The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
The Pinky Show provides us with an illuminating illustration about the hidden relationships of power in globalisation. "First world people congratulate themselves on inventing a system they see as fair and efficient. Economics and business departments teach the theory of global capital to the virtual exclusion of any alternatives. Third world people have to live with the consequences of practices and policies imposed from the first world."
Fazila Farouk -
The current global crisis is being described to as the triple ‘F’ crisis of food, fuel and finance.
Nowhere is the crisis being felt more than among Africa’s poor. The rising price of food, in particular, is a topic that’s on everybody’s lips.
Even the BBC’s head of world news, Nick Gowing, chaired a session examining the food crisis at the recently held African leg of the World Economic Forum (WEF), where the usual suspects were rounded...
Saliem Fakir -
The key to the success of the Kyoto Protocol, which is meant to protect us from climate change, is dependent on collective global action.
Collective action is a product of enlightened self-interested power using its soft power to garner the world’s support and leadership. It too, requires a shared system of values and beliefs.
But whatever there was of this enlightened self-interest before 9/11 has gone to the wind. When you run the world economy and geo-politics on the winner takes...
Saliem Fakir -
Democracy is an imperfect system. Its characteristics can vary – from being a creation of populist traditions to democracies run by elites.
In the common imagination when we think of democracy we think of people’s power. Power is delegated as a trust to holders of political office and from whom we expect that they would manage our affairs wisely and judiciously. They would protect us from vulnerability.
Depending on what is within their power or outside of...
Avi Lewis from On the Map takes an in-depth look at the protests held by COSATU earlier this year, arguing that as a result of their journalistic shorthand, the South African media wrongly presented the purpose behind the protests. From the coverage, you'd think it was a simple labour dispute, but its about much more, he says. These protests were about a dream betrayed by an ANC government that has failed to deliver on its core promises, due to its business friendly policies that have...
Saliem Fakir -
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has become an end all, and be all, when we look to economic indicators as a measure of a country's success and progress.
In general, when people speak of GDP, they speak loosely and without meaning.
When the government says it wants to grow the economy by five or six percent, this usually means relative to the GDP growth rates of other high-flying countries. There is always that eye of envy caste upon rival economies.
Everything looks good on the surface...
