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?
A reflection on life and the arts from a progressive perspective. Here you will find social commentary on movies, the performing arts, issues of cultural significance and life in general.
Alex Doherty, Sharon Haywood, Susie Orbach -
Psychotherapist Susie Orbach and writer and editor Sharon Haywood are two of the main organisers of the Anybody initiative. They spoke to New Left Project's Alex Doherty.
Commercial slimming clubs such as Weight Watchers and Slimming World argue that they are helping women (and some men) to deal with genuine weight problems. What do you make of that claim?
Unfortunately, weight-loss clubs such as Weight Watchers and Slimming World are part of the problem in that dieting only...
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd -
The weird tale of Julian Assange just got weirder: the WikiLeaks founder appears in cartoon form on the 500th episode of “The Simpsons". According to reports, Assange recorded his voiceovers from “a secret location” over the summer, although since he is currently on house arrest in a British mansion, it’s not hard to imagine that said location was the horse stable (or the panic room).
The Simpsons has been running since 1989, the longest-airing scripted...
Liepollo Pheko -
‘The Help’ is a movie that tells the story of black domestic workers who quite literally hold up the economic and social sky of their employers in the early 1960s of Jackson, Mississippi in the United States of America (US). Their lives intersecting with those of the privileged white women whose homes they clean, meals they prepare and whose children they raise.
The Oscar-nominated movie made waves at the recent Golden Globe Awards ceremony when Octavia Spencer, who plays...
Mandisi Majavu -
Many sports journalists view Solly Tyibilika’s rugby career, the former Springbok player who was shot dead at a tavern in Gugulethu, as a waste of talent. It is said that Tyibilika could play like a champion if you could get him on the field. Loffie Eloff, a rugby coach, is quoted in the newspapers as saying that Tyibilika had “discipline problems”. “He’d just disappear for days, even weeks, on end.”
Tyibilika’s friends...
Charlene Houston -
The discerning tourist knows that cultural displays are staged by locals to meet her expectations. Those responsible for the opening ceremony of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand understood that the world wanted a unique, definitive ‘kiwi’ experience.
While I enjoyed the ride, revelling in the journey through the indigenous Maori people’s history complete with interpretative script, I thought about our own staging of culture in South Africa. What is the gaze we...
John Feffer -
Celebrities are going global in their activism. But are they doing the right thing?
Lady Gaga and Alice Walker don't have much in common. One dresses in red meat; the other doesn't even eat the stuff. One writes lyrics like "I want your ugly, I want your disease, I want your everything as long as it's free." The other writes The Color Purple.
But they are both cultural celebrities, and the media gravitates to them for comments. And they both have used this celebrity status to...
