State of Power

In this episode, Hamza Hamouchene discusses his report titled: Extractivism and Resistance in North Africa, which documents several cases of natural resource extraction which take the form of brutal "accumulation by dispossession," degrading environments and ecosystems through the privatisation and commodification of land and water. The report shows that these extractive activities have also been met with new waves of resistance and the entrance of new social actors onto the scene, demanding that wealth generated in resource projects be shared equitably in society.  Are these new actors mainly motivated by environmental concerns, or are they fundamentally anti-systemic, seeking to undermine the basis of the capitalist extractive economy? Are these passing episodes of resistance, or do they represent a new development in the historical trajectory of class struggle in North Africa?

If we’re going to stop the climate catastrophe that is unfolding, we will need a radical overhaul of how many things work. Our financial system has played a big role in leading us to the brink of collapse, and must be completely overhauled if we are to stand a chance. What does a fair and responsible financial system look like?  How can we shift power to democratically accountable public enterprises that will move us more rapidly towards a fossil free world? Further, in the wake of the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, how can changing finance and how it works help us to power a Just Transition?   In this episode of the State of Power podcast, we speak to Oscar Reyes, who is an associate fellow on the Climate policy program  of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. He’s written a book called “Change Finance, Not the Climate”, which looks at how we can change the financial system to address the climate emergency. 

The far right is on the rise. The rhetoric of anger and resentment is emanating from personalities like Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Rodrigo Duterte and Viktor Orban and is captivating and mobilizing large numbers of people. In an increasing number of countries, the extreme right has already captured the government or is on the threshold of power. While this swift turn of events has shocked or surprised many in the North, the extreme right’s seizure of power is not an uncommon event in the South. In Counterrevolution, Walden Bello deconstructs the challenge from the far right by deploying what he calls the dialectic of revolution and counterrevolution and harnesses the methods of comparative history and comparative sociology. In this wide ranging interview, Walden Bello outlines the key ideas behind his book, Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right https://www.tni.org/en/event/counterrevolutionary-movements

A great global panel of activists, social movement leaders and thinkers discuss how to make this pandemic a turning point towards system change that we need not just to deliver social justice but increasingly to defend our very survival. The very insightful conversation examined what can we learn from previous major global mobilisations, how can we build cross-sectoral and intersectional movements and what strategies and tactics we need to confront entrenched corporate power and authoritarian governments? Panellists: * Thenjiwe McHarris, Movement for Black Lives (USA) *  Hakima Abbas, Assocation for Women's Rights in Development (Senegal) *  Rafeef Ziadah, Palestinian performance poet/Professor at SOAS *  Josua Mata, Secretary General, SENTRO trade union, Philippines *  Vrinda Grover, Human rights lawyer, India Moderator: Hilary Wainwright, author of A New Politics from the Left (2018) This webinar was organised by Transnational Institute with Focus on the Global South and co-sponsored by Alternative Information Development Centre.

COVID-19 has become another touchstone for today’s deeply entrenched politics of militarised borders and anti-migrant racism. This webinar explored the trajectory and globalization of border militarization and anti-migrant racism across the world, the history, ideologies and actors that have shaped it, the pillars and policies that underpin the border industrial complex, the resistance of migrants, refugees and activists, and the shifting dynamics within this pandemic. Panellists: * Harsha Walia, author of Undoing Border Imperialism (2013) * Jille Belisario, Transnational Migrant Platform-Europe (TMP-E) * Todd Miller, author of Empire of Borders (2020), Storming the Wall (2019) and TNI's report More than A Wall (2019) * Kavita Krishnan, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA). TBC This webinar was hosted by TNI and co-sponsored by Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), Focus on the Global South, Asia-Europe People's Forum (AEPF), Transnational Migrant Platform-Europe (TMP-E), and Statewatch.

Ten years ago, the Arab uprisings were celebrated as world changing events. The emancipatory experience was so contagious that people were inspired all over the world. Occupiers from London to Wall Street and the Indignados were proud to “Walk like an Egyptian”. The revolutionary process that has swept North Africa and West Asia, driven by demands for bread, freedom, dignity and social justice, has seen ups and downs, gains and setbacks, which materialized in a liberal democratic transition in Tunisia and bloody counter-revolutions and imperialist interventions in other countries. This led some pundits to pronounce a death sentence on the so-called “Arab Spring”. A decade on, this protracted revolutionary process is well into the second wave of revolt, triggered by the same features of governance and political economy that shaped the first wave. This time, it started from Sudan in December 2018 and spread to Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon. 2019 saw massive popular movements erupting onto the political stage, demanding radical change and achieving some historical gains. However, these movements find themselves pitted against entrenched authoritarian and counter-revolutionary forces that do everything to crush and bury them, including in times of COVID19. However, these have not said their last word yet and there are already signs that protests will  resume after the pandemic subsides. Panelists:  Muzan Alneel – Sudanese engineer, political activist and blogger. Brahim Rouabah - Co-founder of Algerian Solidarity Campaign. PhD candidate in Political Science at CUNY. Rima Majed - an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut (AUB) Zahra Ali (Iraq): is a sociologist and feminist based at Rutgers University and author of "Women and Gender in Iraq". 

