2006 Summer Institute
2005 Summer Insitute
(Note: in 2007, instead of holding our regular Summer Institute, we organized and facilitated a number of workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta)
2006 Summer Institute
CPE’s 28 th Summer Institute was a wonderful success. We had over for for ty fantastic participants from all over the U.S. and this year, from around the world. Ever since 9-11 and the crackdown on visas, applicants from the global south have had trouble getting visas to attend our Summer Institute. This year, we were surprised but delighted that five people from Africa and one from the Philippines were able to attend and bring with them invaluable perspectives and experiences. A number of participants said that they really valued coming together in a supportive and non-judgemental environment with people who were very diverse of people in terms of place, race, nationality, class background, issue and political views.
The U.S. and International Economy classes both got rave reviews. Geert Dhondt and Heidi Garrett Peltier taught the U.S. class and made a terrific team. The International class was taught be Kevin Crocker, Jerry Epstein and Amit Basole. Due to scheduling problems, Jerry and Amit split the week. We had never tried this before, but it seemed to work well and the participants had glowing things to say about all of the teachers.
We are very excited to pursue discussion with two participants from this past Summer Institute about developing curriculum and running trainings in W. Africa and in Uganda.
We had a fantastic line-up of plenary speakers focusing on the theme of economic alternatives. (for more details, see SI 2006 schedule) We had inspiring examples of real world economic alternatives from Gar Alperovitz, Julie Graham and Rene Poitevin. We had thought provoking visions of what a more just and sustainable economy might look like from Michael Albert and Nancy Folbre. Melissa Hoover and Hector Saez addressed the question, “Is socially responsible capitalism enough?” and found it lacking. Merillee Mardon, James Heintz and Gary Flomenhoft talked about globalization, gender and development. Melissa Gonzales-Brenes and Paul Glover discussed the promises and challenges of community-led development using concrete examples in the U.S. and in Africa.
We had lots of interesting workshops, many of which were presented by local groups that are involved in economic alternatives including the Anti-Displacement Project, BALLE (Building a living local economy), Common Good Bank, Cooperative Fund of New England, Dean’s Beans, E2M, Ithaca Healthcare Alliance, Nuestras Raices, Sirius eco-village, Grassroots Economic Organizing and the Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives. We were also delighted to have two artistic workshops facilitated by folks from the New World Theater and United for a Fair Economy.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard and with good cheer to make the Summer Institute a great success.
 
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2006 Summer Institute Schedule
July 23-29, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
**All workshops and plenary sessions are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC**
Sunday, July 23
7:00-9:00 pm PLENARY: Real World Economic Alternatives: Stepping Stones to 'Another World'
- Gar Alperovitz ( National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives): “ America Beyond Capitalism”
- Julie Graham, (CPE staff economist, local economic activist and author of A Postcapitalist Politics): “Create Your Own Economy Now! A Global Vision for Local Communities”
- Rene Poitevin, (NYU Professor, activist and low-income housing organizer): “ Venezuela and the 'Socialism of the New Century': Lessons for the U.S. Left”
Monday, July 24
1:30-3:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: “Economics of Renewable Energy,” Lynn Benander (Coop Power)
- Workshop 2: “Where’s the Money: Resources for Economic Alternatives,” Mary Hoyer (Cooperative Fund of New England), William Spademan (Common Good Bank) and others
- Workshop 3: “The Promise of the Commons in Reclaiming Shared Wealth," David Bollier
3:30-5:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: “Colonial Crises and Peoples’ Struggles: The Puerto Rican Experience,” Rene Poitevin (see above), Saolo Colon
- Workshop 2: “Parecon: A Classless Economy, Vision and Strategy,” Michael Albert (Z Magazine, Z Institute and ZNet)
- Workshop 3: “Building a Living Local Economy,” Daniel Finn (BALLE)
7:00-9:00 pm PLENARY: Visions of “Another World”
- Nancy Folbre (CPE staff economist, UMass Professor, author of Field Guide to the U.S. Economy) "Socialist Fantasies, Feminist Realities, and Imaginary Futures"
- Michael Albert (see above), "A Vision of Life After Capitalism and Implications for the Present"
Discussant: David Kotz (CPE staff economist, UMass Professor, author of Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet System)
Tuesday, July 25
7:00-9:00 pm PLENARY: Is Socially Responsible Capitalism Enough?
- Melissa Hoover ( U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives) “From Workers to Owners”
- Hector Saez (CPE staff economist, Univ. of Vermont) “Corporate Social Responsibility: Potential and limits for fundamental change”
Wednesday, July 26
1:30-3:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: “New-Old ways of living and owning,” Charles Uchu Strader (Sirius Community) and others.
- Workshop 2: “Creative Alternatives: A Text & Movement Workshop,” Andrea Assaf (New World Theater). Will develop a performance for the open mic.
- Workshop 3: “Cooperatives 101,” Discussion with Len Krimerman (Grassroots Economic Organizing), Mary Hoyer (Cooperative Fund of New England), Melissa Hoover (U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives), and others
3:30-5:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: Short films on Economic Alternatives: Mondragon, World Social Forum, Cooperatives
- Workshop 2: “Art and Social Change: Imaging Economic Justice” – Brenda Cotto Escalera (United for a Fair Economy). Will develop a mural and text for the open mic.
