Southeast Asia

We are now in the midst of an epoch of death and mass extinction. Conventional approaches are failing. Social and ecological regeneration must be rooted in communities of liberation and solidarity. The new book, Between Earth and Empire: From the Necrocene to the Beloved Community, by celebrated philosopher and educator John P. Clark explores significant recent progress in this direction, including indigenous movements of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Democratic Autonomy Movement in Rojava, in West Papua, and many more. Longtime human rights activist, educator, organizer Matt Meyer joins this conversation with his own work on international and intersectional organizing. This is a call to arms for the rebirth of a libertarian and communitarian social imaginary, and the flourishing of a free cooperative community globally. Join us!

With the end of the Trump regime in sight, it is time to bring ideas into the Democratic primary for a sharp left turn in US foreign policy. Under Trump, support has been extended to fascists, dictators and oppressors, and this obviously must end. While undermining human rights at home, China has been able to pose as friends of the environment despite building more and more coal-fired electric plants. The Belt and Road program has resulted in crushing debt burdens and eroding sovereignty for developing countries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean areas. The next US administration must therefore be pressed to adopt a policy of debt relief and debt moratorium for less wealthy countries -- a policy that will in effect be paid for by Wall Street, China, and other big money powers. Needy people cannot be free, so comprehensive economic development is necessary. Marshall Plans are part of the answer. The Belt and Road is all high-interest loans, but the original Marshall Plan was 85% grants and gifts, and only 15% loans. A good place to start is by implementing the $30 billion Marshall Plan for central America proposed by Mexican President Lopez Obrador. Zero percent financing for such Marshall Plans should come from a special Federal Reserve window, not from tax increases or new borrowing.

South Korea has experienced the changes of social movement and labour movent from 2008 to 2011, since economic crisis. There were a great candle demonstration against for FTA (USA and Korea) in 2008; a great struggle for occupy factory during 77 days in SSang Yong automobile factory in 2009. This struggle was put down by the Korean Governmental violence in 77 days. 20 workers who occupied the factory has been dead; most of them committed suicide, few others died for diseases or Traffic Accident. The workers are still occupying in front of main gate of SSang Yong automobile factory.
We also had an experience for "Hopebus", "Hopetent" etc in 2010-2011.
The tradition of social movement and labour movement has been recently changed. Many internatioanl experiences has influenced the tradition of social movement in Korea in the gross view, however, the detail situation in Korea is quite different from other countries (EU,USA, and North Africa etc).
We will present recent changes and esperiences of Korean social and labour movement. We will demonstrate the political implications of recent changes of the workers' struggle in Korea according to Karl Marx's view.

In Burma/Myanmar, the mass displacement of the Rohingya minority in late 2017 along with the atrocities, mass graves, and mass rapes followed a protracted period of marginalization of this Muslim minority.

In the face of government intransigence and denial, diplomatic logjams and double standards regarding international human rights norms, how can activists build alliances that challenge the rise of authoritarianism both in Southeast Asia, and in the USA?

How can such movements scale up a response to the rise of Islamophobia around the globe?

The promotion of Islamophobia in Myanmar, using facebook as an effective tool for propaganda and mobilization, has served the Burmese military's preferred "Divide and Conquer" approach to ethnic diversity in Myanmar.

China and other international investors are now constructing massive oil and gas pipelines through the smoking ruins of the Rohingya homeland. Therefore the destabilizing effects of globalization, with its drive to exploit raw materials and new markets, mirror the destructive effects of the British Empire that imposed borders on Burma that have divided communities and help create communities and classes in conflict.

The Rohingya crisis affects the entire Southeast Asian region. To scale up both crisis response and our collective ability to promote long term solutions to statelessness and disenfranchisement, roundtable facilitators will engage attendees in strategic planning, including conversation of tools and technologies, stakeholders and models of mobilization. For the over one million displaced Rohingya, how will it be possible to empower the impacted community, and to build support within the Burmese diaspora itself?

Participants will include Rohingya, Bangladeshis, Muslims and Buddhists.