Best of the web: most read 2011

Your favourite New Internationalist blogs and magazine articles of 2011.

1) From Brixton to Tottenham, inequality lies at the heart of the riots

The true causes of the London riots are being swept under the rugs looted from Carpetright, argues Jody McIntyre.

2) Why America’s 99% have rebelled

The 99 per cent aren't whining- they just want a fairer deal, says Mark Engler.

A hard-line look: an English Defence League supporter wears contact lenses sporting the St George cross – a symbol for some of white supremacy. Paul Hackett / Reuters

3) Eyes to the far right

Extremists have been making inroads across Europe with a sanitized version of some very dirty politics. K Biswas looks into the heart of the beast. 

4) The food rush

Maize and wheat are hot assets, right up there with gold. But since investors piled into food markets, the poorest can no longer afford to eat. Hazel Healy gets to grips with the commodity speculators.

5) Not the last time London will burn

Some put the London riots down to inequality, others criminality. But Charlie Harvey argues they’re also a result of a broken, consumerist society.

6) There’s no escaping racism in India

Prejudice against inter-state and foreign migrants is on the rise, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

7) Undercover and over-the-top: the collapse of the Ratcliffe trial

Climate change activist Danny Chivers explains how police infiltration led to the collapse of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station trial.

This graphic is part of the Swiss-based Public Eye campaign to elect the world’s worst corporation. Foxconn is a 2011 nominee. Greenpeace

8) iSlave

Electronics giant Foxconn employs more than a million people in China in conditions that drive them to despair, reports Jenny Chan.

9) The costs and benefits of animal experiments

Andrew Knight, author of a recent book on animal testing, responds to Laurie Pycroft's case for it.

10) Killing Gaddafi: the death of legal justice

First it was Saddam, then bin Laden and now Gaddafi. The West gets its man but loses its humanity, says Felicity Arbuthnot