In defence of downshifting and work sharing
Article / 4th June 2010The proposal for fewer and more evenly shared work hours seems counter-intuitive in the current economic framework. Only by removing the structural bias towards overwork and hyper-consumerism can we build lasting prosperity within ecological limits, argues Anna White.
Overcoming free market apathy
Article / 13th May 2010Despite the oft-repeated claim that ‘there is no alternative’, today’s market society is neither natural nor inevitable. Acknowledging and exploring other forms of economic organisation may be the most powerful form of resistance to the status quo, argues Alexia Eastwood.
Why local economies matter
Article / 10th May 2010‘Going local’ currently remains a fringe, grassroots process made up of small-scale initiatives. The real question is how to steer government priorities away from big business and global finance, and to gain political and popular support for an economy geared toward localisation, writes Anna White.
Cochabamba and the road to Cancun
Article / 3rd May 2010After the failure of the Copenhagen talks, the world’s social movements united in Cochabamba to establish a radical agreement that calls on governments to combine meaningful emission cuts with a wholesale transformation of the global economy, writes Anna White.
Development and its discontents
Article / 26th April 2010After decades of failing to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, the aid industry is bigger than ever. Is it time for some serious soul-searching on the value of ‘development’? A review of Rasna Warah’s ‘Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits’, by Anna White.