The final timetable will be published here at a later time.
- Struggles in everyday work
- Security area EU?
- Societal crisis / climate change
- Biodiversity
- Emigration and anti-racist interventions
- Rights as a reference point for an emancipatory left
- 1968 - Just a number or a world revolution?
- Miscellaneous
- Open screening
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: e historical evolution of social centres. Then we discuss some examples of social centres in Europe, their political strategies and their attempts to create cooperations between social centres in different cities and countries. Tomás Herreros will present the experiences of the Ateneu Candela in Terrassa/Barcelona, another person of those of the NewYorck in the Bethanien in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The workshop will be moderated by Armin Kuhn (Buko).;Sa;15:00;16:30;R 3.312;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 43;Kämpfe um soziale Rechte: im Spannungsfeld von Entrechtung, juristischer Begrenzung und utopischem Überschuss;Kongress;0;Michael Bättig (ALSO - Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe Oldenburg), Britta Grell (INURA) Moderation: Corinna Genschel (Kommitee für Grundrechte und Demokratie);Mit den Diskussionen um Globale Soziale Rechte werden seit einigen Jahren der Begriff der Rechte und die Forderung nach Rechten wieder prominent und in einer emanzipatorischen Wendung auf die Tagesordnung der (radikalen) Linken gesetzt. Nicht umsonst beginnt auch der diesjährige BUKO mit dieser Debatte, die wir in diesem Workshop in einer praktischen Perspektive weiter führen wollen. Denn fangen die Dilemmata und Widersprüche nicht oft erst an, wenn Forderungen nach Rechten praktisch werden? Anhand der Schlagworte „Recht auf die Stadt“ und „soziale Rechte“ möchten wir diskutieren, wie hier jeweils der Begriff „Recht auf“ gefasst ist. Es wird sich zeigen, dass der verwendete Rechtsbegriff über die rein juristische Rechtskonzeption hinausweist. Welcher Gehalt wird Forderungen nach Rechten dann aber gegeben? Recht als legitimes Bedürfnis, vom Recht als Anspruch auf gesellschaftliche Teilhabe, vom Recht als Forderung nach Selbstbestimmung? Ist „Recht“ dann aber mehr als eine symbolische In-Recht-Setzung? Wie können also solch erweiterte Rechtsbegriffe in konkrete Forderungen übersetzt werden, wie münden sie in Kämpfen oder werden durch konkrete Kämpfe angetrieben, wie werden sie (und wo) praktisch? Wir wollen in diesem Workshop fragen, ob und wie Kämpfe um konkrete (juristische) Rechte so geführt werden/können, dass diese nicht bei einer institutionellen Einhegung stehen bleiben, sondern im Gegenteil die Bedingungen für weitere Kämpfe schaffen und somit an grundsätzlichere Rechte (Teilhabe, Selbstbestimmung) heranführen? Lässt die Bezugnahme auf ein erweitertes Konzept von „Recht“ verschiedene Kämpfen sich verbinden und überschneiden, konkret an unseren Beispielen Stadtteilkämpfe mit Kämpfen illegalisierter MigrantInnen und/oder Erwerbslosen? Kann eine solch erweitere Konzeption schließlich helfen, defensive Kämpfe in die Offensive bringen? Diese Fragen diskutieren wir mit Britta Grell (INURA Berlin), die die Immigrants Rights Campaign in den USA aus dem Blickwinkel von Kämpfen um ein „Recht auf Stadt“ beleuchtet, und mit Michael Bättig (ALSO Oldenburg), der über den Gehalt von „sozialen Rechten“ für Erwerbslosenkämpfe sprechen wird. Die Moderation übernimmt Corinna Genschel (Komitee für Grundrechte und Demokratie);Struggles for social rights - between the deprivation of rights, juridical limitation and utopian escape;For some years, the discussions about 'global social rights' have put the concept and demands of social rights in a prominent and emancipatory way on the agenda of the global radical left. Not accidentally, this BUKO starts with that debate. In this workshop, we want to continue this discussion with a focus on the practical implications of the debate. The dilemmas a
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: nd contradictions of demanding social rights become obvious when it gets to practical politics. On the example of the concepts of 'the right to the city' and 'social rights', we want to ask therefore what dimensions of 'rights' are implicated. From our perspective, it is obvious that the concept of 'rights' used here goes beyond purely juridical terms. But in that case, what content is implicated with the demand for rights? Rights as legitimate needs, rights as claims for societal participation, rights as demands for self-determination? Can 'rights' then be perceived as more than a symbolic recourse to a juridical term? How can such broadened conceptions of 'rights' be translated in concrete demands? How can they be opened for and at the same time driven by social struggles? How do rights, finally, get practical? The leading question of our workshop is therefore, how struggles for concrete (juridical) rights can be conduced in a way they don't find themselves trapped in institutional enclosures. This becomes especially important when the aim is to create the conditions for further struggles about more fundamental rights like participation and self-determination. Can a broadened concept of 'rights' help to connect different struggles, in our case of urban and neighbourhood movements on the one hand and of struggles of illegal immigrants and unemployed persons on the other hand? Can in the end a broadened concept of 'rights' help to leave a merely defensive position towards a political push of the political left? We will discuss these questions with Britta Grell (INURA Berlin) who is going to talk about the immigrant rights campaign in the United States from the perspective of struggles for the 'right to the city' and with Michael Bättig and Roman Langner (ALSO Oldenburg) who will speak about the implications of 'social rights' for the struggles of unemployed persons. The workshop will be moderated by Corinna Genschel (Committee for fundamental rights and democracy).;SO;10:00;11:30;R 3.312;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 54;Unruhen in China;Arbeit;0;Welt in Umwälzung;Streiks, Demonstrationen, Straßenblockaden, Riots: Geht der Deckel jetzt hoch? Mit der Entwicklung Chinas zur Fabrik der Welt hat sich eine neue Arbeiterklasse formiert, in der die WanderarbeiterInnen der zweiten Generation ganz vorne mitmischen. Sie haben ihre Streikerfahrung und die Arbeitskräfteknappheit in den industriellen Zentren genutzt, um höhere Löhne und bessere Wohnbedingungen durchzusetzen. Jetzt wird ihre Ungeduld und Wut immer größer. Sie dürfen sich weiterhin nicht dauerhaft in den Städten niederlassen, wollen aber auch nicht wieder aufs Land zurück. Sie sehen, wie der Unterschied zwischen Arm und Reich weiter wächst und sich ihre Lebens- und Arbeitsbedingungen nur langsam verbessern. Sie wechseln den Job, die Fabrik, die Stadt, schaffen sich neue soziale Zusammenhänge und machen ihre Ansprüche auf ein besseres Leben immer lauter deutlich. Die chinesische Regierung hat längst erkannt, dass die Repression nicht reicht und sie auch für Ventile sorgen muss, um den Klassendruck abzulassen und eine soziale Explosion zu verhindern. Sie hat neue Arbeitsgesetze, Schlichtungsverfahren und staatliche Almosen geschaffen, um die Kämpfe in den Griff zu kriegen und die kapitalistische Ausbeutung abzusichern. Es wird sich herausstellen, ob diese Maßnahmen Erfolg haben. Viel hängt vom Fortdauern des Wirtschaftsbooms in China ab, der an die Entwicklung der Weltwirtschaft gekoppelt ist, und auch die Kollaboration von Gewerkschaften und NGOs bei der Bewältigung der sozialen Krise spielt eine Rolle. Oder entwickelt sich in China eine Bewegung, die sich nicht mehr einfangen lässt und eine Perspektive jenseits kapitalistischer Ausbeutung eröffnet? Mehr Infos: http://www.wildcat-www.de/dossiers/china/ Eine Veranstaltung der Redaktion der China-Beilage der Wildcat;Unrest in China;Strikes, demonstrations, street blockades, riots: Is the lid blowing off? China not only became the factory of the world but has also seen the formation of a new working class, with migrant workers of the second generation in the forefront. They have used their strike experience and the labor shortage in order to get higher wages and improve their conditions. Now their impatience and their anger are growing. They cannot permanently settle down in the cities, but they do not want to move back to the countryside either. They see the increasing difference between rich and poor and the slow improvement of their own working and living conditions. They change jobs and move to other cities, they form new social relations and make their demands for a better life. The Chinese government knows that repression is not enough and that it has to open valves in order to release class pressure and prevent a social explosion. So it created new labor laws, mediation procedures and elements of welfare in order to control the struggles and safeguard capitalist exploitation. Whether these measures will be successful or not depends on the duration of the
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: economic boom - which is linked to the development of the world economy - and the collaboration of labor unions and NGOs in dealing with the social crisis. Or will we see a class movement in China that cannot be contained and opens up a perspective beyond capitalist exploitation? More information (in German): http://www.wildcat-www.de/dossiers/china/ Organized by the editors of the Wildcat-supplement on China;SO;10:00;11:30;R 2.437;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 58;Auswirkungen des GDL-Kampfes auf die Tarifrunden und Gewerkschaftsbewegung 2008;Arbeit;0;Initiative zur Vernetzung der Gewerkschaftslinken Referenten: Uwe K. (Lokführer, GDL-Mitglied, Berlin), Frank S. (Bezirksvorsitzender der GDL-NRW), Hans K. (Landesfachbereich Handel, ver.di Hessen), Jakob S. (Betriebsratsvorsitzender bei Engel, IG Metall), Martin M. (Vertrauensmann, ver.di München);Die Bedeutung des Streiks der GDL geht weit über die Branche hinaus und hat die öffentliche Meinung zu Gewerkschaften sehr grundlegend beeinflusst. Trotz der phasenweise erheblichen Einschränkungen des Nah- und Fernverkehrs fand das Anliegen der Gewerkschaft stets die Unterstützung der Mehrheit der Bevölkerung. * Warum war dieser Streik nicht nur ein Erfolg für die Lokführer, sondern darüber hinaus für die gesamte Gewerkschaftsbewegung? * Was hat die Trendwende in der öffentlichen Meinung zu Gewerkschaften herbeigeführt? * Was waren die Stärken, was die Schwächen in dieser Auseinandersetzung? * Was kann die Gewerkschaftsbewegung für zukünftige Tarifrunden für Schlussfolgerungen ziehen? Darüber hinaus wollen wir aber auch einen Blick auf die Tarifrunden im Öffentlichen Dienst, im Einzelhandel und bei Stahl, Kfz-Handwerk und in der Metallindustrie werfen. * Welche Erfahrungen konnten in diesen Tarifrunden gesammelt werden? * Was ist bei den anstehenden Tarifrunden in der Metallindustrie zur Altersteilzeit und zur Lohnrunde im Herbst zu beachten? Die Tarifbewegung 2008 kann eine Trendwende einleiten. Diese zu befördern, ist Ziel dieser Veranstaltung. Ein Ende der Bescheidenheit ist angesagt. Eine Umverteilung von oben nach unten muss erreicht werden. Die Chancen dafür sind so gut wie schon lange nicht mehr. Wir laden euch alle herzlich ein, diese Fragen mit uns gemeinsam zu diskutieren und zu versuchen, praktische Schlussfolgerungen für die anstehenden Kämpfe zu ziehen.;Effects of the "GDL-trade-union"-struggles on bargaining rounds and the trade-union movement 2008;The importance of the strike from GDL goes far beyound their industry sector. It has the influenced the public opinion about trade unions a lot. In spite of the strong restriction for public transport the concern of the trade union was always backed by the majority of the people. * Why was this strike not only a success for the locomotive drivers, but rather for all the trade union movement? * What has caused the shift in the public opinion towards trade unions? * What have been the strength, what the weaknesses in this conflict? * What conclusion can the trade union movement take into account for future bargaining rounds? Beyond that we want to look at the bargaining rounds in the public service, in the retail industry, at steel, motor vehicle handraft and in the metal industry. * Which experiences could be gained in those bargaining rounds? * What is to be taken into account for the next bargaining round in the metal industry regarding partial retirement and for the wage round in autumn? The tarif
