Danaher
Dr. Kevin Danaher manages the Outreach Program of the San Francisco Department of the Environment.
He is a co-founder of Global Exchange (1988), co-founder of TransFairUSA (1997), founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals (2001), and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center (2004). He was also the co-founder and designer of ESLI, the Environmental Service Learning Initiative, and he created GreenGuardians.ning.com featuring 233 green career training videos and other green job resources.
Dr. Danaher has spoken at universities and at community organizations throughout the U.S. He conducts workshops on issues ranging from the dynamics of the global economy to how we can accelerate the transition to the green economy.
Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of thirteen books, including his two latest: “The Green Festival Reader: Fresh ideas from Agents of Change” [1] (2008); "Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots" [2] (2007).
His 1984 PhD in sociology is from the University of California at Santa Cruz, with a dissertation on The Political Economy of U.S. Policy Toward South Africa.
Lectures & Seminars
Dr. Danaher is offering any combination of the following speaking topics:
Accelerating the Transition to the Green Economy: The green economy is growing at a rapid rate and will increasingly challenge the existing, unsustainable economy. Evidence of this paradigm shift can be seen in growing consumer demand for nature-friendly products, huge investments in renewable energy and clean-tech sectors, and more corporate leaders acknowledging social/environmental responsibility as a competitive advantage. As Dr. Danaher documents in his new book, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots, there is abundant innovation going on at the grassroots level, but we could be doing much more at the national level to accelerate this transition to the green economy.
Corporate Accountability and the Local Green Economy: This talk discusses how corporate globalization is driven by the need to turn nature into money and find the cheapest labor. As an alternative, grassroots globalization is being built by community-based organizations linking across national boundaries.
Justice, Not War: "A momentous decision confronts us as a nation: Do we define the violence of Sept. 11 as an act of war or as a crime against humanity?," Dr. Danaher asks his audiences. "If we define it as war, it couches the issues in nationalist sentiment and separates us from the people of other nations. If we define it as a crime against humanity, it holds the potential for uniting humankind against the scourge of terrorism." Dr. Danaher will discuss how the US must, among other things, work for the establishment of an international criminal court and dedicate itself to ending global poverty if we are to succeed in abolishing international terrorism. Reducing global inequality has always been a moral imperative, Dr. Danaher says, and now it is also a strategic imperative. According to Dr. Danaher, if we hope to isolate suicidal fanatics, we need the cooperation of all the world's people. Unfortunately, the free-trade status quo has fostered a widespread resentment of the United States that presents an obstacle to cooperation. By encouraging a dog-eat-dog form of competition, corporate globalization has fostered alienation and bitterness, Dr. Danaher says, and prevented us from winning the hearts and minds of the world's people. To end the scourge of terrorism we need a kind of grassroots globalization based on peace, justice and international cooperation.
The Case Against the World Bank and the IMF: How We Can Create A Green, Grassroots Model of Development: Exploring the themes of Dr. Danaher's book, this talk argues how the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, by controlling hundreds of billions of dollars and setting the policy agenda in developing countries, keep developing economies open to corporate penetration, but promote policies that destroy the environment and undermine the standard of living for the majority. Diverse grassroots organizations around the world are uniting to create a sustainable economic model that leaves no one out.
Corporations are Gonna Get Your Mama: Globalization and the Downsizing of the American Dream: Based on Dr. Danaher's book, this talk focuses on the negative effects of globalization in the US, explaining how corporate globalization is exporting US jobs, bankrupting our government, undermining democratic principles, and destroying our environment. In response, grassroots organizations are fighting all of these effects but they need to come together in a unified movement.
In his presentations, he not only provides a detailed analysis of what is wrong, but he also gives inspiring examples of what we can do to make things right. As part of Global Exchange's continuing efforts to plug people into ongoing activist work, Dr. Danaher will bring books and literature related to the talks.
He is also very experienced at media interviews and will be available to do as many as requested. Dr. Danaher has appeared on television and radio shows around the country.
Interviews and Presentations
Bill McKibben and TreeHugger interview Kevin Danaher [3] - Green Festivals 2010 - 11/06/10
Green Economy and Green Careers [4] ( part 2, [5] part 3 [6]) - Mother Earth News Fair 2010 [7] - 09/25/10
What's Fair Trade For? and How will it achieve its goal? [8] -- Excerpt from Fair Trade Futures Conference - 9/11/10
The Green Economy Needs a New Real Estate Model [9] -- TEDxSoMa -- 1/22/10
WTO's Meeting in Seattle - 10th anniversary [10] - KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles Radio [11] - 12/06/09 - Place the cursor at 26:06 min of the podcast for Kevin's interview
The Future of the Global Justice Movement Forum [12] - EON's Planetarian Perspectives Series -- 3/28/08
San Francisco Green Festival [14] 11/10/06
Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power [15] - Kane Hall at the University of Washington - Talking Stick TV - SCAN [16] - 1/20/06
SFGate.com - Kevin Danaher: Part activist and part businessman [17] - 11/05/03
Kevin Danaher: The War on Terror [18] (part 2 [19], part 3 [20]) - Media Education Foundation [21] - 11/17/01
Publications
The Green Festival Reader: Fresh Ideas from Agents of Change [1] (with Alisa Gravitz) [PoliPoint Press]
Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots [2] (with Shannon Biggs and Jason Mark) [PoliPoint Press]
Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power [22] (Routledge Press)
In Whose Interest: A Guide to US-South Africa Relations
Articles
The Los Angeles Times
San Francisco Chronicle
The International Herald Tribune
The Financial Times of Zimbabwe
Africa News
TransAfrica Forum
Harvard Educational Review
Issue
The Progressive
His writing has covered subjects such as "US Agriculture and Its Impact on Third World Farming, "Hidden Costs of the War with Iraq," and "Challenging the Leadership of the World Economy."
Webinars
Report Back from the Gulf Coast with Antonia Juhasz and Kevin Danaher [36] - August 26, 2010
Second Green Careers webinar with Carol McClelland [37] - June 03, 2010
Green Careers Webinar [38] - December 17, 2009
What others said about Kevin's past webinars: "A force multiplier"; "An excellent webinar filled with useful information"; "It was indeed informative"; "Very well run"; "That was awesome"
Booking
Interested in organizing an event with Dr. Kevin Danaher? Find out more about hosting an event [39].
Topics covered
Green Careers
Building the Green Economy
People's Globalization vs. Elite Globalization
The case against the World Bank and the IMF
Corporate Accountability and Local Green Economy
Grassroots Movements for Peace, Justice and International Cooperation
If you would like to plan a speaking event with Kevin, please contact communications [at] globalexchange.org.