In the past decade South Africa has witnessed an upsurge in negative labelling of informal settlements in policies and programmes, the removal of informal settlements from strategic positions in the city, and even legislative amendments to facilitate such...
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Noam Chomsky: Can Civilization Survive Capitalism?
There is "capitalism" and then there is "really existing capitalism." The term "capitalism" is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the "too-big-to-fail" government...
The controversial jatropha stumbles in Kenya | by Leah Temper
A campaign by Nature Kenya and other Environmental Justice Organizations (EJOs) has saved the Dakatcha Woodland Important Bird Area (IBA) from destruction from biofuel crops after Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) rejected clearance for a...
Rio+20 Draft Text Is 283 Paragraphs Of Fluff | by George Monbiot
In 1992, world leaders signed up to something called "sustainability". Few of them were clear about what it meant; I suspect that many of them had no idea. Perhaps as a result, it did not take long for this concept to mutate into something subtly different:...
Rio+20: Sabotaging Sustainable Development | by Fazila Farouk
The messages of gloom and doom have been out there for some time now. Just about every other commentator is pronouncing on an impending failure of outcome for the Rio+20 Summit on sustainable development being hosted in Brazil this week. We are being told to temper...
Leaked documents reveal UK fight to dilute EU Green Energy targets | by Fiona Harvey
Allegations of coalition hypocrisy over green issues as critics say documents show UK has caved in to fossil fuel lobbyists The government has been trying to water down key environmental regulations in Brussels despite trumpeting its commitment to green issues at...
Rio+20 What Is at Stake | by T Jayaraman, Shruti Mittal, and Divya Singh Kohli
There are major issues at stake in the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development to be held on 20-22 June. Yet governments of developing countries have not given adequate importance to the run-up to the conference. As has happened in the climate change negotiations,...
Time to End the Madness | by C.P. Chandrasekhar
May brought home to the world evidence of the popular rejection of the irrational pursuit of austerity amidst recession in Europe and elsewhere. One telling signal was the victory of Francois Hollande in the French Presidential run-off, making this the first...
Doing dirty work, exposing dirty tricks
Xolani is a municipal worker in Johannesburg, doing dirty, hard, but socially necessary labour for which he is paid the negotiated minimum of R4 330.30 a month. He is an example of one of thousands of workers in similar positions in local government service in towns...

