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?
Democracy Now -
The worldwide financial crisis is forcing some to rethink the neoliberal policies widely blamed for the financial collapse. Democracy Now's Amy Goodman speaks with University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang. He is an economist specializing in developmental economics. In 2005, he was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Chang is also author of the books "Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective" and, his...
Maurice Carney of Friends of the Congo contends that corporate interests drive all decision-making in Congo. Quoting from research conducted by the International Rescue Committee and NGO Global Witness, Carney names American and Canadian companies involved in the plunder of Congo. The IMF and World Bank are also implicated in reports that reveal how their conditional loans further exacerbate the conflict and the suffering of the Congolese people. Nita Evele of Congo Global Action sheds light...
This clip is from John Pilger's documentary 'The New Rulers of The World'. It is argued that debt is being used as an instrument by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to get their policies implemented in the poorest countries of the world, opening up the way for the natural resources of the South to be plundered by corporations from the North.
International NGO, GRAIN, argues that the food crisis facing the world and particularly the developing world can be linked to more than three decades of IMF and World Bank inspired structural adjustment programmes. The current problem is more than one of a food shortage or a price blip. It is one where the food system is experiencing a structural meltdown. At the same time, big profits are being made by several food corporations and investors.
Michelle Pressend -
The three day G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan ended with disappointing outcomes on climate change commitments from the most powerful countries in the world.
The G8’s communiqué on environment and climate change released on 8 July 2008 reconfirmed the significance of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and recognised the need for a 50 percent reduction in global emissions by 2050. However this commitment is a far cry from the developing countries consensus in...
Noam Chomsky reflects on the changing global power dynamic in 2008, arguing that there are three power systems in the world today - North America, Europe and North East Asia, with Asia showing the most economic dynamism of all. Concurrently, some of the most exciting democratic experiments are taking place in Bolivia. Japan and China and some oil producing countries have been sustaining the United State's economy for a long time, but its not clear how much longer they will continue to do...
