In this email:
1. Request for early registration! 2. Updated Outreach email (please circulate) 3. Updated Speakers list (partial) 4. Updated List of Organizations participating 5. List of topics covered in the conference 6. Tabling information 7. Plea for financial support! 8. Final Program available online by August 5th ----------------------------------------------------------
1. REGISTER ASAP!
We have heard from hundreds of people around the country who are planning on attending but registration has been slow. We realize that many of you are planning on registering when you arrive but we ask that if you can you please take 5 minutes and register online (You can pay by calling the CUNY Grad Center during business hours). The website has just been updated and it really easy to follow the registration steps. Early registration is especially important to us because ALL of our money (for flying out speakers, printing materials, getting food for all of you, paying for huge space costs etc) comes from registration and our opening Friday night event on August 20th (see downloadable flyer on the website) The website continues to be updated regularly and if you have not been to it yet please check it out at: http://www.lifeaftercapitalism.org
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2. Updated outreach email-- please circulate to your friends, associates, collectives, organizations:
*Life After Capitalism Conference 2004 NYC August 20-22nd*
http://www.lifeaftercapitalism.org -- register now !--
The protests around the Republican National Convention taking place in New York City later this summer are shaping up to be perhaps the largest this country has ever seen. As folks from all over the United States have started booking their flights, organizing their local communities into busses and vans, and collecting that last bit of gas money from in between the pillows of their couches- organizers are quietly discussing the possibility of having over 1 million people converging in the streets of New York City during the week of Aug 28th-September 2nd....
While these protests will give us the chance to collectively raise our voices in opposition to the direction that this government is taking us - many of us realize that the problems that we face run much deeper then simply the Bush administration, the Democrats, or this upcoming current election cycle. What we face are institutional problems, problems which will only be challenged and ultimately overcome by imaginative and broad based social movements- not ballot boxes. Life After Capitalism 2004 aims at contributing to this process by providing a space for activists- in the run up to the intense mobilization period- to reflect on the importance of long term vision, strategy, and face to face relationship building.
This is an invitation, asking activists from around the country to come into New York City a week prior to the major demonstrations and participate in what should be an exciting and energizing weekend – a weekend that seeks to bring together and give voice to the (non-sectarian) anti-capitalist left, anarchist, and kindred social movements in the United States. Below you will find a list of speakers as well as topics of discussion which should hopefully give you an idea of what this conference is trying to accomplish.
Check out the website (http://www.lifeaftercapitalism.org) which will be updated every week, with our next major update featuring a (mostly) finalized schedule to launch by August 5th.
The site briefly outlines the basic areas of focus within the conference but more importantly allows you to register online, something we encourage folks to do as soon as possible due to space restrictions of approx. 800 participants. We have worked very hard to keep all costs to a minimum ($15-25 sliding scale) - all registration fees go directly into making this weekend happen as our only funding comes through the opening Friday evening event and conference fees. We also have a number of free registration slots which will be extended specifically to activist communities who have been traditionally marginalized from these kinds of gatherings and debates. For information regarding a waiving of the conference fees and any other questions, please contact:
info at lifeaftercapitalism.org or call (212) 591-0083.
