Group items tagged human - social movements

Sergio Ferrari: Worrying Signs From Venezuela to Ecuador - 0 views

www.counterpunch.org/ferrari11102010.html

venezuela ecuador us intervention human rights government instability social movements

shared by Arabica Robusta on 14 Nov 10 - No Cached

“The events in Ecuador at the end of September, the latest elections in Venezuela, the huge popular expectations that have been shelved in Brazil over the past eight years, the coup in Honduras last year, the election of the right-wing candidate Sebastián Piñera to the Chilean presidency, are signals that cannot fail to raise concern,’  Toussaint concludes.
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Home - AWID - 0 views

awid.org

women rights human development social movement

shared by Arabica Robusta on 20 Nov 10 - No Cached

The right to demonstrate is the sign of a healthy democracy - And yet it send... - 0 views

dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/...any-kids-to-years-in-detention

movement israel social movements human rights democracy protest demonstration

shared by Arabica Robusta on 21 Nov 10 - No Cached

Arabica Robusta on 21 Nov 10

conveniently, you no longer need to commit a crime to be convicted and sent to prison, you only need to be there when a crowd goes crazy, and you are deemed as guilty as what the worst offender does (the very one who is likely to get away with it). The right to demonstrate in this country, as His Honour Judge said many times, is the mark of a great democracy. But if it goes beyond the peaceful demonstration, it leads straight to prison for a very long time. So you can easily find yourself with a sentence higher than any real criminal will ever get, because these are deterrent sentences, the sign of a great democracy.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">conveniently, you no longer need to commit a crime to be convicted and sent to prison, you only need to be there when a crowd goes crazy, and you are deemed as guilty as what the worst offender does (the very one who is likely to get away with it). The right to demonstrate in this country, as His Honour Judge said many times, is the mark of a great democracy. But if it goes beyond the peaceful demonstration, it leads straight to prison for a very long time. So you can easily find yourself with a sentence higher than any real criminal will ever get, because these are deterrent sentences, the sign of a great democracy.</div>

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allAfrica.com: Africa: Civil Society Participation and China-Africa Cooperation (Page 1... - 0 views

allafrica.com/...200912040790.html

africa china development news pambazuka economics intervention rights human civil society social movements

shared by Arabica Robusta on 05 Dec 09 - Cached

From the perspective of the Chinese government, the role of the civil society is to provide welfare gaps and to fill the holes where state support is diminishing, and not necessarily to become a tool to promote democratisation or to focus on being a government watchdog.
- Arabica Robusta on 05 Dec 09
  
  Using civil society to fill in gaps created by privatization is also the un(der)stated approach of the World Bank and IFIs.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Using civil society to fill in gaps created by privatization is also the un(der)stated approach of the World Bank and IFIs.</div>
  
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Pambazuka - Let's avoid generalisations about the 'old left' and 'new left' - 0 views

www.pambazuka.org/...61076

social movements africa human intervention movement south pambazuka cosatu azapo sopa

shared by Arabica Robusta on 06 Jan 10 - Cached

Pambazuka - System change not climate change - 0 views

www.pambazuka.org/...61235

shared by Arabica Robusta on 27 Dec 09 - Cached

The challenge of progressive forces both in the South and North is to demand the realisation of the slogan on one placard hoisted at Copenhagen: ‘System Change Not Climate Change!’
- Arabica Robusta on 27 Dec 09
  
  This gets to the core of possibilities for reigning in climate change. The current broken networks of global decision-making cannot get humans to the point of sustainable, equitable existence. To affect revolutionary change of any sort, the culture must shift. Imaginative, loving, ambitious social movements are critical to this process, though success is far from assured.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This gets to the core of possibilities for reigning in climate change. The current broken networks of global decision-making cannot get humans to the point of sustainable, equitable existence. To affect revolutionary change of any sort, the culture must shift. Imaginative, loving, ambitious social movements are critical to this process, though success is far from assured.</div>
  
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Women's movement building and creating community in Haiti - 0 views

www.blacklooks.org/...nd-creating-community-in-haiti

haiti earthquake 2010 history haitian news blacklooks

shared by Arabica Robusta on 12 Dec 10 - No Cached

One of the stories least reported has been the one about Haitians organising for themselves, particularly stories presented within a framework of feminist organising and movement building.
- Arabica Robusta on 12 Dec 10
  
  How many years before the Haiti narrative turns from poverty and hopelessness to this, put quite well by Sokari, narrative of "Haitians organizing for themselves"? From day one of independence, as I understand it, the Haitian people have been relentlessly independent and resilient. That they have been so badly treated by European and North American states (and oligarchs elsewhere) is a damning testament to this period of human history.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">How many years before the Haiti narrative turns from poverty and hopelessness to this, put quite well by Sokari, narrative of "Haitians organizing for themselves"? From day one of independence, as I understand it, the Haitian people have been relentlessly independent and resilient. That they have been so badly treated by European and North American states (and oligarchs elsewhere) is a damning testament to this period of human history.</div>
  
