CORPORATE POWER OR PEOPLE'S POWER? TNCs AND GLOBALISATION
27, 28, 29 September 2001Asia-Pacific Research Network and AID/WATCH
University of Technology Sydney, Harris St, Sydney, Australia
In recent years corporations have gained remarkable power. Many have gone
transnational in the search for lower costs and bigger markets. In
response, governments have removed economic barriers, and Transnational
Corporations (TNCs) have led the way in the new world of corporate
globalisation. Today more than one third of the world's private assets are
owned by TNCs. One third of all international trade occurs within
individual TNCs. The everyday power of TNCs over livelihoods and politics
is now felt in the North as well as in the South. In both contexts TNCs
directly pose questions about the prospects for meaningful economic
development and for social and environmental justice. Across the globe, a
range of campaigns and movements are challenging TNCs, and contesting the
corporate globalisation that they bring. There is an urgent need to
strengthen this challenge. For this reason, the Asia-Pacific Research
Network has decided to hold its 2001 conference on the theme of contesting
TNCs. The conference is to be held in Sydney, Australia, a corporate city
that is the launch-pad for many TNCs in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the conference, participants will assess the impact of TNCs, and how
they exercise power. They will compare experiences, build research agendas
and develop strategy. They will develop common perspectives on TNCs across
NGOs in the region, creating complementary research agendas, agreeing on
common priorities for research, and developing shared strategies for
imposing popular sovereignty. In doing so, the conference will play a key
role in stimulating regional and Australian political debates on how to act
against corporate globalisation.
Accommodation International APRN conference delegates will stay at the YWCA
Sydney located at: 5-11 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney NSW 2010, Australia
Tel: (02) 9285 6211 Fax: (02) 9283248. If you are an Australian resident,
and would like assistance with finding accommodation, please contact Melita
Grant at AID/WATCH [EMAIL PROTECTED]
How to register
Visit the APRN website: www.aprnet.org, and follow the links for the
APRN's third annual conference.
THE APRN
The APRN was set up three years ago, and has its base in Manila, at the
offices of the Ibon Foundation. The Network has thirty-five members, all of
which are NGO research centres from across East, South and South-East Asia
and the Pacific. Participants use the Network to compare experiences,create
common research agendas, agree on priorities for future research, and
develop shared strategies for promoting popular sovereignty. The Network
has its own journal, of which there have been four issues, and a
newsletter. It works with its member organisations to mount training
sessions for grassroots NGOs, for instance helping the International NGO
Forum for Indonesian Development (INFID) create a strong movement critical
of the World Trade Organisation in Indonesia.
The Network also mounts a yearly conference, on a central theme, hosted in
a different country each year. The first APRN conference was held in Manila
in August 1999, and was focused on strategising for the up-coming Seattle
Ministerial of the World Trade Organisation. The second conference was held
in Jakarta in August 2000, and was focused on international financial
institutions, an issue of central importance for countries like Indonesia.
This year the conference is focused on Transnational Corporations, with the
title: 'Corporate Power or People's Power? TNCs and Globalisation'. The
conference is being hosted by AID/WATCH, along with a local organising
group that includes members of the Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences at UTS, and representatives of the Public Interest Advocacy
Centre, Mineral Policy Institute, Trade Union Aid Abroad, Friends of the
Earth, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Construction,
Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
DRAFT PROGRAM
DAY 1: WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
6.00-8.00 Forum and Book Launch
'When mountains are moved: communities confront mining and
globalisation'
DAY 2: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 : TRENDS AND IMPACTS
9.30-10.00 Welcome to Country
10.00-1030 APRN Welcome
11.00-1.00 Keynote speeches
Recent Evolution of TNCs; Schools of thought on TNCs2.00-5:00 Workshops
On sectoral impacts: agribusiness; labour; infrastructure and
mega-projects; Consumers; environment and resources; TNCs in the
Pacific; pndigenous peoples and TNCs
6.0-9.00 Public Forum Agendas for contesting corporate power: in
Australian and the region
DAY 3: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28 : POWER AND INFLUENCE
9.30-10.00 Plenary Report-back
10.00-11.30 Keynote Speeches
The new power and influence of TNCs; New challenges in defining
strategies
12.00-2.00 Press conference and protest
Coinciding with protests against the IMF/WB meeting in Washington, US
2.30-5.30 Workshops
On the power and influence of TNCs: TNCs and trade; TNCs and the state;
TNCs and finance; TNC lobbying and public relations; TNCs and
militarization.
DAY 4: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29: STRATEGY
9.30-11.00 Plenary
Common and contrasting experiences: four campaign case studies
11.30 - 1.00 Workshops
Strategy: labour movements; regulation and self-regulation; solidarity
against TNCs; targeting the state; engagement and confrontation;
alternatives to TNCs;
2.00-4.00 Workshops
Proposals for common research and common action
4.00-6.00 Plenary Report and Closing Speech
8.00-11.00 Solidarity Night
For more information
Contact Melita Grant (AID/WATCH) on ph: 61-2-9387 5210 or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ENDS
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