Recently in Globalization Category

New fight for Congo's riches. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/29/2008.

Scores of lucrative mining concessions handed out by President Joseph Kabila are in doubt after a report questioned their legality. Will a programme of renegotiation finally allow a beleaguered nation to exploit its huge mineral wealth?

As G-8 meets, free trade under fire. Mark Trumbull. Christian Science Monitor. 7/07/2008.

Recent economic woes are raising new doubts about the benefits of globalization.

Indonesia's answer to rising food prices. Simon Montlake. Christian Science Monitor. 7/14/2008.

A top rice importer last year, Indonesia's government is allocating more land to grow it and other food crops.

New pressures force U.S. farmers south of the border. Sara Miller Llana. Christian Science Monitor. 7/15/2008.

Tougher immigration control and stricter environmental and food safety regulations are prompting US firms to move farms to Mexico, Brazil, and everywhere in between.

The WTO's Raw Deal on Services. 7/17/08. FPIF. Desperate to clinch a new global trade deal, World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy is planning to convene a "mini-ministerial" meeting in the third week of July. The aim of the meeting is to come up with agreements to liberalize trade in agriculture, industry, and services. These sectors have been the focus of the so-called Doha Round of WTO negotiations that have dragged on since 2001.

Biofuel Land Demand Puts Peasants at Risk: Report. Reuters. 6/02/2008.

ROME - The rise of biofuels is not only adding to the global food price crisis but also poses a risk for peasants, pushed off their land to make way for energy crops, a report prepared for this week's food summit said.

Watchdog: NASA misled on global warming studies. CNN. 6/02/2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA's press office "marginalized or mischaracterized" studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006, the agency's own internal watchdog concluded.

'Everyone's starving' in Ethiopia, aid worker says. CNN. 6/09/2008.

SHASHAMANE, Ethiopia (AP) -- Like so many other victims of Ethiopia's hunger crisis, Usheto Beriso weighs just half what he should. He is always cold and swaddled in a blanket. His limbs are stick-thin.

ECONOMY: Global Woes Hit Developing Countries. Abid Aslam. Inter Press Service. 6/10/2008.

WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (IPS) - The global credit crunch unleashed in the United States is combining with runaway food and fuel prices to put the squeeze on developing countries, according to the World Bank.

South Korea's Beef with America. Christine Ahn. Foreign Policy in Focus. 6/13/2008.

On June 10, one million South Koreans from all walks of life poured onto the streets of Seoul, the nation's capital, to protest the newly elected President Lee Myung Bak's deal with the United States to fully open Korean markets to U.S. beef.

Falling like a ton of bricks. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2008.

After 15 years of continuous growth, the housebuilding industry is coming apart. With his company's shares down 90 per cent, Mark Clare, boss of Barratt, tells Nick Mathiason he suspects a 'short-selling conspiracy' - but hints he needs to raise cash

New homes slump worst since 1945. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2009.

The number of homes built in Britain this year will plunge to its lowest level since 1945 and plummeting construction activity is expected to lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs. The country's most senior housebuilders confirm that completions will be around 100,000, some 70,000 less than last year.

$40bn shortfall in Africa aid endangers 5 million lives. Tracy McVeigh. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2008.

Watchdog proposes a special tax as the foot-dragging by G8 nations undermines a decade of progress

The United States of Advertising. Kevin Connolly. BBC. 6/14/2008.

I have been taking a keen interest in television adverts for indigestion products lately.

This habit more or less coincided with my discovery of beef jerky, an American food whose classiness you can judge from the fact that it is mainly found in petrol stations.

.Inside the RUF: at last the child soldiers of Sierra Leone have their say. Hannah Strange. Times Online/UK. 6/16/2008.

The trial of the rebel leaders behind a devastating civil war is soon to come to a close. The child soldiers who knew them tell their stories

Study: Language barrier can keep children from getting healthcare. Patrick McGee. Huston Star-Telegram. 6/16/2008.

