November - December 2022

New Internationalist

People, Ideas and Action for Global Justice

New Internationalist1 min read
Turn The Page
In his first speech to Britain and the Commonwealth as the new monarch, King Charles III thanked his mother for her devotion to the ‘family of nations’. But what makes a family? One of the key things that unites the 53 countries that make up the Comm
New Internationalist1 min read
This Month’s Contributors Include:
Hana Shams Ahmed is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at York University, Canada and the former co-ordinator of the advocacy body, the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission. Riley Yesno is an Anishinaabe scholar and public i
New Internationalist1 min read
New Internationalist
Accounts: Katalin Szombati Subscriptions and administration: Louise Waters Advertising: Michael York Design: Andrew Kokotka Editorial (Magazine and Website): Dinyar Godrej, Amy Hall, Conrad Landin, Husna Ara, Nick Dowson Contributing editors: Vanessa
New Internationalist3 min read
Send Us Your Feedback
I found your Big Story on railways in NI 539 very interesting. However, regarding ‘Top tracks: a playlist for the rails’: ‘City of New Orleans’ was not written by Arlo Guthrie, but by Steve Goodman, a Chicago singer who first recorded it himself. I w
New Internationalist3 min read
Festive Heat
In front of the Obelisk, where it seems that the ground is about to melt in the heat, there is a man on a little stage dressed as Santa Claus – or Papá Noel as we call him here. He rings a bell and fakes a hearty laugh. The spectators of his show – h
New Internationalist3 min read
Introducing… William Ruto
In the heavyweight fight to govern Kenya, that linchpin of East African modernity, it was William Ruto versus Raila Odinga. The 55-year-old Ruto eked out a contested election victory over 77-year-old Odinga (aka Baba – Swahili for ‘father’) in the Au
New Internationalist1 min read
Seriously?
Royal snowflakes As the country entered a period of ‘national mourning’ following the death of Queen Elizabeth II – in which businesses, large-scale events and food banks dependent on the good-will of monarchy-sympathizing segments of the population
New Internationalist2 min read
Panama Total Vandalism
Hundreds of small-scale farmers in Panama have been protesting for secure tenure on land they have farmed for almost 20 years, following repeated eviction attempts by authorities seeking to make way for a Del Monte fruit plantation. In 2003, eight hu
New Internationalist1 min read
Ukraine One Out, All Out
Miners in Novovolynsk, western Ukraine are taking strike action in the country’s most significant workers’ protest since Russia’s invasion in February. Protests against the appointment of new management, which workers have alleged is linked to corrup
New Internationalist2 min read
Pakistan Cancel The Debt
The floods that left one-third of Pakistan under water, claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people, are expected to add $10 billion worth of damage to an already teetering economy. Despite producing less than one per cent of global c
New Internationalist2 min read
South Africa A People’s Vaccine?
As monkeypox took hold in the West, it was revealed that Bavarian Nordic, the sole producer of the vaccine, had cut a deal to sell nearly all of the available doses to the US. This was an attempt to build a stockpile in case of a mass outbreak of sma
New Internationalist2 min read
Global Cop Out
How do countries with limited financial resources adapt to the ever-more-normal presence of climate catastrophe? The official agenda for COP27, which takes place in Sharm El-Sheikh on 7-19 November, was yet to be released as New Internationalist went
New Internationalist1 min read
Reasons To Be Cheerful
A court in South Africa has blocked Shell from using seismic waves for oil and gas exploration in the Indian Ocean. The oil giant was seeking to deploy ‘seismic survey operations’ across more than 6,000 square km of sea. The plan had raised fears of
New Internationalist1 min readDiscrimination & Race Relations
Why Subscribe?