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: movement 2008 can start a shift. To support that is the aim of this workshop. An end of modesty is announced. A redistribution from the top to below has to be achieved. The chances for this are as good as it long time not have been. We invite you to dicuss together with us those question and to try to find practical conclusions for the next struggles.;SA;10:00;17:00;HS1;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 67;In den letzten Zügen: Höchste Eisenbahn – Stoppt die Börsenbahn!;Klima;0;Winfried Wolf;Trotz einiger Bremsmanöver bleibt die Bahnprivatisierung ein erklärtes Ziel der Großen Koalition. Noch in dieser Legislaturperiode soll die Bahn teilprivatisiert werden. Nachdem ein Bahnprivatisierungsgesetz von dem letzten SPD-Parteitag ausgebremst wurde, soll dieses Vorhaben nun am Parlament vorbei durchgezogen werden. Dabei entwickelt sich das Thema für die SPD und für ihren Vorsitzenden Beck zunehmend zur innerparteilichen Zerreißprobe. Bei dem aktuell debattierten "Holding-Modell" zur Bahnprivatisierung soll die Beteiligung privater Investoren formal auf den Transportsektor und hier auf eine neu zu bildende Unterholding, in der der Nah-, der Fernverkehr, der Güterschienenverkehr und die Logistik zusammengefasst werden, beschränkt werden. Doch so, wie es kein bisschen schwanger gibt, gibt es kein bisschen privatisiert. Jeder Einstieg privater Anteilseigner macht aus einer seit rund 100 Jahren in öffentlichem Eigentum befindlichen Eisenbahn ein privatisiertes Unternehmen mit weitreichenden Folgen. Private Investoren bekommen direkten Zugriff auf den gesamten Schienenverkehr und werden diesen nach reinen Rendite-Kriterien betreiben - oder auch nicht. Sie bekommen indirekten Zugriff auf 34.000 km Trassen und 5500 Bahnhöfe. Winfried Wolf argumentiert, dass es kein einziges sachliches Argument gibt, das für einen Börsengang der Bahn spricht. Dass jedoch die Beispiele privatisierter Bahnen im Ausland und die Erfahrungen mit den Privatisierungen von Wohnungen und der Versorgung mit Energie und Wasser gegen die Privatisierung sprechen. Vor allem, so der Autor und Referent unserer Veranstaltung, gibt es eine Alternative: eine optimierte Bahn in öffentlichem Eigentum, wie es uns die Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) einigermaßen vorbildlich demonstrieren. Diese Alternative wird von dem Referent - und wurde von dem breiten Bündnis "Bahn für Alle" - für Deutschland weiter konkretisiert.;Stop privatising German Rail - it is high time!;The Privatisation of the German rail is a declared goal of the governing coalition, to be realised in this election period. Even after the SPD party congress stopped a legislative initiative, the party leaders ignored the vote and pushed the privatisation plans into the Bundestag. In the currently debated ?Holding Model?, separating the management of railway operation and infrastructure from the provision of railway transport services, private investors are formally allowed only to buy a restricted amount of shares (24.9 %) of the transport services company. But there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant. Every private shareholding will turn the publicly owned property German rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) into a private enterprise with far-reaching consequences. Private Investors gain direct access to the whole of German rail and run it for their return on investment. With the comparable small share private investors i
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: ndirectly gain access to 34 000 kilometers of railtrack an 5 500 railway stations. Winfried Wolf argues, that there is no single serious argument pro going public. Furthermore, there are numerous examples of railway privatisation in other countries and experiences with privatising housing, energy and water provision that militate against privatisation. Above all, following the author and referee of this seminar, there is an alternative: an optimised railway in public ownership, demonstrated by the Swiss rail (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, SBB). The Referee substantiates this alternative for the case of German rail.;SA;15:00;16:30;R 3.313;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 76;Aktivismus in Ost- und Südost-Asien;Kino;0;0;In dieser Veranstaltung werden wir Filmclips zeigen und über einige politische Bewegungen in Ost- und Südostasien berichten. Der besondere Fokus liegt auf Japan, um generell das Wissen über die dortigen politischen Bewegungen zu erhöhen, wenn im Juli 2008 das G8-Treffen dort auf den Protest trifft. Hintergrund: Während einer Infotour - aus Anlass des G8-Treffens 2008 in Japan - wurden von der Infotour Interviews mit Aktivist_innen in Japan, Südkorea, Taiwan, Philippinen und Hongkong gedreht. Aus diesen entsteht gerade ein Dokumentarfilm. Wir präsentieren folgende Themen per Kurz-Clip: JAPAN * Uyoku, Gaisensha und der Yasukuni-Shrine: über die Kontinuität des japanischen Nationalismus und Faschismus (2.WK bis heute) * Comfort Women: Versklavung von Frauen durch die Japanische Imperialistische Armee * Zengakuren in den 60ern und Studierenden-Proteste heute * Nojukusha und Internet Refugees: über Prekarität und obdachlose Arbeiter in Japan * Ainu und Burakumin: über die Diskriminierung von sog. Minderheiten in Japan * Mobilisierung zu den G8-Protesten in Japan (2 Clips) PHILIPPINEN * Guerrilla Gardening und Food not Bombs * Networking in Davao - von Graswurzelbewegungen und NGOs * Sagada 11: political abduction and murders on the Philippines SÜD-KOREA * The Autonomous Peace Village of Daechu-ri und weitere Probleme wegen Militär-Basen * Burma-Demonstration in Seoul HONGKONG * Der Kampf um den Queens Pier und die Lee Tung Street: über Gentrifizierung und Bürger_innenbeteiligung in Hongkong ;Filmclip-Screening about "Activism in East and South East Asia";In this presentation we are showing film clips and make small reports about some political movements in East and South East Asia with a special focus on Japan, to improve in general the knowledge about Japanese resistance movements when the G8-meeting meets the resistance against it in the beginning of July 2008. The presentation will be held either in english or german, but we will organise Translation corners. Background: During an Infotour in 2007 - because of the G8-meeting in 2008 in Japan - the Infotour activists made interviews with politically active people in Japan, Südkorea, Taiwan, Philippinen and Hongkong. Out of this material there is now a documentary film going to be made. We want to present these material with Clips and reports: JAPAN * Uyoku, Gaisensha and the Yasukuni-Jinja: about the continuity of nationalism and fascism in Japan (WW II up to now) * Comfort Women: enslavement of women through the Japanese Imperialist Army * Zengakuren in the `60ies and Student Protests today * Nojukusha and Internet Refugees: about precarity and homeless workers in Japan * Ainu and Burakumin: about the discrimination of so called minorities in Japan * Mobilisation to the G8-Protests in Japan (2 Clips) PHILIPPINES * Guerrilla Gardening and Food not Bombs * Networking in Davao - about grass root movements and NGOs * Sagada 11: political abduction and
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: murders on the Philippines SOUTH-KOREA * The Autonomous Peace Village of Daechu-ri and other problems about military bases * Burma-Demonstration in Seoul HONG KONG * The fight about the Queens Pier and the Lee Tung Street: about gentrification and citizen involvement in Hongkong;SA;17:00;18:30;HS3;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 84;Feministische Perspektiven auf ‚Globale Soziale Rechte’ in der neoliberalen Weltwirtschaft;D;0;AG feministische Theorie und Praxis Bochum, Redaktion der Zeitschrift Peripherie;Frauen im globalen Süden sind als Billigarbeitskräfte, Konsumentinnen und Kleinbäuerinnen von der neoliberalen Globalisierung besonders betroffen. Gleichzeitig werden sie in neoliberalen ökonomischen Konzeptionen und Politiken, etwa von der Weltbank, zunehmend als Markt-Subjekte in den Blick genommen und angesprochen. Im Workshop soll das Konzept „Globale Soziale Rechte“ vor dem Hintergrund einer langen feministischen Debatte um Frauen- und Menschenrechte kritisch diskutiert werden, da dieses in den Diskussionen oft nicht geschieht. Zudem setzen wir uns mit der Problematik auseinander, dass Frauenrechte zunehmend verstanden werden als gleichberechtigt am Marktgeschehen teilnehmen zu können. (Wie) können also Rechte gefordert werden, die dem Lebensalltag von Frauen und den konkreten Geschlechter- und Machtverhältnissen Rechnung tragen? Welche Rechtsansätze wurden in der feministischen Diskussion entwickelt und wie sind diese in Bezug auf ihr (ökonomie)kritisches und emanzipatives Potential einzuschätzen? Wir hoffen auf eine spannende und offene Diskussion, die die theoretischen Aspekte auf die alltäglichen Lebenssituationen von Frauen rückbezieht! Der Workshop wird gemeinsam veranstaltet von der AG feministische theorie und praxis (Bochum) und der Redaktion der Zeitschrift Peripherie. Politik und Ökonomie in der Dritten Welt. Es wird Inputs von der AG feministische Theorie und Praxis und Christa Wichterich sowie von Julia Rometsch von FIAN geben.;Feminist Perspectives on ‚Global Social Rights’ in the Neoliberal Global Economy;Women in the Global South are particularly affected as cheap labour force, consumers and peasants by the neoliberal globalisation. At the same time they are increasingly addressed in neoliberal concepts and policies, e.g. by the world bank, as market subjects. In the workshop the concept of ‚global social rights’ shall be critically questioned by referring to the decades long feminist debate on women’s as human rights. We’d also like to address the problematique that women’s rights are increasingly understood as ensuring equal access to markets for women. Thus, if and how can rights be claimed which are adequate both for the normal course of life as well as in confronting gender and power hierarchies? Which approaches to rights have been developed in feminist debates? And how useful are they regarding their anti-capitalist and emancipatory potentials? We’d like to invite you to an open discussion which links theoretical and everyday perspectives! The workshop is jointly organised by the Group ‚feminist theory and practice’ (Bochum) and the editorial collective of ‚Periphery. Journal for Politics and Economy in the Third World’. Inputs for discussion will be provided by the Group ‚feminist theory and practice’, Christa Wichterich and Julia Rometsch (
