The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Absolutely, says Professor Leo Panitch who teaches political economy at York University in Canada. "The American dollar is not going away as the global reserve currency. There is nothing that can possibly replace it," contends Panitch. The current speculation around the dollar needs to be seen in context, he says. That context is: Structurally, to be a global reserve currency, a country must have deep domestic financial markets and enormous institutional financial...
Che Guevara's Children, Dr Aleida Guevara and Camilo Guevara, are in South Africa to mobilise support for the release of the Cuban Five. Their visit to South Africa will culminate in a march to the American Embassy in Pretoria, to demand the release of The Cuban Five. The march will start at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday, 23 October 2009 at 09h30. The Guevara's will also be using their visit to the country to share their knowledge about the Cuban health model, one of the most...
"Has the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lived up to its founding goals or is it just a club for rich countries to dictate growth?" asks Al Jazeera, after the IMF met for its annual meeting in Turkey last week. Two years ago, The IMF was fighting for relevance but has come back with vigour, bolstered by a new role given to it by G20 leaders at the London Summit earlier this year -- to bail out countries affected by the global financial and economic crisis and to play a key role...
Spatial abilities, particularly three-dimensional thinking, are important to develop skills in various kinds of maths and science, says Dr. Lise Eliot, Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School. Girls and boys seem to start out fine in the early years of schooling with respect to these subjects. In Kindergarten, there is no difference between boys and girls. The change starts to take place (slowly) at primary school. By the time children...
One of the reasons the United Nations (UN) hasn't worked is that some of its most influential and powerful members do not apply the principles contained in the UN charter to themselves. "In fact, they defend and apply the law of the jungle -- might makes right," says former UN General Assembly President, Miguel d'Escoto who has just completed a one-year tenure at the helm of the assembly. The UN has not achieved the fundamental goals for which it was created. These are twofold: 1)...
The leadership, rank and file of social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo have been violently threatened, attacked and forced to leave the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban. According to a statement released by the social movement, the attacks started on Saturday night 26 September 2009 when "a group of about 40 men heavily armed with guns, bush knives and even a sword attacked the KRDC (Kennedy Road Development Committee) near the Abahlali baseMjondolo office in the Kennedy...
