TORONTO, June 28, 1996: Alain Lipietz, the economic spokesperson for the French Green Party and a leading European commentator on the international economy, ecology and industrial restructuring, will be visiting Toronto for two weeks, and is speaking at two public events organized by York University.

Lipietz is one of France's pre-eminent economists and a key figure of the European Left. A world economist, he is the author of several books, including Green Hopes: The Future of Political Ecology (1995); Towards a New Economic Order: Postfordism, Ecology and Democracy (1992); Mirages and Miracles: The Crisis of Global Fordism (1987); and The Enchanted World: Inflation, Credit and the World Crisis (1985).

Lipietz is scheduled to give guest lectures at York University's International Political Economy Summer School. He is a guest of the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Environmental Studies, both of which are recognized for academic excellence. Lipietz will be speaking on Thursday, July 4 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at York University in the Senate Chamber, 9th Floor, South Ross Building. His topic will be "The New World Hierarchy: Ways Out of the Crisis," an examination of the international economy, debt levels, and the growing social polarization between rich and poor in both the North and the South.

As well, Lipietz will be part of a roundtable discussion on "The World Economy, Neo-Liberalism and Its Alternatives," on Wednesday, July 10, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Toronto Board of Education, 155 College St., public auditorium, 6th floor. The speakers will discuss the general movement of economies around the world towards free market policies, and what constraints these policies pose for alternative development policies. The roundtable discussion will also feature two of Canada's pre-eminent authors and commentators on economic development and the world economy. They are: John Saul, a professor of social science at York University and one of Canada's foremost experts on Africa, particularly South Africa; and Harriet Friedmann, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto and one of the country's leading experts on world food policy.

Both events are free and open to the public. They are sponsored by: York University's Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Green Work Alliance, Studies in Political Economy, Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice.

York University, the third largest university in Canada, is nationally and internationally respected for its innovative research and teaching. With its combination of dedicated and talented faculty, bright and ambitious students, dynamic curriculum and modern campus in the heart of one of North America's most influential urban centres, York University is setting the modern standard in academic excellence.

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For more information, contact:

Professor Greg Albo
Department of Political Science
York University
(416) 736-5265 ext. 88828

Mary Ann Horgan
Department of Communications
York University
(416) 736-2100 ext. 22084

YU/036/96