and debate on the document, and a total of 20,000 different comments about the document were officially recorded, including ratifications, modifications, suggestions, criticisms, etc. These proposals will be analyzed and summarized for the final presentation of the document for approval during the Fifth Congress. Delegates to the Congress have been elected at assemblies of the party at the municipal level which were held between August 20 and September 10 and attended by the general secretaries of the Party organizations. Candidates for the Central Committee are also being approved by the Municipal Party assemblies. In all, 1500 delegates to the Congress will be elected and 250 invited guests will also participate. President Fidel Castro Ruz was selected as a direct delegate to the Congress, as a representative from Santiago de Cuba. Following the municipal assemblies, provincial meetings of the delegations that will be attending the Congress will be convened; the participants will study and discuss the most important documents of the Congress. The Fifth Congress will evaluate the work carried out since the Fourth Congress in 1991, as outlined in the Main Report to be presented by the First Secretary of the Party, President Castro. An article in Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba states that the Fifth Congress will also "analyze the economic situation and draw up, in a special resolution, its guidelines in accordance with the policies established that reflect our particular conditions." It states: "The principal conclusions of the Party Congress will be projections for continued progress in the midst of the special period and the U.S. blockade. Under the guidelines of the Fifth Congress, we will continue to advance along the path of our socialism, with our battle standards held high, under the guidance of the Party and the historical leaders of the Revolution." CPC(M-L), 9/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:12405] LatAm is where it's happening, say consultants (fwd)
Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 09:36:38 -0400 (EDT) > From: "Victor O. Story" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: ATWS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, chiapas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: LatAm is where it's happening, say consultants (fwd) > >SAO PAULO, Brazil, Sept 15 (Reuter) - Latin America has made > huge strides in competitiveness over the past few years, and > though it still has a long way to go, the time is ripe to check > out investment opportunities, senior management consultants > said. >In Brazil, in particular, low inflation resulting from the > three-year-old "Plano Real" economic stabilization plan would > result in a flood of foreign investment into every sector of the > economy over the next few years, they said. >"The Real is real," said Stephen Zimmer, managing partner > for Latin America with Andersen Consulting, referring to > Brazil's real currency which trades against the dollar within a > controlled band system. >"Latin American countries have come a long way in a very > short period of time. By the same token, they have a very long > way to go," said Fred Steingraber, chief executive officer of > U.S. consultants AT Kearney Inc. >Steingraber and Zimmer, along with other consultants such as > George Roth, country manager Brazil for Ernst & Young, spoke to > Reuters Financial Television during a three-day Mercosur > Economic Summit in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. >Hosted by private Swiss group World Economic Forum, the > meeting brought together about 400 businessmen and government > officials to discuss business opportunities in the Mercosur > trade bloc, grouping Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. >Steingraber said companies in countries like Brazil and > Argentina were rapidly reworking their cost structures to > compete in a global environment. >They now faced the challenge of "moving up the value-added > chain" in terms of exports. >"So I think rightfully, these countries will continue to be > a positive market for foreign investment," Steingraber said. >Zimmer said the end of hyperinflation and relatively long > periods of economic stability had lent new credibility to Latin > American economies. >"It's a bit like that," Zimmer told Reuters when asked if > Brazil and other countries in the region had reached a watershed > in terms of foreign investor confidence. >"If you look at every sector (of the Brazilian economy), you > will see foreign investment pouring in," Zimmer said. >The consultants noted that while foreign direct investment > into China, another emerging economic power, had leveled off, > foreign direct investment into Brazil was just taking off. >Brazil attracted more than $9.0 billion in foreign direct > investment in 1996. >This year, it is expected to get $12 billion, most of it > fueled by a billion-dollar privatization program involving > ports, roads, railways, telecoms and the mining and energy > sectors. >The consultants said the successful establishment of the > Mercosur customs union at the start of 1995 has boosted > investment by major international companies because of the sales > opportunities in a 200-million-strong customer base. >Free trade deals struck with Chile and Bolivia, together > with the possibility of similar accords with other countries in > the region and even Canada and the European Union, enhanced the > export potential of manufacturing bases in Mercosur, they said. --
