Robert McChesney, author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy, and the newly released The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communications Politics in the 21st Century; professor of Communications, University of Illinois, Urbana.

John Nichols, media critic of The Nation, co-author of It's the Media, Stupid and editorial page editor The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin.

Jerry Mander, President of the International Forum on Globalization, author of Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.

Co-sponsored by Media Alliance, International Forum on Globalization, New College Media Studies MA Program, UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, and supported by KPFA Radio.

All causes will be lost causes - environment, health, social. justice, democracy - if we do not quickly recover a truly democratic media.

Issues:

• How today's mass media are working against democracy, and a freeflow of information
  
• Analysis of the startling impacts of the concentration of media ownership, domestically and globally. (Only eight giant corporations own 70% of all global media.)
  
• Effects of hyper-commercialism on the quality of broadcasting
  
• Growing domination of right wing viewpoints globally
  
• Startling decline in good balanced journalism
• Diminished coverage of major issues
  
• How we can get organized to reform the dominant media system, and create alternatives to it

ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
Latin American Seminar
Santiago, Chile
April 14-16, 2004

The International Forum on Globalization and Chile Sustentable are co-hosting a three-day Latin American seminar on Alternatives to Economic Globalization. The seminar will bring together leaders of popular movements, key government officials, renowned scholars and representatives of leading non-governmental organizations who are either currently implementing alternatives or have created powerful proposals of their own. These globalization experts will be developing meaningful, practical, and implementable alternative policy solutions to economic globalization.

The Latin American Seminar on Alternatives to Economic Globalization is the first of a series of seminars to take place on every continent to get feedback on the policies presented in the book, to learn about other alternative proposals, and to see these ideas applied and actualized. The input received at these meetings will then be incorporated into a new and final publication of the Alternatives to Economic Globalization book.

Events around the launch of our new report, Alternatives to Economic Globalization [A Better World is Possible]

Tuesday, April 29, 2003 7-9pm - FREE

CUNY Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue between 34th & 35th Street
(Subway: B,D,F,N,Q,R,V,W trains to 34th)
New York City, NY

New York Book Launch & Teach-In on Alternatives to Economic Globalization

Confirmed Speakers:

Wednesday, April 30, 2003 6:30pm
Resource Center for Activism & Arts - a creative environment for a diverse international community
1611 Connecticut Ave, NW - Suite 200 - Washington, DC 20009
202-299-0460 (phone)
202-232-1651(fax)
prc@gaeafoundation.org

A Resource Center International Dialogue:
"Cultural Diversity: The Right to Remain Different and Diverse,*" with:

Jerry Mander - President, International Forum on Globalization
John Cavanagh - Director, Institute for Policy Studieswww.ips-dc.org
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz - Director, Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education
Njoki Njor Njoge Njehu - Director, 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice www.50years.org
Salih Booker-Executive Director, Africa Action www.africaaction.org

*The event title comes from Victoria Tauli-Corpuz's contribution discussing cultural diversity in chapter two (Ten Principles of Sustainable Societies) in Alternatives to Globalization: A Better World Is Possible. More information available at http://www.activistarts.org

Friday, April 4, 12 noon
Registration 11:30 AM Program 12:00 (NOON)
World Affairs Council of Northern California
312 Sutter Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room
San Francisco 94108 Council members and Cosponsors: FREE, Nonmember Students with valid ID $5, Nonmembers $12
To register: please phone 415.293.4600 or e-mail registration@wacsf.org
Cosponsored by Stacey's Independent Bookstore, International Forum on Globalization and Global Exchange

Monday, March 24, 7:30pm
Ruminator Books, 1648 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN
Jerry Mander
Call (651) 699-0587 for further information

Saturday, March 22, 7:00pm
Transitions Bookplace
1000 W. North Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Call 312.951.READ(7323) or 800.979.READ(7323) for further information
Jerry Mander

Wednesday, February 26, 7:00pm
Open Secret Bookstore 923 C Street, San Rafael, CA
Jerry Mander and Antonia Juhasz
Call (415) 457 4191 for further information

Tuesday, February 18, 7:00pm
Copperfield's Books 138 N. Main Street Sebastopol CA
Jerry Mander
Call (707) 823 2618 for further information

World Social Forum, Porto Alegre Brazil, January 2003.
Several of the book’s authors were in Porto Alegre. They held a panel specifically on the Alternatives book, as well as raising it in their numerous workshops and panel presentations.

