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Unavoidable evidence of the catastrophic consequences of climate change confronts us at every turn. Record high ocean temperatures. Once-a-century storms that appear every other year. And on and on. In the face of ongoing ecological disaster, international best-selling author Kōhei Saitō asks why our society continues to prioritize corporate profits (and the rapacious expansion on which they depend), and proposes a revolutionary alternative to unfettered capitalism: degrowth communism.
In Slow Down, Saitō provocatively argues that any solutions that don’t directly confront capitalism itself—from the COP agreements to the “Green New Deal”—represent dangerous compromises that may ultimately worsen the climate emergency. Because it creates artificial scarcity and endlessly produces commodities based on their value, rather than their usefulness, our economic system itself makes it impossible to reverse climate change so long as capitalism remains in place. The biggest contributor to the problem cannot be an integral part of its solution.
Instead, Saitō advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and our system of production. By returning to a system of social ownership, degrowth communism, we can restore the abundance of things that we truly need, and can focus on those activities that are essential for human life.
What would this alternative look like? How do we end mass production and mass consumption without reducing living standards? What do we need to do to redress global inequality without accelerating the rate at which the planet burns?
For this launch event Saitō will be in conversation on all of this, and more, with Science for the People editor, and Pilsen Community Books collective member and CounterPunch Radio co-host Erik Wallenberg. This event occurred on May 24, 2024 at Haymarket House in Chicago. More
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Last week the 2024 Democratic National Convention took over Chicago. Over the course of the week, the Democratic Party elite rubbed elbows and egos at the United Center and the McCormick Place Convention Center while outside, thousands gathered for meetings and marches, demonstrations and disruptions. CounterPunch Radio co-host and worker-owner at Chicago’s Pilsen Community Books, Erik Wallenberg, captured voices in the streets. Nathaniel St. Clair edited and produced the episode.
We hear from leaders of the opposition including Cornel West and Medea Benjamin as well as protesters who organized against the 1968 DNC and came out in the streets this year too. A speech from Chicago for Abortion Rights leader Mandy Medley, music from Songs for Liberation, and words from Mennonites for Ceasefire ring out alongside members of Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Veterans Against the War. The episode closes out with a song, Fields of Palestine, which was performed by Ryan Cason, a member of Songs for Liberation and Irish Americans for Palestine. This Irish folk song, Fields of Athenry was first adpated by Seth Stanton Watkins in solidarity with the struggle in Palestine. More
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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This week on CounterPunch Radio, Erik Wallenberg and Joshua Frank interview M.V. Ramana on nuclear power and why it's not an answer to the climate crisis. Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India (Penguin Books, 2012) and co-editor of Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream (Orient Longman, 2003). Ramana is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, the Canadian Pugwash Group, the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group, and the team that produces the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Leo Szilard Award from the American Physical Society.
He is the author of the new book, “Nuclear is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change” published by Verso.
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In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt talks with fellow members of California Jewish Artists for Palestine Sophia Sobko and Steph Kudisch, about their collective decision to submit and withdraw explicitly anti-Zionist artworks to an open call for Jewish artists at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. They discuss the process of pulling their works out of the exhibition; the importance of the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (PACBI); and what it means to be Jewish artists publicly confronting Jewish arts institutions that receive Zionist funding and are struggling to address the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
Steph Kudisch is a trans genderfluid artist whose work uses mutated intertidal aesthetics and personal storytelling to dwell in in-betweens. They work as a teaching artist on Lisjan Ohlone land, also known as the San Francisco Bay Area. Kudisch and their collaborator Kate Laster form Clear as Schmutz Press as well as the collective Hevra Kadisha in which they create site-specific works across the mediums of printmaking, sculpture, performance, and sound.
Sophia Sobko (she/they) is an artist, educator & researcher born in Moscow, USSR & based on Lisjan Ohlone Land in Oakland, CA. They are excited about collaborative learning, participatory art, and co-creating a more liberatory world. Sophia is founder/co-steward of two queer post-Soviet Jewish collectives: Kolektiv Goluboy Vagon and Krivoy Kolektiv.
Get in touch with CJAFP at cajewishartists4palestine[@]proton.me More
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In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, editor Joshua Frank and Pilsen Community Books worker-owner Erik Wallenberg talk with Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament program of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Ray provides analysis and advocacy at the United Nations and other international forums on matters of disarmament and demilitarization. They served on the steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its work to ban nuclear weapons, and is also involved in organizing against autonomous weapons, the arms trade, war and militarism, the carceral system, and more. They are also author of Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) and Abolishing State Violence: A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages (Haymarket Books, 2022). Ray is a regular columnist at CounterPunch+. Two of their most recent articles are “Solidarity to Stop AUKUS: Saying No to Nuclear Subs” and “Divest from Death: Resisting the Complexes of Empire.” More
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Join Counterpunch Radio contributor Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt, in conversation with activists and community organizers, Alakaʻi Kapānui and Fatima Abed, to discuss the Palestinian Solidarity movement in Hawai’i.
