AFRICAN PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY CONFERENCE

Click here to view the Latest Umsebenzi. [PDF]

RED ALERT
Funding the national democratic revolution: Harnessing our financial assets towards a new growth path
Read more

Click here to view the Latest African Communist. [PDF]

AFRICAN PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY CONFERENCE

Conference Details
1.1 Open invitation / Conferencia Africana sobre democracia participativa
1.2 Draft Conference Programme
1.3 Conference Objectives
1.4 Conference Themes
1.5 List of Speakers
1.6 List of participants

CONFERENCE DETAILS

1.1 OPEN INVITATION

To: All Interested Organisations in Africa

INVITATION TO THE AFRICAN PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY CONFERENCE, 14-16 AUGUST 2008, SOWETO, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

In the context of fluid global developments and both challenges and potentialities of mass democratic participatory politics in localized processes, the South African Communist Party and the Left Party of Sweden (Vänsterpartiet) through the Left International Forum are engaged in a collaborative effort to host a Southern African conference on Participatory Democracy which will be held in Soweto, Johannesburg in South Africa.

We hope to assemble an array of regional and international civil society activists, social movements, scholars and campaigners in various fields with social, political and gender orientation as well as representatives of rural and indigenous movements with extensive expertise in grassroots mobilization and politics of democratic mass participation. We want to focus on the experience of people’s participation, expanding the democratic space, developing an alternative peoples economic, political, social and cultural agenda, as well as of alternative forms of popular governance.

This conference is a continuation of an International Conference on Participatory Democracy held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2004 and a Latin American Conference on Participatory Democracy held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005. Documentation from these conferences is available at our website, www.participamos.org.

We are inviting all South African and other African interested organisations to register their participation for the congress.

By June 2008 a conference programme will be available for distribution on our website. For more information, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Mothusi Mongale, Tel +2711 339 3621, Fax: +2711 339 4244, Fax +27866 179 105, Mobile: +2783 2600 392, thelma@sacp.org.za , Maria.Brendler@vansterpartiet.se

Dr. Blade Nzimande Eva Björklund
SACP General Secretary Left Party Board, in charge of international relations

Conferencia Africana sobre democracia participativa 14-16 agosto de 2008, Soweto, Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica

En el contexto de desarrollos fluidos a nivel global y los desafíos y posibilidades de políticas participativas, democráticas y masivas a nivel local, el Partido Comunista de Africa (South African Communist Party) y el Partido de Izquierda de Suecia (Vänsterpartiet) a través del Foro Internacional de la Izquierda (VIF), están colaborando en la organización de una conferencia sobre Democracia Participativa, que tendrá lugar en Soweto, Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica

Deseamos reunir a un gran número de activistas de la sociedad civil regionales e internacionales, de los movimientos sociales, académicos y activistas en diversos campos con orientación social, político y de género, así como representantes de las zonas rurales y los movimientos indígenas con amplia experiencia en la movilización popular y la política democrática de participación de masas.

Esta conferencia está incluida en una serie de conferencias internacionales sobre democracia participativa organizados por el VIF que empezó en Estocolmo 2004, siguió en Caracas 2005, en Manila 2007, en Diyarbakir y Zagreb 2007. Documentación de estas conferencias están a su disposición en nuestra pagina web www.participamos.org.

En la pagina web también pueden, a partir de Julio, encontrar el programa de la conferencia en Soweto. Para más información por favor no tarde en contactar al Sr Mothusi Mongale, Tel +2711 339 3621, Fax: +2711 339 4244, Fax +27866 179 105, Mobile: +2783 2600 392, lucian@sacp.org.za, o Maria.Brendler@vansterpartiet.se

Dr. Blade Nzimande Eva Björklund
SACP Secretario General Foro Internacional de Izquierda

1.2 DRAFT CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

SOUTHERN AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY HOSTED BY SACP AND THE LEFT INTERNATIONAL FORUM (SWEDEN) 14 – 16 AUGUST 2008

