By A.G Noorani and South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Oxford University Press, 2012, 283 pages, $60
This volume consisting of nine essays thoroughly examines the status of civil rights guarantees as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Discussing the contemporary social and (…)
Tous les articles et traductions
Tuareg Rebels in Mali Declare Independence: Part of an African Awakening for Self-Determination?
The president of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré, has formally resigned after soldiers ousted him in a coup in March, with power set to be transferred to Mali’s National Assembly after elections later this month. The soldiers say they seized power because of Touré’s alleged mishandling of a rebellion (…)
Film: Witness to a changing world
By Shoma Chatterji
Akanksha Joshi’s film chronicles the changing world through the lives of age-old communities and the adaptations they are forced into. Shoma Chatterji reviews Earth Witness.
Earth Witness. Reflections on the Times and the Timeless is a documentary film made by Akanksha Joshi. It won the Best (…)
India: No room for development
By T.K. Rajalkshmi
The housing and houselisting census data do not paint a rosy picture of India in terms of basic amenities for its households.
The data on household amenities and assets, released recently by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, are a stark reminder of the (…)
Water Commons, Water Citizenship and Water Security
"(The) water crisis is largely our own making. It has resulted not from the natural limitations of the water supply or lack of financing and appropriate technologies, even though these are important factors, but rather from profound failures in water governance.” – UNDP on water governance (…)
What to do about Syria?
By Johan Galtung
We all feel desperate watching the horrible killings, the suffering of the bereaved and the whole population. But what can be done?
Could it be that the U.N., and governments in general, have a tendency to repeat the same mistake, starting at the wrong end? They usually apply this formula: (…)
Tibet burning
By Topden Tsering
A close look at past and present shows the self-immolators and their struggle to be anything but apolitical.
The string of self-immolations inside Tibet – started in 2009 by a Kirti Monastery monk named Tapey and which most recently claimed two monks in Barkham County on 30 March – shows no (…)
Report: Executions Increased in 2011 due to Arab Spring
US ranked fifth in executions with 43 in 2011, Amnesty International reports
Amnesty International has released its annual report on executions and the death penalty and found that executions were up in 2011. The increase, accoring to the report, is largely due to the reaction of Middle (…)
How Financial Crisis, Economic Inequality, Social Media, and More Brought Revolutions in 2011—and Changed Us Forever
Journalist Paul Mason covered the uprisings of 2011 as they occurred. His new book "Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere," explains why they all happened at once.
We’re at an inflection point in history, a shift not just in our politics but our consciousness, says Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight (…)
Cultural Villages: Defining Moments Or Problematic Perspectives?
By Charlene Houston
In a recent media article, the Mayor of Cape Town’s spokesperson stated that the City intends to establish a Khoisan village in Hout Bay’s Hangberg fishing village, as a way of building an inclusive city. In the past, similar announcements have been made in the context of boosting tourism in the (…)
Welcome to the Levant
By Manvendra Singh
Any attempts at playing Good Samaritan in Syria must be tempered by the fact that this is the Levant, where Asia touches the Mediterranean.
Ba’ath Party rule is as despicable a form of Government as is possible to find. Ruthless in their tyranny, Ba’athists employ every possible means of (…)
Energy Security For Whom? For What?
By Nicholas Hildyard, Larry Lohmann and Sarah Sexton
How can fossil fuels and uranium be kept in the ground and agrofuels off the land in ways that do not inflict suffering upon millions? Mainstream policy responses to these issues are largely framed in terms of "energy security".
Yet far from making energy supplies more secure, such policies (…)
Talking about Race Without Ending Racism
By Anna Majavu
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been campaigning furiously for the past two months against the assertion that Cape Town is racist, after this was again thrust into the public spotlight at the beginning of the year by acclaimed singer Simphiwe Dana’s tweet that “no matter how famous/ rich you (…)
Correa’s defamation win exposes country’s "disturbing" free expression situation
Two Ecuadoran journalists have been ordered to pay President Rafael Correa US$2 million in moral damages - the latest in a string of incidents that point to a "disturbing" and "deteriorating" free expression situation in Ecuador under President Rafael Correa, says IFEX-ALC, an alliance of 16 (…)
2014 World Cup Match: FIFA-1, Brazil-?
By Rebecca Burns
Article archivé.
What is the name of a soccer-loving Swiss nonprofit that demands tax exemptions and concessions on workers’ rights wherever it goes?
The answer, as Brazil is discovering as it prepares to host the 2014 World Cup, is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (…)
Slow Finance
Why Investment Miles Matter
By Gervais Williams, Bloomsbury Publishing, 208 pages
Gervais Williams explains why investment miles matter. His new book Slow Finance anticipates a forthcoming change in public attitude to the financial sector. Just as the Slow Food movement represents a reaction to the food industry losing (…)
The Struggle for Street Politics
By Jane Duncan
Public demonstrations have been central to South Africa’s democratic life for decades. Yet recent events suggest a narrowing of the substance of the right to assemble, demonstrate and picket, and a de-legitimisation of street politics. In this regard, the City of Cape Town’s near hysterical (…)
Washington threatens reprisals against Nicaragua’s voters
John Riddell interviews Felipe Stuart Cournoyer
In a fit of petulant anger, the US government lashed out on January 25 against the outcome of Nicaragua’s recent presidential election. To understand the context of the US threats, I talked to Felipe Stuart Cournoyer, a Nicaraguan citizen and (…)
Crisis, speculation, poverty and climate change aggravate deforestation
New factors in deforestation like the world economic crisis, speculation in markets for basic products and arable land, and worsening poverty and climate change are aggravating the old causes of this phenomenon such as the advance of agricultural frontiers, tree cutting for timber and fuel, and (…)
Burma: Halt in hostilities?
By Larry Jagan
Burma edges towards peace.
Hopes of an end to the world’s longest-running insurgency were raised in recent days, as several ethnic rebel groups entered into ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government. The most important of these took place on 12 January, when the Karen National Union (…)