Opinions

I left Santiago with the memory of the most beautiful closing event that I have ever lived… and considering that in my life as a university professor, writer and lecturer there were many such events, not to mention those that…

Neoliberal capitalism has been denounced recently as a destructive and dehumanising force responsible for human and environmental disasters. The alternative models are not easily found in corporate media where Margaret Thatcher’s TINA (“there is no alternative”) is still the orthodoxy…

Like many people who have struggled to understand why human beings are driving the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history, which now threatens imminent human extinction as well, over many decades I have explored the research and efforts of…

America’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at the prestigious Arctic Council biannual meeting in Finland, christened the Arctic meltdown: “A wonderful economic opportunity for international trade.” In a nutshell, here’s a critique of the Secretary’s advice: An ice-free Arctic…

Direct democracy works like a charm. Check out Venezuela’s Communes… Venezuela’s ubiquitous Communes are proof that direct democracy works. And, interestingly enough, those same Communes are powerful buffers to attempted coups, protecting the sanctity of direct democracy in their country.…

Leah Clark, The Open University for The Conversation For many, the Renaissance was the revival or “rebirth” of Western classical antiquity, associated with great artists painting the Sistine Chapel and the invention of the printing press in Europe. These local,…

By Dr Marina Caparini, Senior Researcher and Director of the Governance and Society Programme at SIPRI. Her research focuses on peacebuilding and the nexus between security and development. STOCKHOLM, May 10 2019 (IPS) – Let us be blunt: the world is…

In 2008 progressives lacked a coherent and compelling alternative to neoliberal policies. This time it must be different. Carys Roberts 9 May 2019 for openDemocracy “Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the…

Steven Greer, University of Bristol for The Conversation The University of Cambridge has embarked on a project to discover how it may have contributed to, and benefited financially from, slavery. This venture follows hot on the heels of a similar…

The UK Parliament became the first in the world to declare a climate and environment emergency this May Day. What next? A declaration of climate emergency has been a long time coming. Too long. There is frighteningly little time left…