Conference on fighting the New World Order

Conference on fighting the New World Order

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — International and Australian issues facing the left under the New World Order were the focus of a conference at the Resistance Centre in New Farm on the weekend of November 23-24.

The Brisbane Conference of the Democratic Socialist Party attracted some 80 people to a series of feature talks, workshops and other activities on a variety of themes.

Special guest speakers were DSP national secretary Jim Percy and Resistance national coordinator Anne O'Callaghan.

Jim Percy discussed the topic, The DSP, Alliances and the Social Movements, outlining the history of the DSP's strategy of combining party-building with the need to reach out to other progressive forces in the left and social movements, as part of the essential process of constructing an alternative political leadership.

A World to Win: Feminism in the '90s, was the topic of Anne O'Callaghan's talk, which outlined the achievements, problems and prospects of the women's movement in a period of challenge to the gains of the past, and the debates emerging about a way forward for women today.

Other talks included Coral Wynter on Marxism and the New World Order, and DSP Brisbane secretary Jim McIlroy on Australia at the Crossroads: Which Way for the Left?

Workshops were held on issues facing the green movement, international solidarity, trade unions and the ALP, Marxism for beginners and Marxist economics for the "recession we had to have".

The main themes of the weekend arose from the documents and reports being discussed by DSP members in the lead-up to the party's 14th National Socialist Activists and Educational Conference, being held near Sydney from January 2 to 6.

A major highlight of the Brisbane conference was the cabaret night, A Cultural Dissent: Mixing Pop and Politics, featuring the Resistance Cabaret and guests.

From GLW issue 38