Ahmed Nashaat: Megacity Conference to Rock the World-System

CAIRO, May 22, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- World capitalism is under siege in the 21st century, so a free conference in Cairo, Egypt, will be held in June to discuss how to address this crisis, which impacts today's megacities (cities featuring more than 10 million people each). The discussion facilitated at this conference, called "Megacities and Development: Megamachines of Hope and Alientation," may ultimately help to preserve the quality of life of millions of people around the world, according to Ahmed Nashaat, political and socioeconomic expert.

The conference will take place from 10 a.m. on June 26 to 5 p.m. EET on June 27.

According to Nashaat, four ideological and structural contradictions exist in the current capitalist-based world-system: rising labor costs; increasing anti-systemic resistance; the nation-state's declining role; and ecological entropy. All of these contradictions will be discussed during the conference.

This conference is long overdue, according to Nashaat, as especially in the southern part of the globe, leaders' priorities are backward. They are focused less on alleviating poverty and more on firms' rights, developing neutral legal criteria, intellectual property rights, and contract guarantees. Unfortunately, neo-liberal restructuring has led to global accumulation rather than internal development. In other words, the future of democracy is on the line thanks to development aid promises and structural adjustment.

During the conference, those working in areas such as Bogotá, Colombia; Manila, Philippines; and Cairo will come together to explore megacities, colossal production-based megamachines (scientific and technological innovations), and the various forms of alienation experienced today: social and economic, ecological, cultural alienation, technological, and psychological alienation.

Several alienation-related questions will be addressed at the conference. For example, how can the megacity's cultural imaginations, economies, and networks defend against the monocultural megamachines that reproduce cultural hierarchies? In addition, can megacities' minority and migrant voices help to balance out the amplification of the megamachines of social media and smart city grids?

SOURCE SEOP