ITEM	PRESENTER	TIME
Day 1, Thursday 14 August 2008
Arrival and Registration Gauteng & Soweto Tour	All International Guests	08h00 – 13h00
Lunch		13h00 – 14h00
Opening The Internationale	Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge SACP PB Member	14h00 – 14h10
Welcoming Remarks	Left International Forum	14h10 – 14h25
Presentation of attendance	Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge	14h25 – 14h40
Conference Political Overview	Blade Nzimande SACP General Secretary	14h40 – 15h10
Questions and Comments on the overview	Plenary	15h10 – 15h40
Comfort Break and Marimba Cultural Group	Plenary	15h40 – 16h00
Panel 1 Presentation The significance and development of the practice and the theory of participative democracy, experiences from Via Campesina and the Landless Movement	João Pedro Stédile or Neuri Rosetti MST, Brazil	16h00 – 16h15
Bringing Latin-American experiences of popular participation to Africa: The process of building up an African regional school of Via Campesina in Maputo.	Diamantino Nhampossa Executive coordinator of the União Nacional de Camponeses/National Peasant Union, Mozambique	16h15– 16h30
The missions and the communal councils as instruments to mobilize and strengthen participative and protagonic democracy in building socialism in the 21 century	Lidice Navas Polite Bureau of the new Socialist Unified Party of Venezuela	16h30 –16h45
Comments and Questions	Plenary	16h45 – 17h45
Supper		17h45
Day 2, Friday 15 August 2008
Panel 2 Presentation
The structure and practice of Peoples Power in socialism, theory and experiences, achievements and deficiencies, special emphasis on gender issues	Dr. Concepcion Nieves Ayus Director of the Philosophy Institute of the Ministry of Science	09h00 - 09h15
Battling neo-colonialism: Resisting commodification and struggles to retain public ownership of state assets	Patrick Bond - South Africa Egypt	09h15 – 09h45
Contradictions of electoral models in Post-colonial independent African states, authoritarianism and undemocratic political ideologies –	Brain Raftopolous/Ibbo Mandaza - Zimbabwe Kenya	09h45 – 10h15
Comments and Questions		10h15-11h30
Comfort Break & Marimba Cultural Group		11h30-11h45
Panel 3 Presentation The motivation, development and long term political results of the decentralized popular planning initiated in 1996, as well as the impact of participatory methods in coping with the 2004 Tsunami catastrophe.	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	11h45 – 12h00
Trade unions, democracy and changing society - Achievements and setbacks in the history and actuality of the Swedish labour movement in the struggle for political, economic and workplace democracy	Sweden	12h00 – 12h15
Gender equality, the new generation. The experience of the Young Lefts activism in schools for feminist awareness and confidence	Elisabeth Biström-Risslen Vice-Chair of Ung Vänster (Young Left) - Sweden	12h15 – 12h30
Negotiating Peaceful transitions: liberation veterans and arms struggle in Darfur. The challenge of child soldiers in Liberia	Sudan Uganda	12h30-13h00
Lunch		13h00 – 14h00
Comments and Questions		14h00 – 15h30
Comfort Break & Marimba Cultural Group		15h30 – 15h45
Panel 4 Presentation Solidarity as a base for popular organisation. - The Swedish anti-apartheid movement as a social movement. From popular organisation to political influence	Lotta Johnsson Fornarve Former board-member of ISAK (Isolate South Africa Committee) and member of the Left Party Sweden	15h45 – 16h00
Beyond the denouement of racist and xenophobic violence, an activist approach to progressive worker internationalism; the effects of migration in the current conjuncture	Cameroon/Nigeria	16h00 – 16h15
The catastrophe of military occupations for Women and children	Polisario Western Sahara MOROCCO	16h15 – 16h30
Comments and Discussions	Plenary	16h30 – 17h15
Summary of the Day and Announcements		17h15-17h30
SUPPER		17h30

Day 3, Saturday 16 August 2008
Commissions 1,2,3,4	Commissions	09h00 – 11h00
Comfort Break		11h00 – 11h15
Plenary Reports		11h15 – 12h30
Lunch		12h30 – 13h30
Discussion of Commission Reports		13h30 – 15h00
Comfort Break and Marimba Cultural Group		15h00 – 15h30
Declaration of Conference		15h30 – 15h45
Closing Remarks	SACP Left International Forum	15h45 – 16h00
Singing of The Internationale
CULTURAL EVENING		19h00

