THE CAPITALIST FREE TRADE MARKET GLOBALIZATION PLAN PROMOTED IN THE 1980s BY U.S. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN AND BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MARGARETH THATCHER SEEM TO NO LONGER CARRY THE PROMISE OF PROSPERITY IT ONCE HELD.
WITH SUCCESSIVE WAVES OF LEFT-LEANING POLITICAL SHIFTS HAVE OCCURRED IN SOUTH AMERICA AND MORE RECENT POPULAR UPRISINGS, SUPPORTED BY WORKERS STRIKES, IN ARAB COUNTRIES AND ELSEWHERE, THE SOCIAL DEVASTATION IMPOSED ON DEVELOPING ECONOMIES BY DECADE-LONG NEOLIBERAL POLICIES IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO IGNORE.
FOR CHINA, HOWEVER, WHICH WENT THROUGH A SWIFT CONVERSION FROM COMMUNISM TO UNREGULATED INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM ALSO IN THE 1980S, THE QUESTION OF WHY THE COUNTRY OF THE TIAN AN-MEN SQUARE PROTESTS DID NOT PRODUCE SIMILAR SOCIAL UNREST REMAINS UNANSWERED.
THIS PAST THURSDAY, ELLEN DAVID FRIEDMAN, A LABOR ORGANIZER WHO TEACHES LABOR STUDIES AT SUN YAT-TSEN UNIVERSITY IN GUANGZHOU, CAME TO THE BRECHT FORUM IN MAHATTAN TO SPEAK ABOUT THE BURGEONING LABOR MOVEMENT IN CHINA. WBAI FRED NGUYEN WAS THERE AND HE FILED THIS REPORT:
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
