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London, UK, Sat, May 26 2007
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Transformation, survival and emancipation in a world city: regeneration or business as usual?
Inura 2007 conference London/Brighton 25 June to 1 July 2007
London was one of the cradles of capitalism and - as the base of British government and a host of consultants and financial institutions - has played a leading role in the intensified renewal of the capitalist project in Europe and the world since the 1980s.
The 17th Inura meeting will focus less on the big global processes and more on the experience of citizens in a city-region experiencing rapid economic growth distributed very unequally.
Just now London is reflecting on the legacy of slavery and on the campaigns here to end the Atlantic slave trade 200 years ago - a trade which contributed massively to wealth accumulation in Britain and thus to some extent underpins whatever prosperity we all have now. Dealing with that legacy may help in dealing with racism today. The idea of emancipation from oppression is thus in people's thoughts.
The economy is partly driven by the continuing inflation of asset values, including the values of housing and urban space. Citizens are all subject to the resulting pressures and many of our visits and discussions in London will be to groups and localities fighting for survival and for decent conditions in the face of intensifying gentrification and continuing low salaries for working class people or welfare benefits which trap people in poverty or near-poverty. A common theme is the transfer of social housing to (or towards) private ownership, either individual or corporate. Tenants are manipulated into these schemes because government money for housing improvement is conditional on their consent. collective, INURA
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