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: FIAN).;SA;17:00;18:30;R 4.314;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 101;Soja, Gentechnologie, Agrosprit und Widerstand - das Beispiel Paraguays und El Salvadors: Was sind mögliche Handlungsperspektiven in Europa?;Klima;Biodiversität;Gilda Roa (MAP - Movimiento Agrario y Popular), Evelyn Bahn (INKOTA) & Anne Hild Rivera (Zivile Netzwerk gegen Gentechnik in El Salvador);In Paraguay nimmt der großflächige Anbau von genetisch manipuliertem Soja beständig zu. Ausgelöst wird dies durch die Nachfrage des europäischen Nutztier- und Agrobenzin-Sektors. Gilda Roa stellt die Folgen des verstärkten Soja-Anbaus für die Landbevölkerung vor: Verunreinigung, Gifte, Armut und Migration. Gilda arbeitet für die MAP, die sich mit der Zukunftssicherung für Menschen in ländlichen Gebieten befasst. Während ihrer Überlebenskämpfe wurden einige Gemeinden, die mit der MAP zu tun hatten, mit Zwangsräumungen und zunehmender Kriminalisierung konfrontiert. Gilda wird über die Gefahren von Agrotreibstoffen für die Bevölkerung, über die Pläne der MAP und der Bevölkerung für die Zukunft sprechen. Außerdem wird sie kurz auf die Möglichkeiten und Risiken eingehen, die aus der letzten Wahl von Präsident Lugo ableitbar sind. Anne Hild Rivera vertritt das "Zivile Netzwerk gegen Gentechnik in El Salvador", ein Netzwerk von Konsumenten- und Umwelt-Organisationen, Universitäten und weiteren Aktivisten. Seit 2001 koordiniert das Netzwerk Aktivitäten gegen genetisch veränderte Organismen and kämpft für die Umsetzung der Nahrungsmittelsouveränität. Derzeit forscht das Netzwerk über die Produktion von Agrosprit in El Salvador. Schließlich werden einige Filmclips die Folgen von Agrochemie, Militarisierung und Widerstand durch Landbesetzung zeigen. Mit Bezug auf eine Einführung in die INKOTA Aktionen gegen Agrobenzin von Evely Bahn (INKOTA) werden wir außerdem diskutieren, was Menschen in Europa aktiv machen können.;Soy, genetechnology, agrofuels and peasant resistance - the case of Paraguay and El Salvador: What could be done in Europe?;In Paraguay, large-scale cultivation of genetically manipulated soy is constantly expanding. This is driven by demand from the European animal feed and agrofuels-sector. Gilda Roa will expose the implications of soya expansion for the inhabitants of the countryside: contamination, toxicity, poverty and migration. Gilda's organisation, MAP, work to secure a future for people in rural areas. However, during their struggle for survival, several communities involved in MAP have faced violent evictions and increasing criminalisation of their struggle. Gilda will clarify the dangers of agrofuels for her people, and also speak about MAP's perspectives, and what they themselves want for their people and their future. She will also briefly adress the potentials and risks arising from the recent election of president Lugo. Anne Hild Rivera represents the “Zivile Netzwerk gegen Gentechnik in El Salvador”, a network of consumer- and environmental organizations, universities and other activists. Since 2001, the network coordinates ac
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: tivities against GMO and fights for the implementation of food sovereignty. Currently, the network does research on agrofuel production in El Salvador. Finally, several film clips will show the consequences of agrochemical use, militarisation and resistance through land occupation. Based on an introduction in the INKOTA action on agrofuels by Evely Bahn (INKOTA), we will also discuss in this workshop about what people can do in Europe (public campaigning, etc.).;SO;10:00;11:30;R 4.435;X
Size is 6FEHLER IN ZEILE: 115;Diskussion über die Arbeiter_innen-Demonstrationen in Ljubljana, Slowenien im April 2008;Arbeit;0;Boštjan Nedoh & Goran Forbici (Workers’- Punkers’ University Ljubljana);In dieser Veranstaltung werden die Referenten versuchen einige kritische Aspekte der slowenischen Gewerkschaftskämpfe der jüngsten Zeit zu analysieren. Die Schwerpunkte liegen auf zwei Problemen, die miteinander in Beziehung stehen: 1. Gewerkschaftsforderungen: Die letzte Euro-Demonstration die Anfang April 2008 in Ljubljana stattfand hat europäische Gewerkschaften in ihrer Forderung nach höheren Löhnen verbunden. Diese Forderung ist problematisch, da ihre Artikulation nicht den Diskurs der Neoliberalen durchbricht. 2. Der Ausschluss anderer Subjekte: Die ganze Geschichte hindurch wurde der Kampf der Arbeiter_innen dadurch definiert und organisiert, dass es eine zentrale Konfliktlinie gibt: die zwischen dem Proletariat und dem Kapital. Während der letzten Demonstration konnte wieder ein Rückschritt festgestellt werden: Die Gewerkschaftsführung trennte ihre Linie sehr stark von derjenigen, die von den Aktivist_innen des sogenannten Autonomen Blockes formiert wurde. Ihr Argument war, das sich die Arbeiter_innen radikal von aller Form von Gewalt distanzieren sollten. Informationen zu den Veranstaltern: http://dpu.mirovni-institut.si/;A review of the last workers’ demonstrations in Ljubljana (April 2008);Through the workshop the authors will try to analyze some »critical« aspects of recent Slovenian trade union struggle. They will focus on two interconnected subjects: 1. Trade Union demands. Last Euro Demo, held in the beginning of April in Ljubljana, united European trade unions in their demand for higher wages. We have heard from trade union leaders that what we are witnessing is the rage of European workers and that the exploitation of workers went too far. However it should be noted that what we are dealing with here is a very problematic articulation of workers demands, since this articulation does not break with the discourse of neoliberal economy through which the postfordist capitalists are legitimizing their exploitation and the same time declining the working class the status of an equal speaker. The Trade Union discourse should therefore instead of claiming that workers are protesting as enraged animals try to demonstrate that workers are protesting as rational beings. 2. The exclusion of other Subjects. Through all of its history the workers’ struggle was defined and organized in the light of one single dividing line, i.e. the one between proletariat and capital. There was only one barricade present. But during the last demonstrations a regression could be noted. The trade Union leaders separated their lines sharply from those formed by the activist of the so called Autonomous Bloc. The argument was that the workers should distance themselves radically from all kinds of violence. What we are suggesting in this context is, that it would maybe be wise for the trade unio
Size is 8FEHLER IN ZEILE: ns to think over once again the famous Bertold Brecht's slogan that »it is still not permitted to us not to kill.« (Die Massnahme) Information to the organisers: http://dpu.mirovni-institut.si/;SA;17:00;18:30;R 4.435;X
Size is 6
Organisational
Food
We care for your physical well-being :). Food will be made by "Le Sabot", a mobile D.I.Y.-kitchen. The food is cheap, tasty, organic and vegan. 
Work
Solidary economies in Latin America - between self-organisation and agreements with the state
During the last years things have been set in motion in Latin America. Social movements self-convidently raise their voices and push new presidents into office. In this general context a lot of projects of solidary economy develop. A mode of economy that does not aim for profit for the few but for the suply of the people. There is workers who occupy closed down businesses and administrate them themselves. There is people who squat land and found cooperatives and much more. At the same time governments like in Brazil and Ecuador assist these new forms of solidary economies and aid them financially. On the inter-governmental level between some governments the ALBA treaty has been negotiated. It builds upon cooperation instead of competition between the states. Kerstin Back, co-founder of the working group Latin America and solidary economy in Attac, has been to Argentina and Uruguay recently and talks about the present situation. SA, 17:00-18:30 | R 4.323
revolutionary work in and before the company
The slogan "another world is possible" is also a matter of course for the radical left. But how will another world be created? How do we come closer to the abolition of capitalism? A central role for the change in the world is the change in the companies: it have been the increased strikes in the last years which made this more clear. But besides the realization that again "something happens", the strikes vanish, they do not radicalize themself, they are cutted of by the funtionaries of trade unions. Radical leftists supporters in many ways or they have been directly invoved as workers in the companies. This workshop picks the problems the revolutionary work faces in and before the company out as a central theme. It will also be discussed how the radical left can push the work forward through the support of struggles in companies together with the grass root of the strikers and the trade union.FR, 15:00-16:30 | R 4.442
Unrest in China
Strikes, demonstrations, street blockades, riots: Is the lid blowing off? China not only became the factory of the world but has also seen the formation of a new working class, with migrant workers of the second generation in the forefront. They have used their strike experience and the labor shortage in order to get higher wages and improve their conditions. Now their impatience and their anger are growing. They cannot permanently settle down in the cities, but they do not want to move back to the countryside either. They see the increasing difference between rich and poor and the slow improvement of their own working and living conditions. They change jobs and move to other cities, they form new social relations and make their demands for a better life. The Chinese government knows that repression is not enough and that it has to open valves in order to release class pressure and prevent a social explosion. So it created new labor laws, mediation procedures and elements of welfare in order to control the struggles and safeguard capitalist exploitation. Whether these measures will be successful or not depends on the duration of the, - |
Clean up your act! Organizing in the Dutch cleaners campaign.