Wednesday, January 29, 7:30pm
Cody's Book Store, 2454 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley.
Jerry Mander.
Call (510) 845 7852 for further information.

Sunday, January 19th @ 3:00pm
Book Passage 51 Tamal Vista Blvd Corte Madera, CA
415.927.0960
Jerry Mander

Tuesday, January 14 @ 7:30pm
Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia Street (near 20th) San Francisco, CA
Jerry Mander and Debi Barker

Monday, January 13, 7:00 - 9:00pm
The Palace of Fine Arts Theatre 3301 Lyon Street San Francisco
$10 suggested donation at the door. There will be a reception with no-host bar and refreshments.

Saturday, January 11, 2003 4:30pm
Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle.
David Korten

December 3: A Benefit for Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
Jerry Mander reading from the IFG's new report, Alternatives to Economic Globalization, among seven other excellent authors and activists. The Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco.

Tuesday, November 19
6:00-8:00pm
Public Citizen, 1600 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC
DC Book Launch Party: John Cavanagh, Lori Wallach, Jerry Mander and Debi Barker speak at DC Book Launchat which 150 people attended.

Tuesday, November 12
Vancouver, British Columbia
Antonia Juhasz, Launch of Alternatives book in Vancouver at the School of Communication,
Simon Fraser University.
Day-Long Globalization Teach in, Dialogue and Book Launch party.

Tuesday, November 7, 2002
City Lights Book Store in San Francisco, 7:00pm
Jerry Mander reading

Friday, May 2 Through Sunday May 4, 2003
American Spirit, Values & Power Resisting "Empire," Affirming Our Vision
CUNY Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue between 34th & 35th Street
(Subway: B,D,F,N,Q,R,V,W trains to 34th)
With Ralph Nader, Jerry Mander, Charlene Spretnak, Peggy Shepard, Satish Kumar, John Mohawk, Baldemar Velasquez, Nina Utne, Carl Anthony, Sarah Van Gelder and many others.

For More Information Contact:
NY Open Center
212/219-2527 ext 110
FAX: 212/226-4056
WEB: www.opencenter.org
E-MAIL: info@opencenter.org
~or~
CUNY Graduate Center
212/817-8215
FAX: 212/817-1511
WEB: web.gc. cuny.edu/cepp
E-MAIL: continuinged@gc.cuny.edu

~ United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD),
WSSD Report Back ~

San Francisco, CA, Thursday, October 10, 2002

~ World Bank/IMF Meetings Protests:
50 Years is Enough World Bank/IMF Teach-In:
"Stopping the Water Privatizers at Home and Abroad". ~ 

September 27, 2002,
Washington, DC

*        *        *

Speakers: Oscar Olivera, La Coordinadora, Cochabamba, Bolivia; Rudolf Amenga-Etego, Ghana National Coalition Against Privatization of Water, Ghana; Clemente Martinez, Centro Humboldt, Nicaragua; Wenonah Hauter, Critical Mass Energy and Environment Project of Public Citizen, Washington, DC; Antonia Juhasz, International Forum on Globalization, San Francisco, CA.; Facilitator: Sara Grusky, International Water Working Group of Public Citizen, Washington, DC.

