Next System Convergence
Step Forward on April 3 & 4
The first Next System Convergence is an early opportunity to gather online as we move forward together toward the November Teach-Ins. We are providing a forum on Thursday, April 3rd and an organizing conference on Friday, April 4th.
Register now so that you receive the information you will need in order to participate.
All times are listed in UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) as well as EDT (Eastern Daylight Time in the USA).
The Forum on April 3rd
The Promise of Next System Studies: Lessons from GMU’s first four years
Organizer: Next System Studies at GMU
Description: On April 21, 2021, hundreds of people from around the world joined faculty, students, and staff at George Mason University to launch the first formal program in Next System Studies. Four years later, what have we learned from the GMU model for this new field?
From Community Wealth Building to Economic System Change
Organizer: The Democracy Collaborative
Description: Twenty years since its inception, Community Wealth Building (CWB) is spreading far and wide as a practical immediate pathway to bottom-up economic system change in local and regional economies. Neil McInroy will chart the development of CWB, Joe Guinan will situate it in the need to build a next system of political economy, and the session will conclude with Q&A and next steps on getting to work on economic transformation where you live.
An Introduction to Ecological Economics
Organizer: Leadership for the Ecozoic
Description: This speaker session will feature Jon Erickson, a leading scholar, author, educator, and practitioner in the field of ecological economics at the University of Vermont. Through an engaging and inspiring approach, Dr. Erickson will provide an introduction to this dynamic field and propose its relevance for breaking the spell of progress and economic convention and shifting toward greater prosperity on a finite planet.
Degrowth and the Next System: An open discussion
Organizer: Leadership for the Ecozoic
Description: Degrowth clearly offers an important critique of the dogma of economic growth. More than this, degrowth offers a vision and practice for living differently and better. Whether familiar or new to the term, join this open discussion facilitated by students and faculty with the Leadership for the Ecozoic initiative. We will introduce the basics of degrowth, explore its ongoing diversity, and discuss its possibility and relevance for next systems.
Territories of Life: An Open Discussion
Organizer: McGill University
Description: Join us in an open discussion of Territories of Life, areas that are self-governed, managed and conserved by Indigenous peoples or local communities so as to maintain meaningful livelihoods and biocultural diversity, typically inspired by strong attachment to place and non-human life, as well as philosophies and practices of respect and reciprocity that offer crucial alternatives to currently dominant systems.
Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation
Organizer: Community Economies Research Network
Description: Join Amy Cohen (Temple University Beasley School of Law) for a discussion with Craig Borowiak, Marianna Pavlovskaya and Stephen Healy on their book, Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation, co-authored with Maliha Safri. With federal institutions under assault by regressive forces, cities offer vital spaces of economic solidarity and resistance. Focusing on Philadelphia, New York, and Worcester, Solidarity Cities maps hidden solidarity economies that sustain urban communities amid entrenched racial and economic fault lines.
The Constitution of the Next System: An Open Discussion
Organizer: Next Constitutions Research Lab
Description: In this discussion facilitated by members of GMU’s Next Constitutions Research Lab, the International Research Collaborative on Revolutionary Constitutionalism and Constiturional Revolutions, and the Move to Amend coalition, we will shine a light on social movements that champion constitutional change. Can “we the people” write a new set of agreements for living together in the 21st century? What might it take to bring into being a new constitution for a new system?
The Organizing Conference on April 4th
16:00 UTC (Noon EDT) – KEYNOTE PANEL: Higher Education in the Fierce Urgency of Now
- Chair: Dr. Lesley Wood, York University
Panelists:
- Dr. Bethany Letiecq, National Vice President, American Association of University Professors, AFT Local 6741
- Prof. Anthony Cook, Georgetown Law, Coalition for Racial Equity and Democratic Economy
- Dr. Ben Manski, Director, Next System Studies, George Mason University
- Dr. Stephanie Luce, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
17:00 UTC (1:00pm EDT) – PANEL & DISCUSSION: What a Next System Teach-In Looks Like
- Chair: Prof. Amy Cohen, Temple University School of Law
Topics:
- A History of Teach-Ins – Dr. Ben Manski, Next System Studies
- Diversity in Learning and Participation – Matt Nelson, Presente.org
- Students, Faculty, Staff, Community United – Jasmine Banks, Generation Common Good
18:00 UTC (2:00pm EDT) – Rest Break
- Chair: Gabriel Gonzales, Next System Studies
Topics:
- Your Local Teach-In Coalition: Building Community – Lizah Makombore, University of Vermont
- How to Organize Wall-to-Wall: Mapping, List-Building, Outreach – Suren Moodliar, encuentro5
- International Organizing: Linking Up – Dr. Deissy Perilla, Leadership for the Ecozoic