Children from homes where English is not the primary language have far more health problems than other kids in the U.S. and have less access to health insurance.

The impact goes beyond those youngsters and their families, said study author Dr. Glenn Flores, director of general pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Human cost of Brazil's biofuels boom. Patrick J. McDonnell. LA Times. 6/16/2008.

The country is a key producer of ethanol. Many of those cutting the sugar cane used to make the fuel are said to endure primitive conditions.

RBS issues global stock and credit crash alert. Abrose Evans-Pritchard. Telegraph/UK. 6/18/2008.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised clients to brace for a full-fledged crash in global stock and credit markets over the next three months as inflation paralyses the major central banks.

Destroying African Agriculture. Walden Bello. Foreign Policy in Focus. 6/03/2008.

Biofuel production is certainly one of the culprits in the current global food crisis. But while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has been a factor in food prices shooting up, the more primordial problem has been the conversion of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into chronic food importers. Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains.

Bioenergy: Fuelling the food crisis?. Stephanie Holmes. BBC. 6/04/2008.

The biofuel debate is electrifying the UN food price crisis summit in Rome, pitting nations against each other and risking transforming bioenergy - once hailed as the ultimate green fuel - into the villain of the piece, the root cause behind global food price spikes.

Price rises hit Indonesia parents. Lucy Williamson. BBC. 6/04/2008.

Financial pressures in Indonesia are driving more families to give up their children, a report says.

Monsanto Seeks Big Increase in Crop Yields. Andrew Pollack, NY Times. 6/05/2008.

Monsanto, the leader in agricultural biotechnology, pledged Wednesday to develop seeds that would double the yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 and would require 30 percent less water, land and energy to grow.

Chinese illegal immigrants discovered in Texas border town. CNN. 6/06/2008.

LA JOYA, Texas (AP) -- Local police are accustomed to dealing with illegal border crossings but were astounded by the video of 15 Chinese immigrants unfolding themselves from the back of a sport-utility vehicle near this small border town.

In India, a bank for street children. Henry Chu. LA Times. 6/07/2008.

Run almost entirely by the youths, a bare-bones bank sponsored by a charity offers a place to stash meager earnings and learn about saving and planning.

World hunger's urban edge. Stephanie Holmes. BBC. 6/05/2008,

The global food price crisis has revealed not only the new face of hunger but also its voice.

Former nun helps Mexico 'femicide' victims recover. Sara Miller Llana. Christian Science Monitor. 6/05/2008.

Linabel Sarlat runs a support center to help bring economic and spiritual renewal to the women of Anapra, Mexico.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Summit Agrees Greater Liberalisation. Sabina Zaccaro. Inter Press Service. 6/05/2008.

ROME, Jun 5 (IPS) - The three-day world summit called by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to respond to the food crisis ended with plans and pledges - and a new push to liberalisation.

Solving the global food crisis starts with women's rights. Yifat Susskind. The Progressive. 6/03/2008.

Solving the food crisis means empowering women.

U.S.-born children feel effects of immigration raids. Anna Gorman. 6/08/2008.

Federal agents say they try to act humanely when a parent is arrested, but advocates charge that youngsters are often traumatized and are sometimes left without supervision.

Experts see no early end to world's food crisis. Renee Schoof. McClatchy. 5/14/2008.

WASHINGTON -- The world's deep hunger crisis could go on for years, and in the long run it'll take a new scientific agricultural revolution to help farmers in the poorest countries produce enough food, experts said Wednesday at congressional hearings.

Some rural communities pushed to the edge by high cost of fuel. Tom Kizzia & Tom Hopkins. Anchorage Daily News. 5/16/2008.

Last winter, old people in Emmonak sometimes brought six-gallon plastic jugs to the tank farm at 20 below. They would pull the jug home on a sled, carrying enough stove oil to heat their house for the rest of the week.

