Poverty is not down to chance or bad choices. It’s hard wired into a deeply unequal economic system. But it doesn’t have to be that way, says Dinyar Godrej.
The world has never been better. From global poverty to inequality between nations, all the indicators are showing progress. This is a comforting narrative – popularized by the likes of Bill Gates and Steven Pinker. But is it true? Jason Hickel examines the rise of this so-called ‘New Optimism’, with its ‘battle cry for the status quo’.
Anne-Marie Broudehoux punctures the bombastic narrative of civic pride and prosperity that accompanies sporting mega-events to reveal how they actually remake the city upon the backs of the poor.
Violeta Santos Moura reports from Poland, where air pollution claims some 45,000 lives annually. The country’s reliance on coal is the main culprit but it’s an issue bound up in national pride and political manipulation.
Norwegian activists are challenging ‘white-saviour’ attitudes that over-simplify poverty writes Tom Lawson.
The impacts of racism can be seen in almost all aspects of everyday life. Black and indigenous people are more likely to be jailed or unemployed – that’s if they make it past childhood.
In August hundreds died in a landslide in Sierra Leone. Dumbuya Mustapha reports on the arguing over who was responsible that has followed – and the efforts to hold the government responsible to ensure the tragedy is not repeated.
What does ‘the state’ mean to you if you are poor or black or both? Vanessa Baird reports on life down-and-out in post-coup São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
When rich and poor worlds collide, money is inevitably a problem.
Jim Thomas on the winners and losers of emerging technologies.
What will it take to get electricity to Africa’s rural poor? Ruth Nyambura explores.
Technology, whether low or high, needs to be appropriate and within reach to make a difference.
Technology can be a big enabler – yet the difference in terms of what’s available to rich and poor is vast.
Peasant farmers resisting the violence of agribusiness. By Nils McCune.
The world's poor are still losing out. They need a better deal, argues Dinyar Godrej.
‘Rich Saudi’ are words that seem to belong together. But Paul Aarts and Carolien Roelants highlight another, mainly hidden, reality.
John Hilary on a degrading spectacle that keeps coming back.
There are 17 official neglected tropical diseases, so why aren't we doing more to help? asks Cristiana Moisescu.
Doctors Nayna Patel and Mohan Rao go head to head.