May 18, 2012 from 08:30 AM to 7:00 PM
NATO Counter-Summit in Chicago
People's Church, 941 W Lawrence, Chicago, IL
PROGRAM
Further details on the program and presenters to come.
Friday – May 18
8:30 – 10:00 Conference Registration
10:00 Welcomes & Overview
10:15 – 11:15 Plenary – Laying the Foundations: NATO, Economic Globalization, and Economic Justice
Vijay Prashad is Professor and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. His two new books are Arab Spring, Libyan Winter (AK Press, April 2012) and Uncle Swami: South Asians in America Today (New Press, June 2012). His The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World (New Press) won the 2009 Muzaffar Ahmad Book Prize. He is a regular correspondent for Frontline (India), Himal (Nepal), Asia Times, Counterpunch, and Bol (Pakistan).
Tobias Pflüger is a member of the executive committee of Germany’s Left Party and a board member of Ruebingen Militarization Information. From 2004 until 2009 he was a member of the European Parliament.
Sarita Gupta is the Executive Director of Jobs with Justice (JwJ). JwJ is building a strong, progressive labor movement that works in coalition with community, faith, and student organizations to build a broader global movement for economic and social justice. Sarita began organizing as a student on campus and was elected President of the U.S. Student Association (1997-1998). Sarita has 15 years of local, national, and global coalition-building experience through her time at Chicago JwJ and National JwJ. She has a long history of organizing at the intersections of workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, global justice, racial justice, and women’s rights issues and movements. In recent years, Sarita has provided leadership to various movement building processes that have attempted to converge movements across different sectors in order to build the kind of power we need to make transformative change. She serves on the following boards: International Labor Rights Forum, American Rights at Work, the National Planning Committee of the U.S. Social Forum, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Inter-Alliance Dialogue/UNITY, the Institute for Policy Studies, Other Worlds is Possible Giving Circle, and The Discount Foundation Board of Trustees.
One additional speaker TBA
11:15 Break
11:30 – 1:00 Workshop Session 1
6 workshops – TBA in early April
1:00 – 2:00 Lunch & Networking
2:00 – 3:30 Workshop session 2
6 workshops – TBA in early April
3:30 –5:00 Workshop session 3
6 workshops – TBA in early April
5:00 – 6:00 Plenary – Campaigning for Peace and Justice
Suraia Sahar is a founding member of Afghans for Peace (AFP), an alliance of Afghans from various ethnic, religious, socio-economic, cultural, and political backgrounds with a united vision for a democratic, all-inclusive, just, and peaceful Afghanistan. AFP includes students, professionals, community leaders, and activists, with chapters based in Afghanistan, the US, and Canada. Based in Toronto, Suraia has spoken at antiwar events across North America.
Tom Hayden has a 50 year career as a peace and justice activist, politician, and author. He has been a leading voice for ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan; erasing sweatshops; saving the environment; and reforming politics through a more participatory democracy. As Founder and Director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center in Culver City, CA, he currently writes for The Nation, organizes, travels, and speaks. He recently drafted and lobbied successfully for Los Angeles and San Francisco ordinances to end all taxpayer subsidies for sweatshops. He has taught recently at Scripps and Claremont Colleges, Occidental College, and the Harvard Institute of Politics. He is the author or editor of 19 books and hundreds of articles for publications from the Los Angeles Times to the Boston Globe to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
John Nichols
Additional speaker TBA
6:00 Adjourn
Saturday – May 19
8:30 – 10:00 Conference Registration
10:00 Welcomes & Overview
Please check back soon for updated information on Saturday’s program, which will include a Representative Plenary and more Workshops.
4:30 Adjourn
Below please find a list of workshops that will be presented at the Counter-Summit. Many of these workshops have been proposed by organizations and individuals with extensive and impressive experience in their fields. In an effort to maximize the participation of these diverse groups from around the country and the world, a number of the workshops below will be merged. More workshops will be added in the coming week, and further information on the workshops – including speakers, hosting organizations, summaries, and meeting times – to follow.
Afghanistan: How Do Wars End?
Feminist Criticism of NATO
Generations of Globalization
Getting it Right on Iran: Anti-Intervention and the Potential for Global Solidarity
Hidden Casualties: Environmental Damage of War and Militarism
Iran: Iran’s Nuclear Program, Dialogue & the Imperative of Moving beyond Threats
Making Finance Work for the 99%: The Campaign for a Speculation Sales Tax in IL
Move the Money from Wars and New Weapons to Fund Our Communities!
Move to Amend and Amend 2012 Strategy Session
Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, and Corporate Globalization
People’s Movement Assembly to End Poverty in the US: One Class, One Cause
Pivot & Partnerships: 21st Century NATO & the Asia-Pacific Military Build–Up to Contain China
Resisting Militarization of Youth
The Role of the European Union in the NATO Strategy
U.S. Military Intervention in Latin America Today
US/NATO Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Removal Long Overdue
U.S.-Russia and a Second Cold War
Using Art and Film to End the War and Secure the Peace
Veterans Fight For the Right to Heal
Women Say No to War! Creative Tactics for Building Peace and Justice
Yes to the People! No to the 1%