Conferences: Events: Meetings: Gatherings
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"It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social change is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the silence of the so-called good people" - Martin Luther King




watching the watchers

Events Round-Up:



October



Sat 29 October
'Whose London? Shaping Alternative Futures for our City', London Social Forum conference londonsocialforum.org.uk



November



2 November
Trade Justice mass lobby of parliament. www.tjm.org.uk

7-9 November
EU Gender Equality Conference and Ministerial, Birmingham. eu2005.gov.uk

9 November
Kristallnacht international day against fascism. On the anniversary of the 1938 "Night of Broken Glass".

12 November
Campaign Against Arms Trade national gathering.

26 November
Buy Nothing Day



December



Sun 10 December
UN Human Rights Day.

12 December
Menwith Hill Women's Peace Camp Action. For more information contact: Email

13-18 December
World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong. wto.org

Sun 18 December
UN International Migrants Day

LANCASTER, UK: NOVEMBER 4-6, 2005:

Making Global Civil Society:

Grassroots Practice and Academic Theory of Globalisation from Below A weekend gathering for activists and academics.

With support of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) at Lancaster University, the "Knowledge Laboratory on Globalisation from Above and Below" is happy to invite you, your affinity group, your collective, or your organisation to contribute to its first event.

The aim of the gathering is to discuss key aspects of the historical development of the capitalist economy that drives globalisation from above such as enclosures, (precarious) labour, structural violence, colonialism, and their justifying cultural imagery - and to make visible alternative architectures of social organisation emerging through the processes of globalisation from below, that is, through grassroots movements cooperating to create a global civil society based on human rights and mutual aid, and to restore the (intellectual) commons, in the street, on the land, and in cyberspace.

We are particularly interested in contributions that relate people's experiences of, perspectives on, motivations for, and frustrations with their involvement in grassroots movements. The idea is to bring together firsthand accounts of the successes and failures of social, cultural and political projects and experiments with theoretical elaborations by academics trying to understand the the reality of globalisation and the connections between its manifestations from above and below. We hope to create an atmosphere in which practice can inform theory and where theoretical academic perspectives can facilitate a reflection on activist practices.

If you are engaged in world changing activities, such as running a social centre or otherwise occupied/squatted space, if you are organizing nonviolent direct actions, building campaigns, or an ecovillage (or living in one), or doing anything of the experimental kind that we all want to see more of, or if you are working in an NGO on community building projects or other forms of practical projects, such as development or with indigenous peoples, then get in touch and suggest a contribution or presentation.

Academic presentations should be in areas relevant to social movements, such as:

  • conceptions of global civil society, counterpublic sphere and counterhegemonic movements
  • the dynamics of enclosing knowledge and genetic material
  • history and change of precarious labour
  • resisting enclosures, resisting precarity, constructing alternatives
  • transformations of colonialism: biocolonialism, TRIPs and structural adjustment
  • networked databases, biometrics, and border control
  • subversive and transhuman uses of technology
  • reclaiming/liberating urban spaces and rural land
  • sexual politics, discourse, and resistance
  • radical media and art collectives
  • self-organisation and consensus processes conceptually
  • human rights as community building, form of resistance, and as global vision of movements

SEND SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, AND PAPERS (MAX. 1 PAGE)

Costs, incl. (predominantly organic and vegan) Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner:
Volunteers/unpaid activists: Free
Unfunded students: Donation
Funded students, Lancaster academics: £15 (additional donation welcome!)
Representatives of smaller NGOs: £35 (negotiable)
Representatives of bigger NGOs: £65
Academics: £65

Information: http://knowledgelab.blogspot.com
Email: n.moeller [at] lancaster.ac.uk





OXFORDSHIRE, UK: NOVEMBER 11-13, 2005:

Living on the Cusp Workshop
Where, when, and how much

Residential workshop Braziers Park

The workshop is at Braziers Park a beautiful 50 acre estate in rolling Oxfordshire countryside, www.braziers.org.uk, 11th-13th November, 2005, one of the few Eco-villages, gen.ecovillage.org , in the UK, and is £160 for the weekend, fully residential, £115 non-residential and all meals, £130 camping and all meals.

This workshop is designed to support your transition from a world of cheap and easily accessible energy to a world where energy is expensive and increasingly produced from non fossil fuels. We are transitioning from a world of unlimited economic growth, to a world governed by environmental constraints that were not apparent in the previous social, economic, and political landscape- but are becoming increasingly clear.

Everyone will be making this transition, no one can avoid it. This workshop is designed to make your transition easier. You will understand the dynamics of what has been described as the most important event in human history- denial of this transition means many will be trying to maintain a dead system - living in a world that no longer exists. Most of us are currently blind to this transition- certainly the way we 'see' our world - through economic eyes will not see the ecological and environmental trends shaping and determining our world. We have been trained to see using economics- and the physics of energy and environmental ecology are virtually not counted in our present economic system. Living on the Cusp will give you the basic understanding you need to see how and why we are entering a new paradigm defined by ecology and energy. You will get the basic tools to understand what is happening today; and more importantly where and how to look tomorrow as our world changes in unimaginable and unpredictable ways.

The second part of this workshop is designed to assist you with your own transitions; emotionally and practically. We use a range of structures including visualisations, guided imagery, sharings, and rituals to access your 'software' that will enable your transition. Your transition , how we all make this transition, is crucial. The more of us that can be conscious and seek the best choices available to us at any one time, the easier it will be both for us and for everyone. The workshop will stimulate and 'kick start' your emotional and practical preparation. Even for those who have been aware of the environmental issues facing us, like me, will find it startling how rapidly the political and economic landscape is deforming in these initial stages of what is becoming a rapidly changing world. Don't be taken by surprise- a sustainable post industrial post carbon world is transforming the way we do business and live. This transition will reach a critical mass sooner than you might think. When rapid change takes place most of us are unprepared and overwhelmed by how fast events can unfold.

Extensive course material will be given to each participant.

A bundle of documents and detailed source notes on CD will be mailed to each participant on booking. All the main arguments and background materials will be available for your own research, investigation and corroboration.

There are no other workshops or seminars like this currently available, this seminar is unique.

It is my goal that no one leaves this seminar without a renewed feeling of both urgency and hope.

Information: http://www.livingonthecusp.org/workshops.htm
Email: georgegiangrande@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 01803 868766





BONN, GERMANY: NOVEMBER 26-30, 2005:

First World Renewable Energy Assembly (WREA)

The WCRE announces the World Renewable Energy Assembly in Bonn Germany, covering the 3rd World Renewable Energy Policy Forum and the 2nd International Parliamentary Forum.

The main topics will include:

Global Renewable Energy acceleration, instead of Nuclear Renaissance,
fighting atomic and fossil energy privileges and subsidies,
reviewing and evaluation of the best Renewable Energy policies,
International institution building for Renewable Energy,
a framework for RE in the International Law,
reviewing and challenging the RE policies of International GOs and NGOs,
reviewing and challenging the Credit Policies of International Development Banks,
the state of the art of RE industrial development,
cities and villages as solar power station, and
Winning the Oil Endgame: Replacing fossil fuels by Renewables in transport and mobility.

Information: http://www.wrea2005.org





LONDON: DECEMBER 03, 2005:

Anti-Authoritarianism Anarchist Assembly

Saturday 03rd December, ULU (Room 3D), 2pm - 6pm

The UK regime is quickly constructing a dystopian web of repression. Today's ASBOs, injunctions and exclusion zones will soon be joined by biometric ID cards, internment, blanket powers of arrest and summary justice. Laws against 'religious hatred', 'harassment' and 'glorification of terror' will criminalise dissenting views. Shoot-to-kill policies and Civil Contingencies powers reframe state executions as necessary to maintain order and preserve the official way of life, it no longer matters whether the accused is guilty.

This cannot go on unchallenged, people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people. An organised anarchist response to this situation has the potential to alter the balance of power long after the last car stops burning, we must create a real state of emergency and destroy this authoritarianism. With organisation, defiance, and open resistance we always win.

This is an invitation for an open dialogue between all anarchists and anti-authoritarians to discuss how we resist the authoritarianism of the state in our day to day lives, in our local communities, and on an international level. We need to co-ordinate our activities and actions, and work together to start creating a world we desire, and destroy the one the rich have engineered.

The agenda for the meeting is open for all to contribute to, please email agenda proposals to:

Email: an_assembly@hushmail.com





GLOBAL: DECEMBER 03, 2005:

International Day of Climate Protest

Demonstrations around the world on Climate Change, on the Saturday, midway through the Montreal Climate Talks ("First Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol"). Days of action in London and Edinburgh, as well as simultaneous demonstrations in many other countries including USA, Canada, Greece, Turkey, Australia and Asia.

Information: www.campaigncc.org & www.globalclimatecampaign.org

Information: Nadir/AGP.

ESEI is looking for short fiction, extracts of novels, poetry, lyrics, polemics, opinions, eyewitness accounts, reportage, features, information and arts in any form relating to eco cultural- social- spiritual issues, events and activites [creative and political]. Send to Newsdesk.