Nigeria power shortage to persist. BBC. 5/30/2008.

Nigeria will not be able to generate enough electricity for its population until at least 2015, President Umaru Yar'Adua has said.

Trade boss criticises financial mess. Steve Schifferes. BBC. 5/30/2008.

The boss of one of the world's most important economic organisations has said the lack of regulation in world markets was the root cause of the financial crisis which has hit world economic growth.

Food crisis talks set to begin. BBC. 5/30/2008.

Envoys from 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries meet on Friday to discuss the rising cost of food and draw up a united policy for the region.

Hungry for Justice. Sameer Dossani. Foreign Policy In Focus. 5/30/2008.

When Paul Konar left his native India for the United States in 2006, he could never have imagined that less than two years later, he and several of his co-workers would be giving a lesson in Indian-style change making. Yet Konar, joined by his supporters and fellow fasters, has been on a vigil in Washington, DC for 17 days. He hasn't eaten anything since May 14.

Q&A: 'Biofuels Must Include the Poor'. Interview with Ali Mchumo. IPS. 5/30/2008.

ROME, May 30 (IPS) - Biofuels are being criticised for contributing to the rise in commodity prices, but their energy potential can be developed too, on condition "that the poor are part of the production chain."

Anti-U.S. beef protest draws 100,000 S.Koreans. Reuters, 5/31/2008.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean students, parents with toddlers in tow, and union members took to the streets on Saturday in a massive protest against a government decision to resume imports of U.S. beef that they see as dangerous.

Is Water Becoming 'The New Oil'?. Marc Clayton. Chrisitan Science Monitor. 5/30/08

Population, pollution, and climate put the squeeze on potable supplies - and private companies smell a profit. Others ask: Should water be a human right?

Coal in the United States: America Approaching Peak Coal. Richard Heinberg. IntelDaily. 5/30/2008.

With oil and natural gas prices rising and coal prices still relatively low, the return of the US to a greater reliance on coal might seem inevitable. However, several recent reports suggest that coal reserves, which have shrunk dramatically during the past century, may still be overstated. Coal prices are likely to rise precipitously during the next two decades due to transport bottlenecks and higher transport costs, falling production trends in many current producing regions, and the lack of suitable new coalfields. This information should give pause to any agency planning new coal power plants today.

PERU: Indigenous Groups Challenge Private Investment Decree. Milagros Salazar. IPS. 5/29/2008.

LIMA, May 29 (IPS) - More than 5,000 indigenous and peasant communities in Peru launched a petition drive this week with the aim of getting President Alan García's decree promoting private investment in communally owned land declared unconstitutional.

HEALTH-AFRICA: UNICEF Reports Five Million Child Deaths Every Year. Steffanie Nieuwoudt. IPS. 5/30/2008. (Report)

CAPE TOWN, May 30 (IPS) - When four-year-old Alice Were suddenly developed a fever, her mother Miriam took her to the local medicine woman close to her house in Kangemi, a poor, cramped settlement on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Two days later, Alice was unconscious. Her frantic mother rushed to hospital with the child in her arms. But it was too late. Alice died of malaria.

Undocumented immigrants face Juan Crow. Roberto Lovato. The Progressive. 5/19/2008.

Immigrants held in immigration detention facilities are not just dying because of bad management, callous guards and understaffing.

The Other Karen Tribe Antonio Graceffo. Boxun News. 5/22/2008.

The Long neck Karen (Karen-Padaung) are not actually Karen at all, but they are also refugees, escaping the genocidal madness in Burma. They have become a symbol of tourism in Thailand's Mae Hong Son province. On the Burmese side of the border, agents of the junta gather the Karen, Akha, Lihsu, Lahu and other tribal people into human zoos.

BIODIVERSITY: Indigenous Peoples Fight Theft. Julio Godoy. Inter Press Service. 5/24/2008.

