Society
Welcome to our section on society.
From gender and sexuality to science and technology, our coverage speaks to the societal shifts fundamentally changing our daily lives. Here, we unpack health inequalities and the varying accessibility of education internationally.
This is also the home of our coverage of crime, justice and where we discuss the ways in which the law impacts different members of civil society.
What if:...we scrapped the gender binary on official documents?
Vanessa Baird suggests a world beyond M or F
In Pakistan, a women’s march comes with a price
Following a national women’s march across Pakistan, Zahwa Shah examines the blow-back from men and the political actors still blocking feminist organizing.
School students escalate call for political action on climate crisis
On March 15, climate strikes took place in more than 100 countries. New Internationalist talked to students in Oxford who are among the hundreds of thousands of young people joining a snowballing global youth movement that's demanding immediate action on climate breakdown.
Women: stop working!
Tomorrow’s strike embodies an alternative to neoliberal ‘female empowerment’, writes Lola Olufemi.
Networked but commodified: digital labour in the remote gig economy
Research by Alex J. Wood, Mark Graham and others shows how gig economy platforms commodify labour in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
India’s opioid paradox
Sick people are dying in pain thanks to the misguided ‘war on drugs’, writes Martin Drewry.
How to survive elite institutions like Cambridge as a woman of colour
Husna Rizvi speaks to the activist-authors of A FLY Girl’s Guide to Cambridge – a new book on women of colour navigating, and resisting, elite power.
India: men and #MeToo
Why are Indian men feeling unsafe? Nilanjana Bhowmick reacts to the 'unease' expressed by Indian men in today's #MeToo era.
Should religion play a role in politics?
Dawn Foster and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown dispute whether or not religion should play a role in politics.
What if social media firms paid us?
Exploitation by tech firms is not inevitable, suggests Vanessa Baird.
Kick ‘em all out! Citizens’ Assemblies and the next democratic revolution
Citizens’ Assemblies are being promoted as the preferred democratic tool of a new generation of activists, Brett Hennig writes.
The personality crisis
As growth-driven consumer culture spurs on planetary destruction, why don’t we spring into action? Psychologist John F Schumaker situates a frightening erosion of human personality at the heart of the problem.
Banning ‘adult content’ won’t make Tumblr better or healthier
What does Tumblr's decision mean for those who rely on the site as one of the only sexually permissible online spaces? Jillian York asks.
Why we need Islamophobia Awareness Month
We must move beyond talk of prejudice and address the root causes of anti-Muslim violence, writes Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan
Remembering Una Marson: black feminist pioneer
Aditya Iyer looks at the legacy of black feminist poet, Una Marson.
Reforming the Gender Recognition Act is a feminist responsibility
The moral panic surrounding proposed changes is incoherent. Husna Rivzi explains why.
An anti-imperialist Labour Party?
Labour in office has always been ‘pro-nukes and pro-empire’. What can Corbyn bring to the table? Richard Seymour asks.
What does institutional justice look like?
Lola Olufemi examines what institutional justice means after the Avital Ronell controversy.
Starving for the rights of Bahrain's prisoners
Bahraini activist Ali Mushaima is on his 37th day of a hunger strike, outside the Bahraini embassy in London. Andrew Smith reports
Long read: the merit trap
New Internationalist co-founder Peter Adamson dives into the perils of basing ‘fairness’ on meritocracy.
Our bodies, our rights
According to the UN, most surgeries on intersex babies amount to torture. Valentino Vecchietti calls for urgent change.
A farewell to the Pope
From Catholocism to consumer capitalism, Ireland needs something new. Éilis Ryan.
Time for Roundup to wind up?
After decades muddying the science, Monsanto may at last account for its weedkiller’s effects, writes Claire Robinson.
What should Twitter censor?
Forget shadow banning, we need to talk about holding private censors accountable, argues Jillian York.
Russian LGBT activists battle teenage isolation
Young people discovering their sexuality have been denied access to information or acceptance since the ‘gay propaganda’ law was passed. Barney Cullum reports.
Challenging exploitation in the gig economy
Global South workers in the digital platform-enabled gig economy are beginning to organize. Alex J. Wood and Mark Graham report.
Against their will
Lea Surugue and Gisella Ligios report on the Roma women fighting to make the Czech authorities face up to the scandal of forced sterilization.
Ukraine’s war on drugs drives HIV epidemic
Spiralling rates of the diseases have punitive policies at their root. Madeline Roache reports.
How porn monopolies will feast on UK age verification laws
Jillian York interviews Erika Lust about the consequences of proposed laws which aim to protect children from porn.
Occupying against the patriarchy
Chilean feminists have taken over university buildings until inequality is tackled. Giulia Dessi reports.
Iran’s youth fear future after Trump abandons nuclear deal
US foreign policy continues to subjugate the nation’s youth, Daniel Khalili-Tari writes.
Will EU copyright law ‘carpet bomb’ the digital world?
Article 13 of the EU’s Copyright Directive, up for vote on 20 June, will impose mandatory upload filters on internet users. Jillian York explains why the risks are too high.
Argentina’s women fight for safe, free and legal abortion
The Ni Una Menos movement are making history. Will they succeed in this Wednesday’s vote on 13 June? Orlando James Jenkinson reports.
A better media is possible
Out of the current crisis, a more hopeful vision is emerging, argues Vanessa Baird.
Facebook: the new censor’s office
Social media is usurping the role of the state argues Jillian York.
