2001 EVENTS
Redefining Power in the 21st Century:
Military, Economic, and Spiritual Options
October 22, 2001
Cosponsored with Thoreau Society
The Boston Research Center for the 21st Century convened a discussion forum in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks designed to focus on alternative responses to the current crisis. Redefining Power in the 21st Century: Military, Economic, and Spiritual Options addressed a wide range of issues as speakers and attendees grappled with questions like "Why did this happen?" and "What can we do now?"
Click Here for Event Information.
Economics for Human Well-Being:
Advancing a People’s Agenda
The Boston Research Center for the 21st Century sponsored four public programs in the winter of 2001 designed to inform and inspire activists and scholars interested in re-envisioning a global justice movement. Economics for Human Well-Being: Advancing a People’s Agenda encompassed the two conferences and two lectures described below.
To view a scrapbook of images from our 2001 events visit our 2001 EVENTS PHOTO GALLERY
Conference 1: Change the World! Building Post-seattle Alliances for Global Justice
Conference 2: Beyond American Consumerism: Constructing a Transformative Politics
Lecture: Riane Eisler on Partnership Education
Lecture: Amartya Sen on Freedom
Registration for Upcoming Events
CONFERENCE 1
Change the World!
Building Post-Seattle Alliances for Global Justice
February 2-3, 2001
This conference opened with a keynote address by Walden Bello on Friday evening. As a well-known scholar, activist, writer, and director of Focus on the Global South in Bangkok, Thailand, Bello evaluated "globalization" in its current corporate-driven form and suggested ways in which international integration could proceed more fairly. Saturday’s program concentrated on coalition building and included a talk by Naomi Klein, author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, as well as presentations by Charles Derber, Mike Prokosch, Walden Bello, Tim Costello, Jia Ching Chen, and others.
Change the World! was planned in collaboration with sociologist Charles Derber of Boston College and activist Mike Prokosch. Derber is, perhaps, best known as author of Corporation Nation: How Corporations Are Taking Over Our Lives and What We Can Do About It. Co-collaborator Mike Prokosch is a leading activist who serves as coordinator of the globalization program at United for a Fair Economy (UFE). Costello is a co-author of Globalization from Below and is currently editing a handbook for activists tentatively entitled Changing the World! (Forthcoming from Nation Books in Septemeber 2001).
CONFERENCE 2
Beyond American Consumerism:
Constructing a Transformative Politics
March 10, 2001
The purpose of this conference was to initiate a dialogue for creating a new politics of consumption in the U.S. The conference began by analyzing how consumption is changing the culture—the growth of materialist values, the increasing role of consumer goods in constructing personal identity, the commercialization of everyday life, and corporate strategies. It then moved to consider political strategies for achieving a new culture of spending—one which emphasizes values such as ecological sustainability, egalitarian social relationships, creativity, and financial security.
The conference featured a keynote presentation by economist Juliet Schor, acting chair of the Women’s Studies Department at Harvard University and best-selling author of Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure. Professor Schor discussed her groundbreaking research on Americans’ spending habits and the politics and culture of consumption.
Other scheduled speakers at the one-day event included:
Douglas Holt, assistant professor of marketing at the Harvard Business School and co-editor, with Juliet Schor, of The Consumer Society Reader. His article in this collection is entitled, "Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption?"
The Reverend Eugene Rivers, whose work has been featured in stories by Time and Newsweek. Reverend Rivers is pastor of the Azusa Christian Community in Dorchester and a co-founder of the Boston Ten Point Coalition and of the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation. Andre Norman of the Ella J. Baker House spoke in place of Reverend Rivers due to a last-minute scheduling conflict.
James Twitchell, professor of English at the University of Florida and author of nine books including For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture and Lead us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism.
Felice Yeskel is co-founder and co-director of United for a Fair Economy (UFE). She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she founded and now directs the Stonewall Center. Yeskel is the author of many articles and two books, including Economic Apartheid in America: A Primer on Growing Inequality and Insecurity.
LECTURE
Riane Eisler on Partnership Education
Thursday Evening, March 22 – 5:30 pm
|
|
Riane Eisler is author of the international bestseller The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. Her other books include Tomorrow’s Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century and Sacred Pleasure. As president of the Center for Partnership Studies, Eisler outlined a sweeping vision of a caring society built on the four cornerstones of her partnership model and an innovative approach to education. After decades of research and writing, Dr. Eisler has concluded that the best way to move communities, societies and nations away from a "dominator" model and toward "partnership" is by providing children with early training in what she calls "the caring arts." |
LECTURE
Amartya Sen on Freedom
Tuesday Evening, April 3 – 5:30 pm
|
The grand finale of the winter/spring series on economic justice was a lecture at the BRC by Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate in Economics (1998). As an eloquent voice for global ethics and a passionate advocate of people-centered policies, Professor Sen shared highlights from his latest book, Development As Freedom. This book examines the relationship between individual wealth and the ability to fulfill one’s desires. After a thorough analysis of poverty, markets, democracy, women’s agency, culture, and human rights, Amartya Sen explained how capacities for political participation, economic development, and social progress arise from human freedom. |
 |
Want to Read More About this Conference?
Here’s How to Order a Conference Report.
A conference report will be available in the summer of 2001 for $5.00. To order your copy, please send a written request to the BRC Publications Department, 396 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 or contact pubs@brc21.org. We will bill you when we send the report.
Register for Upcoming Events
Please stay tuned for information about future events at the BRC.
|
|