Global Economic Crisis, Sustainability and Iraq War Among Topics To Be Discussed at "Building a New World" Conference To Be Held in Radford, Virginia, May 22-25
The first international conference of the World Prout Assembly, "Building a New World," committed to ending war and affirming models of cooperative, community-based economies and political activism, will be held May 22-25 at Radford University, in Radford, Virginia. Speakers will include anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and attorney/social activist Lynne Stewart.
(PRWEB) May 15, 2008 -- The first international conference of the World Prout Assembly, "Building a New World," committed to ending war and affirming models of cooperative, community-based economies and political activism, will be held May 22-25 at Radford University, in Radford, Virginia.
World Prout Assembly Founding President Garda Ghista announced: "We seek to bring together activists from all countries fighting for justice in all spheres of life to form one universal coalition in order to create global change." The conference keynote address will be delivered by well-known attorney and social activist Lynne Stewart, whose supporters have included the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The name "World Prout Assembly" is derived from PROgressive Utilization Theory, a concept that involves the creation of "new moral values" to "provide the impetus for accelerated social progress." Based in Highland Heights, Kentucky, the World Prout Assembly is a non-profit organization founded in January 2005.
According to Ghista, "activists, academics, journalists, poets, musicians and policymakers" are expected to attend, including anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.
More than 70 authorities will speak, including activists opposed to the Iraq war and those who seek solutions to the growing economic crisis, including the provision of health care for all. Along with paper and workshop presentations, major session topics range from "End of Empire," "Women's Liberation," "Facing Fundamentalism," "Right to Health Care," "Undoing Racism," "Economic Democracy," "Cooperatives and Economic Localization," "Civil Liberties," "Academic Freedom" and "Sustainability."
Featured speakers include anti-war "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan; Washington reporter William Blum, author of "Rogue State"; Adam Kokesh of Iraq Veterans Against the War; author Mike Whitney, Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence; Steve Alten, best-selling author of "The Shell Game," journalist Gareth Porter; media scholar Professor Robert Jensen; University of New Hampshire professor and Quaker peace activist William Woodward; Food Not Bombs Co-Founder Keith McHenry, Richard Cook, Freeman Wicklund, founder of Mercy for Animals; and Michael Richards, founder of Sustainable Ecological Economic Development.
According to Ghista, there are significant differences between capitalist and communist economic approaches and Prout. Under communism, she says, human liberty is limited "by the primacy of the interests of the party bureaucracy," while capitalist societies until recently permitted "freedom of expression" but not "freedom from want and material insecurity." Since 9/11, she says, even these basic civil liberties have come under attack.
Ghista said, "Prout's paradigm of economic democracy is based on worker participation in decision-making and cooperative ownership of assets - conditions which increase motivation and enhance possibilities for personal fulfillment. History has shown that during times of economic depression, cooperatives remain largely unaffected, and provide a path to economic survival."
All those concerned with the crisis in our democracy and our economy are urged to attend this historic conference.
For additional information, please see the organization's Internet site, http://www.wpaconference.org.
###
|