From being the first “state” to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, to the #CancelRIMPAC campaign against the world’s largest Navy exercises, Hawai’i organizers are drawing deeper connections between the military occupations of Hawai’i, Palestine, and the Israeli apartheid state. Decades of Native Hawaiian-led demilitarization efforts and current Palestinian and Jewish-led grassroots community are finding ways to collaborate towards genuine security.
Alakaʻi Kapānui is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi and Jewish activist and community organizer. She is the poʻo (head) of Kona 4 Palestine and co-founder of Huliau o Nā Wahi Kapu both of which focus on the demilitarizations and deoccupations of Hawaiʻi and Palestine. She has been a Hawaiian Kingdom and sovereignty activist since 2018 through Hui Aloha ʻĀina and with a heavy focus on cultural reconnection and practice. She is a kiaʻi o Mauna a Wākea, Mākua, Kaloko Loko ʻIa, and Pōhakuloa.
As the head of Kona 4 Palestine, she has been able to begin to reconnect to her Jewish heritage and since started working with other pro-Palestine organizations by hosting a series of teach-in events that directly address Palestine and global imperialism. And as a co- founder of Huliau o Nā Wahi Kapu, she has been able to focus on the ends of military leases and occupations such as Pōhakuloa Training Area, Mākua Valley, and the parallel military occupation of Palestine. Aloha ʻāina ʻoiaʻiʻo.
Fatima Abed (she/they) is a Palestinian and Puerto Rican human rights and animal activist residing in Hawaiʻi. She is the founder of Rise for Palestine, a grassroots organization focused on lobbying for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a free Palestine. Spearheading the campaign to adopt a ceasefire resolution in Hawai‘i at the “state” level, Rise for Palestine hosted teach-ins and film screenings, led rallies, and mobilized nearly 26,000 emails and phone calls to elected officials from residents throughout the islands. Once resolutions were given hearings, Rise for Palestine led the effort to mobilize testimony, helping to secure more than 1,600 pages of written testimony and numerous, powerful verbal testimonies in support of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in the State House and Senate. These efforts led to Hawai‘i becoming the first “state” in the nation to adopt a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire resolution for Gaza, with 72 of Hawai‘i’s 76 elected legislators voting in support.
Fatima has also led events to support Sulala Animal Rescue in Gaza, the only animal rescue still operating under fierce bombardment. You can follow Sulala and Saed on instagram: @Sulalaanimalrescue
Fatima is currently traveling the continent, gathering the stories of Palestinian-Americans, and activists and students who are fighting for a free Palestine. She is headed towards the DNC as an elected “Uncommitted” delegate for the “state” of Hawai'i. Here she will uplift and echo all of the voices of the activists she encountered during this genocide in Gaza to US media and elected officials.
Follow her journey and support here: https://gofund.me/8c8b0b1e
And on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RiseforPalestine
Follow Rise for Palestine on Instagram: rise_for_palestine
If you know anyone interested in sharing their stories you can contact her at [email protected].
More
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In this episode of CounterPunch Radio, Joshua Frank and Erik Wallenberg interview Silky Shah, author of "Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition" (Haymarket, 2024). Silky has been working as an organizer on issues related to racial and migrant justice for over two decades. Originally from Texas, she began fighting the expansion of immigrant jails on the US-Mexico border in the aftermath of 9/11. In 2009, she joined the staff of Detention Watch Network, a national coalition building power to abolish immigrant detention in the United States, and now serves as its executive director. More
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Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt, sitting in for Eric Draitser on CounterPunch Radio, talks with Hanin Siam, a Palestinian organizer based in Tokyo, Japan. They discuss the challenges of organizing the Palestine solidarity movement in Japan, including the nuances of their communities in Tokyo and Hiroshima. From the history of Japanese support for Palestine, to BDS, to the social and legal limitations of protest, Rebecca and Hanin cover the diverse strategies and public response to the fight for Palestinian Liberation in Japan. Follow @palestinejapan for more. Edited by Kryzia Villada. More
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This time on CounterPunch Radio we sit down with Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick, co-authors of "Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse," a critical new report published by Rutgers University Law School's Center for Security, Race, and Rights. The conversation explores the political and social context for this report, as well as the timing of its release, published as it was against the backdrop of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. The discussion broadens beyond the report to explore various aspects of the Palestine issue and its continued central importance for the US and western countries, as well as for the "Middle East," world politics and global affairs. More
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Eric Draitser sits down with CounterPunch Editor Joshua Frank to discuss the reasons why CounterPunch Radio has been mostly quiet in recent months. Eric details some of his physical and mental health issues in recent months, and the prospects for his return to regular podcasting. More
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This time Eric welcomes activist, author, and neuroscientist Yoav Litvin back to CounterPunch to discuss Palestine, Zionism, and the Israeli war. Yoav discusses his upbringing in both US and Israel, his time in the IDF in Lebanon, and the ways in which he first confronted his Zionism and began to decolonize his mind. From there, the conversation explores the nature of Zionism and the Zionist project in Palestine, the importance of non-Israeli Jewish opinion internationally, the necessity of being in solidarity with Palestinians, the centrality of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, Israeli politics and the future of Netanyahu, the role of the US and Israel's place within US imperialism, the specter of Trump's return, and so much more. Don't miss this important conversation only on CounterPunch! More
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Conversation originally recorded in January 2022
This time Eric chats with Dr. Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance 1917-2017.
