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REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH:
Economic and Environmental Justice from Indigenous and Faith Perspectives
A conference which draws on faith traditions to present alternatives in the context of the global economic crisis
March 5 to 7, 2010
Maritime Labour Centre
1880 Triumph St, Vancouver (Coast Salish Territory)
British Columbia, Canada
Conference Program:
Click here to view the complete program
This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars and activists, both secular and faith-based, who are exploring alternatives to neo-liberal capitalism that are grounded in sacred cosmologies and/or incorporate values that prioritize and link redistribution of wealth with respectful relationships with land.
SPEAKERS:
Speakers will include both local and international resource people. Confirmed speakers include (click on highlighted names to read their biographies):
Clifford Azack (Nisga'a Nation)
Stephen Aberle
Dolores Chew
gid7ahl gudsllaay, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson (Haida Gwaii)
Larry Grant ( Musqueam Nation)
Rauna Kuokkanen (Samiland/Canada)
David R. Loy (United States)
Mritiunjoy Mohanty (India/Quebec)
Cora Mojica (Philippines/Canada)
Na'cha'uaht/Kam/ayaam - Cliff Atleo, Jr.
John Parker (United States)
Achla Safaya
Rajdeep Singh Gill
Pablo Solón (Bolivia)
Azhar Syed
T’Uy’Tanat-Cease Wyss (Skwxw'u7mesh Nation)
Conference Working Group:
Angela Contreras-Chavez, Anita Fast, Dave Diewert, Bonni Hanuse, Denise Nadeau, Cynthia Oka, Adriana Paz, Priti Shah, Harjap Grewal, Rain Daniels.
Goals of the Redistribution of Wealth Conference:
1. Identify, from both a local and international perspective, vulnerable communities, territories and lands impacted by the economic crisis.
2. Introduce sacred cosmologies as a framework for economic and environmental/ecological justice.
3. Present faith-based positions against economic growth, environmental racism and the loss of the commons and for redistribution of wealth and care/stewardship of the land.
4. Share spiritual resources from different traditions on economic and ecological justice and survival in hard times.
5. Present examples of economic/ecological alternatives to neo-liberal capitalism that are grounded in a faith perspective or that represent moral or faith values that challenge the capitalist system.
6. Apply insights, tools from the above to create a vision of specific areas of struggle of participants – food sovereignty, protection of land and territories, employment and job security, housing, etc.
Conference Schedule, brochure and registration form will be available soon.
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Biographies of Confirmed Speakers:
Clifford Azack is a Hereditary Nisga’a Chief of the Wolf Clan and former deputy Chief Council for the Gitwinksihlkw Village Council. He has twenty years experience in Indigenous governance with a portfolio in economic development.
Stephen Aberle is a Vancouver actor, singer, computer programmer and activist. A long time member of both Jews for a Just Peace and the Canada Palestine Support Network, Stephen finds that his activism is motivated in no small part by his understanding of Judaism, and that his religious understanding is informed by his activism. He finds the root of both in Hillel's ancient dictum: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole of the Law; the rest is commentary. Now go and study!" Most of Stephen's activism is focused on anti-occupation, anti-war and anti-racist solidarity work, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He seeks to build support for a fair and just solution to that conflict, one that respects the human and
democratic rights of all people and peoples living in that part of the world. He sees the struggles for peace, economic and environmental justice to be inextricably intertwined.
Dolores Chew, originally from India, has been living in Montréal for a long time. She is a founding member of the South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC) and a member of the 8th March Action Committee of Women of Diverse Origins, both in Montréal. She is a member of CERAS, the South Asia Research and Resource Center. An historian by education, she teaches at Marianopolis College and is a Research Associate at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University. All her activities and interests revolve around social justice activism with a particular focus on gender justice.
gid7ahl gudsllaay, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson is a citizen of the Haida Nation from Skidegate, Haida Gwaii. She holds degrees in computer science and law from the University of British Columbia. She has practiced in the area of aboriginal-environmental law for the last 12 years, and restricts her personal law practice at White Raven Law in this area. Terri-Lynn represented the Haida Nation at all levels of court in litigation to protect the old-growth forests of Haida Gwaii in the Haida TFL39 Case (Council of the Haida Nation and Guujaaw, et. al. v. Ministry of Forests, et. al.), and is General Counsel for the Haida Nation. She has published and regularly lectures internationally in aboriginal law, particularly as it relates to cultural heritage and environmental protection. She was the founding Executive Director of the charity EAGLE (Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education). Terri-Lynn has volunteered for numerous organizations, including as an Advisory Council member for the Vancouver Foundation's Environment Program, as a juror for the Buffet Award for Indigenous Leadership, at Ecotrust (US) and an Executive Member for Ecotrust Canada. She is currently a board member of Earthlife Canada Foundation and Haida Gwaii Singers Society.