1.3 CONFERENCE THEMES

1.4

The significance and development of the practice and the theory of participative democracy, experiences from Via Campesina and the Landless Movement. – BRAZIL
The structure and practice of Peoples Power in socialism, theory and experiences, achievements and deficiencies, special emphasis on gender issues - CUBA
The motivation, development and long term political results of the decentralized popular planning initiated in 1996, as well as the impact of participatory methods in coping with the 2004 Tsunami catastrophe. KERALA
Bringing Latin-American experiences of popular participation to Africa: The process of building up an African regional school of Via Campesina in Maputo. MOZAMBIQUE
The missions and the communal councils as instruments to mobilize and strengthen participative and protagonic democracy in building socialism in the 21 century – VENEZUELA
Trade unions, democracy and changing society - Achievements and setbacks in the history and actuality of the Swedish labour movement in the struggle for political, economic and workplace democracy - SWEDEN
Gender equality, the new generation. The experience of the Young Lefts activism in schools for feminist awareness and confidence - SWEDEN
Solidarity as a base for popular organisation. - The Swedish anti-apartheid movement as a social movement. From popular organisation to political influence - SWEDEN
The coercive foundations of Ecological disasters: Prelude to people driven anti-imperialist campaigns to preserve nature and the environment – KENYA/SWAZILAND
Militarism and imperialist wars: The vulnerability of African states and spaces for long term cohesion for global peace and sovereignty – UGANDA/ALGERIA
Battling neo-colonialism post apartheid: Resisting commodification and struggles to retain public ownership of state assets. SOUTH AFRICA/EGYPT
Contradictions of electoral models in Post-colonial independent African states, authoritarianism and undemocratic political ideologies – SOUTH AFRICA/ZIMBABWE
Negotiating peaceful transitions: liberation soldiers and arms struggle – MAURITANIA/UGANDA
Beyond the denouement of racist and xenophobic violence, an activist approach to progressive worker internationalism; the effects of migration in the current conjuncture - CAMEROON
Neo-colonial decoys and the configuration of new trade regimes – Economic Partnerships Agreements, FTA, masking developmental agendas of the poor countries for economic and social progress - LESOTHO
Imperialism and battles for geo-political control of global energy sources: War on Iraq and Afghanistan – EGYPT/REUNION/BOTSWANA/SENEGAL
The catastrophe of military occupations for Women and children - MOROCCO

1.5 DRAFT LIST OF SPEAKERS – TO BE UPDATED

Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary

Brain Raftopolous - Zimbabwe

Cameroon

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Diamantino Nhampossa, Executive coordinator of the União Nacional de Camponeses/National Peasant Union, Mozambique

Dr. Concepcion Nieves Ayu, Director of the Philosophy Institute of the Ministry of Science

Egypt

Elisabeth Biström-Risslen, Vice-Chair of Ung Vänster (Young Left) - Sweden

Ibbo Mandaza - Zimbabwe

João Pedro Stédile or Neuri Rosetti, MST, Brazil

Kenya

Lidice Navas, Polite Bureau of the new Socialist Unified Party of Venezuela

Lotta Johnsson Fornarve, Former board-member of ISAK (Isolate South Africa Committee) and member of the Left Party Sweden

National La Voie Democratuue (Democratic Path) - MOROCCO

Nigeria

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, SACP PB Member and member of Parliament

Patrick Bond - South Africa

Polisario Western Sahara

Sudan

Sweden

Uganda

1.6 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS – TO BE UPDATED

ORGANISATION	ABBREVIATION
African National Congress	ANC
African National Congress Womens League	ANCWL
African national Congress Youth League	ANCYL
Anti-Privatisation Forum	APF
Cameroon/Nigeria
Centre for Civil Society, South Africa	CSS
Communist Party of Brazil
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI(M)
Communist Party of Lesotho	CPL
Communist Party of Sudan, Sudan	CPS
Congress of South African Students	COSAS
Congress of South African Trade Unions	COSATU
Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa	CONTRLESA
Disabled People Of South Africa	(DPSA)
Former ISAK -Isolate South Africa Committee, Sweden	ISAK
Friends of the Inner-City Forum
Institute for Democratic Alternative in South Africa	IDASA
Kabale Socialist Club, Uganda	KSC
La Voie Démocratique (Democratic Path), Morocco
Landless People Movement	LPM
Left International Forum	VIF
Left Party of Sweden
MST, Brazil	MST
New Socialist Unified Party of Venezuela
Peoples United Democratic Movement	PUDEMO
Philosophy Institute of the Ministry of Science, Cuba
Polisario, Western Sahara	POLISARIO
SAPES Trust	SAPES
Social Democratic Party, Kenya
South African Communist Party	SACP
South African Council of Churches	SACC
South African Human Rights Commission	SAHRC
South African Medical Association	SAMA
South African Municipal Workers Union	SAMWU
South African National Civic Organisations	SANCO
South African NGO Coalition	SANGOCO
South African Students Congress	SASCO
Treatment Action Campaign	TAC
União Nacional de Camponeses/National Peasant Union, Mozambique
United Progresive Forces, Mauritania	UFP
Young Communist League	YCL
Young Left, Sweden