The cleaners campaign was started in the Netherlands in 2007. It's adopting American organizing strategies and working methods and implementing them in the languid Dutch landscape of labour struggle. The cleaning sector is one of the most precarious sectors of the Dutch labour market, where the practice of outsourcing has further decreased visibility and power of workers, who are predominantly migrant and female. To kickstart the campaign, a coalition was set up between the union, FNV bondgenoten, and social movement and civil society groups. In a matter of months the campaign was able to win an important contract improvement for 150.000 cleaners. This workshop will deal with how to make labor struggle relevant again for the contemporary conditions. We will discuss the problematics of outreaching to cleaners, working with / within / without the union, translating organizing methods to the Netherlands, and how to stage a conflict. There will be room for ample discussion.SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 4.418
Labour and social struggles - Perspectives on support and intervention
In the last month labour struggles as much as the concern about them had grown in the left. The strikes in the german railway company and in the public service added a lot to that, they were shaped through a big mobilization and participation. In different parts of the left a discussion is going on on the evaluation and perspectives of those struggles. With people from unemployment groups and the network of the trade union left we want to talk about the perspectives for support and intervention: How can labour and other social struggles be combined? How can the role of the trade unions be evaluated and how can a splits between intervention and autonomous organization look like? How can a team work from different leftist inside and outside the trade union look like in order to support succesfully social struggles? How can the critique of capitalism be combined with intervention? We want to discuss about open questions regarding the team work between left groups, trade union left and social movements. After short inputs we want to focus on a common discussion.SO, 15:00-17:30 | HS1
Effects of the "GDL-trade-union"-struggles on bargaining rounds and the trade-union movement 2008
The importance of the strike from GDL goes far beyound their industry sector. It has the influenced the public opinion about trade unions a lot. In spite of the strong restriction for public transport the concern of the trade union was always backed by the majority of the people. * Why was this strike not only a success for the locomotive drivers, but rather for all the trade union movement? * What has caused the shift in the public opinion towards trade unions? * What have been the strength, what the weaknesses in this conflict? * What conclusion can the trade union movement take into account for future bargaining rounds? Beyond that we want to look at the bargaining rounds in the public service, in the retail industry, at steel, motor vehicle handraft and in the metal industry. * Which experiences could be gained in those bargaining rounds? * What is to be taken into account for the next bargaining round in the metal industry regarding partial retirement and for the wage round in autumn? The tarif, - |
Looking backward ? Labour movements then and now.
Authoritarian, male, patriotic - this or something the like seems to be the left-wing radicals general verdict on the "classic" labour movements of the 19th and beginning 20th century. Our code of practice and forms of organisation are more or less defined in order to differentiate ourselves from the old-school approaches. Anti-Authoritarianism, grassroots-democracy, a critical standing towards representation, council-democracy - all these things cannot be thought without the historical experiences of former socialist movements. But explicit knowledge on these movements is the exception, and so the neccessary critique of their forms and failures remains diffuse. This workshops gives a short introduction on the history of the german labour movement from its beginnings in the 19th century to its defeat in 1933. The idea is to discuss critically on forms of resistance and organisation, having in mind the question: is there anything to learn from history for todays social struggles? SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.310
Work-environments in China
This workshop discusses the different work-environments in China and how they function, how they are controlled, how they exude internationally, what forms of representation of interest they develop and finally what quality of life they allow the people in China now and in the future. In Germany China most of the times is described as a country with a long tradition and rich culture, as a capitalist economic miracle and socialist experiment. On the other hand China is perceived as a state that disregards human and worker's rights, plunders natural resources and destroys the environment. Given the rapid economic growth in China, "the Chinese" are often perceived as a threat. What makes work-environments in Germany different from those in China? What realistic possibilities are there for international solidarity between these work-environments? How can internationalism be excercised on this level? These and similar questions we would like to discuss in the workshop, esspecially with younger internationalists.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 2.437
Understanding how we work
In fact we wanted to intervene in struggles of unemployed persons. But we are not unemployed. Far from it! We are working in EU-funded projects, in government-funded programs, at small education institutions, in the university, in association and foundations. Our jobs are low paid, everytime temporary and for a follow up we have to care by ourselve, very often unpaid. In spite of this many of us are very much motivated, because it is about emancipation and self-realization. A boss, with which somebody could argue over labour conditions does not exist. Therefore self-exploitation takes blatant forms. In this situation we are asking why we always expect that others resist against their labour conditions if even we do not do it. So we want to understand in better way, how the labour relations in the project scence function. For that we use the operaistic method of militant research: in the next month we will do an activating enquiry. With this we want to analyse the objective and subjective terms and conditions of the actual employment relationships in projects. Together we want to find out where the possibilities for refusion and struggle are. We are at the very beginning with our research and would like to speak to colleagues in similar situations and with people who have done already militiant researches.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.323
Workingman's Death or On the Representation of the Proletariat
In 2005 two Austrian films put the proletariat into focus: Workingman 's Death and Our Daily Bread. The first film deals with the invisibility of the workers, the second exposes their silence on the background of the buzzing machines. In the first film, the workers are presented as a stain on a explicitly aestheticized environments of their work processes, in the second as a mute walk-ons of the food-industry. Is it merely coincidence that both films are occupied with the invisibility and silence of the proletariat, i.e. with a limping representation of a once revolutionary subject? Further, what joins both films is their radical opposition to arguably one of the most popular politico-economical theories of postfordism, i.e. Paolo Virno's, for whom "the greatest novelty of postfordism is that it included speech into work … Speech is the basic raw material of postfordist virtuosity." This discussion is attached to the movies with the same titel shown in the category "Open Sreening".SO, 12:00-13:30 | HS2
Migrant Workers: Human beings - or just means for profit?
The United States stunning economic growth between 1870 and 1920 coincided with the migration of tens of millions of Europeans to America. A study of fifteen European countries finds that a 1 per cent increase in the population through migration is associated with a boost to the economy of between 1.25 per cent and 1.5 per cent. The World Bank reckons that if rich countries allowed their workforce to swell by a mere 3 per cent by letting in an extra 14 million workers from developing countries between 2001 and 2025, the world would be $ 356 billion a year better off, with the new migrants themselves gaining $ 162 billion a year. (Legrain, 2007) Logic is clear - free flow of work force is good for the national economies. But what happens, if the same national economies embrace economic growth as "supreme social value"? Would that mean the excuse for the breach of basic human rights every time, when they step in the way of achieving that supreme goal? (Pribac, 2008). Sadly, but the more we are talking about the current social position of migrant workers, the more that seems to be the case. What about the right for decent working and living conditions for migrant workers? What about the right for proper health and safety at work for migrant workers? Answers on those questions are all going in the direction of the core of our article -- migrant workers are one of the biggest involuntary hostages of the race for more profit. This article tries to go behind the positive economic gains on migrant workers so to look into the direct individual costs, which the same migrant workers must face, from their over-representation in so called 3D jobs ("dirty, dangerous, demanding") and low-skilled occupations to appealing living conditions.SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.312
Between freedom and constraint. Self-employed in the creative industries
What is the discussion of a 'digital boheme' about? Are those 'new' self-employed workers examples for the conception of a new (and maybe cool) entrepreneurial self? Does being self-employed correspond with those requirements for independence and self-determination that were expressed as a counter project to the norms, boredom and restrictions of the Fordist employment? Have we lost or won everything? What does the 'independent' workaday life do to the working subjects? How can social fights develop under the conditions of self-employment and what can they aim at? Discussing these questions opens up connections to gouvernementality, immaterial labour and precariousness. SA, 17:00-18:30 | R 3.313
autonomy and utopia in everyday life
This "group" formed itself after the Perspektiventage 08 in Berlin. We meet to bring ourselves into a communication process to break up the separations between ourselves, between private struggle for existence and political action, to search for utopic anticapitalist strategies and self-empowerment-possibilities in every-day-life.SO, 10:00-15:00 | R 3.428
Workers situation and struggle in Moldova
The Moldova is passing since is gaining of the independence a period of profound transformation affecting all areas of the life. The workers class and movement is not an exceptions, it becoming the first to be affected, actually. The Moldova is passing since is gaining of the independence a period of profound transformation affecting all areas of the life. The workers class and movement is not an exceptions, it becoming the first to be affected, actually. During last 18 years the situation of the workers in Republic of Moldova get worse and worse. At this moment we can not say that there is working class or a group of people who consider themselves to be part of it. The situation created is the result of a multitude of factors, which I will try to develop and explain more in the workshop. As some of this factors I will mention: ?* the specialization of the former sovietic republic in order to adapt the economy and production to the local historical realities, thus Moldova was seen as “flourishing garden” of the URSS and it was mainly an agro-industrial country; ?* the centralized economical system of production and control (socalled “pyatyletka – five-years plan”) who created artificial connection between the different economical agents, thus some production units from Moldova were exporting to other production units in Rusia or elsewhere, after the fall if URSS this connection disappeared causing the stop of this production units. ?* Centralized trade-union system, which became a part of Communist Party, and thus were not able to promote a pragmatic and workers oriented policy after they the Communist Party collapsed. Thus the trade-unions started to be seen as a reminiscence of the old system and lost the trust from workers. ?* The social-cultural specifics of Moldova, which also play a big role in the ways of development and influence of the working class. ?* Massive emigration of the people in the search of job outside Moldova, according to the last statistics 25% of the working population. All this elements together created a specific situation in Moldova, when the worker struggle is almost inexistent. There still are strong trade unions, mainly in the state sector, such as medicine and education, which demonstrate from time to time. All this created in Moldova a specific, I think, situation, in many aspects the same as in other ex-sovietic reoublics, and different in other aspects.SO, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.427
Wealth is not destiny - wealth is being made!
