As financial markets and central banks oversee an increasingly fraught global economy marked by inflationary pressures, looming recessions, and higher interest rates, critiques of the contemporary financial architecture have begun to emerge from both the Left and the Right. What may have once been seen as a purely technocratic endeavor has now spilled out onto the political frontlines. What is the current state of contemporary finance and what are some of the possible alternatives? What are the different class interests underlying emergent responses to financial instability and how may political movements articulate their visions for alternative financial systems?

Following the 2008 Financial Crisis, finance has become a target for political activists and social movements, as well as a topic of renewed scholarly interest. Yet, the state of contemporary finance remains somewhat opaque, leaving many wondering whether much has actually changed. This panel will discuss recent trends in the realm of finance, detailing new patterns of ownership and control that have gone relatively unnoticed - but which have important ramifications for the global capitalist economy.

After years of austerity and deflationary pressures, the fear of inflation has once again reared its head. The year 2021 recorded the largest increase in the Consumer Price Index since 1981 . According to some economists, this is the first generational experience of inflation for Americans born after 1980. Debates have ensued regarding the causes of inflation, ranging from supply bottlenecks to rising labor costs. Such debates have subsequently informed policy, with some arguing for increasing interest rates while others call for increased investments in essential sectors and strategic price controls. This panel will discuss and contextualize current debates over the causes for, and policy responses to, inflation.

The Russian decision to invade Ukraine was seen as an inevitability to some observers, but a surprise to many others. While the precise motivations are still subject to much debate, the current situation is highly dynamic and the future of the war remains uncertain, albeit consequential. This panel will examine the underlying political economy of both Russia and the region to better understand the reasons for war and its ramifications for the region and the wider world economy.

The commodities boom of the 2000s saw the prices of oil, rubber, tin, lead, copper and other industrial minerals rise steadily. This model of economic growth helped support leftist pink-tide governments in Latin America as well as governments all over Southeast Asia. However, with the slowdown in Chinese economic growth and the drop in commodity prices in 2014, the model began to unravel. This coincided with popular challenges to reigning governments, from Malaysia to Brazil. In some cases, protests and social movements were met with increasing repression and a relinquishing of previous democratic gains. What do changing global and regional political economies tell us about resurgent authoritarianism in these two seemingly unconnected regions?

India - the world’s largest democracy - has witnessed significant democratic backsliding over the past decade, especially following the victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014. Some of the core pillars of the republic, such as secularism, are being challenged at both the state and civil society level, while the BJP continues to compromise important state institutions such as the Election Commission. What can an analysis of India’s rapidly changing political economy, its developmental history, and its relationship with the global economy tell us about the current predicament of increasing authoritarianism?

Xi Jinping’s centralization of power, aggressive posturing towards Hong Kong and Taiwan, dangers of a new Cold War, and increasing repression in Xinjiang has put China at a crossroads. How have the Chinese Communist Party and business elites been driving domestic and foreign policy in China? How are they navigating this turbulent and potentially uncertain future?

In the wake of the Arab uprisings, the forces of counterrevolution have reared their heads and have firmly cemented their place in the region. From Egypt to Syria to Bahrain, authoritarian states have proved durable despite significant social instability, repeated uprisings at the regional and local levels, and even internal fissures. What do issues pertaining to social class, business-state relations, and the region’s insertion into the global economy tell us about authoritarian retrenchment in the Middle East and North Africa?

The newly-elected Biden government looks set to continue the Trump administration's hostile and protectionist stance toward China. How should the ongoing trade war between the world's largest economies be explained and what is its effect on these two countries' working people?

Instead of endless military engagements, stationing of combat forces across the globe, and the deployment of economic sanctions as war by other means, what would a left US foreign policy consist of? Can radicals in the US offer a positive overseas agenda, not just critiques of militarism, imperialism, and war? In order to succeed politically, does a left-wing movement have to accept the idea of the US as “the indispensable nation”?  What does the rise of far right authoritarian populist governments across the world imply for a radical  US overseas strategy? Can the left provide a foreign policy agenda that actually meets the challenge of rapid climate change?

Jair Bolsonaro campaigned as a murderous, homophobic, anti-feminist, declaring open season on the organized working class, the left, and the Amazon rainforest.  He won election in the wake of the shipwreck of the Workers Party (PT), after its successor presidents Lula and Dilma were forced to the sidelines. Can Bolsonaro put through a neo-liberal, politically repressive program with little popular appeal? Can the PT remake itself? Is democracy or military rule in the offing?

Since 2016, the Democratic Socialists of America has transformed itself beyond recognition. Its membership has exploded past 50,000. A dynamic far left tendency has arisen inside the Democratic Party. Half the electorate below age 35 calls itself “socialist”. But success has bred confusion. Will DSA really stay independent of the Democrats? What weight for electoral work versus labor and social movement activity? What does socialism actually mean for DSA?

The LA Teachers’ Strike was an historic moment in US labor history.

UTLA put the demands of students, parents, and the community first and won the overwhelming support of Los Angelenos. It unleashed a strike the likes of which had not been seen in decades, and won a smashing victory.

Our speakers will explain how the teachers did it and how they plan to take the struggle to the next level.