Come to Socialism 2009: A New Left for a New Era

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Building a New Left for a New Era
Socialism 2009
Revolutionary politics, debate and entertainment
June 18-21, Chicago
July 2-5, San Francisco
http://www.socialismconference.org

The world economic crisis has shattered the free-market consensus that has dominated politics for the last generation. Meanwhile, the end of the conservative era and the election of the first African American president have raised expectations among working people that long overdue change is coming. With capitalism in crisis, even some in the corporate media are admitting that Karl Marx was right.

There has never been a better time for those who want to see fundamental change to get together to debate, to discuss and organize for a new society—a society based on the needs of the many instead of the whims of a few. In other words, there has never been a better time to organize a new socialist left to meet the challenge of this new era.

That’s the purpose that Socialism 2009—expanded to two sites this year—has set for itself. Gather with activists from all over to take part in dozens of discussions about changing the world: How can we stop the economic madness? Can we end racism? What kind of organization do we need? What would a future socialist society look like?

Yes we can organize for socialism in the 21st century! Si se puede!

Featured Speakers:

MICK ARMSTRONG, Socialist Alternative, Australia;
ROSE AGUILAR, host, Your Call, KALW,91.7FM;
IAN ANGUS, editor, Climate and Capitalism;
DAVID BACON, author, Illegal People;
NORA BARROWS-FRIEDMAN, co-host, Flashpoints Radio, KPFA;
BARBARA BECNEL,director of Stan Tookie Williams Legacy Network;
ROBERT BRENNER, author, The Economics of Global Turbulence;
DENNIS BRUTUS, longtime anti-apartheid and global justice activist;
PAUL D’AMATO, author of The Meaning of Marxism;
NEIL DAVIDSON, University of Strathclyde, Scotland;
MIKE DAVIS, author, In Praise of Barbarians;
SAM FARBER, author, Origins of the Cuban Revolution;
LAURA FLANDERS, host, GRITtv;
JOEL GEIER, associate editor, International Socialist Review;
TIKVA HONIG-PARNASS, co-author, Between the Lines;
DR. JESS GHANNAM, Al-Awda Right of Return Coalition, Free Palestine Alliance;
ANAND GOPAL, Kabul correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor;
JAMES GREEN, author, Death in the Haymarket;
DAHR JAMAIL, author, Beyond the Green Zone;
BRIAN JONES, performing Howard Zinn’s play Marx in Soho;
CLAUDIO KATZ, author, Las disyuntinvas de la izquierda en America Latina (the challenges of the Latin American Left);
NATIVO LOPEZ, president, Mexican American Political Association;
ALAN MAASS, editor, Socialist Worker;
DAVID McNALLY, New Socialist Group, Canada;
MARLENE MARTIN, Campaign to End the Death Penalty;
ANURADHA MITTAL, director, the Oakland Institute;
CHINA MIEVILLE, author, Un Lun Dun and Between Equal Rights: A Marxist Theory of International Law;
DERREL MYERS, Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation;
CHRISTIAN PARENTI, The Nation, on Afghanistan;
JOHN RIDDELL, co-editor, Socialist Voice (Canada);
HEATHER ROGERS, author of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage;
JEFFREY ST. CLAIR, co-editor of CounterPunch.org and author of Been Brown So Long It Looked Green to Me: The Politics of Nature;
MARTIN SANCHEZ, consul general of Venezuela, San Francisco;
LANCE SELFA, author, The Democrats: A Critical History;
AHMED SHAWKI, editor, International Socialist Review;
CINDY SHEEHAN, founder, Gold Star Families for Peace;
BARRY SHEPPARD, author of The Party: the Socialist Workers Party, 1960-1968;
SHARON SMITH, author of Subterranean Fire and Women and Socialism;
LEE SUSTAR, labor editor, Socialist Worker;
SHERRY WOLF, author, Sexuality and Socialism;
KEEANGA-YAMAHTTA TAYLOR, editorial board of International Socialist Review;
DAVE ZIRIN, author, A People’s History of Sports;
SOCIALISTS from France, Greece, Venezuela, Brazil, and many more!

What you’ll find at Socialism 2009: More than 100 meetings, a bookfair, films, entertainment, and parties.

Check out http://www.socialismconference.org to register and for more information about schedule, housing, and childcare.

Sponsored by:
The Center for Economic Research and Social Change
Publisher of the International Socialist Review and Haymarket Books.

Co-sponsored by:
The International Socialist Organization
Publisher of Socialist Worker

Come to the DC-Baltimore Socialist Conference!

Marx is back: Socialist ideas for changing the world!

A day-long conference of revolutionary politics, debate and discussion
Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization

Saturday, April 18, 2009
All Soul's Church, 2835 16th Street, NW
(16th & Harvard Sts, NW: Columbia Heights metro - Green line)

$5 | $10 solidarity | No one turned away for lack of funds

To secure a ticket and register, email dcsocialistconference@gmail.com or call 202 903 6906.

Schedule:

10am - Registration

11am-12:30pm - Opening Session: Marx is Back! Socialist ideas for changing the world
Featuring Sherry Wolf, author of the forthcoming Sexuality and Socialism (Haymarket Books, 2009) and member of the editorial board of the International Socialist Review

12:30pm-1:30pm - Lunch Break

1:30pm-3pm Workshops Session 1

* Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine: Occupation and resistance today
* A world without racism, sexism and homophobia?: Marxism and oppression

3pm-3:15pm Break

3:15-4:45pm Workshops Session 2

* Workers Fighting Back: Lessons from the 'Labor Wars'
* Why we need a revolutionary party

7pm - Closing plenary: Haymarket Books presents: "Obama and the Left"

Featuring Dedrick Muhammad of the Institute for Policy Studies; John Nichols of The Nation magazine; writer and activist Laila Al-Arian; radical sports journalist Dave Zirin

Venue: 1525 Newton St., NW (Closest metro-Columbia Heights metro-Green line)

Branch Meeting for April 9

The DC branch of the ISO will be meeting at Sankofa tomorrow (2714 Georgia Ave NW) at 7 pm for our weekly meeting to discuss The Communist Manifesto and Kim Moody's article on the prospects for a new labor movement, from the latest issue of International Socialist Review.

Be sure to bookmark the events calender for Sankofa to keep up with other activities at this important DC institution.