On the one hand their is a rapid and ongoing re-distribution: from those who have little or less than little to those who already have plenty or too much. Those "up there" live off those "down there". Official politics enforce and camouflage this. Rich people get richer, poor people increase in numbers. On the other hand we posses a local everyday wealth that has to be defended. In contrast neoliberal globalisation aims at the commercialisation of subsistence economies and to absorb them into the anonymous market economy. There are uncounted programs to fight poverty (right now for example the program 2010 to "cut poverty in half"). These programs have basically failed again and again. This leads us to the question: Why is there not a single program to fight wealth? It is time to enforce radical change. We need different politics, we need resistance. We need a visible extra-parliamentary opposition. We are realists! We do (together with you) the impossible! In the workshop we will first inform you on the topic of wealth; then we'll discuss how this topic in the future can be handled (also within the BUKO). More information: http://reichtumskritik.de (german only)SO, 15:30-17:30 | R 3.313
Survival and lifeworlds in Nicaragua
is an exhibition (produced in 2006) about women from the countryside, female Maquilaworkers and people from the economies of survival in the cities. They give account of their work, their wishes, hopes and worries. In the context of advancing precarity we were interested in how people live in a country that is predominantly shaped by free trade and neoliberal economics and how they see their situation and deal with it. In a workshop with NGOs from Nicaragua we also approached the question, if the process here is comparable with countries like Nicaragua. From this the exhibition "ÜberLebensWelten" [the title is a german play of words joining together the german word for "survival" and the term "lifeworld"] and a brochure emerged. We want to present this brochure and its production-process in the workshop.SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.418
Keeping of and fighting for self organized, and self-deterimined spaces (autonomous spaces)
In this workhshop we report from house projects and wagon places which are under threat to be evicted. One focus will be on the situation in Berlin: we talk about the squatting wave after 1989, we mention the order "Berliner Linie" after which a squatted house has to be evicted within 24 hours. We discuss about the pros and cons of the legalization of houses. The fight around the Ungedomshuset in Copenhagen and the effects does concern us, as much as the question why autonomous spaces are important at all? Our perspective and our fight is international, therefore we invite for the international meeting of squats and autonomous spaces from 24.-26.05.08 and the action days from 27.05.- 01.06.08 in Berlin. We also give an overview about the happenings of the internationals actiondays from 11.-12.04.08. Weitere Informationen: http://interspace.blogsport.de/SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 4.442
A review of the last workers’ demonstrations in Ljubljana (April 2008)
Through the workshop the authors will try to analyze some »critical« aspects of recent Slovenian trade union struggle. They will focus on two interconnected subjects: 1. Trade Union demands. Last Euro Demo, held in the beginning of April in Ljubljana, united European trade unions in their demand for higher wages. We have heard from trade union leaders that what we are witnessing is the rage of European workers and that the exploitation of workers went too far. However it should be noted that what we are dealing with here is a very problematic articulation of workers demands, since this articulation does not break with the discourse of neoliberal economy through which the postfordist capitalists are legitimizing their exploitation and the same time declining the working class the status of an equal speaker. The Trade Union discourse should therefore instead of claiming that workers are protesting as enraged animals try to demonstrate that workers are protesting as rational beings. 2. The exclusion of other Subjects. Through all of its history the workers’ struggle was defined and organized in the light of one single dividing line, i.e. the one between proletariat and capital. There was only one barricade present. But during the last demonstrations a regression could be noted. The trade Union leaders separated their lines sharply from those formed by the activist of the so called Autonomous Bloc. The argument was that the workers should distance themselves radically from all kinds of violence. What we are suggesting in this context is, that it would maybe be wise for the trade unio, - |
EU
FRONTEX – Network-Centric Security Policy Against Refugees
The Frontex agency - an actual implementation of the doctrine of 'network-centric security' - is not only to tighten external borders (of "Fortress Europe"?), but also the grip on the population within the EU. The agency embodies a new approach to internal security aiming at enabling efficient governance unencumbered by legal restrictions and democratic participation of those who are governed. Apart from informing on its basic structures, it is intended to give an idea of the consequences the establishment of the Frontex agency has for refugees and migrants in countries of transit and as well already in countries of origin. However, international protests are on the rise, too. The agency can be fought. SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.323
EUrope's corporate power
How does the EU contribute to increasing poverty, to spreading precarious forms of employment, to wage dumping and to selling off public property? To which extent do European corporate groups take advantage of the EU's economic and fiscal policy and why is this to the disadvantage of the population? Lydia Krüger (Member of the Advisory Council of Attac & Assistant to the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sahra Wagenknecht) will name reasons and describe the economic dynamics of the EU. Jürgen Wagner, working for the Information Agency Militarisation, will describe how economic interests have influence on the EU's aggressive foreign policy.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.310
No Border, No Nation, No War?
Podium on the topic of an internationalist perspective on the European Union. The EU has pulled down borders and built up new ones. It restricts the freedom of action of the member states but it also offers new instruments of power. It could serve as a catalyser for an internationalisation from below, but it constitutes at the same time national resentments. It has opened new form of participation which are particularly used by lobbyists. It has made war impossible but it wages interventions permanent. How should this EU be assessed from an internationalist point of view?SA, 17:00-19:00 | HS2
Introduction to the EU
How does the EU function in the diverse subject areas? How can one critise the EU? At this crash course all the events at the BUKO-congress with references to the EU shall be presented.FR, 17:00-18:30 | R 4.418
EUropean policy of warfare after the Reform Treaty
The EUropean Reform Treaty - that will be ratified by Germany till the beginning of the BUKO congress - binds all signing countries by contract to build up arms, provides the possiblity of a European military budget and enforces a militarised central Europe. Which developments can be foreseen - which counter strategies can be thought of?SO, 15:00-16:30 | R 2.437
"Failed states" and a new colonialism
European intervention mainly affects so called failing and failed states. The mission of the soldiers and their allies is defined as being nothing less than the construction of new societies and state capacity. Ismail Küpeli will present and discuss the concept of "failed states" and its implications for sovereignty and legitimacy.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 2.512
Movements at the border - European migration politics and resistance in african countries
Beschreibung siehe MigrationSA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.323
Climate
Background of the GAP-Project and resistance against the Ilisu-Dam (Tigris/ Hasankeyf)
Since 1997 the Turkish government tries to implement with the support of European governments its biggest hydro electric power: the Ilisu Dam. In the framework of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) this dam shall impound the Tigris River in the kurdish settled region shortly before the border of Syria and Iraq. Its construction would displace and impoverish more than 55.000 people, destroy cultural sites with a history of 10.000 years and unique ecosystems and intensify the conflict on water in Middle East. The German company Züblin, which is involved into the project, has been assigned a security called by the German government, of approx. 200 Million Euro. Without this security the construction of this dam is not possible. Ercan Ayboga from the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive and Heike Drillisch from WEED will speak about the background of this project, the resistance, the current situation of the campaign in Turkey and Europe. Proposed links: German: www.stopilisu.com and www.weed-online.org/ilisu; Turkish/Englisch: www.hasankeyfgirisimi.com; Ilisu-Consortium: www.ilisu-wasserkraftwerk.comSA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.428
The dominant debatte on climate change and climate politics - attempts of deconstruction
Emancipatoric positions are only rarely noticed or seriously considered in the dominant debates spread by media. This workshop wants to discuss the reasons, possible interventions and risks of appropriation. Two short presentations will introduce a discussion that makes the effort to put today's climate debate in a historical context as well as to make a critical analysis of strategies of legitimisation and concealments. Form/Methods: Moderated panel discussion with short presentations;working in small groups will be partly possible.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.312
Globalization - transport and climate
There is a lot of talk about sustainability and “priority of rail” in official transport politics. But the development of transport goes into the opposite direction: car-crasiness is universalised, cheap flights are subsidised, railroad companies are privatised, capacities in container harbours doubled. Winfried Wolf advocates a transport-turnaround. Transport distances, for persons and commodities, can be drastically reduced. This mobility utopia alone is viable for the future (aka sustainable). Winfried Wolf is spokesperson of “Bürgerbahn statt Börsenbahn” (BsB), a group of rail experts. He is actively involved in the alliance against privatisation of the German rail “Bahn für Alle”. His most recent Book: Verkehr. Umwelt. Klima – Die Globalisierung des Tempowahns, Promedia Wien, Oktober 2007.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.313
Climate Change and Leftist Politics
Climate Change has been neglected by a lot of left-wingers. This has been a mistake: the poor and weak are affected most by the consequences of climate change. Infant mortality will rise, hunger krises spread (what we see now is just the beginning), social welfare recipients hardly can afford sufficient and healty food. And hundreds of millions could be forced to migrate by droughts and rising sea-level of the oceans. Thus, climate change is very much related to power-relations and access to ressources. Leftist Politics, due to Wolfgang Pomrehn (journalist and author of “Heisse Zeiten”), should be aimed at making the originators in the north compensate for the damages; power companies should be disempowered. For a great many potential consequences of climate change can still be avoided, if we induce a radical change in the energy supply in industrialised countries. First thing is to stop the already planned coal power stations, says Wolfgang Pomrehn.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.310
Work in progress - a BUKO discussion paper on climate change an the left movement
The idea of developing a BUKO-discussion paper, focusing on the relevance of the topic "climate change" within a critical, emancipatoric left movement, emerged during the BUKO-seminar on "To what extent shall the left be green? - Dominant societal relationships with nature and emancipatoric alternatives" in february 2008. Up to now the fundamental reason and motivation of writing such a paper is to comprehend the current political constellation as a chance to pose social-ecologic issues in many societal domains. Thus, the paper is planned to pinpoint the insufficient reductionist mainstream positions and policies of ecological modernisation and argue that radical social-ecologic politics requires a transformation of societal relations to nature. In this workshop the current state of the discussion paper will be presented and central parts of the paper will be discussed, thereby trying to achieve a common position within the BUKO. After a short break the further process will be decided and, if applicable, a task sharing will be carried out.SO, 15:00-16:30 | R 2.512
Regarding a critique of the domination of nature: reflections about the correlation of the ecological devastation and the exploitation of animals
The „giant joint-stock company for the exploitation of nature“, as Marx Horkheimer described capitalism, has not only produced the climate change. The opposite: the ecological crisis, which has been discussed since the 1970s, once again only reveals the dialectics of the domination of nature which connects society and nature. Nature is treated like disposable material without concerning the particular qualities and individualities of its diverse forms of living. But humans and animals both have not only fallen victim to reification as a characteristic of capitalism in last 40 years. The industrial slaughterenterprises, for example, are much older and one part of the relationship between humans and animals by which one can display the connection between climate change and the exploitation of animals. If this social treatment of nature is not reflected, the domination of nature and concomitantly the domination of man is only going to be perpetuated on a higher level of catastrophe.SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 2.512
Stop privatising German Rail - it is high time!
The Privatisation of the German rail is a declared goal of the governing coalition, to be realised in this election period. Even after the SPD party congress stopped a legislative initiative, the party leaders ignored the vote and pushed the privatisation plans into the Bundestag. In the currently debated ?Holding Model?, separating the management of railway operation and infrastructure from the provision of railway transport services, private investors are formally allowed only to buy a restricted amount of shares (24.9 %) of the transport services company. But there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant. Every private shareholding will turn the publicly owned property German rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) into a private enterprise with far-reaching consequences. Private Investors gain direct access to the whole of German rail and run it for their return on investment. With the comparable small share private investors i, - |
Klimacamp08 - In favour of a entirely different climate!
From 15th to 24th August the Klimacamp08 will take place at Hamburg, comprehensive and at the same place in time as the AntiRa-Camp. Ten days of information and activities. The camp is cross-linked with others at Sweden, GB, USA and Australia. A perspective will be the mobilisation to the climate summit 2009 at Copenhagen. We will inform about the status quo of the arrangements, we want to discuss and we want to make plans. More information: www.klimacamp08.net (only German)SO, 17:00-18:30 | R 3.310
Power to the People – Unplug the Power Companies
Attac Germany started a campaign against the four big power companies at the beginning of 2008 entitled “Power to the People”. Cause a social, ecological and democratic power supply is only imaginable without E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall. The “Big Four” must therefore be expropriated, decomposed and transfered into many small units. Attac wants to newly pose the question of property and democracy in this manner and to actually intervene in social conflicts. The campaign will be presented and put up for discussion in this workshop.SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 3.427
Everything for everybody? What does everything mean? Emancipatory critiques of industrialism and technology.
