The U.S. is the world’s predominant military and economic power, and change in this country must precede meaningful change globally. This creates a special role and responsibility for social justice organizers in the U.S., and places critical importance on organizing with a global analysis and understanding of the impacts of U.S. foreign policy. This 4-hour, popular education training is meant not only as an economic literacy workshop, but as a way to help achieve the greater goal of building and strengthening the U.S global justice movement.

We realize that one of the biggest challenges of the global justice movement has been that too often we have failed to recognize that people in the United States are not exempt from the ravages of the global economic system. The training will focus on connecting the dots between these struggles, and will address the following questions:

• What kind of policies does the U.S. promote internationally?
• What is the link between these economic policies and war, disease, and development?
• How are these policies different or similar to what national and local governments do right here at home?
• What are some of the alternatives being articulated and implemented by movements in the Global South and here in the US?
• What do will the next generation of the global justice movement look like?

Using games, role-plays, and small group discussion, this training seeks to move beyond issue-based campaigning, and help engender a greater understanding and consciousness of global justice issues among those already engaged in organizing work.

This activity will be conducted in English. We hope to have oral interpreters available, but will not be able to provide headsets and transmitters. We will have popular education materials available. The majority of them will be in English, though some will also be available is Spanish, Portuguese and French.