Capitalism
The Crisis of Globalization and the Search for Alternatives
Moving towards genuine self-reliance in times of war and climate collapse. The world is reeling from the crises generated by the war in the Gulf, the disastrous climate and ecological collapse, deepening inequalities, genocides, and other mass atrocities. Multilateral institutions like the United Nations appear to be unable to do much about these. Like any…
Read MoreHe Who Feeds You, Controls You
Thomas Sankara. Photo by Yendifa, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons In 1984, a young African president stood before his people and asked: “Where is imperialism? Look at your plates when you eat. The imported grains of rice, corn, and millet – that is imperialism.” He knew that no flag, no anthem, and no constitution…
Read MoreA Localized Alternative to ‘Disaster Capitalism’
Like many disasters, Covid-19 shocked the world; like some disasters it changed the world economy in ways most of us did not predict. But let’s back up for moment. What if those post-disaster changes had indeed been predicted – planned even – by people long before the virus began its deadly spread? More than a…
Read MoreThe Cuban Paradox
Landing in Cuba is like approaching a vibrant emerald in the middle of the sea. Fields full of shades of green are scattered throughout the island’s territory in orderly plots; various grids of all sizes, some with small groups of cattle. Among these farms, several vacant lots stand out, demarcated despite not having much vegetation…
Read MoreOn Ukraine and the failed Pax Capitalis
During the previous three decades, a particularly new and ahistorical view of the world has arisen in the modern, “civilized,” capitalist West. Famously elaborated by an advisor to Ronald Reagan and later repeated by both liberal and conservative politicians, theorists, and academics, and also iterated constantly through mass news and entertainment media, we have come…
Read MoreThe World’s Food Systems are in Crisis: Big Agribusiness is to Blame
In 2017, the people of Zagora, Morocco, took to the streets in what became known as the ‘thirst revolution’. They were demanding safe drinking water and an end to the excessive use of water by big agricultural companies. In an already arid area experiencing frequent droughts and heatwaves due to climate change, much of the…
Read MoreOn Technology’s Past and Future
Since the heyday of technological determinism in the 1960s, many authors have written eloquently about how developments in technology are more typically the outcome of particular social and economic arrangements. Some contributions that have significantly shaped my own thinking include: • Lewis Mumford’s observation that inventions like glass and steam engines were first developed for…
Read MoreAppropriate Technology, Traditional Cultures and Degrowth
The industrial-capitalist-technological system is characterized by perpetual growth through excessive production, relentless marketing and public relations to expand markets and demand through consumerism.[1] In the process, novel ‘needs’ are manufactured and the boundaries and norms of comfort and convenience are continually reshaped.[2] In this system relatively few technologies are socially necessary, and their manufacture and…
Read MoreBill Gates has radical plans to change our food. What’s on the menu?
If Bill Gates has his way, the food in our future will little resemble what’s on our plates today. Gates and his agribusiness industry partners are proposing to transform our food and how it is produced. To the techno-food industrialists, hunger and climate change are problems to be solved with data and engineering. The core…
Read MoreWhy is the Food Systems Summit silent on corporate land grabs?
Peasant movements in Asia marked March 29 as the Day of the Landless. The day pays tribute to the founding of the Asia Peasant Coalition (APC). About 15-million strong, the APC was established in 2003 by more than 20 organizations from 11 countries representing farmers, landless peasants, fishers, agricultural workers, Dalits, indigenous peoples, herders and…
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