Discussion about the possibilities of an emancipatory critique of technology and industrialism, especially in relation to climate change. Aspects of such a critique could be: Alienation through technology, a tendency towards domination inherent in the industrial production chains, "Development" and "Progress" as modern religions and an instrument for cultural domination, exploitation of the global South as pre-requisite for technology and industrialism, technology and industrialism as cementing inhumane working conditions. What would be your basis for such a critique? How could everyday alternatives to industrialism and technology loook like? What solutions to climate change are there, when taking into account this critique? How does the practice of anti-industrialism and technology critique look like? Anarchist simplicity as a perspective? What are your points of view? These and more are questions and ideas I would like to discuss with you with creative methods.[Regarding the topic it is recommended to watch the documentary "Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh". For more information see the category "Open Screening".]SA, 17:00-18:30 | R 3.312
Blackout – Energy Poverty in South Africa and Germany
1.6 billion women and men don’t have any access to electricity. We would like to take the Soveto Electricity Crisis Committee as an example of how people organize resistance to the exclusion from such a basic infrastructure. But also in Germany 840.000 households are devided from electricity and gas every year. Because of the public attention for carbon dioxide reductions, climate catastrophe and “green electricity parties” all this is often forgotten. The issue "energy poverty" has therefore a high importance in the attac-campaign against the big power companies. What are the consequences of an increasing privatized power supply and how do the struggles in this field look like? Which alternatives do we have?SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.435
Nanotech inside? The technology of the 21st century without antagonism?
Nanotechnology establishes itself within society and (almost) nobody has realised it. In this workshop, we would like to approach the nanotech-issue from a critical perspective: What the hell is nanotechnology? Does it have any emancipatory potential for the different societal and ecological crises? Are there new dangers connected to nanotechnology? What kind of interests are behind nanotechnology? And why is there almost no resistance to it, despite the fact, that nanotechnology by far dwarfs genetic engineering concerning the associated dreams and horror visions?SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.321
Soy, genetechnology, agrofuels and peasant resistance - the case of Paraguay and El Salvador: What could be done in Europe?
In Paraguay, large-scale cultivation of genetically manipulated soy is constantly expanding. This is driven by demand from the European animal feed and agrofuels-sector. Gilda Roa will expose the implications of soya expansion for the inhabitants of the countryside: contamination, toxicity, poverty and migration. Gilda's organisation, MAP, work to secure a future for people in rural areas. However, during their struggle for survival, several communities involved in MAP have faced violent evictions and increasing criminalisation of their struggle. Gilda will clarify the dangers of agrofuels for her people, and also speak about MAP's perspectives, and what they themselves want for their people and their future. She will also briefly adress the potentials and risks arising from the recent election of president Lugo. Anne Hild Rivera represents the “Zivile Netzwerk gegen Gentechnik in El Salvador”, a network of consumer- and environmental organizations, universities and other activists. Since 2001, the network coordinates ac, - |
Biodiversity
Monday at Bonn … - Activities of a a left-wing critique of the Earth Summit (COP9) at Bonn
Together with the "BUKO-Campaign against Biopiracy" we want to strategise what kind of actions are appropriate to tackle the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) and the MOP 4 (Members of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety) from 12th to 30th of May.SA, 18:00-19:00 | R 3.427
Introductory Lecture: What is Biopiracy?
An introduction into the topic Biopiracy with activists of the BUKO-Campaign.FR, 15:00-18:00 | R 3.405
Biopiracy in Kerala – Benefit Sharing for whom?
The benefit sharing deal with the Kani people was internationally highlighted as a prime example for a successful benefit sharing deal, not least at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg 2002. But the reality on the ground is quite different ...SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.310
Conservation and Threats to Biodiversity in China
The Southern province of Yunnan is one of the biodiversity hotspots in China. The intro¬duction of genetic engineering, esp. in the case of rice, is a major threat to this biodiversitySA, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.313
Seed Diversity and Food Sovereignty in India
In 2002, farmers and representatives of civil society were successful in forestalling the attempt of the Swiss multinational company Syngenta to take over one of the most important gene banks from Dr. Richharia. But the struggle for their own seeds is not over.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 2.437
Alternatives to the Commodification of Nature and Knowledge
The concepts of any monetary benefit sharing are radically opposed by the indigenous communities of the South, since their way of dealing with nature and knowledge is quite different and does not include private property over resources. Therefore, the commodification of nature and knowledge, i.e. dealing with biodiversity as a commodity that can be bought and sold, is understood as an attempt of western countries to not only control their resources, but also to force them to accept a western paradigm. How can we organise the transfer of nature and knowledge in a way that does not consider them as a commodity? This open question will be discussed with the participants, in order to look ahead at the expected results of the Conference of the Parties and how to deal with them.SA, 15:00-18:00 | R 3.310
Biopiracy in Pakistan
In Pakistan, it is particularly the women struggling for the control over their own resources. Genetic Engineering and Biopiracy are threatening the local knowledge as well as the livelihoods of marginalised farmers.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.418
Soy, genetechnology, agrofuels and peasant resistance - the case of Paraguay and El Salvador: What could be done in Europe?
Beschreibung siehe Klima, - |
Migration
Germany - country of human rights
The abuse of black refugees is no subject-matter in Germany. It is societal normality. Their life is affected being placed in camps, food per coupon, residence obligation, social marginalisation and police violence which can cause death. To comprehend this institutional racism and the inequity we will have a look on the life and death of Oury Jalloh. We will show and discuss the movie "Tod in der Zelle" (death in prison cell).SA, 17.00-18:30 | R 2.437
NGO - poverty - Africa
More than 20.000 members of staff of nearly 500 NGOs from Europe are distributed everywhere in Africa. As plea for their work and commitment they use the concepts of poverty, disease, development aid and so on. It is necessary to delegetimate this approach. African people are forced to accept their help although they do not ask for it. Two questions seem to be of particular importance:Who places orders to the NGOs? What kind of role play the NGOs in respect to the debasement and maintenance of the image of a needy black person?SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 2.437
Living on a dead-end street? Solidarity with illegalised refugees and migrants!
For as long as there have been borders there have been people leading a life in illegality. In Germany their number is currently growing, as more and more refugees who do not meet the criteria of the regulations governing the right to stay (Bleiberechtsregelung) go into hiding for fear of being deported. The workshop will provide an insight into the circumstances in which undocumented people live and the problems they face. (No access to medical care, no labour rights, no right to education, housing...) We will inform about possibilities of support for undocumented refugees and migrants (e.g. offices for medical assistance for refugees, groups providing accommodation or fighting to improve the working conditions of undocumented workers) and want to discuss with you about whether and how such support structures can be extended.SO, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.405
On "Fictitious Marriages", "Fictitious Paternities" and Fictitious /Norm/alities in "Ordinary" Families Migration Control, Population Policy and Heteronormativity
Since family reunifications have become - apart from EU internal migration - the most common (legal) possibility to enter into and stay in Germany, lawmakers and authorities have gone to great lengths to distinguish between "real marriages" and "fictitous marriages", to call paternity acknowledgements into question, and "registered partnerships" are increasingly spied on by the authorities, too, in order to establish whether "the couple" is actually living together in loving harmony. Thus, the role of the state more and more becomes one of a "supervisory body" as regards personal life decisions of migrants (and their life partners), and it denies them - just as it does with recipients of unemployment benefit II - the right to decide for themselves on how they define their families / partnerships / living arrangements / flatshares. We will take a closer look at the respective laws, rules and regulations, and practices and want to discuss with you how far this form of migration control also serves to establish norms for forms of living / families in order to exert influence in terms of population policy.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.427
Locked in? Locked out! Theses on the ethnicisation of violence against women and the impact on the politics of immigration
Clear parallels can be observed between the depiction in the media of so-called "forced prostitution" and that of so-called "forced marriages": To an extraordinary extent, migrant women seem to be victims of patriarchal violence and male migrants seem to exercise patriarchal violence to an extraordinary extent, and "foreign" cultures, so-called "parallel societies", are presented as havens of patriarchal violence. As a result, governmental measures such as tighter migration controls, restrictions in the Residence Act and compulsory "integration programmes" can be presented as measures to protect women, while everyday violence against women and provisions in the Residence Act that force women into relationships of dependence disappear from public consciousness.SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 3.428
Police brutality, migration control and counter strategies
One of the questions that we want to deal with in this workshop is whether racism is a suitable approach to explain police brutality against immigrants and refugees which cost the life of many people in the recent years. It almost sounds like a tautology when they comment on incidents like this by blaming single police officers of beeing racist motivated when they torture, seriously injure or kill migrants during arrestation. The responsible authorities in police and politics try to diminish these excesses as singular cases but they result from a social structure where immigrants are legally and socially discriminated and segregated. A structure in which the control of migration leads to legal everyday violence against migrants. Anti-violence trainigs for police officers are not enough to tackle these mechanisms of violence. SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.307
Migrant struggle in agriculture
The Andalusian union of agricultural workers „Sindicato de Obrer@s del Campo“ (SOC-SAT) is a special union: It got well known in the late 1970s especially due to their actions of land squatting. On some of the big farms in the meantime self-administred cooperatives have developped. Since 2000 the SOC-SAT has become also active in the province of Almeria, at that place, where about 80.000 migrants – many of them undocumented – are producing vegetables for the big european supermarket-chains, and are doing this unter catastrophic conditions. Today, the self-organization of migrants is one of the main focuses of the SOC-SAT. With other words: Antiracist and union work go hand in hand. Spitou Mendy came to Spain 7 years agon from Senegal and now works as a unionist for the SOC-SAT. The workshop will deal with the daily work of the SOC-SAT and also with the question how the struggle of the SOC-SAT can be linked with other strugglesSO, 12:00-14:30 | R 3.427
Historical City Walking Tour About Social Struggles and Movements in Dortmund
For centuries, the people of this region have proven resourceful in their struggle against authority and domination and have accumulated a great wealth of experiences. The historiography of those in power takes care to avoid corresponding references. On our walking tour of the Dortmund city centre we will introduce you to the lives of the rebels of other times: The uprising of the craftsmen in 1400, for instance, or the solidarity of the unemployed with the labour migrants in 1910, the fights of the Red Ruhr Army in March 1920, the resistance of the Edelweiss Pirates, the days of the antifascists in 1945, the youth protests in 1956, or the actions against tram and bus fare increases in 1971. The utopias, hopes and shattered dreams, the victories and defeats of the rebels of other periods can give us the power, courage and confidence today to think new thoughts and to change the circumstances. Meeting point: Pavillion café.SO, 15:00-16:30 | 00:00
Linking-up of "Camp08", "Chipkarteninitiative Berlin" and "Bürengruppe Paderborn"
SO, 15:00-16:30 | R 3.309
Deportation Hearings and the Acquisition of Passports for Migrants and Refugees: a Nexus of (In)Justice and Corruption
Permanent residence papers are as far as possible denied to "unwanted" refugees and migrants; when it comes to obtaining papers for deportations, however, the German authorities spare neither effort nor expense. For this reason, refugees are ever more often summoned to so-called collective hearings to be presented to embassy officials and delegations from their (alleged) countries of origin. Those then "identify" the persons concerned as "their" citizens and issue travel documents - for which they are generously remunerated by this country's authorities. Again and again, such deportation hearings have triggered protests and resistance; many people concerned boycott such appointments despite being threatened with sanctions. We want to focus on the practice of such deportation hearings against the background of neo-colonial dependence, corruption and the racist (in)justice system and give an account of experiences with protests and boycott actions up to now. Furthermore, we want to discuss future strategies of resistance against the deportation collaboration between Germany, the EU and the authorities of the "target countries".SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 4.435
Movements at the border - European migration politics and resistance in african countries
Nearly every day there are news about "fighting against illegal migration", about supposedly more and more successful missions of the EU Agency for Border Patrol "Frontex" against boat people as well as about a decreasing number of applicants for asylum in the EU core countries, particularly in Germany. There are only rare reports about the stories behind those increasing numbers of dead people in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic, in the desert and at the mainland borders of the EU, about the massive infringements of human rights of refugees and migrants and about groups and networks who try to oppose something against this homicidal politics of migration of the EU states. Therefore we want to describe the cruel reality at the external borders of the EU by the example of Morocco. Furthermore we want to describe the motives, objectives and activities of the migrants and those of the activists working with them. Conni Gunßer visited groups at the frontiers and participated in their discussions and activities. She will show some pictures about it.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.323
What you always wanted to know about anti-racist politics but were afraid to ask.
