Cours du soir"To answer questions about values, human nature and material needs it is necessary to formulate a vision on what it means to be human, and on the development of human society. Instead of leading to constrictions on human freedom such a vision can give direction to human life and to new possibilities to change our lives. This was the theme of the lecture: 'The meaning and relevance of a socialist humanism' by the German historian and publicist Christoph Jünke.
Read more for video and audio of the lecture.
17 november, 8pm - IIRE Conference Center
* Lessons from Argentina by Claudio Katz, economist, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* The crisis in Europe and the struggle for the abolition of the debt by Eric Toussaint, President of the CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of the Third World Debt)
* Presentation of the Brochure "Europa en de Crisis. Het verhaal van een aangekondigde ramp" by Ander Europa and the IIRE
On Monday, 24 October, IIRE hosted a closed roundtable discussion for 25 local LGBT activists with Mariela Castro Espín, director of Cuba’s national centre for sexual education (Cenesex) and daughter of the late revolutionary feminist Vilma Espín Guillois, and Camilo García, International Relations Officer of Cenesex and member of the Cuban Communist Party. The intimate encounter provided a moment of reflection and learning, exchange of experiences and a space to discuss current strategies of LGBT emancipation in both Cuba and The Netherlands.
Anybody who is politically active and discussed with others about the possibility of a different society will have heard arguments like 'what you want is all very nice but it will never work, that is just not the way people are'. Ecological activists are confronted with the question what human needs need to be fulfilled to ensure a good life. Anybody living in a society characterized by grotesque consumerism, commofidication of human relationships, the marginalization of cultural and sexual minorities, and increasingly precarious working conditions feels a need to develop values that can give direction to their lives.