[PEN-L:12404] Re: the beautiful poor
>I think Maggie Coleman is quite right that one can offer a >critique of non-Western cultural practices (i.e dowry, widow >burning) without being a cultural chauvinist. May I ask what it means to call something a "cultural practice"? In the media, and to undergrads I teach, it means that the practice is widespread and of some antiquity, and that it has a positive value in cultural terms, enjoys social consensus, or is at least tolerated. Is it being argued that sati and dowry deaths meet those criteria? Or is some other meaning implied? Is slavery a western cultural practice? Is lynching a U.S. cultural practice? Are violent attacks on nonwhites by citizens and police a U.S. cultural practice? Best, Colin
[PEN-L:12403] Not gruntled
Jim D. writes about the origin of PC within Maoism. He is partly correct (pc). "Political incorrectness" was current within Maoism to describe views, actions, speech practices etc. which analysis could demonstrate had politically negative consequences, i.e. retarded the advent of socialism. The term was favored over "wrong" because the objection was not based on bourgeois morality. Much like the term disgruntled, it didn't have a serious positive counterpart. "Politically correct" was used within Maoism as a term of self satire, meaning, as Jim states, holding overly rigid views. I'm not sure this term was used widely on the left, but it was only with its adoption by the right as a term of derision aimed at, ironically, the very non-Maoist identity politics tendency, that it achieved its present meaning. It's important not to let the right write our own political history even in matters like this. I also think this discussion is a small manifestation of an ongoing process which is of more importance. With the Sokal affair marking a turning point, the Marxist left has sought to distinguish itself from identity politics and its theoretical manifestation in pomo, separating itself from the more negative aspects of this tradition. At the same time it has had the responsibility of helping to defend a predominantly left-wing tendency from rightist attack. The Marxist left has had to separate the contributions of identity politics from its weaknesses. One example of this is the tricky distinction between the laudable sensitivity to the politics of language on the one hand and over-sensitivity on the other. This is a difficult distinction but a necessary one. On the one hand, being antiPC is the liberalism of fools. On the other hand, Marxism is a distinct tradition on the left and is not responsible for the excesses of identity politics (it is of course responsible for its own excesses). Terry McDonough I think the present discussion
[PEN-L:12402] Re: the beautiful poor
At 11:53 16/09/97 -0700, Ricardo D. wrote: >I think Maggie Coleman is quite right that one can offer a >critique of non-Western cultural practices (i.e dowry, widow >burning) without being a cultural chauvinist. The real dilemma here >is to what values does one appeal in conducting such a critique? It >seems to me that one must appeal to certain universal principles, >like those advocated by the Enlightenment...feminism and Marxism are >a continuation of the project of the Enlightenment Yes, Mr. Habermas, you got a point. Cheers, ajit sinha > > > > > >
[PEN-L:12401] Re: slurs
At 12:15 16/09/97 -0700, Jim D. wrote: >In response to my sermonette, Ajit Sinha writes: >> I'm sorry I >don't understand what this is all about. Sounds more like Jorge Bush >and Denesh DeSuza led attack on "pc" even though "pc" was their own >creation and not Duke University's.<< > >Ajit, I know you reject politeness as "middle class," but I don't think >such insults (or your previous ones) help anyone, including you. Well, who is getting too sensitive now? I don't think I insulted you. But if you think, then I'm sorry. I'll show some sense of humor here. I know you are not as conservative as Jorge Bush and Denesh Desuza--that goes without saying, but we are only trying to push certain line of reasoning and see how far does it go. Fact of the matter is that you write on almost every issue on pen-l on daily basis. To mostly a reader of pen-l like muself (who has pretty much stoped participating as it is) you sound like an unofficial official voice of pen-l. So once in a while I try to give you some heat, which you interpret as insult. May be here the same language critique we are talking about is relevant. You yourself classify your post as "sermonette". Now, who gives sermons? So when you speak on pen-l, you assume a position of power, and we have to endure it on daily basis, and when that position of power gets questioned in some serious way (e.g. the value debate last time), you time and again interpret it as insult. So may be you need to think about your own perception of what is going on a bit critically. And I'll do the same. Let me add one thing here. The problem here could be cultural as well. I hope I'm not condemning all Indians of impolitness, but it is true that Indians argue among friends with a lot of passion and not much concern for politness. But heated philosophical and political arguments usually do not affect personal relationships and friendships. In West, I have noticed that people attach their ego a bit too closely with the ideas they are arguing for. So i need to be more sensitive about that. Cheers, ajit sinha
