Corporations have stepped beyond lobbying governments. They are integrating in policy-making at the national and international levels. From agriculture to technology, decisions historically made by governments are increasingly made by secretive unaccountable bodies run by corporations.
Upon declaring a Global War on Terror in 2001, the US administration claimed that the “fight against terrorism was also a fight for the rights and dignity of women”. In the years that followed, western political discourse regularly referred to the need to “free” apparently oppressed Muslim women from the shackles of their religion and way of life, reviving political and societal debates about head coverings, integration, gender equality, secularism, and neutrality.
Relying on Islamophobic stereotypes, and with no regard for the rights to freedom of expression or freedom of religion, laws and policies were introduced in a number of European countries, which banned the hijab and/ or niqab. In perhaps the most flagrent example of just how entrenched Islamophobia has become, European states, in effect, began legislating on Muslim women’s bodies, dictating which clothes they could or could not wear.
Catalan Network for Energy Sovereignty (Xse), Transnational Institute (TNI)
29 October 2020
Paper
This is the Municipalist Manifesto for building energy democracy and energy sovereignty locally, presented to you by the Catalan Network for Energy Sovereignty (Xse) and the Transnational Institute. The Municipalist Manifesto aims to be a tool that can be used as a guide by (municipalist) citizens platform, municipal councils and opposition parties, organisations and collectives, and any person who wishes to take action.
The Position Paper "For inclusive business models, well designed laws and fair(er) trade options for small-scale traditional cannabis farmers” produced by The Fair(er) Trade Cannabis Working Group aims to contribute to the debate on finding sustainable and realistic solutions to the challenges posed by the developing cannabis industry, with a special focus on traditional and small scale farmers.
2020 has seen antiracism movements gain momentum and push back against institutionalised racism. However, despite the progress made, individualism and fragmentation continue to undermine solidarity and to depoliticise antiracism struggles. This paper explores how we can move towards an antiracist horizon.
Agroecology has gained ground in recent years as the need to transform our agrifood system becomes increasingly clear. The food and financial crises of 2008, and the deepening climate and environmental crises, have revealed deep challenges for the way we produce and consume food. Global agrarian justice and food sovereignty movements, organised in global convergences like the Nyéléni Forum, have emphasised the importance of agroecology in this transformation. They highlight the political nature of agroecology: ‘it requires us to challenge and transform structures of power in society'.
Since 1 April, TNI with allies has brought together experts and activists weekly to discuss how this pandemic health crisis exposes the injustices of the global economic order and how it must be a turning point towards creating the systems, structures and policies that can always protect those who are marginalised and allow everyone to live with dignity.
This discussion paper explores the process known as “financialization”. It intends to provide a basis for people’s movements, grassroots activists and other civil society organizations (CSOs) to build or strengthen their knowledge and to develop strategies to resist, reverse and prevent financialization.
Counter-terrorism and the Arts is a framing paper, aiming to set out the main concerns regarding the impact of counter-terrorism policies, legislation and national security measures on freedom of expression, specifically in relation to the arts.
A great global panel of activists, social movement leaders and thinkers discuss how to make this pandemic a turning point towards system change that we need not just to deliver social justice but increasingly to defend our very survival. This insightful conversation examined what we can learn from previous major global mobilisations, how can we build cross-sectoral and intersectional movements and what strategies and tactics we need to confront entrenched corporate power and authoritarian governments.
The database Public Futures is an open place for creating and exchanging knowledge about de-privatisation of basic services and infrastructure at the municipal, regional, and national levels. Relevant organisations, public authorities, academics, and interested individuals are invited to access and amplify the dataset. The database offers a user-specific visualisation of the data through a global mapping tool, as well as through graphs and diagrams. The dataset can be downloaded to be used for further educational, academic or professional purposes. If you are able to provide additional information on specific cases, or if you can contribute new cases, we would welcome you to submit new data to be reviewed and added to the dataset by our researchers.
This webinar explored the trajectory and globalization of border militarization and anti-migrant racism across the world, the history, ideologies and actors that have shaped it, the pillars and policies that underpin the border industrial complex, the resistance of migrants, refugees and activists, and the shifting dynamics within this pandemic.
Big Tech has emerged as one of the bigger winners of the global pandemic. A global panel of activists and researchers gathered to analyse the nature and source of Big Tech's power and how communities, movements and cities might reclaim ownership and control of our data.
The pandemic has led governments to release an unprecedented number of people from prison and to curb new admissions. Activists and researchers from across the globe will discuss and share strategies by civil society on how to ensure this is a turning point to reverse the long-standing trend of mass incarceration as a response to crime.
An inspiring global panel of feminist thinkers and activists reflect and discuss how we can collectively reorganise, shift power and pivot towards building transformative feminist realities that can get us out of the worsening health, climate and capitalist crises.
Webinar recording with outgoing UN rapporteur, Philip Alston in conversation with trade unionists and activists in Italy, Nigeria and India sharing analysis on the impacts of privatisation in a time of COVID-19 and the strategies for resistance and also constructing participatory public alternatives.
Richard Kozul-Wright (UNCTAD) and leading activists from across the globe share their perspectives on how we can build climate justice in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
A recording of our webinar on authoritarian and repressive state responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, featuring a UN Special Rapporteur on Protecting Human Rights and other global experts and activists.
The Covid-19 pandemic has provoked widespread discussion of what kind of future the world should look forward to after the crisis. One of the areas of economic life around which there is spirited debate is the global food system. This paper focuses on how the pandemic has exposed the fragility of the corporate-dominated global food supply system and shown that it is not, as the Food and Agriculture Organization and its allied agencies see it, part of the solution.
This webinar brought together experts in healthcare and activists at the forefront of struggles for equitable universal public healthcare from across the globe at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the necessity of a healthcare system driven by people rather than profit.
