South Asia Solidarity Group's conference - 'Globalisation, Identity and Resistance', which was held on October 18 and 19 1997 to mark 50 years of the end of British rule in South Asia, was a lively and exciting event which drew nearly 200 participants - both activists and academics from South Asia, Britain, and Canada.
The Plenary
The conference began with a plenary which established some of the main themes of the conference which were to be reflected in the workshops which followed. Dipankar Bhattacharya, representative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist), and noted Pakistani academic Hassan Gardezi examined the nature of globalisation, nationalism and the state in South Asia. For example, what is globalisation, is it a myth? Is it different today from what it has been in earlier phases? What is the role of nation states, are they indeed obsolete as many academics proclaim? What is 'a failed state'? Why do various forms of 'pre-modern' oppression and exploitation co-exist so comfortably with global capitalism? And most crucially - why is the concept of imperialism still so important a key to understanding and changing the world?
The conference continued with six workshops (which were repeated the next day with different speakers) : workers' struggles and globalisation; gender and women's movements; national liberation struggles, nationalism and refugees; communalism, racism and identity; democracy, repression and people's movements; and culture, globalisation and racism.
Worker's Struggles and Globalisation
The sessions on workers' struggles and globalisation examined the new conditions and strategies which have emerged in the context of the current phase of globalisation. Industrial restructuring and structural adjustment have led to privatisation, the casualisation of the labour force, the undermining of the legal powers of trade unions, and in India to deindustrialisation. Speakers included John Hendy from the National Union of Miners, Dipankar Bhattacharya from the All- India Central Council of Trade Unions, Vishwas Satgar from COSATU (South Africa), Sarbjit Johal (South Asia Solidarity Group) and trade union activist Pramila Aggarwal from Canada. A central theme was the question of how to organise under the new conditions created by global capital and how to resist the anti-worker ideology of globalisation. There was a debate on the need to go beyond the limitations set by anti- trade union laws.
Gender and Womens' Movements
The workshops on gender and women's movements brought together academics such as Uma Chakravarti from India and Shahnaz Rouse from Pakistan and activists such as Hanana Siddiqui from Southall Black Sisters and legal workers Salma Ali and Sara Hossein from Bangladesh. Among a number of interesting questions which arose was the role of the state in intervening and trying to shape women's movements; and in the context of Britain, the manipulation of South Asian culture by the British state.
Communalism, Racism and Identity
Taking as their starting point the communal logic of Partition which defined the nation states of India and Pakistan, these sessions went on to examined the nature of communalist/fascist parties in South Asia which are committed to meeting the needs of global capital both at an economic level and in terms of its requirements for a repressive state. Nighat Khan from Pakistan analysed women's experience of Partition. Anu Muhammad from Bangladesh examined the nature of 'fundamentalism' in Bangladesh - can these forces be separated completely from the 'liberal', 'democratic', mainstream political forces and is there really any in-built contradiction between fundamentalism and 'development'? Uma Chakravarti spoke about the 'inventing of "Saffron" history' through a TV version of Chanakya. Shahnaz Rouse argued that gender definitions lie at the heart of ongoing national struggles in Pakistan. Shahida Omershah examined the conflict within the Asian community which is increasingly being labelled as communalism - what does it really consist of and how do we locate it in the context of racism and social control?
Democracy, Repression and People's Movements
These workshops produced two main themes, firstly the struggles for land and justice and the role of the state in South Asia and secondly human rights and globalisation. Kalpana Wilson examined the powerful movement of agricultural labourer and poor peasant men and women in Bihar which is demanding land, a living wage and freedom from the caste oppression through which dominant classes retain their power. What do these struggles suggest about the nature of state power and strategies for revolutionary change? Desmond Fernandes presented a case study of the Cogentrix power station controversy in Karnataka, and examined the way in which democratic initiatives by people's movements had been suppressed by both the government and the TNC. Dalip Swamy examined the question of Human Rights and the South Asian state in the context of globalisation and Nikki Renston brought it all back to this country in an analysis of repression and resistance in British prisons.
