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SESSION DETAILS:

Labor’s failure to pursue any serious emissions reductions and the debacle of Copenhagen have demoralised many who hoped for climate change, but there is an alternative. In Building the climate movement: starting the renewable revolution, Adam Lucas from Beyond Zero Emissions will outline how we can transition to renewable energy within ten years and Amy Thomas from Solidarity will look at strategies for building momentum for action.

Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations brought hopes of a new chapter in Aboriginal rights—but Labor has pursued the vicious Northern Territory Intervention, taking away control from Aboriginal organisations and forcing Aboriginal people to work for rations. Nicole Watson from the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, UTS will join Freya Bundey, anti-Intervention activist from Solidarity, in analysing the Intervention in Behind the NT Intervention: from Colonisation to Assimilation.

The election tussle about who can be the toughest on refugees—with Gillard’s attempts to bully East Timor into accepting Australia’s asylum seekers and Tony Abbott promising to tow the boats back—reached some Howard-era lows. Ian Rintoul, leading Solidarity member and long-time refugee rights campaigner, will look at Boats, borders and bigotry from White Australia to today.

How can the left rebuild itself and pose an alternative to the neoliberal politics of Labor in power? Ben Spies-Butcher, a Macquarie University Lecturer and member of The Greens, will discuss Labor, The Greens and the election: building a left alternative with James Supple from Solidarity.

Australia has so far appeared immune from the economic crisis. But the debt crisis engulfing Europe and the slowing down of “recovery” in the US suggests it isn’t over yet. Tom Barnes will take a look at the state of the world economy and what it means for us in Economic crisis: over or just beginning?

Women have won gains since in the 1970s, but the last two decades have seen the rise of a popular culture in which the objectification of women’s bodies is breaking new boundaries. Feiyi Zhang will analyse Feminism and the backlash against women’s rights.

Israel’s murderous attack on a freedom flotilla heading to Gaza has further eroded the international reputation of Israel. But how can Palestine be free? Mark Gillespie discusses Palestine’s fight for freedom: is the two-state solution dead?