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Once it was established Rea’s family were all safe – a house just five minutes walk from Rea’s own home collapsed – she set about caring for the many in her community and where ever she was needed.   Everyone was in shock but there was no time to think about what had happened as people were injured.   Many people – students, families knowing about her community work, flocked to Rea’s home and at one point there were some 60 people in her home. 
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I was surprised when I heard Rea had started a Micro-Credit scheme as there were so many negative reports on schemes which rather than enhance and empower women, ended up impoverishing them even more.   So I was interested to find out more about the SOPUDEP scheme, whether it was working and why it worked and I will write about this later after meeting with the various women’s group.
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...2 more annotations...
The elections are a distraction.    Leaders have the power to bring change but no one believes any leader will do anything for the poor.  Everyone I asked about Aristide wanted him back because they believed he was one leader who could change their lives for the better.  Right now the only way is for communities to reach out to each other and create alliances which is what SOPUDEP is beginning to do.  Rea’s vision is one I share.  We cannot fix Haiti, but we can fix our community and help others fix theirs.  Eventually as all these communities build alliances amongst themselves, they will become strong and then maybe begin to fix Haiti.
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I have spent two days at the school with the freedom to roam.  I came across a class whose teacher was absent and I ended up teaching English for 45 minutes followed by the students giving me a lesson in Kreyol.   Now I have been asked by them  to teach the same class for the next couple of weeks till they break uap for holidays.  The school is truly like  family. Since the Micro-credit scheme, parents and school staff have all been encouraged to open savings account.  
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Sadri Khiari, "Tunisia: The Force of Disobedience" - 0 views

mrzine.monthlyreview.org/...khiari140111.html

social movements intervention human rights tunisia

shared by Arabica Robusta on 16 Jan 11 - No Cached

Pambazuka - South Africa: Structural oppression and the future of democracy - 0 views

www.pambazuka.org/...69657

social movements intervention human rights africa development pambazuka

shared by Arabica Robusta on 20 Dec 10 - No Cached

The saboteurs had no interest, for instance, in providing evidence in support of local government against claims that it was doing far too little to address the desperate water situation. They could have done this in question time, but decided instead to sabotage the event from the moment it started, strongly suggesting that they were merely interested in blindly defending the perceived interests of the ANC, even if morally dubious. ‘This is the ANC government’, one of the saboteurs claimed, ‘so the ANC will have the last say’. In other words, ‘We are in power and we do what we like’. A corollary to this claim is, ‘Don’t you mess with us’.
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given the environment of intimidation and, except for and handful of exceptions, the lack of interest by the media in systematically reporting violations against the poor, these incidents tend not to be widely discussed in public space. And, yet, the health of our young democracy depends on there being clarity regarding what sorts of undemocratic political pressures are being exerted on a large percentage of the generally voiceless electorate.
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What I have said above could be thought of as evidence that the ANC leadership is coordinating things from the top, but I don’t know that it is. And there probably would be little reason for them to do this given that there are structural conditions in place that will encourage grassroots oppression to mushroom spontaneously across the country, without the need for centralised coordination. But the fact that the relevant structures are not decisively being undermined from the top should be seen as a grave failing on the part of the ruling party, and should shed doubt on their commitment to the ideals they claim dearly to uphold.
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a list of key structural features
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culture of patronage
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poverty, unemployment and low skill levels
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deep culture of blind quasi-fanatical allegiance to the ANC
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Thus Alone, and Always, Have People Resisted Tyranny: Remembering Faiz on his... - 0 views

pulsemedia.org/...ng-faiz-on-his-birth-centenary

social movements intervention rights development pambazuka human

shared by Arabica Robusta on 13 Feb 11 - No Cached

COLOMBIA: Increasingly Broad Social Movements Fight Mining - IPS ipsnews.net - 0 views

ipsnews.net/news.asp

social movements intervention human rights development corporate industry colombia

shared by Arabica Robusta on 08 Feb 11 - No Cached

Colombia is one of the world's biggest per capita polluters with mercury, in the artisanal mining sector, with an average of between 50 and 100 tons a year lost during the gold extraction process, according to a report by UNIDO, which points out that artisanal mining has expanded fast as gold prices have risen.
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The broad social movement in Santander has added its voice to the long-time struggle by environmentalists in Cajamarca, in the central province of Tolima, against the South African company AngloGold Ashanti.
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Protests have also been held to the south of Bogotá against polluting activities in quarries run by the army on the grounds of the Artillery School, and by the Catholic diocese of Bogotá's Fundación San Antonio, Mexico's Cemex company and the Swiss firm Holcim.
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Social movements for politics and welfare: Egypt and Haiti - 4 views

Egyptian history of local empowerment is much less known (or at least I do not know as much about it) than the Haitian experience. However, it is clear that the anti-regime demonstrators have orga...

social movements intervention human rights development egypt haiti

started by Arabica Robusta on 05 Feb 11 2 follow-ups, last by Arabica Robusta on 05 Feb 11

The Army As The Central Factor In The Success of "Street Revolutions" - Dibussi Tande: ... - 0 views

www.dibussi.com/...ces-of-street-revolutions.html

the social movements intervention human rights africa development corporate industry

shared by Arabica Robusta on 05 Feb 11 - No Cached

Similar popular protests have failed in sub-Saharan Africa (and may very well be failing in Egypt) precisely because the army invariably concludes that its corporate interests and privileges are best protected by the status quo rather than a new political order.
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During the 1991 ghost town campaign, military concluded after its cost-benefit analysis that its privileges were better protected under the Biya regime than in a nouveau regime that might strip it of these privileges.
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while a viable civil society is critical and even indispensable in harnessing, organizing and channeling popular discontent towards regime change, the success of this venture is largely dependent on what the army decides to do or not do based on its corporate interests.
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...1 more annotation...
No army has ever defeated the people's will. So will it be when people power steps into sub saharan Africa. The army will have no choice but cede to the will of the people.
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#Jan25 The workers, middle class, military junta and the permanent revolution... - 0 views

www.arabawy.org/...permanent-revolution

social movements intervention human rights development corporate industry egypt trade union

shared by Arabica Robusta on 12 Feb 11 - No Cached