NI 549 - May, 2024

Debt: which way out?

A note from the editor

The sum of our debts

It’s 1.00am in Britain and I’ve snuck onto a Zoom call bringing together members of the Debt Collective, a union of debtors in the US.

And they’ve been busy. One member tells the story of a successful meeting with her political representative. There’s a report of over 500 phone-banked calls, made across six different districts, and we hear from members in New York City about a Congress representative who has boosted the push for student debt relief.

The mood is upbeat. Over 40 people are here, each introducing themselves in the chat box with their name and where they are from, the amount of debt they have had cleared, and the amount still in their name. For some this is many thousands of dollars, but there is palpable excitement about what they can achieve together.

As the world faces what one campaigner described as a ‘slow-burning crisis’ of unsustainable debt burdens, this magazine’s Big Story traces the connections between struggling households in the US and communities in Sri Lanka, angry at the lack of transparency in how their government has managed the country’s national debt crisis. We also explore how people power might turn those burdens into political might.

Also in this edition, Cyril Zenda explores why many Black Zimbabweans are still landless more than two decades on from Mugabe’s land reforms. Meanwhile, Kamran Yousuf and Durdana Bhat report from India on the economic impacts of the far-right campaign against Muslims.

Amy Hall for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Drop the Debt: Protesters call for debt cancellation, wearing face masks of Yoshiro Mori, the then prime minister of Japan. They gathered outside Downing Street, London, during Mori’s meeting with Britain’s leader Tony Blair on 3 May 2000.

Photo: Jonathan Evans/Reuters

NI 549 - May, 2024

Debt: which way out?

A note from the editor

The sum of our debts

The big story

Rising costs, Covid-19 and austerity have pushed too many countries – and households – into unmanageable debt. Amy Hall asks how we got here, and finds a movement shaking off the stigma of debt and getting organized.

The Big Story

Action, and further reading on climate capitalism.

How can we build our power to abolish illegitimate debt? Astra Taylor speaks to Amy Hall about founding Debt Collective, a US-based union for debtors.

Know your debt; Twin powers; Where the money flows; Household debt.

Yanis Varoufakis explores how we can transform debt from ball and chain to an enabler of shared prosperity.

When Covid-19 plunged many countries further into debt crises, the G20 came up with a plan that was supposed to help alleviate the debt burden. Four years later, not one country has reached a deal. Amy Hall explores why.

5 reasons why debt is a feminist issue. Words by Amy Hall

Haiti’s so-called ‘independence debt’ helped lay the ground for the crisis in the country today. Harold Isaac reports.

Despite Robert Mugabe’s redistribution programme, Zimbabweans are still desperately short of land, with cronyism and political corruption not helping matters as Cyril Zenda reports.

As anti-Muslim hatred in India is stoked by nationalist politics, Kamran Yousuf and Durdana Bhat report on the economic campaign which has led to the devastation of lives and livelihoods.

As the ink dries on the latest migrant deal with Egypt, Nathan Akehurst examines the fallout of the bloc’s callous foreign policies.

Comment

Gender politics, by Nilanjana Bhowmick.

Stop killing us! By Rosebell Kagumire.

Last tango in Buenos Aires, by Leonardo Sakamoto.

Israel’s use and abuse of environmentalism should serve as a warning writes Henry Luzzatto.

Currents

India's job crisis drives workers to Israeli construction sites amid controversial labor agreements, writes Jyoti Thakur.

Migrant workers in Taiwan turn to music as a form of resistance against exploitation, writes Jan Camenzind Broomby.

Rising tensions and controversial legislation test the limits of peace in Belfast, writes Zoe Holman.

Lesvos Trial; Sudan Crisis; Running Dry; Mine Disaster; Scam Bust; Musical Healing; Love Prevails; Uber Defeated.

Kyrgyzstan's shift from democratic beacon to authoritarian clampdown, by Katie Marie Davies.

Canada's expanding right-to-die laws stir debate over vulnerability and consent, writes Mattha Busby.

The controversial expansion of Morocco's surf tourism displaces coastal communities. By Allegra Diamond & Lisa Bartelmus.

Argentina’s new leadership amplifies struggles for the Mapuche community, writes Saskia Fischer.

The archipelago nation’s new President-elect.

Myanmar's Junta imposes conscription amid escalating conflict, writes Steve Shaw.

Nigeria's economic crisis sparks mass protests over IMF-backed reforms, writes Obiora Ikoku.

Check the label; Drawing the line; Cornered.

Regulars

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

An unsettling encounter with a thief shakes Sophie Neiman’s sense of safety.

‘World water day’ by Awantha Artigala (Sri Lanka).

My Little... Revolutionary?

Free Assange.

The photos, facts, and politics of Bolivia.

The story of a Cuban-born US Civil War commander who returned to his homeland to fight Spanish imperialism. By Julio Anta and illustrated by Yasmín Flores Montañez.

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

Surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah talks to Bethany Rielly about healthcare as resistance and his experiences in Gaza’s besieged hospitals.

Journalism. Illustration by Kate Evans.

Counting the cost, by P J Polyp.

Polls, public pressure and pipelines. A round-up of some key climate news by Danny Chivers.

Trivial Pursuit, by Marc Roberts.

We banned billionaires? Kathryn Zacharek muses on a world without the super-rich.

Ethical and political dilemmas abound these days. This month: Secondhand books.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

An African History of Africa; After Zionism; The Alternatives; The Wrong Person to Ask.

If Only I Could Hibernate; Tomorrow’s Freedom.

The Great Bailout; Swaken.

How can we care for each other while fighting for justice? By Decca Muldowney.