NI 530 - March, 2021

Democracy on the edge

A note from the editor

Democracy’s edge

Sometimes, no, often, it’s the thing that’s staring you in the face that you do not see; the dramatic scene being played out far away is what defines the subject – in this case, democracy. As I finish this magazine, democracy’s recent big story has been the tumult around the US elections.

I was trying to think more broadly, and literally, about the meaning of democracy – power ‘held’ (kratos, in Greek) by the ‘people’ (demos) – and how we might practise it in our daily lives. Yet, here it is. Staring me in the face. The place where I have spent most of my working life.

At the time I joined New Internationalist it was a flat-structure workers’ co-operative. That structure remains but the co-op is now owned by its readers (over 3,600 of them) and its workers. We have no boss. There’s no ‘editor-in-chief’, no ‘managing director’ or any of that nonsense. It’s collective self-rule and decision-making. No-one tells us what to write and there’s no conscious or unconscious pressure to conform to a proprietor’s political or business interests.

But, like so many sectors, independent media has been hit hard by Covid-19 and we are no exception. That’s why, in a couple of months’ time, we will be asking our supporters to join us in a plan to strengthen and protect New Internationalist in the years to come.

Find out more from Laura.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

A mural featuring a pro-Trump protester, self-styled QAnon ‘shaman’ Jacob Chansley, appeared in Tunbridge Wells, UK, a few days after the storming of the US Congress in Washington on 6 January.

Photo: Karwai Tang/Wireimage/Getty

NI 530 - March, 2021

Democracy on the edge

A note from the editor

Democracy’s edge

The big story

More fragile than we thought, liberal democracy seems to be under attack from many sides. Are these death throes – or growing pains? Vanessa Baird explores.

The Big Story

We make our political judgements based on the information we get – and the internet is brimming with it. That can be part of the problem...

India is not short of divisive and harmful conspiracy theories. Now one, called ‘love jihad’, has been given legal teeth. Laxmi Murthy reports.

Our privacy and freedom of thought is routinely and pervasively breached by the masters of surveillance capitalism. What is this doing to us as humans and to our democratic choices in life? Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips talks to Vanessa Baird.

Funds from hidden sources are warping democracy with increasing and devastating effect. Peter Geoghegan follows the money.

We must be able to see the secret, algorithmic methods of Google, Facebook and other digital titans if we are to tackle disinformation and toxic polarization, says propaganda expert Peter Pomerantsev.

Rich Wilson and Claire Mellier explain how citizens’ assemblies have the potential to restart the beating heart of democracy.

The topic is vast, the aspects covered in this issue limited, but there are many ways to take action on democracy.

Rebel chefs are on a mission to decolonize diets across sub-Saharan Africa. Kareem Arthur goes in search of new ingredients.

Violeta Santos Moura’s poignant photo-essay reveals the tragedy of Nepal’s human-trafficking crisis – and the courage of those fighting back.

In the absence of enough trained doctors, reliance on other, less-qualified, health workers is growing in the Global South. Physician Neil Singh’s exploration begins with a surprising personal encounter.

Opinion

Summon the artists.

While women in Argentina have won the right to abortion, in Brazil even child survivors of rape may be forced to give birth, writes Leonardo Sakamoto.

Nilanjana Bhowmick on the double whammy of natural disaster and Covid-19 that has brought a vulnerable ecosystem to the brink.

Currents

Indian farmers protest produce legislation.

The 44-year-old Black Lives Matter activist who won Missouri’s Democratic First Congressional District election in 2020.

The first resumption of military operations in Western Sahara since the UN-mediated ceasefire of 1991.

Athletes call out body policing

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is soon to be legally recognized.

Argentina has legalized elective abortion, reports Carla Gago.

Norway presses ahead with a large-scale auction of oil exploration licences in the Barents Sea.

In farmers’ hands; Pulling the plug; Off death row.

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Regulars

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Why do Filipinos get so starry-eyed when choosing their leaders? wonders Iris Gonzales.

The impact of Covid-19 across different genders.

Woke CIA.

Covid-19 vaccinations - UK vs Ecuador.

Anti-government demonstration in the capital Tunis, Tunisia.

No text by Konstantin Kazanchev (Ukraine).

The photos, facts, and politics of Nigeria.

Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Does being educated at home limit or enrich children’s experiences? Lindsey T Powell and Cheryl Fields-Smith have different opinions.

Carbon capture – still a pipe dream? Words by Danny Chivers.

Fresh hell by Kate Evans.

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

Why bully boy Bezos can’t stop smirking.

Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has a bold vision for a trade system that reflects how people actually eat.

Ethical and political dilemmas abound these days. Seems like we’re all in need of a New Internationalist perspective. Enter stage: Agony Uncle.

What if we banned the intensive farming of animals? Hazel Healy imagines a world without cheap meat, eggs and dairy.

Crossword Puzzle, Association Words and Wordsearch

The FAB-FOUR Horsemen, by Marc Roberts.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Tomorrow Sex Will be Good Again by Katherine Angel; Voices of the Lost by Hoda Barakat, translated by Marilyn Booth; Karachi Vice by Samira Shackle; Tomorrow They Won’t Dare to Murder Us by Joseph Andras, translated by Simon Leser.

The Mauritanian directed by Kevin Macdonald; Undine directed and written by Christian Petzold.

Creative Contradiction: Poetry, Story, Song & Sound by Maggie Nicols; El Hal by Electric Jalaba

Claire Fauset is on board with Arka Kinari, an extraordinary ecological live music project, staged from the deck of a traditional sailing ship as it tours the world.

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