- Workshop 3: Cooperatives and Social Movements
“Worker Cooperatives: Some Theory and A Lot of Practice,” Steve Strimer, Adam Trott (Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives), “Cooperatives: Globalization and Competition,” Len Krimerman (Grassroots Economic Organizing), Melissa Hoover ( U.S. Federation of Worker Coops)
7:00-9:00 pm PLENARY: Globalization, Gender and Development
- Merrilee Mardon ( Connecticut College Professor), “The Benefits of Including Women in Development: Evidence from Rural Brazil”
- James Heintz (CPE staff economist, Political Economy Research Institute) “Women, Work and Poverty in a Global Economy”
9:00-10:30 pm COFFEE HOUSE/OPEN MIC: performances developed by workshops earlier in the day
Thursday, July 27
1:30-3:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: “Farmers in the city: economic & cultural development through food and agricultural projects.” Daniel Ross, Hilda Colon (Nuestras Raices)
- Workshop 2: “Economics of Non-violence.” Amit Basole (CPE Staff Economist)
- Workshop 3: “Building Cooperative Healthcare,” Paul Glover (Ithaca Health Care Alliance, founder of Ithaca Hours, a local currency system)
3:30-5:00 pm CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS
- Workshop 1: “Fair Trade: A Practical Approach to Trade Justice in Coffee,” Dean Cycon (Dean's Beans)
- Workshop 2: “Creating an alternative economy - the Beauty and the Beast: Best practices, pitfalls, obstacles, lessons learned,” Caroline Murray (Anti-Displacement Project), Michael Garjian (E2M)
- Workshop 3: “Building Cooperative Healthcare” (cont’d) Paul Glover
7:00-9:00 pm PLENARY: Linking Practice and Policy
- Paul Glover (see above) “Cooperative Healthcare”
- Melissa Gonzalez-Brenes (UMass Professor) “Linking local and global change: reflections on gender and development in Africa”
Friday, July 28
8:30 pm-11:00 PARTY FOR SUMMER INSTITUTE COMMUNITY!
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2005 Summer Institute
“Participation in the CPE Summer Institute has benefited me not only personally but it has increased my effectiveness as an activist. It was a truly empowering experience.”
-- Abigail Adams, Freedom Center
CPE is delighted to welcome graduates of the 2005 Summer Institute into the esteemed ranks of popular economists. We had some 40 participants from as far away as India, Guatemala, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Michigan who came to learn about the workings (and non-workings) of the economy and to discuss economic alternatives to the current failed economic model.
We were privileged to have a wonderful group of participants who came from a wide range of organizations including Arise for Social Justice, Enlace/Holyoke Family Network, Poor People’s Alliance, Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Community Education Project, Treatment Action Campaign, American Friends Service Committee, United for a Fair Economy, Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, MA Nurses Association, Project Hope, Creation of Wealth Project, Bosnian Resource Center, MassCare, World Peace Center, Christian Community Action, Freedom Center, plus individual activists involved in education, labor, health, disability and ex-offender rights, and media. Sadly there were five women activists from Africa who were prevented from attending because they were denied visas – courtesy of Homeland Security.
In keeping with this year’s special track on Health and Economic Justice, the International class used HIV/AIDS to understand how current economic policies and structures have contributed to the global crisis. Participants loved the very concrete illustrations that brought home the impact of ‘neoliberal’ economics on the lives of real people. In the U.S. class, staff economist Dean Robinson led a session on race, class and health inequalities which received rave reviews.
The evening panels focusing on health and economic justice were excellent. Dr. Heidi Behforouz from Partners in Health and PACT gave an inspiring talk about how complicated and intensive treatment for TB and AIDS have been successfully delivered to populations from Haiti to Boston that were once considered to be too poor, too uneducated, their lives too chaotic, to be able to maintain the treatment program. By pairing patients with volunteer ‘accompanieros’ to help keep them on track, many people have brought back, almost literally, from the dead.
 
Dr. John Abramson, author of “Overdosed America” gave an alarming talk about how medical studies are increasingly being influenced by the pharmaceutical industry and how this is creating fundamentally flawed healthcare. Dr. Sarah Kemble a ‘grad’ of CPE’s Summer Institute, wore her Physicians for a National Health Plan hat, and presented reasons to be hopeful that universal healthcare is achievable, although she did echo John Abramson’s concerns about the quality of that healthcare if pharmaceuticals are able to continue to distort research and treatment protocols.
We had a lively panel on Fighting for Health: Activist Tales & Lessons in which speakers talked about their experiences on the frontlines of health activism. Mark Dudzic from the Labor Party, spoke from his long experience as a labor activist in the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union about the role of labor in advancing worker health and safety as well as universal healthcare. Will Hall from the Freedom Center recounted his nightmarish experience of being forcibly restrained and medicated once in the grip of the mental health system, and his subsequent activist work challenging the use of force as well as offering examples of successful non-coercive approaches. Asia Russell from HealthGAP inspired us with an account of AIDS organizing including the successful occupation of pharmaceutical boardrooms to bring about a huge drop in the price of AIDs drugs.
Many thanks to all of the folks who facilitated some great workshops covering a wide range of topics, including: building & sustaining local economies; trade; tax & budget activism; the cost of healthcare; resisting corporate psychiatry; healthcare reform; disability rights; economics and poor people; anti-sweatshop organizing; health peace & ecology; plus a number of films.
Overall, participants had high praise for the classrooms, speakers and workshops. Other than some glitches with the caterer, problems with the dorms (eg. one participant was missing a bed for the first night), a supposedly accessible room with stairs, things went remarkably smoothly. Many new friendships and links were forged, and the week ended on a wonderful high of warmth and solidarity. So thanks to everyone – participants, presenters, teachers, and staff for making for a wonderful experience. |
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