BONN, May 24 (IPS) - Amongst the suits in the luxurious hotel hall, Sebastian Haji immediately catches the eye. He is small, dark-skinned, and wears a crown of feathers on his head.

Family Seed Business Takes On Goliath of Genetic Modification. Marian Scott. The Edmonton Journal (Canada). 5/25/2008.

Heather Meek leafs through the seed catalogue she wrote on the family computer, on winter nights after the kids went to bed.There are Kahnawake Mohawk beans and Painted Mountain corn; Tante Alice cucumber and 40 varieties of heritage tomatoes.

Fair Trade: Spreading The Wealth. Sharon Cullars. One World Net. 5/28/2008.

CHICAGO - Before the advent of the Fair Trade system some 60 years ago, an average farmer in Ecuador could expect to receive only a few cents per pound for his crops -- barely enough to sustain himself, his family, and his farm.

Consent of the Governed: the reign of corporations and the fight for democracy. Jeffrey Kaplan. Orion Magazine. 11/2003.

DESCRIBING THE UNITED STATES of the 1830s in his now-famous work, Democracy in America, the young French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville depicted a country passionate about self-governance. In the fifty years since sovereignty had passed from the crown to the people, citizens of the new republic had seized upon every opportunity "to take a hand in the government of society and to talk about it. . . . If an American should be reduced to occupying himself with his own affairs," wrote de Tocqueville, "half his existence would be snatched from him; he would feel it as a vast void in his life."

Redesigning Corporate Law. Robert Hinkley. Resurgence 2002.

AFTER TWENTY-THREE years advising large corporations on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, I left my position because I was disturbed by the game. I realized that the many social ills created by corporations stem directly from corporate law. It dawned on me that the law, in its current form, actually inhibits executives and corporations from being socially responsible. So in June 2000 I decided to devote the next phase of my life to making people aware of this problem. My goal is to build consensus to change the law so that it encourages good corporate citizenship rather than inhibiting it.

Solidarity is in the air. Margaret Jones.

Resistance is as transnational as capital.
SEATTLE, 1999; WASHINGTON and Prague, 2000. Names and dates that by now are household words. Every few months, it seems, another festival of anti-globalization is celebrated, to the accompaniment of banners, chants, samba bands, tear gas -- and, it must be confessed, the throwing of cobblestones and the smashing of windows the mass media so delight to pounce on. These periodic anti-capitalist carnivals have become a cultural fixture almost as predictable as the World Cup. Whether they are merely a safety valve for the pent-up frustrations of activists worldwide, or the harbingers of sweeping global change, remains to be seen. In either case, they are, without a doubt, in common with the anti-globalization movement as a whole, the nurseries of some remarkable solidarity and creative co-operation between very disparate groups.

Participatory Economics: A Theoretical Alternative to Capitalism. Michael Albert. Parecon. 2004.

[We seek] a condition of society in which there should be neither rich nor poor, neither master nor master's man, neither idle nor overworked, neither brain-sick workers, nor heartsick hand workers, in a world, in which all would be living in equality of condition and would manage their affairs unwastefully, and with the full consciousness that harm to one would mean harm to all--the realization at last of the meaning of the word commonwealth. -- William Morris(1)

Global Problems, Local Solutions. Wendell Berry. Resurgence. 2006.

If governments fail to protect their citizens, then those citizens must protect themselves by developing local economies.

LET US BEGIN by assuming what appears to be true: that the so-called "environmental crisis" is now pretty well established as a fact of our age. The problems of pollution, species extinction, loss of wilderness, loss of farmland, loss of topsoil may still be ignored or scoffed at, but they are not denied. Concern for these problems has acquired a certain standing, a measure of discussability, in the media and in some scientific, academic, and religious institutions.

Gross National Happiness. Rajni Bakshi. 2004.

