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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 1977)
Says Asian political expert Third World liberation inevitable The liberation ot Third World countries from imperialism and colonialism will occur no matter how long it takes despite obsta cles in the way. said Malcolm Caldwell, an expert on Asian politics and economics "I see no evidence that this process will not continue, he said Caldwell spoke on the liberation ot Asia, world trade and pros pects tor the West Tuesday at the EMU. The sociology, political science, history and r~-1 Asian studies departments sponsored his lecture Caldwell is an instructor at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the Univer sity of London and editor of the quarterly Journal of Contemporary Asia He has taught at the University of Malaya and has visited Laos, Cambodia. North Vietnam, Singapore and China Caldwell used Cambodia as an example of peoples eagerness to reconstruct soci ety along radically different lines" given the opportunity To many Western observers. Cambodia seemed an unlikely place for re volution, yet the stability was superficial and the tension beneath the surface erupted violently, he said Thailand, relatively stable in the eyes of Western scholars, will soon be liberated if Ihe appropriate catalyst comes along, he By KARYN ORTIZ Of the Emerald said Some scholars maintain Thailand s history differs from that of other southeast Asian countries and that Thailand will not succumb to the folly of armed class strug gle Caldwell disagreed, citing the activity of Thai peasants, workers and students from 1973 to 1976, between dictatorships, as evidence of a developing class struggle Industrialized countries cannot prevent the liberation of the Third World by the intel ligent application of intervention or foreign aid, he said Foreign aid brings only surface prosperity that does not benefit the ordinary people "It is very foolish to imagine that the peo ple are stupid, that they don t know what is wrong with their lives that they re subject to exploitation, he said Caldwell spoke also about the future rela tions between Vietnam and capitalist coun tries. Vietnamese leaders, he said, are con fident the people will understand it is necessary to economic reconstruction and that it will be only temporary — until the Vietnamese acquire needed technology Caldwell explained the development of world trade and the international division of labor in the late 19th century. A small number of rich countries made the economic and social decisions for the poor ones, he said Although productivity in creased all along the line, benefits were unequal Foreign capital was attracted to Third World countries because of low wages paid to workers and the absence of organized labor To benefit their own working class and thus create a market for their own man ufactured goods, the industrialized coun tries exported their poverty, said Caldwell, The inequities of trade showed itself in lower prices for manufactured goods in the industrialized countries After liberation, the economics of Third World countries will be more self-sufficient, and when this happens, he said, rich coun tries have no option but to do the same Caldwell also spoke about his own coun try, calling Britain "the most overdeve toped country in the world " Caldwell saw no possibility of the Com munist Party gaining ground in Britain. His own Labour Party already fills the re visionist niche" the tiny Communist Party has not had a representative in Parliament since 1951. Caldwell has written about a dozen books including a study of liberation move ments, The Chainless Mind, Cambodia and the Southeast Asian War and most recently. The Wealth of Some Nations an Introduction to the Study of Political Economy. earthy events Earthweek continues, rain or shine until Sunday and today is Appropriate Technology Day A schedule ot events is listed below For more in formation on any event, contact the Survival Center. 686 4356 or visit the Earthweek table in the EMU. which has copies of the Eugene Lifestyles Handbook 12:30 p.m. Film, New Al chemist, EMU Forum, Free Thefilm explores possibilities for more human, self-sustaining communities involving interrelated food producing systems and a small-scale technology 2:30 p.m Speaker, Ken Holder, EMU Forum A presentation on the World Game and the Club of Rome titled The Human Problematique 7 and 9 p.m. Film, Findhorn. a benefit tor the Citizens Against Toxic Sprays, $1. Room 123 Science The film is a documentary on the famous Findhorn community in Northern Scotland in which community mem bers pattern their lifestyles along an environmental and spiritual philosophy PTK*0 by Perry Gaskill Malcolm Caldwell 1977-78 CULTURAL FORUM POSITIONS Applications now being accepted for the areas of: ►CONTEMPORARY ISSUES ◄ ► FILMS AND LITERATURES ► POPULAR CONCERTS ◄ ►VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTSS ► HERITAGE MUSICS (Folk, blues & jazz) Interested applicants should obtain application forms from Suite 2 of the EMU. Application deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. April 22. Non-salaried positions.
