Since 2007 when ILRIG hosted the Annual Rosa Luxemburg Seminar, ILRIG has hosted its own anniversary Conference: Internationalism, Then and Now in April 2008 and the New Forms of Organisation Conference in April 2009. The next in the series of Annual Conferences will be a project hosted by ILRIG, in collaboration with the RLF cape Partners, and will be an interface between showcasing their work and a space for activists and analysts in South Africa to debate the causes of the current global economic crisis, why it took the specific form of a financial crisis, the responses by governments and the opportunities for alternatives to neo-liberal globalisation that these present.

The global capitalist crisis first appeared as a problem of sub-prime housing loans in the USA in 2007. Since then many people – even some amongst the most neo-liberal of governments and economists - now widely acknowledge that this is the worst crisis in the last 50 years. Mainly they look at the doldrums in the stock markets, bankruptcies of major banks and the declining growth rates of all the major capitalist countries when they make these statements. They call the crisis by a range of names – a financial crisis, a recession, a market slump etc, which are all features of the crisis. But of course these so-called experts cannot go so far as to accept that capitalism itself is the problem. That is simply too unthinkable to their view of the world.
Others are at least prepared to blame what they call unregulated capitalism for the problem or to point fingers at all the greed of bankers and those “experts” who told us that free-market, globalised, neo-liberal capitalism was not only the best system, but the only system possible in a modern world.
Governments across the world have spent something like $14 billion of public money propping up banks and other corporations. Some governments have nationalised banks, cut interest rates to nearly zero and printed money to stimulate their economies. Yet markets continue to founder, profits are down and banks and car companies have collapsed.
But have we seen a response so far from the capitalists and their governments that suggest that they are going to change from neo-liberal globalisation? Will they look once again to the kind of Keynesian capitalism that worked so well for them in the period of the 1940s, 50s and 60s and regulate capital flows, invest in public services and seek to grow capitalism by stimulating demand and providing full employment? Or are they still wedded to the same system of mobile capital, speculation and the privatisation of public goods?

The conference will consist of two components:
1. Inputs by speakers on the basis of draft papers submitted by interested activists and analysts – South African and international, as well as by ILRIG, LRS, AIDC, Amandla etc
researchers, and Annual ILRIG-RLF Cape Partners Conference International Labour Research and Information Group
2. Workshopped and parallel sessions in which ILRIG facilitators engage the issues raised as facilitated sessions using educational methodologies
Themes:
1. The underlying causes of the crisis, why it took the form of a “financial crisis” and a characterisation of the current regime of accumulation.
2. The responses of states, including the South African state, and whether they constitute any turn away from neo-liberal globalisation.
3. The responses of the dominated classes and
4. The possibilities for alternatives to capitalism.

To this end ILRIG and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation are inviting papers from any interested person.

• Expressions of Interest should be submitted by 16 February 2010

• Abstracts of papers should be submitted by 28 February 2010

• Final papers (after selection) must be submitted by 31 March 2010

Where possible, ILRIG will provide travel and accommodation for successful candidates All communication must be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Publication
After the Conference the papers will be published in an annual journal to be edited, published and
distributed by the conference hosts.