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Off the Page and Into the Streets: A Graphic History of SDS

Dan Berger February 13, 2008 Dan Berger

From Art Spiegelman's Maus to Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, the graphic form has proved a powerful narrative tool. Combining memoir and social commentary in a visually appealing package, such illustrated stories blur the boundaries of art and history, reality and fantasy. It should be no surprise, then, that social movements-those rare hybrids of reality and fantasy-are finding themselves increasingly illustrated. Walter Benjamin's argument that radicalism politicizes art seems more relevant now than ever.

Chad: Crossing the Chari

Rene Wadlow February 13, 2008 Rene Wadlow

Refugee Camp in Chad, Photo by Mark Knobil

The recent fighting in Ndjamena, Chad on February 2-6 between an alliance of insurgencies and the army of President Idriss Déby Itno has highlighted the transnational politics of Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic. Europeans and Americans living in Ndjamena were flown out by French Army planes, mostly to Libreville, Gabon where France has a military airbase. Many ordinary Chadians, an estimated 20,000, walked or drove across the two bridges which span the river Chari into northern Cameroon.

Undermining Bolivia: A Landscape of Washington Intervention

Benjamin Dangl February 11, 2008 Benjamin Dangl

US Embassy in La Paz

A thick fence, surveillance cameras, and armed guards protect the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. The embassy is a tall, white building with narrow slits of windows that make it look like a military bunker. After passing through a security checkpoint, I sit down with U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik and ask if the embassy is working against the socialist government of Evo Morales. "Our cooperation in Bolivia is apolitical, transparent, and given directly to assist in the development of the country," Watnik tells me. "It is given to benefit those who need it most." From the Bush Administration's perspective, that turns out to mean Morales's opponents.

Resource Wars in Africa: AFRICOM and the Reach of US Corporations

John Lasker February 7, 2008 John Lasker

As the US military establishes more bases across Africa, the US government continues to seek a home for AFRICOM, the future center of US military power on the continent. Meanwhile, multi-national corporations continue to plunder Africa's natural resources, and play troubling roles in the region's conflicts.

Cambodia’s Lawless Leaders and Landless Poor

Will Baxter February 7, 2008 Will Baxter

Resident of Dey Krahorm Community

Phnom Penh, Cambodia-Driven by bald-faced corruption at the highest levels in the Cambodian government, the poor and disenfranchised of the country are systematically being stripped of their land under the guise of development schemes, economic land concessions, and through the exploitation of a continually failing legal system.

Fighting Free Trade: New Publication Launched

Fighting FTAs February 7, 2008 Fighting FTAs

Bilaterals.org, GRAIN and BIOTHAI are today launching a collaborative publication, "Fighting FTAs: The growing resistance to bilateral free trade and investment agreements". While global trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) stagnate, governments and corporations are busy spinning a complex web of bilateral free trade and investment agreements (FTAs). "Fighting FTAs" looks at what this FTA frenzy is really about, how social movements are fighting back and strategic learning is emerging from these struggles.