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3. updated list of participants (this is a VERY partial list)
* Elizabeth 'Betita' Martinez * Robin D.G. Kelley * Naomi Klein * Michael Albert * Ruthie Gilmore * Vijay Prashad * Chris Crass * Starhawk * Cindy Milstein * Adolph Reed * Steve Shalom * Andrej Grubacic * Jaggi Singh * Helen Luu * Doug Henwood * Clare Bayard * Graciela Monteagudo * David Solnit * Tiokasin Ghosthorse * Michael Hardt * Monami Maulik * Eddie Yuen * Kazembe Balagoon * Lisa Fithian * Bilal El-Amine * Kai Barrow * Valery Alzaga * Jose Schiffino * Lynne Stewart * Janine Jackson * Grace Chang * Arthur Manuel * Antonia Juhasz * Ted Glick * Ana Nogueira * Jason West
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4. Updated list of participating organizations or networks*
* Anti-Racism for Global Justice * Argentinian Social Movements
Neighborhood Assembly of Colegiales
Unemployed Workers Movement of La Matanza
Unemployed Workers Movement of Solano * Argentina Autonomista Project * Bring The Ruckus! * California Prison Moratorium Project * Catalyst Project * Central California Environmental Justice Network * Colours of Resistance * Critical Resistance * Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) * Direct Action to Stop the War * Domestic Workers United * Estación Libre * Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) * Green Party USA * Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade * International Forum on Globalization * Institute for Anarchist Studies (IAS) * Institute for MultiRacial Justice * Institute for Social Ecology * Jews Against the Occupation (JATO) * Justice for Janitors * League of Pissed off Voters * Left Turn * MADRE * No one is Illegal (Canada) * NYC Indymedia * National Youth & Student Peace Coalition (NYSPC) * Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) * Peoples Global Action (PGA) * Project South * Racial Justice 911 * RANT Collective * Restaurant Opportunities Center-NY * Sista II Sista * SmartMeme Strategy & Training Project * Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM) * Taxi Workers Alliance * Vermont Workers' Center * ZNET
* For identification purposes only
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5. Topics covered in the conference.
Life After Capitalism 2004 is made up of four main sections:
1. Contours of Capitalism (including such discussions as The changing face of capitalism, Capitalism & Democracy, Hip hop & Capitalism, Class struggle in the 21st century, Is Neoliberalism unraveling, What is Capitalism?)
2. Perspectives on Power (The role of the State, Migration, the state & capitalism, Possibilities & Limitations of electoralism, Alternative Media, Popular Education, Zapatismo in your community, Post-Party politics, Art & Revolution)
3. Visions for a Post Capitalist Society (Envisioning Direct Democracy, Participatory Economics, Life beyond the prison economy, Gift Economies, Perma-culture, the Barter system in Argentina, Indigenous perspectives)
4. Organizing Strategies (A look at the anti-capitalist movement, Networks & Coalitions, Multi-Racial Coalition building, Towards new politics of solidarity, Radical queer politics, Anti-capitalist summit protests, Peoples Global Action (PGA), The revolution will not be funded, Alternative media strategy, The role of social forums)
****** we hope to have a full schedule posted w/ speakers by AUGUST 5th, please keep checking the website for updates ********
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6. Tabling at the conference
We have a strict tabling policy at Life After Capitalism for three main reasons:
1. There is very little space for tabling 2. The space that is available we want to make sure to extend to the participants and organizers of the conference. 3. Life After Capitalism will try to remain a space free of sectarian left groupings (you know whoyou are). Tables will NOT be offered to these groups and those who try to sell papers or other forms of literature without the consensus of the organizing body will be asked to leave.
Please respect these guidelines, most of the tabling space has already been reserved but for those who are still interested please contact: info at lifeaftercapitalism.org
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7. We need financial support !
This conference has been a huge undertaking for the small group of us who have been working on it since last September. Although it has been an amazing organizing experience and the energy around the conference has taken off in a big way, we still need your support heading into the last few weeks of craziness.
Some things you can do:
1. Please register early and if possible pay the full amount of the conference fee. This helps us out as any money that comes in early we can use for outreach materials, transportation costs of participants etc.
2. Donate online to the organizing efforts - all donations will go directly to conference costs (food, literature etc). On the front page of our website (www.lifeaftercapitalism.org) there is a donation icon.
3. Raise funds for and travel to New York together with other organizers from your area who would like to attend the conference but are unable to because of transportation costs.
4. Find housing early - we are currently unable to organize housing for everyone coming to New York City. For more info on free housing, check out the housing board at www.counterconvention.org or in an emergency you can always email us at: info at lifeaftercapitalism.org. The next website update should include a listing of cheap lodging in NYC.
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We hope to see you all in New York for what should be an amazing weekend!
-- ...the most formidable military machine depends ultimately on the obedience of its soldiers ...the most powerful corporation becomes helpless when its workers stop working, when its customers refuse to buy its products. The strike, the boycott, the refusal to serve, the ability to paralyze the functioning of a complex social structure--these remain potent weapons against the most fearsome state or corporate power. -Howard Zinn