PSAS launches teach-in on IMF, World Bank

Penn Students Against Sweatshops are once again trying to promote awareness on campus. Last night in the newly renovated Houston Hall, PSAS, in conjunction with several other sponsoring organizations, hosted a teach-in for roughly 30 students who came to learn about the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and their relationship to sweatshops. The teach-in is one part in a series of events that PSAS is hosting this week as part of their International Monetary Fund/World Bank Awareness Week. "The purpose of the week is to raise awareness amongst the community about the policies of the IMF and the World Bank," explained Michael Janson, a second-year doctoral student in political science and a co-organizer of the event. The IMF and World Bank are meeting in Prague -- located in the Czech Republic -- this week for their second meeting of the year. As with the first meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C., in April, thousands of protesters are expected to demonstrate against the powerful lending institutions. PSAS is hoping to show support for the protest efforts by educating students about the issues surrounding the IMF and World Bank, and the teach-in was the first step in PSAS' education process. The first two of the night's three speakers offered a history of, and an update about, the IMF and World Bank. Janson gave students a brief overview of both institutions, tracing their activities back to 1944, when they were founded to aid in Europe's economic recovery after World War II. Over the last 30 years or so, the IMF and World Bank have become increasingly powerful and increasingly involved in the economies of developing nation. By offering medium and long-term loans to these countries, the IMF and World Bank have adversely affected labor conditions, according to Janson. College sophomore and PSAS member Sarah Gilfillan, who attended the teach-in, appreciated learning about the history of the organizations. "I really liked how [Janson] presented a historical background," she said. "It gave a pretty good general picture [of the IMF and World Bank.]" The next speaker, Ronald Kim, a doctoral student in linguistics and a columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian, spoke about why the IMF and World Bank are holding their conference in Prague. "[Prague] is the gateway to Eastern Europe," he said, explaining that it is in this area in the world that the IMF and World Bank have been expanding since the collapse of the Soviet Block in the early 1990s. As a result, he went on to say that "Prague is an emerging battleground" between protesters and the powerful financial institutions. The final speaker of the evening was College senior Alicia Blum-Ross, who is one of about 30 or so PSAS members who protested in Washington, D.C., last spring. The audience then watched Breaking Ground, a documentary about the protests in Washington, D.C. The film was followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session. For the rest of the week, PSAS plans to hold a rally/speak-out and "reality tours" today as well as a forum debate later this week.

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