The Future of Globalization Conference

Renmin University, Beijing
DATE CHANGE: October 11-13, 2019

Organized by The Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism, in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

Theme: “The Future of Globalization”

Globalization is facing a pivotal moment in history. Since the economic crisis of 2008 it has faced serious turbulence, challenged for its vast economic and social problems, as well as its environmental destruction. New political movements have appeared to displace or upset long-ruling traditional parties in the West. And women, constituting a large sector of the new labor force for global manufacturing, continue to struggle for an equal place at home and in society. Traditional Western globalists have offered no strategy except to continue their failing model of development. But new roads have emerged that propose radically different possibilities. “The Future of Globalization” will analyze and debate various models of globalization and its alternatives.

Among future alternatives to consider are the following:

(1) The danger of populism with mass appeal to reactionary nationalism, militarism, misogyny and racism. Such a future is evident in the rise of right-wing movements in Europe, as well as the ascent of Donald Trump. An important character of this trend is accumulation by militarization, disposition, and expulsions.

(2) A re-balancing of political and economic globalization to a multi-polar transnational order. This would encompass a greater role for China in world affairs through its One Belt One Road Initiative for global development. It would also encompass deeper integration into the transnational economy of the global South, and consequently the rise of their influence in world affairs.

(3) A new round of transnational accumulation based in green sustainable technologies, the development and application of AI technologies, robotization (automation), and the deepening of bio-technological innovations. A significant sector of the transnational capitalist class is making large commitments in these areas, including both private and state sectors in the US, Europe and China. The global capitalist market is promoted as the developmental model for these technologies.

(4) A transformation of capitalism based in socialist, feminist and environmental ideologies and social movements. An international order based on state sovereignty, equal exchange, common efforts to confront the planetary crisis of environmental destruction, as well as gender and economic inequality.

Contacts:

Jerry Harris, National Secretary of the Global Studies Association/North America, Chicago, USA, Email: gharris234@comcast.net

Marek Hrubec, Director, Centre for Global Studies, Prague, Czech Republic, Email: marek.hrubec@gmail.com

Previous conferences were held in Europe (Prague), Australia (Brisbane), and Latin America (Havana).

Visit CUBA with the Center for Global Justice

June 17-30, 2018

Enjoy two stimulating weeks in a country committed to building Socialism. Learn about Cuba’s public goods such as free health care and education provided by the state, its collective production and services in agricultural and urban cooperatives, its form of democratic governance, its private businesses, its community projects and more. Experience Cuba’s vibrant culture and people. Dialogue with leading thinkers about Cuba’s reforms as it reinvents its socialism for the 21st century. A unique, in-depth look at a changing society.

Talk with Cuban thinkers. Discussion will focus on The Future of Socialism, both in Cuba and worldwide. You are invited to present a paper (optional) on such topics as:

• US & capitalist countries: collapse of liberal democracy; decline of neoliberal ideology; crisis of legitimacy; resurgence of the idea of socialism; rise of the Right; fascism?; globalized state; overcoming capitalist hegemony; systemic crisis and the interregnum
• Rethinking socialism in 21st century; critique of 20th century socialism; civil society; party; commons;
• Cuba’s renovation of socialism: implementation of the Guidelines; direction of development; conceptualization of socialism; planning and market; petty bourgeoisie and wage labor; socialist hegemony in a mixed economy; political system; rejuvenation of civil society; cooperatives;
• Latin America: Has the Pink Tide run its course?
• Looking back at our revolutionary heritage: How does 1917 look a century later? 1848 170 years later? 1949 69 years later? 1959 59 years later? The socialist project 200 years after Marx’s birth?

Join our delegation of activists, scholars, and cooperativistas as we explore this exciting society in motion. While many people are now able to visit Cuba more freely, few groups are able to offer such an in-depth experience focused on Cuba’s efforts to build socialism. Drawing on our 25 years of experience with educational trips to Cuba, we have unique access that goes beyond the usual tourist attractions.

It is estimated that the basic 14-day trip will cost $2,000 to $2,500 plus airfare, including shared hotel room, breakfasts, lunches, translation, guide, and the program of activities. With regular commercial air service now open from many U.S. cities, it is possible to fly directly to Havana. Deadline for applications is March 15, 2018. Apply now as space is limited.
For an application form and further information email cuba@globaljusticecenter.org.

Declaración de la Network for the Critical Study of Global Capitalism (Red para el Estudio Crítico del Capitalismo Global) Sobre el Bloqueo Norteamericano contra Cuba

La Network for the Critical Study of Global Capitalismo (NCSGC, Red para el Estudio Crítico del Capitalismo Global) realizó su 4ra Conferencia Bianual en La Habana, Cuba, entre el 1 y el 3 de noviembre de 2017.  La NCSGC desea agradecer a nuestros anfitriones Cubanos y nuestros co-patronizadores de la Asociación de Historiadores Latinoamericanos y del Caribe.

En estos momentos de renovada agresión norteamericana contra el pueblo y el gobierno de Cuba, la NCSGC desea expresar nuestra amistad y solidaridad con el pueblo y el gobierno de Cuba.  Exigimos que el gobierno norteamericano levante de inmediato, el ilegal bloqueo económico, financiero y comercial contra Cuba.  Sumamos nuestras voces a las de las 191 naciones que el pasado 1 de noviembre en la Organización de las Naciones Unidas condenaron dicho bloqueo como una violación de la ley internacional.

