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The Education Crisis and the Politics of Contempt

Richard Pithouse - Most education systems train some children to grow up to rule -- and others to be ruled. Most education systems train some children to grow up to be at home in the corridors of power -- and others to be at home in the factory, the laundry, the prison or, increasingly, the endless waiting around for odd scraps of work.

Articles

'The Help' Disregards Agency of Black Women

Liepollo Pheko - Black women across the world have been self-organising in labour and political spaces under the most difficult conditions throughout modern history. This film removes our agency, our courage and our brilliance and places our fate in the pen of a young white woman with nothing to lose and a career to build. In 2011, this is altogether unacceptable and takes the black women's struggle discourse backwards.

Facebook and the Degradation of Personhood

Christopher Ketcham - If we are to take Facebook seriously, then we must recognize that the form of friendship it is promulgating will by technologic necessity reduce the nature and meaning of the friend. Personhood on the Facebook page can only go so far. It is a managed self. It is degraded personhood.

The Davos Class

Susan George - You can find the Davos class in every country. The Davos class run our major institutions, know exactly what they want, are well organized and are much more united and better organized than we are. But this dominant class has weaknesses too; one is that it has an ideology, but virtually no ideas and no imagination.

This Africa to Come

Mandisi Majavu - Political events that have recently taken place in Africa indicate that people are increasingly demanding the right to participate in socio-economic decision-making that affects their lives. The first step toward the establishment of empowered African societies is through events that change the course of history, such as, the recent mass protests against the removal of a fuel subsidy in Nigeria.

The World War on Democracy

John Pilger - Lisette Talate died the other day. I remember a wiry, fiercely intelligent woman who masked her grief with a determination that was a presence. She was the embodiment of people's resistance to the war on democracy. I first glimpsed her in a 1950s Colonial Office film about the Chagos islanders, a tiny creole nation located midway between Africa and Asia in the Indian Ocean.

Israel to Become Biggest Jailer of Largely African Refugees

On January 11th the Israeli parliament passed an amendment to the so- called "Infiltrators Law". This revision allows the authorities to automatically imprison asylum seekers for three years. The plan includes constructing a 10,000 person jail to house the refugees. According to Amnesty International, this puts Israel at the top of the Western World for length of imprisonment of refugees. Today Israel is home to nearly 50,000 asylum seekers from Africa, 85% of whom are from Eritrea and Sudan.

It's All about Pumping Oil, Not Helping Libyans

Libya could be on the brink of civil war, according to the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, following a weekend of political turmoil. That's after his deputy stepped down when Jalil suspended six high-ranking council delegates from Benghazi. Adrian Salbuchi, international consultant talks to RT, suggesting it's Iraq all over again with the flag of democracy brought in to guard Western geopolitical interests and pump oil while the "invaded" nation's needs are ignored.

Township Cinderellas

Al Jazeera's Witness tells the story of two Cape Flats teenagers who prepare for what is, thus far, the most important night of their lives - the matric dance. In the midst of widespread unemployment and gangsterism, a soaring school dropout rate and the complication of teenage pregnancies, this is the story of two "born frees" and their poignant journey through this celebrated rite of passage.