~ World Student's Peace Forum ~

November 1-3, 2002,
Kyoto, Japan

*        *        *

       IFG's Antonia Juhasz was the keynote speaker at the World Student's Peace Forum organized by the Kyoto Museum for World Peace and Ritsumeikan University. Antonia's address and workshops were on the need to pursue alternatives to the corporate globalization model at the local, national and international levels to aid the persuit of for global peace.

~   United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD):
IFG Teach-In on the Globalization and the WSSD   ~

August/September 2002,
Johannesburg, South Africa

*        *        *

This two-day event took place in Johannesburg just prior to the World Summit on Sustainability (WSSD) and brought much needed attention and awareness to the fact that corporate-driven globalization is inherently devastating to the natural world. In addition, the rules and trade agreements of institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) often contradict the goals of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the obvious result of this conflict is that trade rules will always trump the environment. These issues were not being addressed at the WSSD. In planning this event, we formed strong partnerships with groups within Africa and other southern nations and organized a committee for this event that included leading representatives from the global South. Go to our UN - WSSD page for more information about the WSSD.

~  Globalization: The Road to Johannesburg - What's At Stake? ~

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 6:30 - 9:30 PM
Gaston Hall, Georgetown University
Washington D.C.

*        *        *

       This August 2002, the United Nations will mark ten years since the Rio Earth Summit by convening the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on protecting natural resources and species around the globe, the WSSD is being used to further promote corporate-led globalization which includes privatization of social services and natural resources such as water. Such an agenda will lead to further devastation for the health of the planet and rob millions around the world of livelihoods and access to basic human needs.

      Please join us to learn about what's at stake in Johannesburg and to hear alternative visions that will truly protect natural resources and ensure justice for everyone on the planet.

      Speakers wil include Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the Earth, John Cavanagh of the Institute for Policy Studies, Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute, Nash Issahaku of the African Trade Network, Martin Khor of the Third World Network, Sara Larrain of Chile Sustenable, Jerry Mander of IFG, Trevor Ngwane of the Anti-Privatization Forum of South Africa, Victoria Tauli

-Corpuz of the Indigenous People's Centre for Policy Research & Education of the Philippines.

~  Water for People and Nature:
A Forum on Conservatioin and Human Rights   ~

July 5 - 8, 2001
University of British Columbia Campus, Vancouver, Canada

*        *        *

       The IFG and the Council of Canadians are co-sponsoring a conference to bring together water experts, activists and municipal leaders from around the world for three days of discussion and debate. Workshops will allow participants the opportunity to discuss central issues facing water today and contribute to a final report towards a plan to achieve environmental and social justice. For information about the conference, or to register, please contact the Council of Canadians, www.canadians.org

       Speakers include Maude Barlow, director, Council of Canadians; Tony Clarke, director, Polaris Institute; Michael Kravcik, Water and People (Slovak Republic); Stephen Lewis, Professor of International Research and Development, York University and advisor to the United Nations; Riccardo Petrella, Advisor to the European Commission; Robin Round, regioanl coordinator, Halifax Initiative; Steven Shrybman, environmental law partner, Sack, Goldblatt & Mitchell.

~  A Teach-In on Technology and Globalization   ~

*        *        *

      Our society places all its bets on technology as the panacea for our ills. But it may be time to reconsider. Far from Paradise-on-Earth, we are rolling toward ecological collapse: rapid climate change and rising seas; ozone holes; loss of species and habitat; accelerated cancer rates; terminal forms of air, water, and soil pollution, as well as unprecedented levels of social, political, and personal alienation and despair. All are rooted in the excesses of technology.

~   Globalization and the Role of the United Nations;

Can the United Nations Be Salvaged?  ~

September 5, 2000   ~   1 p.m. — 11 p.m.
The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, New York, NY

*        *        *

       Unlike the Bretton Woods Iron Triangle–the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund–the United Nations was not created to be an engine for corporate globalization. The UN mandate was always broader, and was designed to place peace, human welfare, the environment, social justice and democracy above profit motives of corporations. But in recent years, the UN mission has been challenged by a growing advocacy of the same corporate free trade model that motivates the Bretton Woods Triad. Many believe that the UN’s potential to serve the needs of peace, security and the interests of the global poor has been seriously undermined. Others believe that it’s worth trying to re-excite the UN vision and empower UN agencies to place some checks and balances on global corporations.

