3 Nov 2007

Green Party Exec and Joel



Well today at the Green Party Executive, with about 10 members including job shares, this body runs the Green Party, the two Speakers are members but have no vote but I make my voice heard...no plans to scrap it so, the proposol to have 'a leader' is a bit of mystery to me...they are certainly not going to be doing the job of 10 and going on the TV.

A good meeting, I think GPEX is on the up and very pleased to see Joseph Healy and Jonathan Essex on as respectively international and campaigns coordinators.

Internation is important for the think global stuff and because it is fair to say most European Green Parties are rather less radical than the Green Party of England and Wales, so we need to be arguing for real green politics on the Int stage.

Jonathan is a big climate campaign activist and very impressive.

The lengthy meeting was mainly admin, we were less hurt by the General Election preparations including getting ready to print millions of leaflets than some parties but it has still cost...impressive to have nearly 300 candidates ready and even without PR to be in a position to win in Brighton Pavilion.

Respect was mentioned but this was a day for thinking about nuts and bolts, websites, fundraising, office matters.

GPEX is pretty uniquely democratic it runs the party and members get to vote for the officers...good.

pleased to see the 2nd edition of Joel Kovel's book 'The Enemy of Nature' and very pleased to have mention.

Joel is very much my mentor and if it wasn't for him I would not be Principal Speaker and could spend saturday's in the garden, in the pub, with my loved ones (perhaps in garden or pub).

He stood for the Green Party Presidential nomination in 2000 in the US and has kick started with Michael Lowey a global ecosocialist movement.

Have a look below for more details of his book in my view the book on climate change, environmental crisis and the need for a new society.

* 'The Enemy of Nature exposes better than any other single work the extent and depth of capitalism‘s global ecological destruction. This master work by Joel Kovel then pursues the necessary implications - including the opportunity and need to imagine an ecological socialist society. Kovel shows that the core conditions of such a society are the accession of quality over quantity and use-value over exchange-value, with the emancipatory possibilities these imply.' - James O‘Connor, author of Natural Causes: Essays in Ecological Marxism

* 'Full of insights into the relationship between ecological degradation and capitalist expansion, this is a must read for thinkers and activists.' - Walden Bello, Executive Director, Focus on the Global South, Thailand


Details here

1 comment:

James Atkinson said...

Looks like a good read, about half way through at the moment... have had to put it away for a while to let a few ideas settle - don't like rushing through books.

Glad to see the Exec is doing well with new members from GL. Had a good mobilization for the NHS demo today with lots of leaflets and placards handed out.

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