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?
Jane Duncan -
Last week, the world was confronted with the horror of South Africa’s first post-apartheid massacre. Over thirty striking Lonmin mineworkers were killed by the police, who turned semi-automatic rifle fire onto the workers after claiming that they were shot at first.
Time will tell whether this was the case, but even if it was, it did not justify the mass killing of so many workers. The available information points to the police having used inappropriate, excessive force to quell the...
Foreign Policy in Focus -
Jon Stewart, the premier political satirist of his generation, is one of a kind. Or is he?
In this survey of the Global Stewarts, Foreign Policy In Focus goes around the world to find the comics who would be Jon Stewart. It’s an interesting mix: a surgeon, a superhero, a mimic. In some cases, Stewart would welcome the comparison. But at least in one case, that of a French anti-Semite, Stewart would meet the anti-Stewart.
In all cases, however, these global Stewarts are challenging...
The US government says it must be able to fight against piracy and cyber attacks. And that means imposing more restrictions online. But proposed legislation could seriously curb freedom of speech and privacy, threatening the internet as we know it. Can and should the internet be controlled? Who gets that power? How far will the US government go to gain power over the web? And will this mean the end of a free and global internet? Fault Lines looks at the fight for control of the web, life in...
Dale T. McKinley -
If we take the most common dictionary definition of the word ‘power’ – “possession of control, authority or influence over others’ – then we all, in one way or another, have degrees of power. But besides degrees, the contexts, forms and uses of that power invariably change over time, connected as they are to the shifting patterns of social and economic relations. The older, (hopefully) more mature and more societally integrated we become; the more...
Chinese blogger, Michael Anti, provides some humorous and fascinating isights into life on the Chinese Internet, which he refers to as the China-net. The Chinese government has complete control over the Internet - all servers are in Beijing.
But despite the high levels of censorship, the Internet in China is no dull and lifeless space. For every single international Web 2.0 service that was blocked by the Chinese government, the people of China created their own alternative. For example,...
Richard Pithouse -
The distance between the stated aspirations of a protagonist on the political stage and the realities of its actual practices can sometimes mark a genuine attempt at internal contestation. It would, for instance, be a good thing if a group of people in the ANC insisted that the party was seriously committed to the principle that every child has a full, equal and immediate right to an education that could nurture their talents and then backed this affirmation up with real action, including...
