Global Climate Change and Capitalism
Friday, July 30 - Monday, August 2
Epworth Center, High Falls, NY
Room Code
A – Powerpoint
Room Code B –
Room Code C –
FRIDAY, JULY 30
4pm - REGISTRATION BEGINS AND CONTINUES ALL WEEKEND
6pm - DINNER
7pm - 9pm
The David Gordon Lecture
Climate Change: Barbarisn or Socialism
MINQI LI, University of Utah
9:15pm - 11pm - INFORMAL SOCIALIZING
Catching up with old friends, getting to know new ones
SATURDAY, JULY 31
8am - 8:45am - BREAKFAST
9am - 10:15am
Site A: Radical Analysis of Climate Change I
Alex Julca (UNDP)
Uneven economic and social impacts of climate change
Jacqueline Patterson (NAACP)
The intersection of race, gender, and climate change
Site B: Capitalism and Democracy
Perry Bezanis
How We Came to 'Democracy - The Best Form of Government' Why It Isn't - And Where It's Going
10:30am - 11:45am
Site A: Corporations and the Environment
Irwin Sperber (SUNY New Paltz)
The Corporatization of Environmental NGOs and the Acceleration of Global Warming: How Tools for Protecting the Planet Are Cooking It
Site B: Political Economy and Crises of Capitalism
Mohamad Shaaf (Univ. of Central Oklahoma)
The Link between Over-Expanded-Concentrated Capital, Oligarchy, and Political Crisis
Thomas Volscho
The Revenge of the Capitalist Class: The Rise and Crisis of Neoliberalism
12pm - 2:15pm - LUNCH AND RELAXATION
2:30pm - 3:45pm
Site A: Alternative Perspectives on Social Security and Health Care
Robert Kemp
Healthcare in the USA: Two Steps Backward
Brent Kramer
The Class War Against Social Security and The "Liberal" Agenda
Site B: Capitalism and Racism
Thomas Masterson (Levy Institute, Bard College)
What Progress Has Been Made in Alleviating Racial Inequality?
Site C: Institutions and Development
Laura Ebert (Planet Earth)
Corporate Behavior Front and Center: The Macroeconomic Policy Conundrum in South Africa
4pm - 5:45pm - URPE BUSINESS MEETING
6pm - DINNER
7pm - 9pm
Plenary 1: Causes and Consequences of Climate Change
Joel Kovel, editor Capitalism Nature Socialism; author The Enemy of Nature
Climate Change: the Legacy of Capital
Brian Tokar, Director of the Institute for Social Ecology
Apocalypse and Utopia in Today's Climate Movement
Diana Wu, Amherst College
A New Environmentalism: US Grassroots Approaches to Justice and Ecology
9:15pm - 12am - ENTERTAINMENT
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1
8am - 8:45am - BREAKFAST
9am - 10:15am
Site A: Plenary Follow Up Discussion
Joel Kovel and Brian Tokar
Discussion and Continuation of Causes and Consequences Plenary
Site B: Queer Pedagogy and Teaching Climate Change from a Heterodox Perspective
Kristin Munro (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago)
Homo-economicus: Queer Pedagogy for Introductory Economics
10:30am - 11:45am
Site A: Radical Analysis of Climate Change II
Tom Walker and Gene Coyle
Climate Change and Working Time --Beyond Business as Usual
Mariano Torras
Climate Change, the Capitalist Crisis, and the Relevance of E.F. Schumacher's Ideas
Site B: Teaching Climate Change from a Heterodox Perspective
Anita Dancs (Western New England College) and Helen Sharber (Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst)
Teaching Climate Change and Environmental Economics (from a Heterodox Perspective)
12:00pm - 2:15pm - LUNCH
Women's Caucus meeting
2:30pm - 3:45pm
Site A: Capitalism and the Environment
Rana Odeh (Univ. of Dayton)
Capitalism and the War on the Environment
Fadhel Kaboub (Denison University)
The Urgency of Green Jobs for All
Site B: Carbon Trading, Climate Change and Poverty
Patrick Bigger (Univ. of Kentucky)
To Its Logical Extreme: Carbon Trading as Commodified Nature
Paul Hancock (Green Mountain College)
Climate Change and Global Poverty: Perspectives derived from the World Resources Date Institute
4pm - 5:15pm
Site A: Marxian Analysis of Environmental Decay
Paul Cooney and Sérgio Rivero (Ufpa Brazil)
The Amazon as a Frontier of Capital Accumulation and Deforestation
Site B: Climate Change, Propaganda, and Profits
Andi Weiss Bartczak
Sowing Doubt and Reaping Profit: Capitalism, Junk Science, and Climate Change
6pm - DINNER
7pm - 9pm
Plenary 2: Confronting Climate Change: What Works and What Doesn't
Michael Dorsey, Assistant Professor & Director of Climate Justice Project, Dartmouth College
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Carbon Market Galaxy and the Sagas of Climate Justice
Helen Scharber, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Economists for Equity and the Environment Cap and Divident: Climate Policy for the People
Rachel Smolker, Co-Director of Biofuelwatch; Organizer, Climate SOS
Renewable Energy: False Solutions and Real Potential
9:15pm - 12am - ENTERTAINMENT: Campfire and Music-Making. Bring an Instrument!
MONDAY, AUGUST 2
8am - 8:45am - BREAKFAST
9am - 10:15am
Site A:
Al Campbell (Univ. of Utah)
Mondragon and the U.S.
Site B: Faculty Unionization
Paul Clement and Paddy Quick (St. Francis College)
Faculty Unionization - Adjuncts Succeed, Full-timers Hesitate
10:30 - 11:45am
Site A:
Paul Cooney
An Empirical Evaluation of the Significance of Fictitious Capital and Unproductive Labor in the Current Crisis
Site B: Local Organizing Around Climate Change
Sarah Charlop-Powers and Patty Lee Parmalee
Local Organizing Around Climate Change
12:00pm - LUNCH and check-out
See you all next year!
For more information please contact the National Office at urpe@labornet.org or call 413-577-0806.