The first ever issue in 1970 carried an interview with the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. He had argued that 10 per cent of all overseas aid should be spent on educating the ‘first world’ about the real causes of world poverty. We wanted to s
New Internationalist14 min readWorld
The Land Is Ours
As we picked our way through the rubble that remained of the house, its owner, 58-year-old Rezeq Abu Nasser, ran through memories of the lush valley where it once stood. This land in Wadi Qana, in the West Bank, had been in his family for generations
New Internationalist1 min read
Action And Info
farmerama.co Podcast featuring a wide range of voices on regenerative farming. grain.org Supports small-scale farmers and social movements fighting for community-controlled food systems. ienearth.org North American network of Indigenous peoples for e
New Internationalist2 min read
Land The Facts
1% Just 1% of farms control over 70% of the world’s agricultural land.1 >80% of all farms (almost 500 million farmers) are under 2 hectares: • covering12% of farmland2• producing⅓ of food3 2.5bn people rely on collective tenure rights for their livel
New Internationalist6 min readCrime & Violence
Unwanted Attraction
A few days before the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples this year, the Bangladesh Ministry of Information and Broadcasting circulated a message to all television channels across the country instructing that the word ‘Adibashi’ (Indi
New Internationalist7 min read
Land Back
In 2018, Blackfoot meme creator Arnell Tailfeathers from Manitoba made a post on Instagram which contained a simple phrase: ‘Land Back’. It caught on quickly, perfectly capturing the essence of Indigenous people’s long struggle to reclaim their stole
New Internationalist4 min read
For Whose Protection?
One million species risk becoming extinct ‘within decades’, according to the UN. It’s a sobering thought. A looming threat that is largely due to human activity, whether through direct habitat destruction or the impacts of climate change and polluti
New Internationalist8 min read
Nice Little Earner
The Cerrado is the most biodiverse savanna in the world, a vast region representing 24 per cent of Brazil’s national territory and home to 5 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. Located in Brazil’s central plateaus, its deep root systems are adept
New Internationalist5 min read
Roads For The Rich Tents For The Poor
Now 25, Anami Daudi Toure has lived in Mukuru kwa Njenga informal settlement since he was 5. Until last year, Mukuru was home to over 100,000 people – but a wave of mass evictions between October and December 2021 displaced tens of thousands of them.
New Internationalist3 min readInternational Relations
Country Profile Myanmar
Almost two years after the military seized power, the determination of Myanmar’s resistance movement has only grown. ‘We will never give up,’ says a deposed lawmaker-turned-revolutionary who remains in the same jungle camp he fled to last year, takin
New Internationalist2 min read
At A Glance
LEADER: Duwa Lashi La, acting president of the National Unity Government. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the ruling junta. ECONOMY: GNI per capita: $4,230 (Thailand $7,260, UK $49,420). Monetary unit: Myanmar Kyat (1 MMK = $0.0004). Main ex
New Internationalist2 min readCrime & Violence
Star Ratings
About 40% of the population are living below the national poverty line after Myanmar’s economy effectively collapsed following last year’s military coup. Many now rely on charity for food, and inequality is set to become more entrenched. The literacy
New Internationalist2 min readPolitical Ideologies
View From Brazil
The overwhelming majority of Brazilians (75 per cent) support democracy, according to a recent survey by Datafolha, our most reputable polling firm. Seven per cent prefer a dictatorship. Coincidentally, in another survey from the same pollster, that
New Internationalist5 min readCrime & Violence
Muzzling The Media In Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean journalist Jeffrey Moyo loves his job and wouldn’t swap it for any other. But last year it landed him in prison with the risk of a 10-year jail term. Moyo, an international correspondent for The New York Times, was arrested in May 2021, ac
New Internationalist1 min read
Southern Exposure
Los Auténticos (The Authentics) is one of the most loved and well-known carnival troupes of San Pedro, a neighbourhood in Cajamarca, northern Peru. In this shot by photographer Gabriel Tejada, who is based in the city, one of the members strikes a po
New Internationalist3 min read
One Eye On Nature
To the average person in the Northern hemisphere, November is a vibe shift: undeniable crispness in the air, pumpkin spice everything, darkness before six in the evening. To climate nerds, November is COP (Conference of the Parties) season: long-wind
New Internationalist4 min read
Mohamad Hafez
You were born in Damascus, then spent much of your childhood in Saudi Arabia before moving back to Syria as a teenager. What was it like growing up in such different landscapes? It’s strange, but growing up in Saudi Arabia was actually the best child
New Internationalist3 min read
View From Africa
