Southern Conference of the Left

Starting Date: 10-27-2006
Starting Time: 5:00pm
Ending Date: 10-28-2006
Address

University Of Central Arkansas Student Center
201 Donaghey Ave
Conway, Arkansas 72035
United States
Description
The University of Central Arkansas Young Democratic Socialists will be hosting the second-annual Mid-South Conference of the Left at the UCA Student Center. It is an activist education/community outreach event open to the general public. Admission is free and housing can be arranged for those who need it.

Our keynote speaker will be Stephen Eric Bronner, Rutgers university professor, world traveller, and solid socialist.
http://polisci.rutgers.edu/FACULTY/BIOS/Bronner.html

The following topics will be covered:


Basic American Economics 101:
Explaining the relations of budget deficits to the failure to raise the minimum wage to attempts to repeal the estate tax to lack of universal healthcare to trade deficits to.... Basically a jargon-free big-picture explanation of Capitalism as its operating today in the US

The Politics of Race:
A study of institutional racism in contemporary America.

Realizing Utopia:
Gaviotus, The Paris Commune, and other historical utopias.

A world at stake; A planetary health check:
An assessment of the current state of the environment. We’ll cover basic topics such as global warming, deforestation, strip mining, and fossil fuel usage and then illustrate relationship to American culture.

Environmental Sustainability:
A workshop on both large-scale and DIY environmentally-friendly lifestyle alternatives.

Utilizing Technology in Movement Building:
Tutorial on modern techno-activist techniques.

Cross-Generational Activist Dialogue:
A multigenerational discussion of activist techniques.

Building Social Movements:
A workshop on coalition-building and public discourse.

Leftist Participation in Electoral Politics:
A point-counterpoint discussion on the progressive thinker’s role in electoral politics.

The Ethics of Transhumanism:
Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human physical and cognitive abilities and ameliorate what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disease and aging. This workshop would be an overview of transhumanism and an ethical debate.

GLBTQ rights:
The progress and current obstacles of the southern gay rights movement.

Immigration; The True Issues at Hand:
This workshop will examine the root causes of the influx of Mexican immigrants and outline possible solutions that remain unaddressed in mainstream political discourse.

Religion and Feminism:
Is it possible to reconcile western religion with feminist ideology?

The Whiskey Rebellion:
The first major civilian insurrection in US history. This discussion will cover the events leading up to and following the Appalachian liquor tax conflict.

Collective Bargaining- The Necessity of Unionization:
An issue that is regrettably overlooked in the South. The advantages and pitfalls of collective bargaining.

The Prison System; Debtors Prisons and Labor Camps in the 21st Century:
A discussion on the prison industrial complex and the nature of the contemporary American prison system.


We’ll also be holding discussions on the economic and social tenets of the following political systems:

Marxism
Fascism
Democratic Socialism
Anarchism
Frederick Taylor and Fordism


Contact Kenny Grand for more info:

kgrand3@hotmail.com
Geographical Scope: Regional
Conference
Edits





COMMENTS
Log in to write a comment.