[URPE] [NYC] Brecht Forum: Indian Farmers' Suicides, Jazz Show, Latin American Indigenous Resistance

[urpe-moderator at lists.econ.utah.edu]

To URPE Members and Friends:

We are forwarding the program of our long-time supporters, the Brecht 
Forum, while they construct their new location.

***********************

The Brecht Forum
451 West St, Betw Bank & Bethune
NYC 10001
www.brechtforum.org
212.242.4201
_________________________________________
Thursday, April 28
7:30 pm


Globalization and Agrarian Crisis in the Third World
The Case of Farmers' Suicides in South India

D. Narasimha Reddy

  Between 1997-98 and 2003-04, the state of Andhra Pradesh in South 
India has
been witnessing an acute agrarian crisis that has manifested in the 
suicide of
more than two thousand farmers. Apparently the suicides were caused by the
inability of the farmers to repay the disproportionately high debt into 
which
they were drawn. The irony was that invariably in most of the cases the debt
was incurred to secure investment into more productive agriculture. But
agriculture itself, for the last two decades has been turning out to be a
highly risky and increasingly unremunerative activity for most of the 
farmers.
The resulting crisis has been witnessed with varying degrees of intensity
across most States throughout India. Though the causes for the crisis are
complex and manifold, including technological and weather related 
factors, the
primary causes are the shifts in public policy linked to the process of
globalization unfolding since mid-1980s. The structural adjustment in 
the form
of external trade liberalization and the reduced role of state in internal
support systems to agriculture are at the root of the agrarian crisis.
Andhra Pradesh, acclaimed as the proactive reform State provides ample
evidence as to how in the name of liberalization there has been a drastic
decline in public investment in agriculture, dismantling of agricultural
extension services, neglect of institutional credit, very poor regulation of
commodity markets, and inadequate State investment in the programmes for 
rural
non-farm activities. The result has been growing input costs, increased
volatility in prices of agricultural prices, declining net farm incomes,
growing dependence on spurious supplies of seeds and other inputs, growing
dependence on usurious sources of credit. This talk brings all these factors
together to capture the basic contours of the agrarian crisis in the 
state of
Andhra Pradesh in the wake of globalization.

  D. Narasimha Reddy recently retired as Professor of Economics and Dean,
School of Social Sciences at the University of Hyderabad, India. His 
areas of
interest include Political Economy of Development and Labor Economics. 
He was
conference President of the Indian society of Labor Economics in 2004 
and past
President of the Andhra Pradesh Economic Association.

  Suggested Donation: $6/10/$15
______________________________________________________
Saturday, April 30
8:30 pm

Neues Kabarett
Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet & Tom Abbs Group

  8:30 pm - Tom Abbs & Frequency Response
9:30 pm - Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet record release 
celebration for
“Isms Out”
In addition to celebrating The Brecht Forum's new space and the 
re-opening of
this wonderful music series, Neues Kabarett is delighted to host the release
of the Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet’s new CD, “Isms Out” on CIMP
Records. In addition to Greene and Campbell on piano and trumpet, the group
features Lou Grassi on drums and Adam Lane on bass.
Tom Abbs & Frequency Response features Abbs on bass, tuba dijeridoo and
violin, joined by Brian Settles (tenor sax), Jean Cook (violin), Okkyung Lee
(cello) and Chad Taylor (drums and vibes).
Neues Kabarett’s 2005 season is made possible by the New York State 
Council on
the Arts, through the Fund for Creative Communities of the Lower Manhattan
Cultural Council.

Admission: $10
______________________________________________________
Monday, May 2
6:00 - 8:00 pm
5-SESSION CLASS BEGINS

Indigenous Resistance & the State in Latin America
 >From Late Colonialism to Capitalist Crisis (1770s - 1930s)

Gerardo Renique

  During the last decade indigenous peoples in Latin American have 
occupied the
center of the political stage in Latin America. Combining together different
organizational forms, grassroots experiences and political strategies
indigenous mobilization is at the forefront of Latin American resistance to
neo-liberalism. More importantly, indigenous political and cultural
interventions constitute simultaneously a serious indictment and a hopeful
alternative to the patterns of economic development, expropriation of 
nature,
cultural-ethnic, racial and gender marginalization that have sustained the
formation of the modern nation-states in Latin America.
This 5-week course will examine the formative stage of this contemporary
indigenous movement --from the 1770s to the 1930s—through an exploration and
discussion of the following topics: (1) the nature of the colonial state and
society and subaltern resistance; (2) the political trajectory of indigenous
peoples in the movements of Independence and the formation of the
post-colonial nation-states; (3) Indigenous peoples under neo-colonial
capitalism; (4) the “Indian question” and the emergence of counter-hegemonic
nationalists and socialists projects.

