On 12th January, The Left Berlin is kicking off the year with the first of two workshops on international geopolitics and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The first workshop, with Professor Patrick Bond from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, will be in two parts. The first hour will cover the fast-changing international context, and the second hour will look at solidarity through BDS: against apartheid South Africa, against fossil fuel corporations and financiers (and their states), and against the genocide of Palestinians.

Suggested agenda:

2pm: International geopolitics

• Led by Donald Trump, far-right (paleo-)conservatism in relation to neo-conservative and neo-liberal ruling-class ideologies
• Oppositional social-democratic, multipolar and (non-polar) independent-left politics
• Institutions of global crisis management: G20 (in Johannesburg in 2025 and the U.S. in 2026), G7, BRICS, the World Economic Forum and UN climate negotiations
• Geopolitical and economic conflicts, including Israel’s genocide and war crimes against Palestinians

3pm: What is BDS?

• How was BDS used successfully against South African apartheid, on economic, cultural and academic fronts?
• What lessons are there from ongoing fossil-fuel corporate and financing BDS, as well as inclement climate-related trade sanctions?
• Can climate-based BDS be applied to Trump’s United States when he pulls out of the UNFCCC?
• What targets does the Palestine BDS movement recommend for military, energy, finance and retail profiteering from Israeli repression?

We are planning a second workshop, later in the year, about the possibilities and limitations of BDS in Germany.

Patrick Bond directs the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He was an active participant in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, and has worked with the BDS movement on Palestine liberation since 2010.

The first workshop is limited to 20 places, which have been taken, but you can still register for a place on the waiting list.