National Liberation Movements, Nationalism and Refugees
The demand for independence in Kashmir, the struggle for Tamil Eelam, the Baluchi movement in Pakistan, the Jhumma people's struggle in Bangladesh and a number of other national liberation struggles have always been regarded by South Asia Solidarity Group as some of the most vital political issues of the sub-continent. These nationalism's have been strengthened by the divide and rule policies of colonialism and further nourished by neo-colonial exploitation and chauvinism. In the current phase national liberation struggles and the repression they face have led to large numbers of people are fleeing from various South Asian states. These asylum seekers are facing a harsh reception and often outright rejection in Fortress Europe.
The workshops led to three main areas of discussion: firstly an examination of the experience of intense state repression; secondly the question of crises - for example whether the crisis in any one part of a country is a manifestation of the relationship between the centralised state and nations or potential nations in other parts of that country; and thirdly the nature of militarist ideologies within liberation movements. Speakers included Zafar Khan of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front; Mrinal Chakma on the Jhumma people's struggle for liberation, Pritam Singh on Punjab, Nirmala Rajasingham on gender and Tamil nationalism, and Pat Brachen on the refugee experience and the medicalisation of distress
Culture, Globalisation and Racism
Is the culture of globalisation really democratic and free as Samuel Huntington and a number of other dominant US theorists have proclaimed? Or is it the opposite ? With globalisation even the freedom of movement of workers which had existed in earlier phases of capitalism is being taken away; only capital now moves freely from one part of the world to another. The workshops discussed the effects of globalisation examining both culture itself and cultural production. Ashwani Sharma examined the politics of British Asian culture in relation to contemporary forms of racism and nationalism. Rustom Bharucha examined the possibilities of creating a radical interculturalism from the larger, homogenising, commoditising and anti-democratic tendencies of globalisation. Amrit Wilson looked at the background to multiculturalism, interculturalism and aspects of resistance in the context of context of strategies of the British state. How is racism faced by South Asians being reshaped in the era of globalisation? These sessions were stimulating and particularly well-attended with some lively debates on the relevance of post-modernist interpretations.
The Cultural Event
Saturday evening saw a much appreciated cultural event in the Brunei Building of SOAS with poetry and music by Ajay Khandelwal, Pam Aluwalia, Devdan Sen, Joyoti Grech and Clem Alford.
Feedback from Participants
While almost all participants felt that the conference had been a huge success and many people said they found the debates and issues raised were stimulating and informative, there were also some criticisms over the lack of enough time for discussion, the sheer size of the workshops - some had as many as 70 people - and the academic language used by some participants. There were suggestions on how to better surmount these barriers of communication in the future, and on possible areas of work for the group in the future.
For us in South Asia Solidarity Group organising the conference has been an extremely exciting experience which has provided a number of lessons on organisation. More than anything we feel that the conference was able to bring together a coherent critique of globalisation at a time when such concerted criticisms are few and far between and in a period when erstwhile progressive writers and intellectuals are becoming apologists for imperialism. What has been most inspiring is the support of a very large number of individuals and activist organisations in South Asia, Britain and Canada without whom the conference would not have happened.
The conference would also not have gone ahead without the financial and material support of the following individuals and organisations:
University of Luton, University of DeMontfort (Bedford), University of Warwick, School of Oriental and African Studies, Friends of Alistair Berkley, Cllr Virendra Sharma (Ealing), Survival International, Belsize Stationers, Partap Fashion Fabrics, Dimpola Fashions, and MACRK Precision Engineering
The Follow-Up
The conference has led to the highlighting of a number of political issues/activities. Out of these we have begun work on two major areas.
Firstly, we are beginning to examine the growth of 'communalism' in the Asian community in Britain. We are examining the experiences of people in the Asian communities while at the same time investigating community structure and how it is affected by State intervention.
Secondly, we are working on developing a coherent left perspective on workers' struggles in this country. This will involve working with a wide network of groups and identifying possibilities for unity.
For further details contact SASG on 0171-713 7907/0171 354 8744
or e-mail to southasia@hotmail.com
