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?
Richard Pithouse - The State of Israel has criminalised political dissent. There are presently more than 300 Palestinian prisoners held under administrative detention by Israeli authorities - a method used by the State of Israel to imprison Palestinians without any charges being brought against them. In solidarity with their cause, 2 500 Palestinian prisoners are currently on hunger strike. This mass protest has attracted global attention and will culminate in a daylong international solidarity hunger strike on May 17. Will the people of South Africa support the Palestinian call for justice?
Pepe Escobar -
The new European power couple comprising French Socialist President, Francois Hollande, and German Christian Democrat Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a go - and now "Merkollande" has to show results. There's not much they're bound to agree on apart from the possibility of a financial transaction tax, which could yield up to 57 billion euros a year to battered trans-European economies. Berlin is not exactly against it. But Britain, for obvious reasons, is seeing it as curbing the City of London.
Walden Bello -
Slavery is said to be a thing of the past. However, the dynamics of global capitalism have reproduced a system of repressive labour globally that is serviced and maintained by legal and illegal labour trafficking. Female domestic workers are at the bottom of the migrant social hierarchy in places like the Middle East. Their conditions of work, which often include rape and sexual abuse, constitute a condition virtually indistinguishable from slavery.
Glenn Ashton -
UNISA, the University of South Africa, has established an excellent reputation over its 138-year history. It has not only national, but global reach with students on every continent. The institution has expanded significantly since 2004, increasing enrolment figures to over 400 000 students in 2011. But questions are being asked, mainly from within the student body, as to whether this expansion has come at the cost of good governance, efficient administration and consistent standards.
Leonard Gentle -
The Presidential elections in France and the general elections in Greece are seismic events that have significance way beyond the characters involved. After three years of austerity programmes in Europe characterised by billions of Euros worth of public money redirected towards protecting bankers and speculators who indulged in an orgy of reckless bond buying, people are simply defying an elite consensus, which declares that belt-tightening to satisfy the markets is the only sane thing to do. This time, the people won't listen.
Panos Garganas -
The results of the Greek general election have exploded in the face of the ruling class. Parties that supported the "technocratic" coalition government, headed by former banker Lucas Papademos, suffered a crushing defeat. Early opinion polls show that the main beneficiary of the leftward swing is the Democratic Left, considered the most moderate of the left parties. Sunday's result in Greece is not some "superficial" electoral radicalisation. It follows a series of struggles stretching back to 2008.
The Rio+20 summit is taking place from 20-22 June 2012 in Brazil where world leaders will be asked to make "voluntary commitments" towards a global plan for sustainable development. But it looks like prospects for a global agreement are already looking bleak, as preparatory meetings fail to reach consensus. Fazila Farouk, executive director of SACSIS talks to Joel Netshitenzhe, executive director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) about the role of the South African government in sustainable development, the green economy in South Africa, the minerals energy complex, the country's unhealthy reliance on coal and its decision to pursue nuclear energy.
Amy Good man of Democracy Now! talks to world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky about the Palestinian hunger strike. A tentative deal has reportedly been reached to end a landmark action that'a seen more than 2,000 jailed Palestinians go without food to pressure Israeli prison authorities to end the use of solitary confinement and ease a wide range of restrictions. "The hunger strikes are a protest against...violations of the elementary human rights," Chomsky says. He is Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of dozens of books, most recently, "Occupy."
Social strategist Renny Gleeson talks about the rise of a culture of availability with the proliferation of mobile devices such as cell phones -- and an obligation to that availability. In this funny and poignant 3-minute talk, Gleeson breaks down our always-on social world where the experiences of the moment are less interesting than our documentation of these moments, which we tweet about or find other ways to record and share.
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