The conversation explores the early years of the Zionist movement and how it was perceived by prominent Palestinians, including Dr. Khalidi’s ancestors, and the inextricable link between Zionism, colonialism, and imperial power. Eric and Rashid discuss everything from attempts to erase Palestinian culture and history to the impact that Israel’s rightward shift has had on younger generations of Jews, especially in the US. So many topics covered in this important conversation with one of the most prominent voices of opposition to Israeli policies and oppression. Don’t miss this CounterPunch Radio! More
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This week, CounterPunch Radio presents another conversation between CounterPunchers Richard Falk, Matthew Stevenson, and Daniel Warner about Trump, the nature of Trump's fascism, the internationalization of fascist politics, and much more. Note: This conversation was recorded prior to the events of October 7, 2023 and the Israeli attack on Gaza. More
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This time Eric welcomes to the show artist, peace activist and CounterPunch contributor Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt to discuss her recent article "This Is Genocide: All Out to End the War on Gaza," and the long road she's taken to anti-Zionist activism. Eric and Rebecca explore the forms of indoctrination used to inculcate Zionism in young American Jews, the differences between secular and non-secular Zionist propaganda, the use of the term "genocide" to refer to Israel's oppression of Palestinians, the fascist nature of the Israeli state, and much more. More
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On this emergency episode of CounterPunch Radio, Eric speaks with longtime author, journalist, and Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud, all about the war in Gaza, the resistance of Palestinians, and the historic developments of recent days. More
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This time Eric welcomes to CounterPunch author, activist and organizer Bill Fletcher, Jr. to discuss his recent writing, his past as a labor organizer, his outspoken position on Ukraine and imperialism, and much more. Bill and Eric discuss Bill's youth and first exposure to radical politics, his entry into organized labor, his role in helping organize Minor League Baseball, and more. The second half of the conversation explores international affairs, the responsibility of the Left in clarifying political questions, the red-brown phenomenon on the Left, and why so many leftists are so wrong on critical international issues, etc. The final part of the discussion centers on Bill's new fiction book and how he infused the story and characters with the radical politics he's professed all his life. Don't miss this belated, but exciting, conversation only on CounterPunch! More
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This time Eric chats with Ilya Budraitskis, a Russian historian, political activist, and author of "Dissidents among Dissidents: Ideology, Politics, and the Left in Post-Soviet Russia." Ilya explains his decision to leave Russia in the days following the invasion of Ukraine, and provides an analysis of the early antiwar protests forcibly suppressed by the Kremlin. From there, Ilya provides an analysis of the Russian Left, including the reactionary Communist Party of Russia, and explains the various dynamics at play in Russia. The final portion of the discussion centers around the questions of Russian imperialism and the ideological war Putin has waged on the history and legacy of Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution. More
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This week, CounterPunch Radio presents a conversation between CounterPunchers Richard Falk, Matthew Stevenson, and Daniel Warner about Ukraine, Russia, and the future of the international order. The discussion centers on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the role of the US in laying the groundwork for the conflict, and the importance of advocating for peace. More
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This time on CounterPunch Radio, Eric is joined by Khalid Medani, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University and author of "Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa," to discuss the situation in Sudan. The conversation explores the history of Sudan, including the colonial period and the creation of the modern state. From there, Dr. Medani provides his analysis of the roots of the current conflict, the factions involved, the social classes participating in the protests, and much more. The final portion of the discussion discusses the roles of the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Russia, China, and others in Sudan. More
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This time CounterPunch sits down with Volodia Artiukh, a Ukrainian post-doctoral researcher and editor at Commons: Journal of Social Criticism, to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, the discourse about the war on the international left, and much more. Volodia provides his perspective on popular terms like "decolonization" and "proxy war" and whether such concepts are useful in context of Ukraine's fight against Russian imperialism. The conversation also explores the political character of Ukrainian President Zelensky, and how the global conversation about him serves various interests. In the final portion of the discussion, Artiukh provides a detailed political analysis of Belarus, how the Bonapartist state functions,the future of Lukashenko, the state of the left following the post-2020 repression, the potential for Russian intervention, and much more. Don't miss this important conversation available only at CounterPunch! More
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- Visa fler
