September 2018 - Page 2 of 5

Ten Years On, The Crisis of Global Capitalism Never Really Ended

Jerome Roos September 19, 2018 Jerome Roos

With inequality on the rise, global debt higher than ever and international tensions intensifying, the political backlash to the crash of 2008 has only just begun.

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the once-mighty US investment bank whose dramatic bankruptcy on September 15, 2008 unleashed the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. A decade on, we commonly hear the complaint that little has changed since then: the banks are still too big to fail, finance continues to dominate productive activity, and ordinary households are yet to feel the impact of a sluggish economic recovery in their pockets. But this perceived continuity, while certainly valid, is only part of the story. In reality, a lot has changed over the past 10 years – much of it, unfortunately, for the worse. read more

Decolonizing the Notion of Citizenship

Phumlani Majavu September 18, 2018 Phumlani Majavu

A number of foreign nationals were attacked in Johannesburg, South Africa last month as part of a wave of anti-immigrant violence and sentiment in the country. This xenophobic violence has once again reminded us of the politics of citizenship and what it means to belong and not to belong in the post-colony. What we need to do now is decolonize, ideologically and practically, the colonial notion of citizenship.

George Orwell Illustrated: Comic Art for Tragic Times

Kristian Williams September 17, 2018 Kristian Williams

A manifesto by George Orwell, published in a recent book on the British author, argues that democracy and socialism are not merely two desirable and complementary ideals, but are, or ought to be, the same thing -- that socialism is simply the extension of democratic principles into the economic life of the society.

How Afghanistan’s Peace Movement is Winning Hearts and Minds

Roshni Kapur September 17, 2018 Roshni Kapur

In May 2018, a group of seven Afghans in the mostly Taliban controlled province of Helmand set off on a more than 370-mile peace journey to the capital city, Kabul, sparking a nationwide movement.

Is Latin America Still the U.S.’s ‘Backyard’?

Alexander Main September 17, 2018 Alexander Main

Though often cloaked in a rhetoric of democracy promotion and human rights, Washington’s political playbook in Latin America can be summarized as follows: coddle the governments and movements that support U.S. economic, security, and foreign policy objectives and try to eradicate those that don’t.

The Demonization of Russia in a New Cold War Era

Mairead Maguire September 17, 2018 Mairead Maguire

"The demonization of Russia is, I believe, one of the most dangerous things that is happening in our world today. The scapegoating of Russia is an inexcusable game that the West is indulging in. It is time for political leaders and each individual to move us back from the brink of catastrophe to begin to build relationships with our Russian brothers and sisters." - Mairead Maguire, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize