[The following is NOT a CAPES-endorsed event or group, but it looked interesting, so I thought it worth posting.  I'll be there and talking Parecon if appropriate.  -Sean.] WINNING AGAINST WAL-MART: GETTING BEYOND OPPOSITIONISM WITH NEW ALTERNATIVESHear Carl Davidson of Networking for DemocracySponsor: Open University of the LeftInfo: oulchicago (at) yahoo.com, 773-384-5797 OUL is proud to present veteran activist, scholar and writer Carl Davidson, who argues that it's not enough for progressives simply to oppose Wal-Mart and its labor- and community-crushing presence. We already know what we're fighting against, but what are we fighting for? What's needed, says Davidson, is a program of "high road" structural reform to win real strategic gains against concentrated corporate power and its agenda of universal exploitation. He presents positive alternatives to the Wal-Mart paradigm, viable economic models that meet consumer needs while serving to empower workers and strengthen communities. Following up on last fall's packed showing of Robert Greenwald's "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices," Davidson's PowerPoint presentation relies on the work of Antonio Gramschi and the Mondragon Co-ops in Spain to delve more deeply into the politics of the issue. As grassroots resistance to Wal-Mart grows and the company's "war room" ratchets up its already high-intensity PR campaign, this presentation provides the context we need not just to understand where Wal-Mart wants to take us, but also how we can begin moving society in the opposite direction. Carl Davidson is executive director of Networking for Democracy, co-chair of Chicagoans Against War & Injustice, and co-author, with Jerry Harris, of "CyberRadicalism: A New Left for a Global Age." He is a regular and very welcome OUL presenter. $5 donation if you have it; more if you're willing; no one turned away. FOR MORE INFO: Call the OUL office at (773) 384-5797 if you have a question or would like to lead an OUL session. Please feel free to forward this announcement to anyone you think may be interested in attending the program. For more information about OUL, go to www.yahoo.com, click on "groups," type "oulchicago" into the search field and click the search button. Click on "oulchicago" to see recent news and announcements. ABOUT THE OUL:The Open University of the Left (OUL) is an independent forum formed in 1987 to organize presentations and discussion groups about politics, literature, film, philosophy, history and social theory.