Terri-Lynn is devoted to perpetuating Haida culture, beginning with co-founding a children’s dance group in 1978 and illustrating a children's book for the QCI Readers Series, “Crests of Haida Gwaii”. She creates appliquéd and woven ceremonial-regalia and is an accomplished singer and dancer. Since 2001 Terri-Lynn has been an active member of the Rainbow Creek Dancers, which travels and performs locally and internationally. In 2008, Terri-Lynn was presented with a special honour “Keepers of Traditions” Award from the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for her lifetime contributions to Haida musical traditions.
Larry Grant Musqueam Elder. Born and raised in Musqueam traditional territory by a traditional Musqueam family. Grew up between Musqueam Reserve and Vancouver City. Became a certified automotive Machinist after high school graduation then into the Longshore industry as a Heavy Duty mechanic. Retired after four decades in the work force then enrolled in Musqueam/UBC First Nations Languages Program in 1998. Now teaches the Musqueam language course at UBC.
Rauna Kuokkanen is Assistant Professor in Political Science and Aboriginal Studies at the University of Toronto. She is the author of /Reshaping the University: Responsibility, Indigenous Epistemes and the Logic of the Gift/ (UBC Press, 2007) and /Boaris dego eana: Eamiálbmogiid diehtu, filosofiijat ja dutkan/ (As Old as the Earth: Indigenous Knowledge, Philosophies and Research, 2009) and editor of the anthology on contemporary Sami literature /Juoga mii geasuha/ (2001). She has published articles on indigenous research paradigms and philosophies, education and critical theory, indigenous literatures, the gift paradigm, and globalization and indigenous women. Her current research interests include political economy of indigenous women and autonomy, indigenous feminisms and indigenous philosophy. She was the founding chair of the Sami Youth Organization in Finland and served as the Vice-President of the Sami Council in 1997-98. She is a Sami woman from Northern Finland and has long been involved in the public life of Sami society.
David R. Loy is Besl Professor of Ethics/Religion and Society at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is primarily in comparative philosophy and religion, particularly comparing Buddhist with modern Western thought. His books include Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy; Lack and Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism and Buddhism; A Buddhist History of the West: Studies in Lack; The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory; Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution; and Awareness Bound and Unbound: Buddhist Essays. He is the co-editor of A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency (2009).A Zen practitioner for many years, he is qualified as a teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Buddhism. He frequently works with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Mritiunjoy Mohanty (India/Quebec), teaches in the Economics faculty, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, India. He is an economic adviser to the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), a coalition of independent trades unions in India. He is also a member of Quebec Solidaire, a new political party in Quebec whose platform combines economic and environmental justice concerns. Outside of universities and business schools in India, he has taught and lectured in Mexico and Canada. Prior to joining IIM Calcutta in 1999, he has worked for the ILO in Delhi and for an economic policy think-tank of the Government of India. His research has a strong focus on issues related to economic justice. His current area of research is on the nature and pattern of India's integration into the global economy and how this has adversely affected socially and economically disadvantaged groups. Some of his recent published work deals with the impact of NAFTA on small-farmers in Mexico and the resistance of small-farmers in India to the acquisition of their farmland for purposes of industrialization. From 2006-08 he was a visiting researcher at the Institut d'études internationals de Montréal (IEIM) of Université' du Quebec à Montreal (UQAM) in Montreal. His research interests are in the areas of growth and structural change, employment and labour markets, unionization, development economics, open-economy macroeconomics, international economics and the political economy of growth.
Cora Mojica came to Canada from the Philippines in 1987 in search of greener pasture. “I am a Roman Catholic by faith. I came to Canada as a contract worker, worked as a nanny for a family with 2 kids for 3 years. I was just lucky enough to have good employers who treated me good and when I got my open permit I worked in their software company for 13 years as a shipper/receiver. Good pay, benefits and vacations, those days I was able to go home to the Philippines every year for a one month vacation. Until the company downsize and sold so we were laid off. Those days working as a nanny I met some ladies I became friends and acquaintances with who tell us their stories how their employers treat them and worked long hours. I really feel sorry for them because they are so scared to speak up , afraid the employer will terminate them or even send them home and they spend so much money to come over here, hoping to have better life. I work now at Vancouver General Hospital and am an active Hospital Employees Union Shop Steward and an Occupational Health and Safety Committee member in my site since 2004. I am a member of the HEU Sodexo Bargaining Committee, Member of the HEU Living Wage Working Group, served 2 years as Secretary/Treasurer of the Seven Shining Stars Local and now in my 2nd year as Chairperson of our local.”
Na'cha'uaht/K'amayaam Cliff Atleo, Jr. is from Ahousaht of the Nuu-chah-nulth nation on his father’s side, and Kitselas of the Tsimshian nation on his mother’s side. He is a graduate of Political Science at the University of Victoria and currently pursuing a Master's degree in Indigenous Governance. His thesis research offers an Indigenous critique of Aboriginal economic development in Canada. He was awarded the University of Victoria’s President's Scholarship in 2006-2007 and an Indigenous Governance fellowship in 2008. His research interests are in Indigenous community resurgence, alternative Indigenous economies, and identity issues.
