Archives
Final U.S. Election Warnings: Don’t Get Scrubbed from the Voter Rolls
If, by now, Americans are suffering from “election fatigue” one week before the November 3 elections, now is not the time to relax.
Yes, there are indications of a massive voter turnout, and yes, the people of Bolivia have dramatically proven how voter determination can defeat a right wing regime. But President Donald Trump’s own determination to stay in power cannot be ignored, including his intended reliance on conservative justices in the U.S. Supreme Court –if necessary –to sway election results in his favor. It seems as though Republican operatives have considered every angle to steal the 2020 election (See below excerpts of my interviews with investigative journalist and inveterate election protector, Greg Palast, author of How Trump Stole 2020.) read more
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A Historic Victory in Bolivia
Fireworks exploded across the night sky in the Bolivian capital of La Paz on Sunday evening, October 18th, as the projected results came through showing a near-landslide victory for the left-wing Movimiento al socialismo (MAS) and its presidential candidate, Luis Arce, in the country’s national elections.
After nearly a year of political repression and a government mired in corruption scandals, the message was clear. Democracy had returned to Bolivia, and it was in the hands of the MAS. The election results are a clear repudiation of the revanchist neoliberal project launched by Bolivia’s far-right elites, who sought to recoup power after 14 years of the MAS. read more
Americas
Review: In Defense of Looting
Author Vicky Osterweil links property and the role of police in protecting that property to the broader concept of looting.
Americas
The curse of caste and contagion
COVID-19 and caste dynamics in India
Americas
América Crece: Washington’s new investment push in Latin America
The Growth in the Americas initiative “is a new Plan Puebla Panamá”
Americas
The struggle for freedom on Rapa Nui
Indigenous Rapanui people have connected their struggle for autonomy to Chile's social explosion.
Asia
Art for change in India
A peek into India’s protest art during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Americas
Review: Eating NAFTA
Alyshia Gálvez's book is a call to action to consider food and diet as an integral part of political economy.
Americas
Feminist history and Chile’s social uprising
Naomi Larsson with photos by Daniel Espinoza Guzmán
September 29, 2020
Naomi Larsson with photos by Daniel Espinoza Guzmán
A look at the history of Chile's powerful feminist movement with photos from the uprising that began last October.
Americas
Paraguay’s pandemic response fails Indigenous communities
William Costa with photos by Mayeli Villalba
September 26, 2020
William Costa with photos by Mayeli Villalba
Indigenous peoples in Paraguay are living a “double emergency” due to structural inequality, land theft, and the novel coronavirus.
Africa
Why foreign countries are scrambling to set up military bases in Africa
Currently, the US has 7,000 military personnel on rotational deployment in Africa, while France has 7,500.
Middle East
How do Democrats and Republicans differ on Palestine and Israel?
Unconditional backing for Israel is common cause among all US administrations.
Activism
Against state capture
A reflection on this summer’s uprising for Black life and the transformative power of abolition.
Activism
Hope is a discipline
Miriame Kaba in conversation with Brian Sonenstein and Kim Wilson
September 17, 2020
Miriame Kaba in conversation with Brian Sonenstein and Kim Wilson
An interview with prison abolitionist, educator and activist Miriame Kaba by the Beyond Prisons podcast.
Asia
Legal cannabis referendum looms in New Zealand
If reducing harm to society is the goal, a cost-benefit analysis shows cannabis prohibition has failed.
Asia
India’s urban sex workers and COVID-19
The pandemic has compelled Indian sex workers to come forward and seek their rightful status as legal workers in India.
Europe
A Vida Negra Importa
The uprising for Black life sparked off by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has found echo in Portugal
Asia
As Russia faces an economic downturn, migrant workers are paying a brutal price
Over the past month, migrant workers in Russia have faced retaliatory round-ups, harassment and brutal treatment at the hands of police.
Middle East
Disaster aid distribution after Beirut explosion reflects Lebanese societal divides
A first hand consideration of how solidarity actions can reproduce inequality in Lebanese society.
Asia
Revolution everywhere
A conversation between Hong Kong and Lebanese protesters.
Activism
The deep history of police
Conversations about the history of policing often focus on the last 400 years, but they can be extended far beyond — all the way to ancient Egypt.
Activism
Re-Wildeing Anarchism
An essay on the writing of Oscar Wilde, anarchism and pitfalls of puritainism.
