Sunday, December 27, 2009

Transnational Capitalist Class in the Global Financial Crisis: A Discussion with Leslie Sklair

JEB SPRAGUE
Globalizations


ABSTRACT In an interview, Leslie Sklair, author of The Transnational Capitalist Class (2001) and Professor Emeritus in Sociology at the London School of Economics, discusses his thoughts on today’s global financial crisis, its connections to a globally dominant social class—the transnational capitalist class—as well as his views on the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, and clarifications on his theoretical approach.

En una entrevista, Leslie Sklair, autor de La clase capitalista trasnacional (2001) y profesor eme´rito en sociologı´a de la Facultad de Economı´a de Londres, discute tanto sus pensamientos sobre la crisis financiera global actual, y sus conexiones con una clase social global dominante—la clase capitalista trasnacional—como sobre su punto de vista sobre la invasio´n y ocupacio´n de Iraq por los E.E.U.U., y las aclaraciones sobre su enfoque teo´rico.



Saturday, December 5, 2009

Haiti and the Jean Dominique Investigation: An Interview with Mario Joseph and Brian Concannon

Jeb Sprague
Journal of Haitian Studies

On April 3, 2000, Jean Dominique, Haiti’s most popular journalist, was shot four times in the chest as he arrived for work at Radio Haïti. The station’s security guard Jean-Claude Louissant was also killed in the attack. The President of Haiti, René Préval, ordered three days of official mourning and 16,000 people reportedly attended his funeral. A documentary film released in 2003, The Agronomist, by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme featured Dominique’s inspiring life. However, since Dominique’s death the investigation into his murder has sparked a constant point of controversy.1
Attorneys Mario Joseph and Brian Concannon worked for the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a human rights lawyer’s office supported by both the Préval and Aristide governments. The BAI was tasked with helping to investigate the killings. A discussion with the two attorneys reveals the unpublished perspective of former government insiders who worked on the case and their thoughts on the role of former Senator Dany Toussaint, the investigation headed by Judge Claudy Gassant, the mobilization around the case, and recent revelations made by Guy Philippe, a leader of the ex-military organization Front pour la Libération et la Réconstruction Nationales (FLRN).
This interview was conducted over the telephone and by e-mail during April and May of 2007.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

FINANZAS Choque a la vista en cumbre del G-20

por Jeb Sprague
IPS

PITTSBURGH, Estados Unidos, 21 sep (IPS) - Miles de manifestantes de todo Estados Unidos se congregarán en esta ciudad para protestar contra la cumbre del Grupo de los 20 (G-20) esta semana, que contará con 4.000 policías para proteger a los delegados de los respectivos países.

Los gobernantes del G-20, conformado por los ocho países más industrializados y economías emergentes, se reunirán este jueves y el viernes para examinar el cumplimiento de sus objetivos de restaurar el crecimiento de la economía mundial y reformar los sistemas financieros multilaterales.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Activists, Big Business Converge on G20 Meet

By Jeb Sprague
INTER PRESS SERVICE (IPS)

Local activists say development has been an undemocratic process geared toward the beautiful downtown.


PITTSBURGH, Sep 20, 2009 (IPS) - As media and government delegates prepare for the G20 Summit to be held Sep. 24-25 in Pittsburgh, local business and activist groups are promoting clashing visions of days to come.

Hit hard over the last quarter of the twentieth century with a collapsing steel industry, recession and falling population, Pittsburgh is still a decent place to live - often highly rated because of low housing costs.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Haiti: Calls Mount to Free Lavalas Activist

By Wadner Pierre and Jeb Sprague

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 20, 2009 (IPS) - Government authorities in Haiti face recent criticism over allegations that they continue to jail political dissidents.

On Aug. 7, Amnesty International called for the release of Ronald Dauphin, a Haitian political prisoner. Dauphin is an activist with the Fanmi Lavalas movement of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was seized by armed paramilitaries on Mar. 1, 2004 - the day after Aristide's government was ousted in a coup d'état.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Book Review of 'The Dialectics of Globalization'

The Dialectics of Globalization: Economic and Political Conflict in a Transnational World
Jerry Harris
Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008, 2nd edition. 285 pp.
Globalizations

Jerry Harris has provided a wide-ranging yet detailed investigation into the unfolding of global capitalism. The book, Dialectics of Globalization, published (2006, 2008) in the years leading up to the ongoing global financial crisis, illuminates the hyper-intensification of political and economic changes leading us to where we are today. Made up of a collection of updated journal articles, it amasses an impressive body of work conceptually rooted in an understanding of globalization in its entirety.

Key for accepting the approach in his book, Harris argues that class relations in globalization must be reconceptualized beyond the confines of the nation-state. The rapid changes in production, technology, finance/capital accumulation have transformed the international economy into a global economy, creating consensus among corporate elites that barriers to investment and trade must be removed. A transnational capitalist class (TCC), promoting this project and directly involved in the accumulation of global capital, is now the dominant socio-economic group. Harris takes his readers through the maturing of this process, providing fascinating insight on the technological and financial engines propelling its expansion, as well as case studies that examine the process of global capitalism in countries ranging from Germany to Brazil and India.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

HAITÍ Comicios con exclusiones avalados por la ONU

Por Jeb Sprague*

NUEVA YORK, 17 abr (IPS) - Las elecciones legislativas de este domingo en Haití están marcadas por la proscripción del partido centroizquierdista Fanmi Lavalas (FL), que cuenta con gran respaldo entre la mayoría pobre.

Y, a medida que avanza la crisis económica mundial, funcionarios de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) en Nueva York y en Puerto Príncipe se la ven en figurillas para defender un problemático proceso electoral al mismo tiempo que ruegan por la ayuda de los donantes.

Haiti: Fanmi Lavalas Banned, Voter Apprehension Widespread

By Jeb Sprague*
INTER PRESS SERVICE

NEW YORK, Apr 17, 2009 (IPS) - Weekend senatorial elections in Haiti are mired in controversy as Fanmi Lavalas (FL), the political party widely backed by the poor majority, has been disqualified.

As the global financial crisis unfolds, U.N. officials in New York City and Port-au-Prince are struggling to defend a troubled electoral process while gathering donor aid.

Meanwhile, a recent study by the Florida-based advocacy organisation Haiti Priorities Project (HPP) has found widespread popular apprehension and disaffection among Haitians ahead of the upcoming senatorial elections.