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is an unlikely place for the birth of an international trend. Yet Bhutan is emerging as a global leader in the promotion of  'Gross National Happiness', a concept it first embraced three decades ago and which is now being fleshed out by a wide range of professionals and agencies across the world.

African Women Making Change. Ann Jones. Mother Jones. 5/13/2008.

It's like the old days of the women's movement in the U.S. and the informal consciousness-raising get-togethers that blew the collective mind of my generation.

Argentina Tries to Reconcile Exporting Food With Prices at Home. Monte Reel. Wa. Post. 4/26/2008.

G7 loses grip on global policy to O5. Barry Herman. Asia Times. 5/09/2008.

A distinct set of global institutions governs the international economic system: the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Each has its specialty, and they are complemented by a number of even more specialized institutions with more restricted membership, such as the Bank for International Settlements and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Crisis Linked to Doha Deal. Aileen Kwa. Inter Press Service. 5/08/2008.

GENEVA, May 8 (IPS) - The issue of rising food prices was raised at the WTO's General Council meeting Wednesday, and for the first time, discussed in some detail. But there remains, as one African delegate put it, "a lot of confusion about the rising prices of commodities and the Doha Round. Somebody needs to demystify the links. The D-G (Director-General) is using this as a bait to catch us on concluding the Round as soon as possible."

ENERGY-AFRICA: From Kerosene to the LED, O-HUB and O-BOX. Stephen Leahy. Inter Press Service. 5/08/2008.

ACCRA, May 8 (IPS) - In many of Africa's towns and villages, smoky kerosene lamps are all that keeps the darkness at bay after sunset. However, kerosene is a dangerous and increasingly expensive source of light for Africans who do not have access to electricity -- about three-quarters of those living on the continent, according to the World Bank.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Controversy Over Indigenous Land and Biofuels. Mario Osava. Inter Press Service. 5/08/2008.

BRASILIA, May 8 (IPS) - The legal status of an indigenous territory in the far north of Brazil, and biofuels, are two hot potatoes at the Third National Conference on the Environment being held in the capital city, which is focusing on climate change.

CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security. Antoaneta Bezlova. Inter Press Service. 5/09/2008.

BEIJING, May 9 (IPS) - Rattled by rapidly rising global grain prices, China is looking at strategies to ensure long-term food security for its 1.3 billion people such as procuring farmland overseas and opposing the formation of any international grain price- fixing monopolies.

Child Labor Rings Reach China's Distant Villages. David Barboza. NY Times. 5/10/2008.

LIANGSHAN, China -- The mud and brick schoolhouses in the lush mountain villages of this remote part of southwestern China are dark and barebones in the best of times. These days, they also lack students.

US Urged to Reform Foreign Aid. Ida Wahlstrom. One World. 5/09/2008.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (OneWorld) - More than 800 development and human rights activists are gathering here this week, developing and calling on Congress to implement new strategies to tackle world poverty and hunger.

U.S. Legal Work Booms in India. Rama Lakshimi. Wa. Post. 5/11/2008.

New Outsourcing Industry Is Growing 60 Percent Annually

GURGAON, India -- When Aashish Sharma graduated from law school two years ago, his father had visions of seeing him argue in an Indian court and eventually become an honorable judge.

System of Neglect - Immigrant Detention. Dana Priest & Amy Goldstein. Wa. Post. 5/11/2008.

As Tighter Immigration Policies Strain Federal Agencies, The Detainees in Their Care Often Pay a Heavy Cost

World's Giants to Alter Food Equation. Evan Osnos & Laurie Goering. Chicago Tribune. 5/11/2008.

As China and India Rise, Diets Change and Demands Soar.

BEIJING - Nothing about the lunch rush at a McDonald's in China would feel out of place in America: Students huddled around video games and fries; a computer salesman scarfing a chicken sandwich; a teacher lingering over a hamburger and coffee. And in that all-American scene lies the next great challenge to the world's food supply.

