Council

Julian Aguon is a human rights lawyer and founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm working across Oceania at the intersection of indigenous rights and environmental justice.

Nazma Akter is President of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, one of the largest union federations in Bangladesh. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Awaj Foundation and co-chair of Asia Pacific Women’s Committee of IndustriALL Global Union. A former child-garment worker herself, Nazma has been fighting to improve the rights of workers, especially female workers, in the garment sector in Bangladesh.

Andres Arauz is a former Minister of Knowledge of Ecuador and a former Central Bank General Director. He is a founding member of the Dollarization Observatory and a former board member of the nascent Bank of the South. He is currently based in Mexico City as a Doctoral Fellow at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM.

Renata Ávila is an international human rights lawyer. She is a 2020 Stanford Race and Technology Fellow at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She is a Board member for Creative Commons, the Common Action Forum, Cities for Digital Rights, and a Global Trustee of Digital Future Society. She also serves as a member of the Coordinating Collective of DiEM25.

Baba Aye is Co-Convener of the Coalition for Revolution (CORE), Nigeria. He is a trade unionist and socialist with a rich history in radical social movements.

Deyvid Bacelar is General Coordinator of FUP - Unified Federation of Oil Workers, Member of the Conselhão - Council for Social and Sustainable Economic Development (CDESS) and of the Council for Social Participation (CPS) of the Lula Government.

He is an oil worker, with a degree in Administration from UEFS, specializations in Personnel Management from UFBA and HSE from IFBA, a former coordinator of Sindipetro-BA, a human rights activist and was also the workers' representative on the Petrobrás Board of Directors (2015-2016).

Walden Bello is a scholar, dissident, and internationalist. He is also the founder and chairperson of the left-wing alliance Laban ng Masa and served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. He co-founded Focus on the Global South, and led critical mobilizations against the WTO and G8 in the 1990s.

Rita Berlofa is the International Relations Secretary of Contraf-CUT, which represents over 450,000 bank workers in Brazil. She is also the first non-European woman to hold the presidency of UNI Financas Global, the global union representing around three million workers.

Guilherme Castro Boulos is a Brazilian politician, activist and writer. He coordinates the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST), leading land occupations, resisting evictions, and organizing solidarity kitchens across the country. Boulos joined the Socialism and Liberty Party in 2018, and is PSOL's candidate for the presidency of Brazil in the 2022 elections.

Karol Cariola is a member of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies. She was General Secretary of the Communist Youth and President of the Student Federation of the University of Concepción (2009-2010). She is a founding member of the Puebla Group, a political and academic forum made up of representatives of the Ibero-American political left.

Mariela Castro Espín is a Deputy of the National Assembly of People's Power and Director of CENESEX. She is a full member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. She is committed to the development of policies, sexuality education, health and sexual rights, with a gender and human rights approach from emancipatory paradigms.

Aya Chebbi is a Pan-African feminist and diplomat. She rose to prominence as a voice for democracy during 2010/2011 Tunisia’s Revolution. She served as the first ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet (2018 – 2021). She is currently Executive Director of Afresist and founding chair of Nala Feminist Collective.

Jeremy Corbyn is a member of Parliament in the UK and a former leader of the Labour Party. He is also founder of the Peace and Justice Project.

Jodi Dean teaches, writes, and organizes in Geneva, NY. Her books include "The Communist Horizon," "Crowds and Party," and "Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging." She's involved in anti-capitalist grassroots and international struggles around climate, gender, and racial justice.

Nikhil Dey is one of the founding members of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). He has helped to lead campaigns for the people’s Right to Information (RTI) and the Right to Work (MGNREGA), served as a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), and organized for the Jan Sarokar, a network of Indian social movements.

Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. He is an Assistant Professor in the American Studies Department at the University of New Mexico. In 2014, he co- founded The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. For 2017-2018, Estes was the American Democracy Fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University. Estes is a member of the Oak Lake Writers Society, a network of Indigenous writers committed to defend and advance Oceti Sakowin (Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota) sovereignty, cultures, and histories.

