Features

India’s rapidly expanding cities attract young dreamers like magnets. Snigdha Poonam observes how the horizon of promise keeps receding in Ranchi.

The mushrooming trend of cashing in on fast returns from housing is devastating working people’s lives in cities across the world. UN expert Leilani Farha lays it on the line. Interview by Dinyar Godrej.

Density, location, economics, sustainability and inequality.

If the future of humanity lies in cities, says Dinyar Godrej, then it follows that inhabitants of every strata must have a right to it.

Jair Bolsonaro may be in power, but the Sateré indigenous people are not taking his hostility sitting down. Sue Branford reports from the Brazilian Amazon.

In Cameroon, civil war is brewing along linguistic lines. Its origins lie in the botched decolonization of the country’s anglophone territory, but President Paul Biya’s repressive regime has poured fuel on the fire. Lorraine Mallinder reports.

Indigenous feminists in Guatemala encourage women to speak out against male violence, and to heal and defend themselves as they defend their ancestral territory. Frauke Decoodt listens to their stories of resistance.

This year, South Africa marks 25 years since its first democratic elections, which ended white minority rule, made Nelson Mandela president and gave all South Africans equal political rights. Ilvy Njiokiktjien photographs the young South Africans who have known only life in the post-apartheid ‘rainbow nation’.

Can we move away from fossil fuels without destroying the communities that rely on them? Sam Adler Bell looks to the devastated US coalfields of Appalachia.

The super-rich are preparing for doomsday. Only problem is, the rest of us aren’t invited. Tom Whyman explains.

Lifestyle changes are no substitute for collective action. But personal carbon-cutting still matters – it’s a powerful way to signal the climate emergency to those around us, move the needle on policy and set bigger cultural changes in motion. Mike Berners-Lee lays out an nine-step carbon detox.

In order to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, over 80 per cent of known fossil-fuel reserves simply cannot be burned. As political systems fail, Danny Chivers writes about the social movements are targeting mines, rigs, infra­structure and investment to keep carbon in the ground. Illustrations: Jason Ngai.

Pacific Climate Warrior Brianna Fruean and Anna Taylor of UK school strikes movement talk what inspires them and how to avoid activist burnout. Conversation moderated by Hazel Healy.

Current emissions; Halving by 2030; Policies to zero by 2050.

Climate science; Transition policy; Action; Listen.

There’s still time to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Can we pull it off? Hazel Healy makes the case for conditional optimism.

With the release of New Daughters of Africa, editor Margaret Busby explains why the collection – 25 years after Daughters of Africa was published – could not have come at a better time and introduces three stories from the anthology.

The stories of women migrants making the desperate Mediterranean crossing to Europe are different from those of the men, marked by a higher level of exploitation and abuse. Lucia Benavides reports from Spain.

A radical proposal to redefine and extend service provision to all those in need without breaking the bank has the potential to spark something truly transformative. Nick Dowson takes a closer look.

In 1984, President of Burkina Faso Thomas Sankara addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Sankara was perhaps the last ‘Third World’ politician, a revolutionary Marxist who felt a ‘special solidarity uniting the three continents of Asia, Latin America and Africa’.