Middle East
Review: Charlotte Dennett’s The Crash of Flight 3804
A daughter recovers the memory of her father, lost to espionage at the dawn of the modern oil age.
Americas
Climate change, colonization and community organization
Rising waters threaten Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s livelihood, pow wows, and an ancient game called Fireball.
Americas
Against disappearance
As federal agents snatch anti-racist activists in the US, it is important not to congeal disappearance as a practice of Cold War dictatorships.
Africa
Small scale miners risk life and limb in Zimbabwe
Half a million people work as artisanal miners in Zimbabwe, where they face violence, theft and environmental harms.
Europe
As courts re-open, Britain’s renters must confront the power of landlords
The London Renters Union has sometimes said, provocatively, that ‘There’s no such thing as a good landlord.’
Americas
Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian lands are under greater threat in Brazil during COVID-19
Elielson Pereira da Silva and Diana Cordoba
August 17, 2020
Elielson Pereira da Silva and Diana Cordoba
The racist discourse of the Bolsonaro government together with the COVID-19 pandemic wreak havoc on Quilombola communities in the Amazon.
Americas
Venezuelan migrants in Latin America struggle to remain, and to return
Left with few options in pandemic lockdown, Venezuelan migrants are braving half a continent and dangerous conditions to return home.
Europe
Meet the artist embroidering Belarus’ protests
For Rufina Bazlova, if the revolution can't be live-tweeted, it must be embroidered instead.
Asia
Erdogan’s private police force: a new blow to Turkish democracy
The new strengthened neighborhood watchmen can further monitor and suppress Erdogan's political opponents under the pretext of public security and combating crimes.
Americas
The role of the police in gentrification
A lawsuit alleges Breonna Taylor died because Louisville was trying to arrest its way toward economic redevelopment.
Africa
From colonialism to COVID-19, Indigenous peoples show resilience in the face of evictions
Looking ahead to recovery from the pandemic, we fear an acceleration of evictions of Indigenous peoples from their lands.
Middle East
The port of Beirut: vital, historic centre of a complex city
The history of a port at Beirut stretches back to as far as the 15th century BC.
Americas
When France extorted Haiti: the greatest heist in history
Why Haiti should be at the center of the global movement for reparations.
Americas
Review: John Washington’s The Dispossessed
The Dispossessed is a searing manifesto against the monstrous inhumanity of the US led global border regime.
Americas
Video report on the Tren Maya
Voices from grassroots resistance against a proposed train that promises to usher in major transformations in southern Mexico.
Asia
India’s unabated urbanization
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the apathy of elites and leaders towards the workers who keep cities running.
Americas
Berta Cáceres in her own words
An unpublished 2015 interview reminds us of the relevance of Berta’s powerful legacy, more than four years after her assassination.
Activism
Four lawsuits that challenge Trump’s federal agents in Portland test issues other cities will likely face
One of the lawsuits says citizens rightly fear “being thrown into a van by anonymous agents.”
America Feminista
Feminism and Chile’s social explosion
Over two million people were in the streets of Santiago on International Women's Day this year, the last major protest before Chile's COVID lockdown.
Africa
Why protesters are fed up with Sudan’s tricky transition
The civilian half of Sudan's transitional government has struggled to assert or leverage its moral authority in the face of military intransigence.
Americas
Few tests, little contact tracing as coronavirus spikes in Mexico
Mexican government pushes ahead with a paced herd immunity approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
Activism
Keeping Atlanta fed through COVID-19
A mutual aid project that brings free, healthy food to the doorsteps of those in need continues the work through the pandemic.
Asia
Narratives of mental health in Calcutta, India
Mental illness is stigmatized and treatment is scarce, but social change is possible.
Africa
Nairobi’s street names reveal what those in power want to remember, or forget
After Kenya's independence, street names acted as sites for the restitution of justice.
Americas
Coronavirus met with denial and silence in Nicaragua
Nicaraguans have been left to fend for themselves or seek care in Costa Rica during the pandemic, while doctors have been fired for speaking out.
Africa
Ensuring all Black Lives Matter in South Africa
Afrophobia and xenophobia continue to plague Black African migrants living in South Africa.
Asia
Indian media’s missing margins
Alternative media has filled the gap as mainstream coverage of North East India lags.
Activism
Boise in the streets for Black lives
After white supremacists targeted a rally in June, hundreds came out for Black lives on July 4th.