Silvia Federici is a feminist activist, writer, and teacher. She is a cofounder of the International Feminist Collective, the organization that launched the Wages For Housework campaign internationally. In the 1990s, she was active in the anti-globalization movement and the U.S. anti–death penalty movement. She is a professor emerita and teaching fellow at Hofstra University in New York.

Gacheke Gachihi is the coordinator of Mathare Social Justice Centre and a member of the Social Justice Centres Working Group Steering Committee in Nairobi, Kenya.

Alberto Garzón is an ecosocialist economist. Since 2020, he has been serving as coordinator of Izquierda Unida and Minister of the Government of Spain. Committed to ecological transition from a class perspective, he has written several books and regularly participates in ecosocialist debates.

Selay Ghaffar is a prominent activist for political and women’s rights in Afghanistan. She is also spokesperson for the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan. Selay was the Director of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA).

Jayati Ghosh taught economics for more than three decades at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, and is currently Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. She is involved in efforts to reform the international economic architecture, and works closely with trade unions and social movements in India and elsewhere.

Yara Hawari is a Palestinian activist, academic and political analyst. She received her PhD in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter in 2018. She currently works as the Senior Analyst for Al Shabaka, a Palestinian transnational think tank and is a frequent political commentator for many mainstream outlets. Yara is also an activist and has been and continues to be involved in various movements in Palestine.

Srećko Horvat is a philosopher. He has been active in various movements for the past two decades. He co-founded the Subversive Festival in Zagreb and, together with Yanis Varoufakis, founded DiEM25. He published more than a dozen books translated into 15 languages, most recently Poetry from the Future, Subversion!, The Radicality of Love and What Does Europe Want?.

Wang Hui, the founding Director of the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing. He teaches at Tsinghua University, Beijing as Distinguished Professor of Literature and History. One of the esteemed scholars in fields of intellectual history, social theory and modern literature, and a leading figure of the “Chinese New Left”, Wang Hui’s work has attempted to chart the intellectual and political conditions of contemporary China and has remained committed to the project of deep engagement with both the history and the consequences of Chinese modernity.

Dr Vashna Jagarnath is a historian and labour activist and director of Friends of the Workers, a non-profit that supports the work of trade unions and social movements across South Africa. As well as her role as deputy general secretary of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers's Party she also works in the office of the the General Secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).

Ammar Ali Jan is a historian who works on Communist thought in the non-European world. He is a member of Haqooq-e-khalq Movement, an anti-capitalist organization that is working among workers, farmers, students and women to build an alternative political project. He is also a regular contributor to a number of publications, including The News International, Al Jazeera and Jacobin.

Abirami Jotheeswaran is the General Secretary of the All India Dalit Women's Rights Forum-NCDHR (AIDMAM-NCDHR), a prominent platform amplifying the voices of Dalit women in India. As a passionate Dalit Women Activist, Abirami is dedicated to empowering young Dalit women, enabling them to assume leadership roles in combating caste and gender-based violence against Dalit women and girls across India.

Zitto Zuberi Ruyagwa Kabwe is a Tanzanian politician who served as a two term Member of Parliament for the Kigoma North constituency from 2005 to 2015. As the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Kabwe campaigned for a strong conflict of interest code as a measure to fight corruption by public officeholders. He currently serves as the leader of the Alliance for Change and Transparency, the third largest political party in Tanzania.

Hasina Khan is recognized as one of India's most visible, courageous and effective activists raising issues and questions of women's rights in general and Muslim women’s rights in particular. Hasina Khan is now the founding member of Bebaak Collective (Voice of Fearless). Bebaak Collective (Voices of the Fearless) is a campaign group primarily functioning from Mumbai and fighting against fundamentalism and repressive forces from an intersectional feminist perspective.

Łukasz Kozak is a member of the board of Akcja Socjalistyczna, a political organization in Poland.

