Stuffed and starved: Reclaiming the global food system
This last session of the day in St Hilda’s was worth the wait, and bleary- eyed activists soon packed out and occupied every available chair and piece of floor space in the venue. This captivating and engaging discussion highlighted the … Continue reading
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Biosphere crisis provides single channel for humane organisations
Some thoughts evoked by 6 Billion Ways 2011: Deep ecologist, monk, and all round wonderful man Thomas Berry (1914–2009) reminded an audience in 1991 of something with which we’re all intimately familiar, nothing less than the unifying Golden Rule, which has probably … Continue reading
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What can the media do for democracy?
The News Corporation’s bid to acquire the 60.9% of BSkyB it does not already own has started a war in the world of media. It has also inspired considerable resistance from civil society. This was clear to see from the … Continue reading
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Tagged corporations, democracy, freedom of press, indoctrination, media, Rupert Murdoch
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Accumulation by African Dispossession
This post is based on the panel discussion on Africa. It is a cross-posting from the grassroots-based blog, Topsoil. Capitalism has been spurred on by dispossession. Every accumulation of capital is not free, but a debt to that which has … Continue reading
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Tagged 6billionways, africa, capitalism, democracy, global justice, poverty
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Searching for happiness at the bottom of a shopping bag
It’s a Saturday afternoon in March, and tens of thousands of citizens gather at the Amnesty International Action Centre to consider the insidious issue of overconsumption. Meanwhile, across town 450 consumers are doing what they do best on Oxford Street. … Continue reading
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Power to the People: Rethinking Democracy
This meeting, as you might expect, was rich in abstract talk of bottom-up, not top-down, grassroots, horizontal organisation, rethinking democracy, subsidiarity, ‘totalising underviews’ and other wonderful ideas; thankfully, though, we managed to touch on practicalities and examples too. The first … Continue reading
Rupert Murdoch versus democracy
So, yeah. Murdoch’s been given the go-ahead on his buyout. It was Vince Cable’s decision until he said on record that he was ‘declaring war’ on Murdoch, then it was passed on to Jeremy Hunt who has summarily waved through … Continue reading
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Power to the People: Rethinking Democracy
This meeting, as you might expect, was rich in abstract talk of bottom-up, not top-down, grassroots, horizontal organisation, rethinking democracy, subsidiarity, ‘totalising underviews’ and other wonderful ideas; thankfully, though, we managed to touch on practicalities and examples too. The first … Continue reading
Capitalism and class – don’t mention the C words?
How relevant are the above terms in progressive discourse today? How useful can they be? (Check out the profile and speakers here) My crucial fear in this debate centred around Godwin’s Law, normally applied to the likelihood of Hitler or … Continue reading
Planet in Crisis: where next for global action on climate change?
Kicking off this dynamic discussion of the biggest of issues was Bolivian ambassador to the UN, Pablo Salon. At last year’s Cancun climate change talks, Bolivia broke the status quo by objecting to the negotiations. All countries that participated were … Continue reading