La Habana, Cuba
3 de noviembre de 2017

Descargar la declaración >>

Statement of the Network for the Critical Study of Global Capitalism on the U.S. Blockage of Cuba

The Network for the Critical Study of Global Capitalism (NCSGC) held its Fourth Biannual Conference in Havana, Cuba on November 1-3 of 2017.  The NCSGC wishes to thank our Cuban hosts and our co-sponsors from the Asociación de Historiadores Latinoamericanos y del Caribe (Association of Historians from Latin America and the Caribbean).

In these times of renewed U.S. aggression towards the Cuban people and their government, the NCSGC wishes to express its friendship and solidarity with the people and the government of Cuba.  We demand that the U.S. government immediately lift its illegal economic, financial, and commercial blockage of Cuba.  We add our voices to those of the 191 nations that on November 1 voted in the United Nations to condemn the blockage as a violation of international law.

Havana, Cuba
3 November 2017

Download the statement >>

 

Global Capitalism in the Americas Conference

The 4th Biennial Conference of the Network for the Critical Study of Global Capitalism (NCSGC)

November 1-3, 2017
La Habana, Cuba

Featuring keynote speakers Luis Suarez and William I. Robinson

LOCATION:

Colegio Universitario San Geronimo de La Habana
Intersection of Obispo and Mercaderes
Habana Vieja (Old Havana)

MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/nyUrPaS4s1o

NOTE: This building stands out from the others in Old Havana. It is a modern building where everything else in Old Havana is at least 2 centuries old. There will be signs at the entrance to show you where to go. The entrance is an old stone portico, part of the Dominican built university that stood in that same location. The old stone portico is the way to get inside the building.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE:

In today’s global political economy, we are witnessing a new era of integration and inequality, which is playing out through particular expressions of systemic crises. We are also witnessing the rise of a ultra-neoliberal authoritarian political project in the United States, in conjunction with the resurgence of right-wing political sectors across the Americas. What should we understand about the particularities of this globalization phase in the history of world capitalism, and in the context of these regions and their populations? How can working and popular classes, and their movements from below, effectively coordinate and struggle in a world of capitalist globalization?

The purpose of this conference is to focus critical studies of global capitalism on Central, North, and South America, and on the Caribbean, to provide opportunities for interested scholars and activists to explore, discuss, and debate related issues occurring in these regions. Read More >>

Global Capitalism & the Restructuring of Education: The Transnational Capitalist Class’ Quest to Suppress Critical Thinking

Click here to read this new 25 page paper by Dr. William I. Robinson.

 

The US Political Scene: Whiteness and the Legitimacy Crisis of Global Capitalism

The U.S. political scene has been undergoing a facelift in an effort to restore the decreasing legitimacy of the transnationally-oriented capitalist class. This transformation has been characterized by a right wing that has sought to portray itself as economically nationalistic in an attempt to expand support among the working class (primarily, among working class whites) whose economic stability had dwindled during the neoliberal era.

Why is this the case?

Read this new Op-Ed by Salvador Rangel and Jeb Sprague-Silgado  here.

Global Capitalism, Neoliberalism, & The Making of a Transnationally Oriented State Apparatus in Iraq

Read here the new research paper by NCSGC contributor Yousef Baker.  

ABSTRACT:    The 2003 invasion of Iraq and its subsequent occupation effectively erased the country’s existing political and economic system, turning Iraq into a tabula rasa. The initial invasion of Iraq, beyond geo-political and other conjunctural explanations, and at a more explanatory structural level, was a response by the United States to transnational crises of overaccumulation. One of the central goals of invading Iraq was to more fully integrate the country into the global capitalist system. The occupation regime attempted to formally integrate Iraq into the global economy by imposing a hyper neoliberal legal framework and policies that effectively transnationalized the Iraqi state and facilitated the development of new transnational accumulation circuits in Iraq. This article details this by analyzing the 112 laws that were imposed by the American occupation in Iraq as well as the permanent constitution that was passed in 2005. It shows that these laws opened Iraq to investors irrespective of its national origins. It concludes that this is evidence of the U.S. acting on behalf of transnational, rather than national economic interests.

Reform Is Not Enough to Stem the Rising Tide of Inequality Worldwide

By: William I. Robinson

We are nearing 2016, the year when the richest 1 percent of humanity will own more than the rest of the world, according to projections made by the nongovernmental organization Oxfam.

This is up from the 1 percent owning 44 percent of the world’s wealth in 2010 and 48 percent in 2014. If current trends continue, the 1 percent will own 54 percent by 2020.

The top 80 billionaires were worth $1.9 trillion in 2014, an amount equal to the bottom 50 percent. These 80 billionaires saw a 50 percent rise in their wealth in just four years, from 2010 to 2014, during which time the poorest 50 percent saw a drop in their wealth. In other words, there has been a huge transfer of wealth in a very short period of time from the poorest half of humanity to the richest 80 individuals on the planet.  READ THE ENTIRE PIECE HERE ON TRUTH-OUT

Talk on TCC by Dr. Peter Phillips

Listen here for a talk by Professor Peter Phillips on the transnational capitalist class (TCC) in the context of today’s global society, politics, and imperialism.