The never ending traffic jams of Quezon City, Philippines, found its ‘compensation’ in the second Asian Global Justice School on August 2-2 1. Representing the Political Committee of the Poor-People’s Democratic Party (KPRM-PRD), along with 10 other left activists from Taiwan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan and Pakistan, I participated in a three-week school in Manila organised by International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE)-Manila. The participants came from a variety of revolutionary organisations and parties with different traditions, engaging in different areas of national struggle. Some were peasant organisers, labour and women’s activists while others worked on rural issues or conflict areas.

The IIRE-Manila made a huge step forward in its second Global Justice School in August, with 22 attendees discussing context, movements and on alternative organizing for change. It can confirm that ten organisations are likely to take part in the third school, in the summer of 2011, and that numerous seminars will take part at the Manila campus before then. However, financial support remains needed to help participants to travel to Manila.

Cinzia Arruzza, Member of the IIRE Board and Assistant Professor in Philisophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, has written a short overview of the relations between the Marxist and feminist movement in practice and theory from the nineteenth century to the present day. Entitled “Le relazioni pericolose, Matrimoni e divorzi tra marxismo e femminismo” (The dangerous relationships, Marriage and divorces between Marxism and feminism), this book has already been translated into Spanish and Portuguese, German and Turkish translations are underway and an English edition is planned for publication by the IIRE.

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View video recording of the talk

Unfortunately we just received the news that Max Lane will not be able to give his talk on 10 June. Instead, Paulus Suryanta Ginting will give a talk on the current situation of the radical left in Indonesia.