This crash course will be run by you. We will start with a few introductory remarks and will present one or other example of recent campaigns - and will then try to answer your questions. This means, they may concern the Immigration Act … or refugees' fights against accommodation in camps … or illegalisation … or resistance against deportations … or conceptions such as migration as a transgression of the spatial order of domination and freedom of movement … or something else you would like to know. Just bring your interest and curiosity!FR, 17:00-18:30 | R 2.437
Rights
With the back to the wall? - Struggles for Civil Rights in the Security State (part 1)
Since 9/11, the public debate about Internal Security has been intensified in Germany in many different ways. As a result, Civil Rights are more and more constrained. The surveillance of online-communication, data retention and the restriction of demonstration rights are only the tip of an iceberg that leads many activists and observers to talk about the transformation of the state towards a Security State. Here, 'public security' counts more than fundamental and civil rights while, at the same time, the legal protection of the private sphere is denounced as an obstacle to an effective anti-crime and anti-terror politics of state institutions. Meanwhile, left-wing protests are increasingly articulated against this restriction of Civil Rights. However, most of the protests are relatively isolated, short-winded (towards waves of repression, political events and law making processes) and dominated by a defensive attitude towards Civil Rights. For this reason, we want to discuss in our workshop if and how the political Left might be able to get again into the political offensive on the field of Civil Rights. From our perspective, such a discussion in the Political Left has to deal with the tensions between strategies of the radical left and left-wing liberals. Although both strategies have many common demands for the protection of Civil Rights, there are also different perspectives on the state itself, political utopias and cultures of political organisation. On the one hand, groups of the radical left are more confronted with direct state repression against their political work. Therefore, most efforts towards Civil Rights are related to the immediate support of persons and groups targeted by state repression. On the other hand, left-wing liberals succeeded in the last years to partially defend Civil Rights through public campaings for the 'defence of the legal state (Rechtsstaat)' and the protection of the 'ordinary and respectable citizen' from state surveillance. Starting from these two strategies, we want to discuss if and how it is might be possible to concentrate these different forces on the field of Civil Rights. Our workshop is divided in two parts. In the first part (10-11.30 a.m.), Suar Kasem (campaign against data retention), Anne Roth (alliance against the German anti-terrorist law, §129a-alliance) and Ditsche (Rote Hilfe Rostock) present their political strategies on the field of Civil Rights. In the second part (12- 1.30 p.m.), we discuss with the gipfelsoli-Infogroup and Elke Steven (committee for fundamental rights and democracy) how the recent developments on the field of Civil Rights can be understood in the longer history of struggles about Civil Rights and state criminalisation of social movements in Germany. Here, we want to highlight the question if the intensified measures on internal security are as new as they appear to many activists and observers at the moment. The workshop will be moderated by Lars Bretthauer from reflect!.SA, 10:00-11:30 | HS2
New social centres
Since the end of the 1960s (squatted) social centres played a central role for urban social movement overall in Europe. However, in the long process since the beginning of the social centres movement until nowadays the importance of social centres as a place for social movements and for political intervention has decreased. In the years 1999 till 2004 the epicentres of political struggles were located outside the social centres: It was the time of the globalization movement and the movement against the war. The innovations and strategies of these movements developed beyond the logic of social centres. Social centres entered into crisis, their function for social struggles seemed superseded. But, since a couple of years we can observe some tendencies contrary to those stated above. It seems that a new type of social centres emerged, whose activity concentrates on the metropolis, on the forms of exploitation produced in the cities, and who address new topics like the precarization of life and new social rights (right to housing, right to movement, right to education, etc.). In this workshop at first we want to outline th, - |
Struggles for social rights - between the deprivation of rights, juridical limitation and utopian escape
For some years, the discussions about 'global social rights' have put the concept and demands of social rights in a prominent and emancipatory way on the agenda of the global radical left. Not accidentally, this BUKO starts with that debate. In this workshop, we want to continue this discussion with a focus on the practical implications of the debate. The dilemmas a, - |
Housing Struggles and neo-liberal Globalization
Worldwide more than 1 billion people are living under conditions which following the criterions of the UN are not decent. They are living in the streets, in close and miserable informal settlements, without water and sanitation supply, without protection against evictions. And daily they are becoming more. In successful metropolises of the world market like New York, London, Paris or Barcelona housing for workers in the financial and entertainment sector became unaffordable. Public housing, land markets and infrastructure have long been in the mills of international financial speculation. As a consequence of the burst of the speculative housing bubbles countless additional homeless are on the road in the U.S. This injustice worldwide mobilizes residents and solidarity movements in the fight for safe and better living conditions. In many countries they gather under slogans such as the "right to housing". In their struggles for the recognition and defence, the implementation and the reclaiming of their rights these movements even can rely on international human rights. However, at the same time these human rights - as well as all national and international regulations, institutions and programmes – are battle fields in which different interests and strategies clash. Which opportunities do we have for making the "right to housing" a movement against the hegemony of neoliberal globalization? In the first part in this workshop Klaus Teschner and Knut Unger will report from recent slum struggles in Nairobi, from the displacement of poor residents for the football World Cup in Cape Town, about the demolition of large urban redevelopment areas in Istanbul, from successful approaches against housing privatisations in the Ruhr area and from the exemplary struggles of the squatter and tenant movement MOI in Buenos Aires, which transformed vacant houses and factories in affordable and decent collective housing. In the second part, we welcome representatives of the Paris movement JEUDI NOIR. They will report from their actions in the metropolis of the housing crisis: the housing survey parties, the squats and street occupations, the successful mobilization of the public, the reactions of state power and jointly won successes. What are the prospects for a Europeanization of housing struggles which may arise from these and other local experience?SO, 10:00-13:30 | R 3.313
With the back to the wall? - Struggles for Civil Rights in the Security State (part 2)
The workshop is divided in two parts. - Description: See part 1SA, 12:00-13:30 | HS2
Towards an internationalization of urban and housing struggles? - Networking Meeting
After the sale waves of recent years hundreds of thousands of tenants in Germany are having international financial investors as landlords. Major German banks are directly engaged in destructive real estate speculation and large investments in the United States and many other countries. You can list many more "global" determinants for housing and cities: The decades of deregulation and privatization, the triumphant "innovative financial products" such as REITs or securitisation, special economic zones, the global retail sector, the internationalized competition, the competition policy by the EU Commission ... Despite huge differences local social movements across the world face similar questions: How can we achieve successes if the local opportunities for social developments and emancipative changes get ever closer and if the central decisions are made by global financial investors? How can we overcome helpless local and national defense struggles and proceed to new offensives? How can we move into confrontation with the forces of economic globalization without loosing our local rooting? However, from the more or less developed awareness about the problem (and from the alter-globalization rhetorics) it is a long way to go to internationalist practices. Housing and urban struggles are the direct expression of everyday and survival interests, which cannot be ignored by claiming a need for global struggles. And finally, local grass-roots movements are not built by intellectuals who are able to communicate or even travel around the world. Especially in Germany the international exchange of local social movements and urban organizations is underdeveloped. Can we imagine practicable projects to overcome these deficits? Based on experiences with networking of housing and urban groups we want to brainstorm what we can do together.SO, 15:00-16:30 | R 4.314
1968
Locusts defeated the elephants - The revolt of 1968 and internationalism
1968 was the moment when "locusts defeated the elephants" (Vietnamese proverb). Internationalism should never have the same importance for emancipatory movements. Capitalism seemed to be in a constant crisis that could not be handled by regular means. "Imperialism as a whole definitely is on the retreat" (Rudi Dutschke). How did the protagonists of 1968 think about liberation? What was there theoretic basis, their theoreticians? Why was internationalism so important in Germany? What still influences us today? What do we have to think differently today when talking about relationships of power and authority? Are there starting points for practical internationalism today?SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.442
What changes the world? Start of the lectures "Allain Badiou: The term ´democracy´ and the discontinuity in the political"
SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.321
Miscellaneous
Introduction to the "Invisible Theatre"
THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED, by Augusto Boal is a collection of plays/exercises and techniques to make visible measures and gestures of oppression and repression, to become aware of social rituals and mask and to overcome/subdue them; the spectators will change to spect-actors. INVISIBLE THEATRE: the actors develop a -well researched- conflict situation and perform it on a suitable public location/site; the spectators are not aware being also spect-actors within a theatre-piece (in contradiction to happenings or guerilla-theatre!) "All human beings shall learn together; spectators, actors, no one is better than the other, nobody knows better; together learning, researching, inventing, deciding!" (Augusto Boal)SA, 10:00-13:30 | R 0.512
Introduction to the "Invisible Theatre"
THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED, by Augusto Boal is a collection of plays/exercises and techniques to make visible measures and gestures of oppression and repression, to become aware of social rituals and mask and to overcome/subdue them; the spectators will change to spect-actors. IMAGE-THEATRE: concerning one theme/item, the spect-actors form (like sculpturers) images of their experiences, choose one of them as "reality-image" to work with; beginning with that they form images of the end of oppression, liberation, utopia.SO, 10:00-13:30 | R 0.512
Of remembering and forgetting
The journal „Periphery. Journal of Politics and Economy in the Third World“ locates itself at the interface of academia and political movements. In the workshop „Of remembering and forgetting“ we present our current issue focusing on politics of remembrance. We're looking forward to discuss some of its content with you. Knut Rauchfuss explains how policies of impunity hinder the medical rehabilitation of victims of severe human rights violations. We present the art work of Dierk Schmidt on the Africa Conference of the colonial powers and discuss with Reinhart Kößler about the postcolonial problematic in Germany.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 2.512
