Authoritarian politics have risen in the context of profound political, economic, social and ecological insecurity caused by corporate-led globalisation. The movement for economic localisation has the potential to unite communities, disarm authoritarian politicians, restore democracy and build a real economy based on sustainable use of natural resources.
Helena Norberg-Hodge is a pioneer of the new economy movement and recipient of the Alternative Nobel prize, the Goi Peace Prize and the Arthur Morgan Award. She is author of the inspirational classic Ancient Futures and producer of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness. Helena is the founder and director of Local Futures and The International Alliance for Localisation, and a...
Canada is on track to become the second country and the first G7 member to legalize and regulate cannabis for non-medical purposes (Uruguay enacted cannabis regulation in 2013).
Nikolai Huke, David Bailey, Mònica Clua-Losada, Julia Lux, Olatz Ribera Almandoz
02 May 2018
Paper
EU institutions and governments responded to the Eurozone crisis with a combination of austerity and authoritarianism that increased precarity and eroded liberal democracy. However, a survey of social movements shows that this technocratic depoliticization was only partially successful as the increasing exclusion of people from democratic decision-making also sparked novel forms of organizing that have opened up potential avenues for radical social change.
In Turkey the Islamist right garners support in rural areas by promoting social welfare and subsidy programmes. The left needs to put farmers and workers at the centre of class-based struggle.
Through the experience of working with kids from Brazil’s favelas (shanty-towns) telling their stories, two film-makers explore how the rise of the authoritarian right in Brazil is based on a deep fear by elites of social mobility and a desire to preserve their traditional privileges through both physical as well as political walls.
With the likes of Putin, Trump, Xi Jinping and Modi controlling some of the world’s most powerful nations, authoritarianism is fast being normalised. The rise of these figures has been paralleled by a disturbing growth in nationalist, racist and xenophobic forces, disaffection towards traditional democratic institutions and a steady increase in repression of social movements and civil society. The promises of Fukuyama, Friedman and others that capitalism and liberal, open societies were inextricably bound together lie today in tatters.
The international dimensions of Bill C-45 are of utmost importance not only for Canada itself but for many countries around the world that are moving in the direction of legally regulating the cannabis market
En el Estado español, la pobreza energética es un fenómeno muy real y punitivo, que afecta aproximadamente a 5,1 millones de personas, el 11 % de la población.
En mayo de 2015, Por Cádiz Sí Se Puede (la versión local de Podemos) se hizo con el gobierno municipal y se encontró con un Ayuntamiento terriblemente endeudado, una cultura del derroche energético generalizada, una situación grave de desempleo y pobreza energética, además de muy poco conocimiento sobre las cuestiones básicas relacionadas con la energía.
In May 2015, the party Por Cádiz Sí Se Puede (the local version of Podemos) took over the government of Cádiz, inheriting a situation of massive debt, widespread energy waste, severe unemployment, energy poverty, and a lack of public awareness around energy issues. In just a few years, however, Cádiz has celebrated a number of concrete results.
This weekend, the European Commission announced that the negotiations with Mexico to "modernise" their Free Trade Agreement have been concluded. A key feature of the “modernisation” process is the inclusion of a controversial investment protection chapter with the same characteristics as the one recently included in the Canada-EU trade agreement (CETA).
The debate on alternatives to privatised ownership models for public services is back on the academic and political agenda. What's driving remuncipalisation and why is it a better alternative than private provision?
Blaming citizens for their alleged populist or anti-democratic turn is misleading. Without the active involvement of the economic elite, both foreign and domestic, authoritarian capitalism could not have emerged in Hungary.
The joint report produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL in 2016 paints a rather grim picture of the extent of environmental crime worldwide. It identifies it as the fourth largest criminal enterprise globally, right behind drug smuggling, counterfeiting, and human trafficking. Two questions are worth pondering here: to quote George Monbiot, how did we get into this mess and what can we do about it?
La globalización de las políticas de lucha contra el extremismo violento representan la novedad más significativa de la política antiterrorista de la última década. Lo que empezó como un mero compromiso retórico de algunos organismos se ha convertido en un sinnúmero de normativas que se aplican en todo el mundo. Este informe incluye un prólogo de Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, relatora especial de la ONU.
Aprovechando la coyuntura electoral, Dejusticia, Fescol, TNI, Elementa, ATS, OCDDI, Corporación Humanas, Gpaz/Sisma Mujer, Temblores Ong y CPAT1 nos hemos reunido con el propósito de plantear algunas recomendaciones en materia de política de drogas, dirigidas al nuevo gobierno, al nuevo Congreso y a la sociedad civil interesada.
The rise in authoritarianism is often credited to the successful machinations of charismatic, skillful charlatans, ignoring the longer historical trends towards authoritarianism which has become deeply embedded in contemporary politics, economics and society. TNI has brought together researchers and activists worldwide to examine the underlying causes of today's authoritarian wave with a view to examining how progressive forces' resistance can better challenge and articulate emancipatory alternatives.
