THE PROGRESSIVE INTERNATIONAL : INAUGURAL SUMMIT

The inaugural summit of the Progressive International happens online from September 18-20. 

THE INAUGURAL summit of the Progressive International was originally planned to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland and hosted by the Icelandic government. However the coronavirus pandemic intervened and it will now be held on line.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has postponed the plans for a physical gathering but it has also accelerated crises of democracy, climate, and economic inequality, calling on progressive forces everywhere to act quickly and decisively. These are the issues that our inaugural Summit will confront head on, using the knowledge across our movements to build up practical plans for progressive forces to work together on a planetary scale,” says Renata Avila, a Guatemalan human rights lawyer and member of PI’s cabinet.

The Summit will bring together for the first time PI’s Council, whose members include: Rafael Correa, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Yanis Varoufakis, Arundhati Roy, Wang Hui, Katrin Jakobsdottir, Keeanga-Yamahatta Taylor, Achille Mbembe, Carola Rackete, John McDonnell, Vijay Prashad, Vanessa Nakate, Alicia Castro: and around 70 member organizations from over 40 countries to plan collective actions and formally launch the Progressive International.

Some of the keynote events include:

1. What Comes After Capitalism? Keynote by Yanis Varoufakis, followed by a panel discussion with Vijay Prashad, Ece Temelkuran, and Nick Estes, and Lyn Ossome. 

The horizon of post-capitalism is coming into clearer focus — but it remains to be seen if the post-capitalist economy will be authoritarian and oligarchic or democratic and social. Yanis Varoufakis kicks off a panel discussion of how we can win the fight for a post-capitalist future.

2. The Years of Repair. Keynote by Naomi Klein, followed by a panel discussion with Tasneem Essop, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Vanessa Nakate and Aruna Roy. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has imposed lock downs around the world. How can we harness the new pace of our lives to heal the deep rifts in our societies? Join Naomi Klein and other members of the PI Council to discuss how we can use this time for reparation on multiple fronts: climate, race, economy, infrastructure.

3. Internationalism or Extinction. Keynote by Noam Chomsky, followed by a panel discussion with Nanjala Nyabola, Cornel West, and John McDonnell

Capital is coordinated. Our struggles against injustice and oppression must be the same. Noam Chomsky and other members of the Council set out the existential threat facing humanity — and how the Progressive International can fight back.

4. Reclaiming Democracy in Latin America, co-hosted by Wiphalas Across the World, with Luis Arce, Andrés Arauz, Gustavo Petro, Alicia Castro & more 

We are witnessing the destruction of democratic institutions across Latin America and around the world. Join Luis Arce — Bolivian presidential candidate from the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS-IPSP) — Alicia Castro, Andrés Arauz, and Wiphalas Across the World to discuss how progressive forces are fighting to reclaim democracy and popular sovereignty in Bolivia and across Latin America against increasing powerful tactics of legal warfare, or ‘lawfare.’