Protection racket
A note from the editor
The United Nations says the global earth summit it is holding in Rio this month ‘is a chance to move away from business as usual and to act to end poverty, address environmental destruction and build a bridge to the future’.
Splendid aims. However, a great many of those involved in shaping the outcome are from the fossil-fuel, mining, banking and carbon-trading sectors.
So we reckon a reality check is in order. This month’s issue gives you the ‘unofficial guide’ to Rio+20, as the summit is called. Writer and activist Danny Chivers also removes the fig-leaves from a selection of corporate miscreants in his exposé of ‘Eight Great Greenwashers’. Some on the list are household names; others may be new to you.
Also this month, Richard Swift answers the tricky question of why the political Right gained and the Left lost ground in the wake of the financial crisis. This essay won him the prestigious US Daniel Singer Millennium Prize. Time will tell if the tide can really be turned, in Europe at any rate, following the French and Greek elections.
Elsewhere, intrepid filmmaker Nadia El Fani explains why she had to leave her native Tunisia. Outspoken US scholar Norman Finkelstein posits that Jewish Americans are falling out of love with Israel – and discusses what that could mean for peace in the Middle East. Charismatic Indian activist Bunker Roy talks about ‘granny power’, and British comedian Jeremy Hardy reflects on being a Marxist at the tender age of 10.
Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org
The big story
What price a gliding treefrog in the costing of 'eco-system services' that the Rio+20 process seems to be heading towards?
Stockphoto
Big business goes to Rio
453 - June, 2012
With the Earth Summit just days away, Danny Chivers chronicles the urgent battle to stop corporates from hijacking the green agenda.
Features
Abu Qatada: when the net tightens on justice
453 - June, 2012
Britain's counter-terrorism policy is undermining the rule of law, argues Simon Crowther.
Why American Jews are falling out of love with Israel
453 - June, 2012
Outspoken scholar Norman Finkelstein speaks to Hazel Healy about his latest book Knowing Too Much.
Introducing... The Eight Great Greenwashers
453 - June, 2012
Ahead of the Rio +20 Earth Summit, Danny Chivers exposes the canny, crafty and plain deceitful claims of corporations co-opting 'sustainability'
Goodbye welfare, hello workfare
453 - June, 2012
Warren Clark is unimpressed by governments forcing citizens to 'donate' their labour to big business.
Blogs
How do you sleep at night, Mr Davis?
453 - June, 2012
Two dead, 100 injured – this is the way Swiss mining giant Xstrata does ‘community relations’ in Peru, while boss Mick Davis is in line for a $44 million bonus.
Garden party with the forest people
453 - June, 2012
Mari Marcel Thekaekara learns a lot about her own back yard when her adivasi friends come to visit.
Opinion
Comedy for a cause
453 - June, 2012
Pitfalls can await the unsuspecting comic, especially at benefit gigs, writes Steve Parry.
Agenda
Defending Korea’s peace island
453 - June, 2012
South Korean villagers are campaigning to keep a military base off the pristine Jeju island, reports Chloe Simons.
Torture recompense comes to Kenyans
453 - June, 2012
Maina Waruru celebrates payouts for persecuted activists on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Feminists target Nike ahead of the Olympics
453 - June, 2012
Nick Harvey reports on a campaign to expose sportswear firms who exploit women workers while boasting Olympic values.
Regulars
Letter from Botswana: 'There's a good side to this HIV'
453 - June, 2012
A new birth offers a sign of hope for Lauri Kubuitsile.
African grannies go solar
453 - June, 2012
Indian activist Bunker Roy is bringing electric light to rural villages by training up grandmothers as solar engineers, reports Georgia Hanias.
Cook Islands
453 - June, 2012
Black pearls, cruise ships and lively politics: Mary Warren gives the lowdown on the South Pacific atolls.
Film, Book & Music Reviews
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