"Transgenic Seed Companies Lie and Bribe". Interview with Jesús León Santos, Winner of Goldman Prize. Inter Press Service. 4/24/2008.

MEXICO CITY, Apr 24 (Tierramérica) - Biotech corporations that developed genetically modified seeds are bribing authorities and carrying out costly advertising campaigns "plagued with lies in order to create monsters that attack life," says Jesús León Santos, an indigenous man who is one of this year's winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World. Elizabeth Rosenthal. NY Times. 4/26/2008.

Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of Europe's peas are grown and packaged in Kenya.

Punjab reaps a poisoned harvest. David Loyn. BBC. 4/26/2008.

The governments of many poor nations are alarmed at the rise in food prices. There are even problems in the Indian region of Punjab, where science once seemed to have found answers for a hungry world.

Where Every Meal Is a Sacrifice. Anthony Faiola. Wa. Post. 4/28/2008.

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania Even before he took a butcher knife to the she-goat's throat, Likbir Ould Mohamed Mahmoud knew it would only make things worse.

Emptying the Breadbasket. Dan Morgan. Wa. Post. 4/29/2008.

For decades, wheat was king on the Great Plains and prices were low everywhere. Those days are over.

Chevron Complicit in Abuses in Burma - Rights Lobby. Marwaan Macan-Markar. Inter Press Services. 4/20/2008.

BANGKOK - An environmental group is warning U.S. energy giant Chevron to clean up its act in Burma or face legal proceedings where the multinational's links to gross human rights violations in the military-ruled country could be exposed.

Oil Majors Rapped Over Secrecy, Corruption. Abid Aslam. International Press Service. 4/30/2008.

WASHINGTON - Leading oil firms impede efforts to stamp out poverty and corruption by shrouding their financial dealings in secrecy, says a global watchdog.

Bolivia nationalises key firms. Al Jazeera. 5/01/2008.

The Bolivian president has nationalised the country's leading telecommunications company and announced plans to return four foreign-owned gas companies to state control.

Multinationals Make Billions In Profit Out of Growing Global Food Crisis. Geoffrey Lean. Independent/UK. 5/04/2008.

Speculators blamed for driving up price of basic foods as 100 million face severe hunger

No let up in India farm suicides. Prachi Pinglay. BBC. 5/05/2008.

The rate of farmer suicides in India's Maharashtra state has gone up in recent years despite expensive relief schemes, a government report says.

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World. Josh Gerstein. NY Sun. 4/21/2008.

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

Load Up the Pantry. Brett Arends. Wall Street Journal. 4/21/2008.

I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

No, this is not a drill.

Biofuels starving our people, leaders tell UN. Allegra Stratton. Guardian/UK. 4/28/2008.

The leaders of Bolivia and Peru have attacked the use of biofuels, saying they have made food too expensive for the poor.

India rules out new farm debt aid. BBC. 4/22/2008.

India's agriculture minister has rejected calls for additional debt cancellation for millions of farmers.

DEVELOPMENT: Reinventing Agriculture. Stephen Leahy. IPS. 4/15/2008.

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 15 (IPS) - The results of a painstaking examination of global agriculture are being formally presented Tuesday with the release of the final report for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).

South Korean workers on edge of burnout. Bruce Williams. LA Times. 4/19/2008.

SEOUL -- "Life Is Wonderfull" is the boast from Korea Telecom that shimmers from the billboard-size TV screens that loom over downtown Seoul, but you might get an argument at street level about the accuracy of the company's English slogan.

Food price rises are "mass murder": U.N. envoy. Reuters. 4/20/2008.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Global food price rises are leading to "silent mass murder" and commodities markets have brought "horror" to the world, the United Nations' food envoy told an Austrian newspaper on Sunday.

DEVELOPMENT: Reinventing Agriculture. Stephen Leahy. International Press Service. 4/15/2008.

The results of a painstaking examination of global agriculture are being formally presented Tuesday with the release of the final report for the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).