Economy
New Internationalist provides comprehensive analysis on burgeoning corporate power and its impact on people and planet, as well as ideas on how we can change our economies for the better.
On this page, readers will find extensive coverage on the social movements – working on both a micro and macro-level – to critique and challenge capitalism – from garment factory unions in Bangladesh to rail staff striking against cuts in the name of ‘modernization’, as well as the causes of the global cost of living crisis.
Is teaching English in poor countries a misguided form of philanthropy?
Such ‘aid’ will only ever lift a few out of poverty, argues Dan Falvey.
Should we fight the system or be the change?
Mark Engler and Paul Engler on the strengths and limitations of prefigurative politics.
Human traffic: exposing the brutal organ trade
What will it take to stop the trafficking of vulnerable people for their organs? asks Nancy Scheper-Hughes.
Should there be a basic income?
Basic Income UK co-ordinator Barb Jacobson and author and sociologist Francine Mestrum go head to head.
Cambodia’s garment workers fight poor working conditions
Alice Cuddy reports on the government crackdown against protesters and trade unions.
When did fair trade become a consumerist concept?
Tim Gee argues for fair trade’s return to the heart of the global justice movement.
The true cost of your cup of tea
Sri Lankan tea pickers remain in a caste system that binds them to extreme poverty, says Marco Picardi.
Defending people’s milk in India
A vibrant network of small producers and milk co-operatives is threatened by free trade agreements and liberalized investment policies.
Malaria battles in Sierra Leone
Bankolay Turay comments from Freetown on the tussle between traditional beliefs and pharmaceuticals in treating the epidemic.
Country Profile: Central African Republic
The UN says it is at risk of descending into complete chaos. Ruby Diamonde provides an overview of a country in crisis.
NGOs must give up power
Aid organizations need to relinquish the clout that comes with money and bureaucracy, argues Oxfam’s Ben Phillips.
As the cuts bite, why bother with the global South?
Jonathan Glennie opens our Internationalists series, calling on rich nations to reject nagging stinginess and embrace radical redistribution across borders.
Can co-operatives provide an alternative to capitalism?
A new book and an event in London on 27 September will consider whether the co-operative model can save us from market-driven oblivion.
Living on One – the reality of a dollar-a-day existence
Struggling to understand the meaning of poverty, four students took on a challenge, with unforeseen consequences, writes Anna Bevan.
How Somalia's coastal communities called time on the pirates
Diaspora uncles and 'fathers against pirates' were as decisive as the frigates in ending the piracy scourge. Jamal Osman speaks to Hazel Healy.
‘Seeds of change’ in the struggle against global hunger
Our global food production system is broken. Kepa Artaraz on resistance to growing corporate domination.
Debt, austerity, devastation: it’s Europe’s turn
As the creditors get fatter, the innocent are punished. Susan George laments a leadership subservient to big business.
Debt – The Facts
At any given time countries both owe debts and have them owing to them. Who owes what and what's the bigger crisis – foreign or domestic debt.
Argument: Can shopping be a form of activism?
Neal Lawson and Ruth Potts, both campaigners and writers, go head-to-head.
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Welcome to Manila, the gates of hell
Novelist Dan Brown’s description is sadly apt, says Iris Gonzales.
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Corporates cashing in on mental-health diagnosis
Some of the experts who put together a popular psychiatry manual have fingers in Big Pharma pies, reports Adam McGibbon.
Is it time to ditch the pursuit of economic growth?
Economist and author Dan O'Neill and journalist and author Daniel Ben-Ami go head-to-head.
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Overseas Filipino Workers – heroes at home, exploited abroad
In Qatar, Iris Gonzales is surrounded by fellow Filipinos forced to find jobs away from their families.
Argument: Should prostitution be legalized?
Human rights lawyer Dianne Post and writer and filmmaker Bishakha Datta go head-to-head.
Can dark tourism ever be a good thing?
Ruth Stokes considers whether holidaying in war and disaster zones is ever justified.
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A counterfeit life in a Philippines slum
Informal dwellers are struggling to survive in Metro Manila, says Iris Gonzales.
Country Profile: Peru
Peru is said to be booming but the poor would never know it. Stephanie Boyd reports.
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Factory farms are the new sweatshops
Not only bad for animals, they also exploit and endanger their workers, says Chris Grezo.
Country Profile - Grenada
Zoe Leigh Smith reports on the tiny Caribbean island's strangling debt burden.
Spain’s brain drain
Dan Hancox on the skilled young people who, after thirty years of Spanish democracy, are finding their options increasingly limited.
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Why I gatecrashed David Hartnett’s dinner party
Adam Ramsay gives the inside story on the YouTube hit that shows some unwelcome guests visit a do for Britain’s former tax chief.
Can co-operatives crowd out capitalism?
Wayne Ellwood argues that co-ops – democratic, community-focused – offer an egalitarian way out of our current mess.
Introducing... The Eight Great Greenwashers
Ahead of the Rio +20 Earth Summit, Danny Chivers exposes the canny, crafty and plain deceitful claims of corporations co-opting 'sustainability'
Country Profile: Guatemala
The country's unequal wealth distribution and rapid population growth have made it one of the poorest in Latin America, writes Anna-Claire Bevan.
Dying for the things we love
Consumer culture is collective insanity and driving us to destruction, says clinical psychologist John F Schumaker.
