The Challenging Capitalism towards the Construction of a Democratic Society conference in Colombian capital Bogotá started on Friday and will continue throughout the weekend to discuss varying paradigms and ideologies around the globe in search for a radical transformation of society.
The conference starts with a panel discussion on capitalism as a crisis of civilisation, and continues with another on alternative systems. Participants will also hold workshops and discussions on the form international solidarity must take in the 21st century.
Participating organisations are concentrated in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. More than 30 organisations from Cuba, Costa Rica, Argentina, Palestine, Brazil, Spain, Chile, the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Mexico, Salvador, Panama, Peru and Canada are coming together in the three-day conference.
The conference is organised by the Academy of Democratic Modernity, the Kurdistan Solidarity Committee in Bogotá, the Jineolojî Centre, the Women Weaving the Future Network, Colombia-based Congreso de los Pueblos, MODEP, Colombia National Indigenous Organisation (ONIC), and the Proceso de Comunidades Negras.
“This conference is intended to be an opportunity to open dialogue between regions that are part of the ‘periphery’ of the world, the global south. Aware that this is not the first time that these initiatives have arisen, we hope that this space will allow us to clarify our revolutionary horizon and strengthen the political articulation between our organizations from the perspective of a popular internationalism,” organisers said in the conference call.
Discussion topics include self-government, ecology, economy, women’s liberation, and youth movements.
“We agree that capitalism led us to a crisis of civilization, and that is why we build daily alternative systems to capitalist and state systems. We can call them democratic confederalism, good governance, good living or popular power,” organisers say. The conference aims to “nurture our emancipatory horizons at a global level”.