       This event explored the full range of arguments about the UN, as well as launched a new set of ideas for alternative economic models and institutions that give primacy to values favoring human welfare and the natural world over global corporate interests.

       Co-sponsors included: Institute for Policy Studies, Transnational Resource and Action Center, The Nation Institute, and the New York Open Center.

~   Beyond Seattle   ~

Focus on the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank

April 14, 2000   ~   10am - 10:30 pm   ~   Foundry United Methodist Church   ~   Washington, D.C.

Co-Sponsors: Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth, International Center for Technology Assessment, Global Exchange, Public Citizen, 50 Years is Enough Network

       After Seattle, we see that what was once thought inevitable now seems vulnerable to democratic action. The World Trade Organization (WTO) once hailed itself as "the new constitution for a global society," but they're not saying that now. The WTO may have been wounded in Seattle, but it is only one part of an all-powerful Globalization Triad (originally conceived at the infamous Bretton Woods meetings in 1944) which also includes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Already operating for a half century, the IMF and the World Bank have had devastating effects on the environment, social equity, democracy, local economies, cultures, and national sovereignty, and have been particularly destructive in Third World countries.

       This Teach-In brought 30 of the worlds leading critics of globalization from every continent to Washington D.C., two days before the IMF and World Bank convened in closed-door meetings. Download to audio recordings of this teach-in.

November 26 & 27, 1999   ~   Benaroya Hall   ~   Seattle, Washington

       The Seattle Teach-In focused on the problems of economic globalization and, specifically, on the activities of the WTO and other international agreements and institutions. Speakers representing Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas addressed the current failed economic model, and discussed subjects such as agriculture, the environment, human rights, labor rights, consumer rights, food safety, public health, and many more issues that are affected by the WTO. Held the weekend prior to the WTO Ministerial meeting at the 2,500-seat Benaroya Hall, this sold-out IFG Teach-In served to set the tone and kick off the week of activities in Seattle. Archived webcasts of the Teach-In can be viewed on the WTOWatch website: http://www.wtowatch.org (Search Multimedia for "International Forum on Globalization").

November 30, 1999   ~   Town Hall   ~   Seattle, Washington

       Despite the fact that the debate was held on the first evening of the imposed curfew in Seattle (Tuesday, November 30, 1999), every one of the 1,000 seats was filled, the aisles were packed with camera equipment, and the downstairs room that televised the debate was full. This was one of the only forums in Seattle in which leading critics and advocates of the WTO had the opportunity to air their opinions. Archived webcast of the debate can be viewed on the Progress Project website: http://www.progressproject.org

featuring:

Moderator: Paul Magnusson, Business Week Magazine

Co-Sponsors: The International Forum on Globalization, The Nation Institute, Public Citizen, The Progress Project: an initiative of the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington and the Glaser Family Foundation

~   Day on Agriculture   ~

Panel presentations and public strategy sessions ran all day at the United Methodist Church with IFG associates and members of the IFG's International Food and Agriculture (IFA) Committee presenting on the myriad of issues surrounding globalization and agriculture, including the problems of industrial agriculture, biotechnology, organic farming alternatives, and the crises faced by small farmers. Participants included Walden Bello, Vandana Shiva, Anuradha Mittal, Peter Rosset, José Bové (European Farmers Union), Nettie Wiebe (National Farmers Union, Canada), Al Krebs (Corporate Agribusiness Research Project), Alberto Villarreal (Friends of the Earth, Uruguay), Ronnie Cummins (Organic Consumers Union) and others.

An enthusiastic mid-day public rally gathered together some 4,000 people showing support for small farmers and sustainable farming.