Practices of 'International Solidarity' and 'International Development'
47th Linz Conference: 29 September — 2 October 2011
BACKGROUND AND APPROACHES
The purpose of the Conference 2011 is to discuss Solidarity and
Development at international level as practiced by social movements,
organizations and states acting in the tradition of the Labour Movement.
International Solidarity is perceived as a concept for dealing
with others on the basis of common interests and concerns, genuinely rooted
in the traditions of the Labour Movement. International Development
is perceived as a transformation of society by means of deliberate active
intervention to achieve certain objectives like “Modernisation”
or, alternatively, “Socialism”. Both concepts were realized
through transfers: transfers of concrete resources, knowledge, working and
living modes as well as norms and standards. Solidarity, at least
conceptually, can be described as a reciprocal transfer process, Development
as a unilateral transfer process. These transfers were operated by solidarity
activists, (party and union-) internationalists, development workers and
experts.
The universal concepts of Solidarity and of Development
basically aimed at the creation of one (single) world
in which the material standards, working conditions, orders of social justice,
and ways of living according to the yardstick of the “most highly
developed” societies were to apply. Every individual and every society
can develop the entrepreneurial spirit, and the attitudes and practices
linked to it, leading to prosperity, is the credo of those who
fundamentally believe that “development” is tantamount to increasing
material prosperity. Every society and every individual can be set on a
“socialist developmental path” which, based on a planned economy
and collectivisation under the leadership of the Party, will lead to an
“all-round development” of individuals and collectives would
be the credo of a competing concept of development as progress towards socialism.
We are pursuing a struggle on the basis of a joint social position political
stance and interests, would be a stance based on “Solidarity”.
The question is if the implementation of these distinct concepts converged
in practice. The contributions discuss situations in which practices of
Solidarity and Development were actively conceived and
implemented. They further concentrate on forms of transfer: material assistance,
trade at preferential conditions; personal commitment; collective actions
and campaigns. At an institutional level, “development aid”
and “socialist aid” – also referred to as “international
solidarity” – as competing systems for Development and
Solidarity in the “Third World” in the era of global
systems competition are at the centre of attention. Temporal focus is the
post-colonial era in the second half of the 20th century.
Preparatory Committee:
Co-ordinator: Berthold Unfried (Institute of
Economic and Social History, Vienna University)
Eva Himmelstoss (ITH)
Anja Kruke (Friedrich Ebert-Foundation, Bonn)
David Mayer (Institute of Economic and Social History, Vienna University)
Jürgen Mittag (Institute for Social Movements, University
of Bochum)
Marcel van der Linden (International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam)
Raquel Varela (Instituto de História Contemporânea, Universidade
Nova de Lisboa)
Contact Information:
Eva Himmelstoss
International Conference of Labour and Social History (ITH)
Altes Rathaus, Wipplingerstr. 8, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Fax +43 (0)1 2289469-391, e-Mail: ith@doew.at