  Gerardo Renique, author with Deborah Poole of Peru: Time of Fear, teaches
history at the City Collegy of New York.

  Sliding Scale: $45-$65
______________________________________________________

Saturday, May 7
7:00 - 10:00 pm
EXHIBIT OPENING & RECEPTION

Revisioning: Art & Revolution

Espe & Repstar

Join us for the opening night of a mother son art show featuring pieces by
Espe and Rephstar-- a night of culture, history, and revolution through the
arts. Art, food, and drinks for sale Open Mic featuring the Rhyme 
Factory MC’s.

Esperanza Martell (Espe)
To Espe her art is an expression of her politics, culture/spirituality. Her
African/Taino ancestors used art magically in healing and to give meaning to
their existence. She does the same by creating ceramic sculpture from 
nothing,
allowing total self-expression. She hand builds, using traditional 
images and
methods. She hopes her work opens individuals to their historical roots
generating healing and power. She is inspired by the earth/ocean/stars. Espe
is a board member of the Brecht Forum, Casa Atabex Ache. She teaches at 
Hunter
College and works on Puerto Rican independence issues and solidarity for
political prisoners.

Amilcar Alfaro-Martell (Rephstar)
Rephstar is an MC, Producer, Dancer, Mixed Media visual artist and Activist.
Growing up in an environment where Hip-Hop is not just a type of music but a
way of life, Rephstar developed his passion for the visual arts through
writing and appreciating the graffiti on walls throughout Manhattan. That
coupled with a passion for technology, history and social change is what led
him to the work he is doing today with computer graphics, video and sound.
Rephstar visions his work as a reflection of the human experience 
through the
eyes of the Hip-Hop generations.

For more info email Therhymefactory at gmail.com

___________________________________________________________
Tuesday, May 31
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
3-DAY WORKSHOP BEGINS  Co-sponsor: Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory

Cop-in-the-Head

Facilitated by Augusto Boal and Julian Boal
with the assistance of TOPLAB Facilitators
Click here to pay for this workshop on-line

Exercises, games, and improvised scene work from the Theater of the 
Oppressed
repertory developed by Brasilian director, popular educator and Workers 
Party
activist Augusto Boal. Boal’s interactive approach to theatrical expression
emphasizes physical dialogues, non-verbal imagery, consensus-building and
problem-solving processes, and techniques for developing awareness of both
external and internalized forms of oppression.
Cop-in-the-Head is a collection of Theater of the Oppressed techniques that
use games and exercises to recognize and confront internalized forms of
oppression, and explore power relations and collective solutions to concrete
problems.

For application information email toplab at toplab.org

Tuition: $450
___________________________________________________________
Friday, June 3
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
3-DAY WORKSHOP BEGINS  Co-sponsor: Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory

Forum Theater

Facilitated by Augusto Boal and Julian Boal
with the assistance of TOPLAB Facilitators

Exercises, games, and improvised scene work from the Theater of the 
Oppressed
repertory developed by Brasilian director, popular educator and Workers 
Party
activist Augusto Boal. Boal’s interactive approach to theatrical expression
emphasizes physical dialogues, non-verbal imagery, consensus-building and
problem-solving processes, and techniques for developing awareness of both
external and internalized forms of oppression.
Forum Theater is an innovative approach to public forums and is rooted 
in the
Brasilian popular education and culture movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It
is designed for use in schools, community centers, trade unions, and
political, solidarity and grassroots organizations. It is especially 
useful as
an organizing tool in protest movements. Workshop participants (the actors)
are asked to tell a story, taken from daily life, containing a political or
social problem of difficult solution. A skit presenting that problem is
improvised and presented. The original solution proposed by the protagonist
must contain at least one social or political error. When the skit is over,
the audience discusses the proposed solution, and then the scene is 
performed
once more. But now, audience members are urged to intervene by stopping the
action, coming on stage to replace actors, and enacting their own ideas. 
Thus,
instead of remaining passive, the audience becomes active "spect-actors" who
now create alternative solutions and control the dramatic action. The aim of
the forum is not to find an ideal solution, but to invent new ways of
confronting oppression. In Brasil and other parts of Latin America, as 
well as
in India and Africa, Forum Theater has been used with peasant and worker
"audiences" as training in labor and community organizing and participatory
democracy.*

For application information email toplab at toplab.org

Tuition: $450
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