BY CLAIRE FLYNN
AND KATHY NEWNAM
ADELAIDE — The "Grim Reaper" and a paper mache "loan shark" were among the 70 people at a protest, organised by the Adelaide S11 Alliance, outside an address by the managing director of the World Bank, Dr Mamphele Ramphele, here on November 8.
While the protesters outside demanded the immediate cancellation of all Third world debt as a step toward alleviating poverty, inside the World Bank's public relations hype was challenged by S11 activists.
Ramphele's address made little reference to the policy of the World Bank, but focused on the "role of the individual as agents of history".
"Considering the role of the World Bank in institutionalising the poverty of the Third World, the absurdity of this analyses is remarkable", Democratic Socialist Party activist Rebecca Meckleburg, who attended the forum, told Green Left Weekly. "It was argued that it is efforts by individuals like former anti-apartheid activist Ramphele, working within the World Bank, that will bring about global change." This was an attempt to coopt radical opponents of corporate tyranny, Meckleburg said.
During the "vote of thanks" presented by former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, S11 Alliance activists unfurled a banner proclaiming, "Which Bank causes death and destruction? The World Bank".
No question time was allowed by organisers of the forum. Many people who had attended the lecture asked for leaflets and information on coming protests from the S11 activists.