Over the last few months, likely each and every one of us has felt pushed to the limits of our abilities to cope with the current global situation. Even for those of us for whom lockdown is no more than an inconvenience, this moment has undoubtedly led to more self-reflection, and an appreciation of the…
For the majority of the population, social rights are not gifts freely offered by those in positions of political power. Although most Brazilians can’t see this, all these rights were won by the mobilization of organized civil society. In recent weeks, Brazil has witnessed a clear example of how popular mobilization is the one authentic…
If you look at Tewa’s website, it will tell you that the word means support in Nepali. Applied to the organization, it’s both appropriate and understated. Tewa’s story has been ably told. This is not the place to retell it. Instead, I want to draw attention to a few key ideas which inform it and…
Just before Christmas last year I found myself with a very small and unsure group of ‘anti-CAA’ protestors outside a public park in Jaipur. We weren’t certain if we had the permission to gather and protest, who was really in charge or what we were going to do. Someone said we could gather but only…
Coronavirus has changed our world forever. Plans made a few weeks ago seem outdated at best or undoable at worst. The speed of this has been remarkable. In a recent article, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown quotes Lenin: ‘There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.’ Those of us…