Nilüfer Koç is a member of the Executive Council and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), the largest umbrella organization of political parties and civil society organisations in Kurdistan. She is also active in the Kurdish Women's Movement, engaged in the active and autonomous participation of women in all fields of society and politics.

Milena Ochoa Larrotta is the director of the National Trade Union Institute's Center for Popular Education and Research (Instituto Nacional Sindical CED - INS). Educator and researcher of the National Agrarian Coordinator, the peasant movement of the Congress of the Peoples, on issues related to political training within social movements, rural education and struggles for land and territory in Colombia — especially in the regions of Catatumbo and Sur de Bolivar. She is a community educator with emphasis on human rights, member of the research group Polyphonies of Community and Popular Education of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional.

Antonio Lisboa is CUT's Secretary of International Relations. A professor of geography and history, he participated in the reorganization of the student movement in the final years of the Brazilian dictatorship. He was a member of the Federal District Teachers Union board between 1989 and 1995, returning to the command of the entity from 2001 to 2009, when he directed the most significant strikes in the history of the category. He was Finance Secretary of the National Confederation of Workers in Education (CNTE) between 2011 and 2017. In 2014, he was elected representative member of Workers on the Board of Directors of the International Labor Organization (ILO), being re-elected in 2018.

Scott Ludlam is a writer, activist and former Australian Greens Senator. He served in Parliament from 2008 - 2017, and as Co-Deputy Leader of his party from 2015 - 2017. Currently working as a freelance researcher and troublemaker, while writing occasional pieces for Meanjin, the Monthly, Junkee and the Guardian.

Clara López Obregón is a Colombian Senator, representing the Historic Pact. She has served as Comptroller of Bogotá, Auditor General of the Republic, Mayor of Bogotá, Minister of Labor and been a candidate for President.

Esperanza Martínez is a Paraguayan physician and politician. She was Minister of Public Health from 2008 to 2012. She is currently Senator for the Partido de la Participación Ciudadana, a member of the Frente Guasú - Ñemongeta coalition.

Clarissa Mendoza served as a legislative researcher in the House of Representatives of the Philippines and is currently the Head of the Secretariat of the Movement for Agrarian Reform and Social Justice, a mass movement of agrarian reform beneficiaries, landless farmers, indigenous peoples, and other people working in rural areas. Coming from a family of coconut farmers herself, Mendoza is a youth activist and socialist, focusing her work on farmers' rights and welfare, social justice, food sovereignty, and greater youth engagement in agriculture.

Luka Mesec is a MP, a founding member and coordinator of Slovenian parliamentary party Levica (The Left), an eco-socialist party that was the first in post-socialist Europe to enter the national parliament. He devoted most of his adult life to left-wing activism, before entering professional politics in 2014, he was a coordinator of Workers and Punks' University and director of Institute for Labour Studies.

Tom Morello is a musician, actor and political activist. He has been part of a number of era-defining rock bands, including Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.

Demba Moussa Dembele is an economist and researcher from Senegal. A member of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dembele is engaged in research against neoliberal policies and to promote alternative development policies in Africa. He is a founding-member of the African Social Forum and a former member of the World Social Forum Council.

Lidy Nacpil is a Filipino and national and international campaigning for economic, gender and climate justice. She is the Coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, co-Coordinator of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, and member of the Coordinating Committee of the Global Alliance on Tax Justice. She is also on the Steering Committee of the Fight Inequality Alliance.

Anyang’ Nyong’o is Governor of Kisumu County, Kenya. He was member of Kenyan Parliament, Minister for Planning and National Development (2003-2005) and the Minister for Medical Services (2008-2013).

Lyn Ossome is Senior Research Fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, where she teaches politics and political economy. She is the author most recently of Gender, Ethnicity and Violence in Kenya’s Transitions to Democracy: States of Violence and co-editor of the forthcoming volume Labour Questions in the Global South. She serves on several boards, including the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), and organizes on several fronts with feminist and agrarian movements.

Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. A member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, he has testified about the causes of the global food crisis to the US, UK and EU governments. He is the author/co-author of several books, including "A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things", co-authored with Jason W Moore.

Romenio Pereira is a political activist and trade unionist. He is the Secretary of International Relations of the Worker's Party of Brazil (PT).

Gustavo Petro is the President of the Republic of Colombia. As leader of the Pacto Histórico (Historic Pact) coalition, President Petro led his coalition to historic congressional gains and the first popular, progressive government the modern history of Colombia. He is an economist, former Senator of the Republic, and the former mayor of Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá.

Gerardo Pisarello is a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies for Barcelona en Comú. He was previously Professor of constitutional law at the University of Barcelona, and was elected to the Barcelona City Hall as part of the Barcelona en Comú municipal platform. He is the author of numerous books on constitutionalism, human rights and the right to the city. Gerardo was Vice President of the DESC Observatory for over ten years and was one of the founding members of Procés Constituent.

Tara Raghuveer is the director of KC Tenants. She is also the director of the campaign for a national Homes Guarantee, based at People’s Action, a national network of grassroots organizations committed to economic and racial justice.

Annie Raja is an Indian politician and leader of Communist Party of India. She is the General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).

Ismat Raza Shahjahan is the founding President of the Pakistan-based Women Democratic Front (WDF) - an autonomous socialist-feminist political collective of women and khwaja siras. WDF stands against capitalism, all forms of imperialism, patriarchy, national oppression, war, and religious fundamentalism.

Juan Nicolás Richards is a lifelong trade unionist active in teaching unions. Richards was an active member and part of the electoral committee of Confederation of Education Workers of the Argentine Republic (CTERA). Richards also served as Coordinator of International Cooperation of Education International, the global union federation for educators. He is currently part of the CTA-T International Relations team.

Stephen Ruvuga is executive director of The Network of Farmers Groups in Tanzania (MVIWATA).

Kohei Saito is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo. He works on Ecology and Political Economy from a Marxist perspective. His latest book is 'Capital in the Anthropocene'.

Pierre Sané is the Founder & President of Imagine Africa Institute was UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences from May 2001 - June 2010. He was Secretary General of Amnesty International from October 1992 to April 2001.

Henry Saragih is the General Chair of the SPI Central Management Board (DPP) of the Indonesian Farmers Union. He served as General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, an international movement of small farmers and farm workers for two periods (2004-2008 and 2008-2013).

Zarah Sultana is the Member of Parliament for Coventry South. Elected in 2019, Zarah has a background in community organising and anti-racist movements.

Nardi Suxo is a Bolivian lawyer, sociologist and diplomat. She served as Bolivia's Minister of Institutional Transparency and Fight Against Corruption, during the first and second governments of Evo Morales. She served as the country's ambassador to Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Astra Taylor is a political organizer, writer and documentary filmmaker. She is co-founder of the Debt Collective. Her latest book is The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart

Monica Valente is a Brazilian psychologist and former Vice President of CUT Brazil. She is on the National Executive Board of PT Brazil and is Executive Secretary of the São Paulo Forum, a Latin American and Caribbean body of left-wing and progressive political parties.

Carina Vance Mafla is the Secretary of Territorial Coordination and Social Participation in the Metropolitan District of Quito. She is a founding member of the National Front for Health and Social Protection of Ecuador, a former Executive Director of the South American Institute of Government in Health of UNASUR (ISAGS) and a former Minister of Public Health of Ecuador.

Yanis Varoufakis is a member of the Hellenic Parliament and the Secretary-General of MeRA25. He is the co-founder of DiEM25, and the former finance minister of Greece. He is the author of several books, including Adults in the Room and And The Weak Suffer What They Must?.

Célia Xakriabá is a member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies. She is an indigenous educator and activist of the Xakriabá people and is the first indigenous woman from Minas Gerais to be elected to Congress.

Hilary Zhou is the National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe People’s Land Rights Movement.