Brief Guest Biographies

STEVE BEST

Working in areas such as philosophy, social and political theory, cultural studies, science and technology studies, animal rights, environmentalism and biotechnology, he has written and edited 10 books and published over 100 articles and reviews. In addition to the books he has published on postmodern theory (many with Douglas Kellner), he co-edited (with Anthony J. Nocella II) Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books, 2004) and Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth (AK Press, 2006). Best is co-founder of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org). He has been active in many political causes and has been interviewed by National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, BBC News, the Guardian Independent, The Chronicle of Higher Education and various media in Brazil, Barcelona and France. Currently he is completing a new book, 'Animal Liberation and Moral Progress: The Struggle for Human Evolution' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008) and co-editing a volume on academic repression in post-9/11 US. Many of his writings are posted at his website: http://www.drstevebest.org/ .

TRISTEN TAYLOR (FROM Earthlife Africa)

Tristen Taylor is a social and environmental justice activist currently working fulltime at Earthlife Africa Jhb as the Energy Policy Officer. He is currently campaigning for clean energy and against aluminium smelters in South Africa. He is also a member of Umzabalazo we Jubilee, a social movement campaigning against Third World Debt and for reparations from multinational firms that supported the Apartheid regime. He holds a MA degree in philosophy from Wits University and is currently undertaking doctoral studies (in the moral, political and economic philosophy) at the University of Johannesburg.

Earthlife Africa (ELA) is a membership driven organization of environmental and social justice activists, founded to mobilize civil society around environmental issues in relation to people. ELA Johannesburg (Jhb) branch was established in August 1988 as the first branch of the organization.

Earthlife Africa's main activities are campaign related. This includes lobbying and advocacy with a range of stakeholders including government, building campaigns at community level through sharing information and skills, engaging with environmental impact assessments, engaging the media, and researching and producing information materials. While historically best know for highlighting environmental injustice, we also work to promote ecologically sound alternatives, like renewable energy and efficiency, organic farming and adopting the 'Zero Waste' approach to industrial pollution and waste management. Earthlife Africa Jhb also campaigns on animal rights issues, most recently on Japanese whaling.

BOBBY PEEK (Groundwork)

Bobby Peek is director of the environmental justice NGO, groundWork. He has received international recognition for his campaigning work in the South Durban basin around toxic industry and waste issues. He has also been active in campaigning locally and internationally around the Thor Chemicals debacle. He is a recipient of the prestigious Goldman Foundation award and is frequently invited to present papers in local, government and international fora.

JONATHAN PAYN (Zabalaza)

Jonathan Payn is a founding member of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (formerly Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation). He has served as that organisations International Secretary and is currently the ZACF's Regional Secretary. He has been ZACF delegate to the international anarchist website Anarkismo.net's editorial collective, attended the Southern African Social Forum in Harare in 2005 as a ZACF delegate and done speaking tours about anarchism and popular social movements in South Africa to Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. He has been a political activist for about seven years and has written numerous articles published online and in various anarchist journals in both English and Portuguese.

Members of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (formerly Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation) have been active in the southern African anarchist movement since the dying days of apartheid with organisations such as the Anarchist Revolutionary Movement, Durban Anarchist Federation, Workers' Solidarity Federation, and the Bikisha Media Collective which helped run the Workers' Library & Museum from 1999 and helped launch the Anti-Privatisation Forum in 2000.

The ZACF is an organisation of anarchists from South Africa who identify with the communist tradition within Anarchism who have a non-sectarian, yet working-class approach to proletarian resistance. The front is organised around the principles of theoretical and tactical unity, collective responsibility and federalism. Our activities include study and theoretical development, anarchist agitation and propaganda, and participation within the class struggle. The Front has thus been active in community, immigrants', workers' and prisoners' struggles in SA and Swaziland, supported struggles in Zimbabwe and participated in several international projects.

As anarchist-communists, we struggle for a classless, stateless and non-hierarchical society. An egalitarian society free from all forms of oppression, including but not limited to those based on gender, race, disability, age, etc. and the exploitation of the natural environment. We envision an international confederation of directly democratic, self-managed communities and workplaces; a society where all markets, exchange value systems and divisions of labour have been abolished and the means of production, distribution and communication are taken over by the workers and placed under workers' self-management (socialised) in order to allow for the satisfaction of the needs of everyone, adhering to the communist principle: "From each according to ability, to each according to need."

SALIEM FAKIR

Saliem Fakir is also senior lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Planning at the University of Stellenbosch where he teaches a course on renewable energy policy and financing of renewable energy projects. His also the Associate Director of the Center for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies – a newly established center at the University of Stellenbosch.

Saliem Fakir previously worked for Lereko Energy (Pty) Ltd an investment company focusing on project development and financial arrangements for renewable energy, biofuels, waste and water sectors. He also served as Director of the World Conservation Union South Africa (IUCN-SA) office for 8 years.

Saliem serves on a number of Boards. Between 2004-2005 he served as a chair of the Board of the National Botanical Institute, and is now non-executive member. He also serves on the board of the Fair Trade in Tourism Initiative, and is member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative, based in Amsterdam.

Saliem qualifications are: B.Sc Honours molecular biology (WITS), Masters’ in Environmental Science, Wye College London, and did a senior executive management course at Harvard University in 2000. He is currently applying to be a Ph.D candidate on the question of the hydrogen economy.

PHUMI MTETWA (Director Lesbian and Gay Equality Project)

(no biography available)

NONHLANHLA MOKOENA (POWA)

(no biography available)

MICHELE PICKOVER

Michele is the author of "Animal Rights in South Africa", a pioneering book published in 2005 and nominated for the Alan Paton Award for Non-Fiction. She is co-founder of Animal Rights Africa.

DAVID BILCHITZ

Dr. David Bilchitz has a BA (Hons) LLB cum laude from Wits University. He graduated with an MPhil in Philosophy from St John's College, University of Cambridge in 2001 and with a PHD in political philosophy and law from the same university in 2004. His book on ‘Poverty and Fundamental Rights: the Justification and Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights’ has just been published by Oxford University Press at the end of February 2007. He has several other publications on the Law of Evidence, Socio-Economic Rights and the Jewish Law of Persons.

David worked as law clerk to Chief Justice Langa of the Constitutional Court in 2000 (who was then Deputy Judge-President). From August 2004 until 2006, he worked at Ross Kriel Attorneys, a law firm dealing with public sector law and he is an admitted attorney. He is a sessional lecturer in jurisprudence at the University of the Witwatersrand Law School and is currently employed full-time as senior researcher at the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC).

David is also a committed activist working towards social reform with his involvement in feminist, gay rights, poverty and animal rights issues. Recently, he was one of the key drivers in the campaign for civil marriage for same-sex couples in South Africa and acted as legal adviser to the Joint Working Group (a coalition of 17 lesbian and gay organisations). He has also campaigned for shelters for the homeless, has taught literacy and numeracy skills to street children,and has worked on improving dialogue between Jews and Palestinians surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has also provided legal advice to Xwe African Wildlife and now Animal Rights Africa on a range of issues connected to animal law in South Africa with a particular focus on attempting to prevent the resumption of culling elephants.