With great sadness, I have to share that this will be my last ‘View From Africa’ for New Internationalist. Over the last four years I have learnt so much through the discipline of working through new column ideas every few weeks. It’s been a pleasure
New Internationalist2 min read
Women Who Go Against The Grain
This 2023 Women of the World Calendar features 12 women who are rewriting the rules. At a time when women are grabbing the spotlight, it’s also the moment for a calendar that inspires the current and next generation of women who go against the grain
New Internationalist7 min readCrime & Violence
Pushed Back And Pushed On
In a former industrial area of Vilnius, Lithuania, a fashionable café is hosting an evening of cultural exchange. Locals queue up to order the Afghan dishes on offer, prepared by an Afghan asylum-seeker. As the tables inside have filled up quickly, g
New Internationalist10 min readInternational Relations
Hear Us Roar
On 5 August 1989, Helen Wyn Thomas was waiting to cross a road near the ‘yellow gate’ at the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Greenham Common base. In the two months she had been present at the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, the 22-year-old Welsh activis
New Internationalist2 min read
Correction And Apology: Jem Bendell
In the May-June 2022 edition of New Internationalist (NI 537), we published an article by Richard Swift in our Long Read section entitled ‘Is it too late?’ (alternatively titled ‘Is it too late to stop climate collapse?’ on our website). We apologize
New Internationalist3 min read
Hall Of Infamy
POSITION: President of Rwanda REPUTATION: Liberator turned despot It is an all too familiar story. The leaders of liberation movements (usually armies) turn themselves into despots as soon as they vanquish the genocidal regimes they seek to replace.
New Internationalist1 min read
Ethicalshop NEWS
We’ll take your gift message and copy it into a beautiful One World Greeting card. This means we’re putting some vintage stock to good use – as there is no way we ever throw anything away. Also, what’s great is that you don’t need to think about a se
New Internationalist2 min read
View From India
April is Dalit History Month all over the world. This year, Google decided to celebrate by scheduling a talk by US-based Dalit rights activist and founder of Equality Labs, Thenmozhi Soundararajan. But, when the moment came, the tech giant pulled the
New Internationalist3 min read
Film
directed and written by Li Ruijun 133 minutes Youtie Ma sits on his haunches in the yard in the snow, feeding the donkey. Guiying, visiting the toilet in the yard, sees how he cares for the animal, thinking it has a better life than hers. Their famil
New Internationalist3 min read
Spotlight assil Diab Aka Sudalove
‘I wasn’t remotely interested – let alone involved – in political activism,’ says Sudan’s pioneer female graffiti artist Assil Diab, ‘until I felt the first stirrings of the uprising against [President of Sudan] Omar al-Bashir in 2012-2013. That was
New Internationalist5 min readWorld
Books
by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Granta, ISBN 9781783786732) granta.com Against the backdrop of Argentina’s decades of brutal dictatorship, a powerful family controls the Order, a demonic cult determined to learn from the Darkness h
New Internationalist2 min read
Music
by Angeline Morrison (Topic Records, CD, LP, DL) www.topicrecords.co.uk While walking the beaches near her Cornwall home, Angeline Morrison began thinking of the slave ships, some possibly carrying her ancestors, that once sailed past with their huma
New Internationalist4 min read
The Puzzler
The crossword prize is a voucher for our online shop to the equivalent of £20/$30. Only the winner will be notified. Send your entries by 15 November to: New Internationalist Puzzle Page, The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK; o
New Internationalist3 min read
Agony Uncle
Q: I was recently approached by the curator of a group exhibition of contemporary working class art, to ask if I would be willing to submit a painting. It’s a great opportunity and is – unusually for such grassroots initiatives – properly paid. But I
New Internationalist3 min read
Electricity Were A Right Not A Commodity?
I once stayed a few weeks with a family in one of the more remote peninsulas in the Scottish High-lands. Their home had no electricity – or road – connections to the ‘mainland’. Instead two counters in the kitchen indicated the power – flowing in fro
New Internationalist2 min readInternational Relations
Nigeria Charles The Last?
‘An extraordinary and world-renowned public figure’; ‘a towering global personality and an outstanding leader’ – these were the glowing tributes from Africa’s political leaders following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. But among the citizens of Afri
New Internationalist1 min readInternational Relations
Borderlines
Western politicians responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in near unison – not only in condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s government, but also in announcing that Ukrainian refugees would be made to feel welcome wherever they were able to settle. Ei

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