Honors program at universities as a new means of unquality
Since a couple of years a new type of "elite universities" are chosen in the course of so called "competitions of excellence". Official politics tries to persuade us of the harmlessness of this new type for universities as a whole. The only effect is that a small number of universities gets a higher amount of money for their research. This workshop wants to discuss the introduction of a strategy of legitimation of unequality in the German educational system. We will talk about the historical background and probable effects.SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.322
"There are Thousands of Alternatives" - Introduction to the book "ABC der Alternativen"
Societal alternativs are thinkable and practicable - that is the essence of the book "ABC der Alternativen" - from A like Ästhetik des Widerstands (aesthetics of resistance) to Z like Ziviler Ungehorsam (civil disobedience). It describes 126 terms, historical and current projects, practices and postulations, and puts them up for discussion. The book was written by 131 authors of a broad political spectrum and an international cooperation. It is an explicit reply to the narcotic slogan "there is no alternative" (TINA) of the neoliberal zeitgeist.SA, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.405
Kurdish women between war and liberation
For 30 years the kurdish people are fighting for survival and existence and against the politics of disavowal of the turkish state. In this struggle Kurdish women obtain the role of a precurser for the dynamic for the development of self-determination and democacy within a patriachal society which is affected by war and oppression in the whole Middle East. In spite of continuing military attacks and repression the broad women movement in Turkey is working for a „democratic, ecological and gender liberated society“. The representativs of the democratic movement of the free women (DÖKH) from Turkey/Kurdistan and the Kurdish women movement in europe will first give an overview into the current situation in turkey und the progress in the Kurdish women movenment. Then we would like to discuss possibilities for the strengthening of the international solidarity among women. SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 2.512
Development politics as a means of dominance
The protagonists of development aid like to present themselves in a samsaratian-identity. In this seminar, we would like to show in howfar the term "development" already presents an important tool for the legitimization of the dominance of the north over the south. We would like to take the german development politics as an example to substantiate how this "aid" establishes and strengthens this leadership and what kind of consequences a political internationalism has to draw from these findings.SA, 15:00-18:00 | R 3.405
Guidance through the Steinwache Memorial Centre
During the twelve years of Nazi rule, the former jail "Steinwache" became one of the most notorious places of torture in the German Empire and achieved tragic fame as "West Germany's Hell". Between 1933 and 1945, a total of 65,000 people were detained here, 30,000 of them on "political grounds". How to find us: Immediately next to the North exit of the main railway station, situated close to the Auslandinstitut (Foreign Institute).SO, 15:00-16:30 | 00:00
Religion in a capitalist society – capitalism as religion
Religion is very popular at the moment. In contrast, neoliberal capitalism is putting itself forward as a kind of rational socialisation. As a supposedly secular, constitutional state it is appointing itself as authority governing the relation between religions in an 'ideologically neutral' way: Especially referring to Islam, of course. In opposition to that, Walter Benjamin already expressed the suspicion that capitalism itself is religion. We want to follow up this suspicion, want to try to get close to the phenomenon of religion and to analyse its implications, which are on the one hand suppressing, on the other hand – especially regarding movements in the global South – possibly emancipatory.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 4.418
PKK and the womensarmy - Presentation of the book: „women in the kurdish guerilla (PKK/PAJK) – motivation, identity and the stuggle for gender equality“
The PKK is discussed in europe controversial. The womensarmy which was founded in the 1990ies did not find a lot attention. Thousends of women joined the guerilla in consequence of the upsrings. The women founded thier own army and party. In her book Anja Flach is analysing the motivation and identity of the guerilla women in the kurdish guerilla. Anja Flach ist member of the information office kurdistan. She herself was in the middle of the 1990ies member of the kurdish womens army (YAJK) for two years. She will present her book in a sumery and will read parts of it.SO, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.323
Oh, time is up already? - Streategies and codes of practice of post neoliberalism
SA, 17:00-18:30 | R 3.309
Feminist Perspectives on ‚Global Social Rights’ in the Neoliberal Global Economy
Women in the Global South are particularly affected as cheap labour force, consumers and peasants by the neoliberal globalisation. At the same time they are increasingly addressed in neoliberal concepts and policies, e.g. by the world bank, as market subjects. In the workshop the concept of ‚global social rights’ shall be critically questioned by referring to the decades long feminist debate on women’s as human rights. We’d also like to address the problematique that women’s rights are increasingly understood as ensuring equal access to markets for women. Thus, if and how can rights be claimed which are adequate both for the normal course of life as well as in confronting gender and power hierarchies? Which approaches to rights have been developed in feminist debates? And how useful are they regarding their anti-capitalist and emancipatory potentials? We’d like to invite you to an open discussion which links theoretical and everyday perspectives! The workshop is jointly organised by the Group ‚feminist theory and practice’ (Bochum) and the editorial collective of ‚Periphery. Journal for Politics and Economy in the Third World’. Inputs for discussion will be provided by the Group ‚feminist theory and practice’, Christa Wichterich and Julia Rometsch (, - |
Cluster - A new stage of capitalism
Dazzling names like "neoliberalism" or "neoliberal globalisation" are not apt to explain the current stage of capitalism. They are far away from understanding reality - i.e. from being an adequate tool for critical and sophisticated thinking. The new stage appears to be a "total access to humand subjectivity". Access not by giving orders (like the Fordism) but by self-valorisation as a immaterial ressource. The speakers will show this assault from the perspective of opposition - also influenced by personal experience. We will discuss these assaults and the question of "social rights". Further information: www.materialien.org/texte/materialien/Cluster_Vorwort.pdf http://www.anti-bertelsmann.de/sozialtechnik/SA, 10:00-11:30 | R 4.314
Old wounds, new struggles - Looking at Chile
What happend to the combatants who fought against the Chilean military dictatorship in the 1980s? How do the evaluate their struggles today? Those were two of the questions that influenced my journey to Chile in 2006. Two hours after having arrived I found myself in a street fight - it was not meant to be the last one. I realized that you have to cope with the present to be able to deal with past. Neoliberal Chile with its center-left government afflicts new wounds everyday. Discussion will be about my experience in Chile today. Amongst others it will be about the "Penguins revolt", about the work of "Comisión Funa" who publish former torturers, about the struggles of mining and harbour workers, about the consequences of the Chilean history and the experience of former and today's activists.SO, 12:00-13:30 | R 3.405
Human Swarm (Streetperformance)
To feel the group as if it was one being means that you can act together without having a leader. We´ll improvise with movements, statues and sounds. Wether the improvisation is going to be artistic expression, political message or playful marveling can be decided for each single moment. I don´t have a completely finished and elborated concept that I am going to teach you. The workshop is rather a search for all the possibilities that exist next to the classical political theatre, radio ballet or clownarmy.SA, 15:00-16:30 | R 0.512
General meeting of BUKO
The general meeting provides an opportunity to all interested persons to get to know the structures of BUKO. Some groups of BUKO will report about their work and BUKO-representatives will be elected. Last but not least it will be discussed about the future of BUKO. Also Not-BUKO-members are welcome.SO, 19:30-22:30 | R 3.428
Open Screening
Workingman's Death or On the Representation of the Proletariat
There will be space for discussion about the movies: See workshop of the same title in the category "work"SO, 10:00-11:30 | HS3
Filmclip-Screening about "Activism in East and South East Asia"
In this presentation we are showing film clips and make small reports about some political movements in East and South East Asia with a special focus on Japan, to improve in general the knowledge about Japanese resistance movements when the G8-meeting meets the resistance against it in the beginning of July 2008. The presentation will be held either in english or german, but we will organise Translation corners. Background: During an Infotour in 2007 - because of the G8-meeting in 2008 in Japan - the Infotour activists made interviews with politically active people in Japan, Südkorea, Taiwan, Philippinen and Hongkong. Out of this material there is now a documentary film going to be made. We want to present these material with Clips and reports: JAPAN * Uyoku, Gaisensha and the Yasukuni-Jinja: about the continuity of nationalism and fascism in Japan (WW II up to now) * Comfort Women: enslavement of women through the Japanese Imperialist Army * Zengakuren in the `60ies and Student Protests today * Nojukusha and Internet Refugees: about precarity and homeless workers in Japan * Ainu and Burakumin: about the discrimination of so called minorities in Japan * Mobilisation to the G8-Protests in Japan (2 Clips) PHILIPPINES * Guerrilla Gardening and Food not Bombs * Networking in Davao - about grass root movements and NGOs * Sagada 11: political abduction and, - |
Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh
India, Western Himalayas, Ladakh. One of the most remote areas on this Planet. But despite these climtically harsh conditions, the Ladakhis have preserved their socially and ecologically sustainable culture, based on Tibetan Buddhism for century. Along the example of Ladakh, the film shows what the invasion of Western industrial civilisation means to indigenous and traditional societies in the age of globalisation. Social break-down, ecological catastrophe, cultural imperialism in the name of ideologies such as "Developmen", "Progress" and "Growth". A process which delivers the basis for an emancipatory critique of technology and industrialism. As such the movie is not only relevant for the global South but questions the Western industrial civilisation as a while: How do we really want to live? What do we really mean by "wealth"? [See also the activity: "Everything for everybody? What does everything mean? Emancipatory critiques of industrialism and technology."]SA, 15:00-16:30 | HS3
Movie and information about the globalistion of the clothing industry
Only in German language (partly with german subtitles). See german description.SO, 17:00-18:30 | HS3
The last one switches the light off - Gentrification in Berlin
Berlin Mitte, 2007. The camera captures the fading twilight over Alexanderplatz. Not far from there, lies the Spandauer Vorstadt - the “new downtown”, where new apartments, designer stores and office buildings now fill the former urban voids. Most of the tenement houses in this part of former East Berlin have long been renovated. Except the one where Annika, Manfred, Caspar and Benjamin live. This, though, was just until a few months ago. Because a realtor from Hamburg who bought the house in 2000, has now decided to renovate. For Annika, Manfred, Caspar and Benjamin, this will be the last summer in thise house. The film is only about 20 minutes long, but tells the story of a house and its inhabitants, thereby tracing a piece of history of urban redevelopment in Berlin Mitte. SO, 10:00-11:30 | HS3
