Saturday 17 March, 10 am to 4 pm Meeting Rooms 1, 2 and 3 Student Union Building Victoria University of Wellington
Featuring: Aziz Choudry, Mike Smith, Leigh Cookson, Radha D'Souza, Maxine Gay, Robert Reid, Joe Davies, Helen Te Hira,
Jim Delahunty. Introduction The movement sweeping the world is one concerned with the impact on the poor of the world of
'globalisation'. Most clearly this globalisation promotes free trade through the auspices of the World Trade
Organisation.
Significantly it also promotes policies of corporatisation and privatisation of state assets and generally society to be
organised in the interests of large transnational corporations.
Although its acolytes regard 'globalisation' as leading to some sort of trickle down that will improve everyone's
wellbeing, growing numbers of the world's population see it as quite the opposite. For the third world, and the
indigenous peoples of the first, 'globalisation' is simply the continuation of colonial empires' appropriation of their
resources. For countries like Aotearoa/New Zealand 'globalisation' has meant the transfer of our manufacturing and
industrial base overseas in the vain hope that our locally based agribusiness can increase its already enormous income.
In the last two years the anti-globalisation movement shut down the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle, and
mobilised tens of thousands in Prague, Davos and, closer to home, Melbourne. In Aotearoa/New Zealand a growing movement
of workers, students with significant involvement and leadership from Maori have linked meetings of the
Asian-Development Bank, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the leaders of the economies of APEC with this
growing international movement.
Timetable
10 am Overview/Introduction (Rahda D'Souza and Aziz Choudry) Introducing the resistance (Maxine Gay, Nick Henry, Leigh
Cookson, Helen Te Hira)
11 am Old Wine in New Bottles (Mike Smith) Pakeha perspective on the same (Joe Davies)
1 pm Lunch
1.30 pm The Globalisation of Education (t.b.c.) Globalisation and militarisation (Helen Te Hira).
2.15 pm Alternatives: Those that don't work - social clauses and codes of conduct (Radha D'Souza) The Brazilian Red
South - Porte Alegre (Jim Delahunty)