John Parker strives to be a good steward of his talents, develop transformative relationships, nurture good work that advances the greater good, and encourage others to do the same. John leads Good Work, a community development organization with a mission to strengthen people and communities through economic empowerment,entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. The Good Work team trains,coaches, guides, and supports everyday people, entrepreneurs, and organizations to advance their knowledge and skills to be self-reliant,entrepreneurial, and collaborative. He currently serves on the boards of Stone Circles and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and is a member of the Sabbath Economics Collaborative. Other work experience includes directing the Triad Regional Office of the Self-Help, research and teaching cultural and applied anthropology at the University of Memphis, and extensive ethnographic research in Central America and the U.S. American South. Finally, John's first work experience was working in the family retail hardware store, Parker Hardware & Supply Company in Southern Pines, North Carolina. John is a native from North Carolina's Sandhills area in the Piedmont region and received his masters in applied anthropology from the University of Memphis and bachelors at Wake Forest University. John enjoys teaching, training, and coaching around issues related to entrepreneurship, small business and organizational development, vocation, self-reliance,stewardship, and sustainable development. John and his wife, Easter Maynard, live in Raleigh with their three children, Lila, James, and Sawyer, surrounded by their extended families that live in town or nearby.
Achla Safaya has a professional degree in Science, and has been actively practising Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma. She has an inquisitive mind, and has been questioning many beliefs she has observed all her life. A keen reader of related material Achla has a personal insight to the topic for discussion today.
Rajdeep Singh Gill is a cultural theorist, interdisciplinary scholar, and educator. He approaches spirituality, not as something separate from the material or political, but as an integrated, creative aspect of daily life. Rajdeep’s personal and professional explorations include expansive concepts and practices of connectedness, self-reflection, responsibility and accountability that provide transformative possibilities for inhabiting social, political, economic, and environmental justice. He is a Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar, an internationally active public speaker and writer, and the co-director of Creativity Commons Collective and Press.
Pablo Solón is Bolivia’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Before assuming this position he was Ambassador for issues concerning Integration and Trade. He was Secretary Pro Tempore of UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations) during Bolivia’s Pro Temporary presidency (December 2006 – May 2008) and President Evo Morales’ delegate in the Strategic Reflection Committee for South American Integration (2006). He is currently the Andean spokesman for the Pillar of Cooperation in the CAN (Andean Community of Nations) - EU (European Union) negotiations. His foreign relations experience includes work on integration and trade, investor-state dispute settlement, Indigenous people’s rights, migration, water and the environment. He is an analyst and researcher on the issues of land, water, trade agreements and integration processes and has written various publications on these issues. He has been a social activist and worked for several years with different social organizations, Indigenous movements, workers’ unions, student associations, human rights and cultural organizations in Bolivia. Mr. Solón was a key architect of the Fair Trade and Cooperation Treaty Guidelines and was involved in the articulation of the Living Well development policy adopted both by Bolivia and Ecuador. He was the Executive Director of the Solón Foundation from 1997-2005 - a foundation created for the preservation and promotion of the works and thoughts of his father, Walter Solón Romero - a renowned Bolivian muralist and social artist.
Azhar Syed was born and educated in India. He immigrated to Pakistan in 1952 and then to Canada in 1973. He and his family have lived in BC since they arrived in Canada. Professionally he is from the advertising and printing industry. Azhar worked as Production Manager for a leading publishing house and advertising agency in Karachi, Pakistan. In Vancouver he served as Purchasing Manager for Behnsen Graphic Supplies for 18 years before taking early retirement. In 1991 he joined hands with his wife to run a family daycare in Richmond. They closed the daycare in 2002 to retire.
Azhar has spent all his years in Canada working on building the Muslim community and in forging ties between the Muslim community and other communities in Canada. He has been a volunteer community organizer, educator and prayer leader. He has worked on various committees at different levels of many local Muslim organizations. As well, he has been involved with national Muslim organizations in strengthening the Canadian Muslim community as a whole. He has been working on interfaith issues since the early 1980s. Currently he is an elected member of the Richmond Branch of the B.C. Muslim Association. As well, Azhar is a registered marriage officer and officiates Muslim marriage ceremonies for the local Muslim community
T’Uy’Tanat-Cease Wyss is from the Skwxw’u7mesh Nation and is an Ethnobotanist/Media Artist/Educator and Activist. “Combining my studies of Ethnobotany and my artistic practice in Media Arts, I have been able to connect to my own sense of spirit, as well as to other peoples. The focus in my arts practice has been Community, Health and Healing Practices. This is visible in my works over the past two decades. I have been writing, producing, directing and training others in all the important skills that I have trained in. Currently, I am working with Vancouver Native Health Society, on an Urban Native Food Security project. Through this work I am able to continue my journey of understanding the relationship between arts and culture and how it all comes together in the form of community holistic health.”
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