Prior to the pandemic, popular opposition to the power of Big Tech was growing. Yet, in the COVID-19 moment, Big Tech has emerged stronger than ever. Dependence on digital platforms has delivered record profits for the likes of Amazon (and Zoom on which this webinar relies), while states are rolling out new apps with corporate partners in the name of a health emergency with almost no consideration of privacy or human rights. A new digital economy opportunism is deepening faultlines of inequality, while systems of surveillance are being normalised that will invariably be deployed along class and race lines. This webinar explores who owns our data and why it matters, the relevance of data extraction for countries in the Global South, and the impact of COVID-19. What strategies, structures and institutions are needed at national and international levels to confront Big Tech and reclaim our data commons? What opportunities are available in this time of a pandemic to advance digital justice? Panellists  • Anita Gurumurthy, Founding member and director of IT for Change, India  • Ben Tarnoff, Tech worker, writer, and founding editor of Logic magazine, US.  • Caroline Nevejan, Chief Science Officer for City of Amsterdam  • Nanjira Sambuli, Researcher and advocacy strategist, Kenya  • Vahini Naidu, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, South Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to release an unprecedented number of people from prison and curb new admissions to prevent deadly outbreaks in prisons and other detention centres. The pandemic has exposed the societal costs of mass incarceration, while the quick actions taken by governments casts doubt on the necessity of imprisonment for those released. This webinar  looks at the drivers of mass incarceration worldwide, sharing analysis on the impact of COVID-19, the negative impacts of imprisonment exposed by the pandemic, and the challenges and opportunities it provides for sustainable reform. It focuses particularly on the role of punitive drug policies in driving up prison numbers. Activists and researchers from different regions will discuss and share strategies by civil society to reverse this long-standing trend of mass incarceration as a response to crime.   Panellists  • Olivia Rope, Director of Policy and International Advocacy, Penal Reform International  • Isabel Pereira, Coordinator of the Drug Policy area at Dejusticia, and member of Research Consortium on Drugs and the Law (CEDD).  • Sabrina Mahtani from Advocaid Sierra Leone  • Maidina Rahmawati, Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), Indonesia  • Andrea James, Founder and Exec Director, and Justine Moore, Director of Training, National Council For Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, USA This webinar is co-sponsored by IDPC (International Drug Policy Consortium), WOLA (Washington office on Latin America) and Penal Reform International.   

An inspiring global panel of feminist thinkers and activists discuss how we can collectively reorganise, shift power and pivot towards building transformative feminist realities that can get us out of the worsening health, climate and capitalist crises. This webinar  explores feminist analyses of the crisis and the way the pandemic intersects with patriarchy, corporate power and a global division of labour that is both gendered and racialised. What can we learn from the feminist practices and measures that are already being deployed to build radical democratic systems that genuinely care for the environment and our collective well-being? Panellists: -Tithi Bhattacharya: Associate Professor of History and the Director of Global Studies at Purdue University -Laura Roth, Lecturer of legal and political philosophy at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona and member of Minim Municipalist Observatory -Awino Okech, Lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London -Khara Jabola-Carolus of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women  

Support for public services and limits on private profit is at an all-time high in the wake of the pandemic. How do we ensure this prioritisation of public needs and goods becomes permanent? What are the best models of democratic and participatory public services? This webinar  shares some of the most visionary ideas and campaigns emerging across the world at local, state and national levels advancing a new vision of a public future. The speakers tackle the question: How  can we build a broad alliance between social movements and trade unions to ensure there is ‘no going back’. Panellists: * Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of the global union federation Public Services International (PSI) * Philip Alston, outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights * Aderonke Ige, Our Water, Our Rights Campaign in Lagos / Environmental Rights Action /Friends of The Earth Nigeria * Sulakshana Nandi, Co-chair, People's Health Movement Global (PHM Global)