In Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities (1930), set in Vienna on the eve of the First World War, the army general Stumm von Bordwehr asks, ‘How can those directly involved in what's happening know beforehand whether it will turn out to be a great event?' His answer is that ‘all they can do is pretend to themselves that it is! If I may indulge in a paradox, I'd say that the history of the world is written before it happens; it always starts off as a kind of gossip.' Last week, with Donald (…)

Jewish Scholars intentionally violate the controversial and discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism which has been a tool for the Trump administration to imprison activists and dismantle higher education WASHINGTON - Over 32 prominent Jewish scholars of antisemitism, Holocaust Studies, and Jewish History today challenged the Trump administration's authoritarian crackdown on free speech by demonstrating the danger and falsehood of its false claims to care about Jewish safety. The Trump (…)

China has approved the construction of what will be the world's largest hydropower dam, stoking concerns about displacement of communities in Tibet and environmental impacts downstream in India and Bangladesh. Getty Images An aerial view of a section of the Yarlung Tsangpo River on May 13, 2023Getty Images The dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, could generate three times more energy than the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest (…)

China recently approved the construction of the world's largest hydropower dam, across the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. When fully up and running, it will be the world's largest power plant – by some distance. Yet many are worried the dam will displace local people and cause huge environmental disruption. This is particularly the case in the downstream nations of India and Bangladesh, where that same river is known as the Brahmaputra. China recently approved the construction of the (…)

Une étude récente a cherché à déterminer la diversité et l'évolution de la pensée des primates et à relier cette diversité à la complexité de leur environnement. Nous sommes nombreux à nous demander comment pensent les animaux, par exemple comment ils planifient leurs déplacements, comment ils se souviennent de la localisation de certains arbres fruitiers, comment ils choisissent leurs partenaires sociaux ou sexuels. Pour comprendre comment pensent les autres animaux, notamment les (…)

At the beginning of last week the far-right politician Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzling European Parliament funds and immediately banned from running for public office for five years, ruling her out of the 2027 presidential contest. Her party, Rassemblement National, yesterday held a public protest against the court's ruling. In between there have been all kinds of wild claims that this judicial decision was somehow undermining democracy. In this op-ed article, Mediapart's Antton (…)

On Wednesday February 5, thousands of workers who are members of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) and the Labour Party held a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) offices in Jakarta. They demanded the removal of ESDM Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, who is considered to have issued a policy that harmed the ordinary people and even led to a death of an elderly woman. In a speech, the President of KSPI and the Labor Party, Said Iqbal, (…)

As we head into fashion month, we're taking a step forward to also highlight the impact of our clothing with The Last Stop, a package emphasizing the long journey of our discarded clothing and its often forgotten final stage — somewhere across several cities in the Global South where communities are tasked with the brunt of the impact. In this series, we meet upcyclers and resellers who are at the center of the clothing waste crisis, hear from garment workers who know firsthand how much (…)

À l'heure où les métropoles du monde entier font face à une crise du logement sans précédent, l'expérience canadienne en matière de contrôle des loyers offre des leçons précieuses pour les mouvements sociaux. De Berlin à Buenos Aires, de San Francisco à Sydney, le même phénomène se répète : explosion des prix immobiliers, gentrification des quartiers populaires et précarisation massive des locataires. Face à cette situation, l'orthodoxie économique néolibérale continue de prétendre que le (…)

Nous condamnons fermement l'arrestation arbitraire et le maintien en détention de Mme Meghna Alam, présidente de la Fondation Miss Bangladesh, en vertu de la loi sur les pouvoirs spéciaux de 1974. Cet acte de répression reflète des défaillances structurelles plus larges dans la protection des libertés civiles et des droits de l'homme au Bangladesh. Mme Alam a été arrêtée à son domicile le 9 avril 2025 par des personnes se présentant comme des agents des forces de l'ordre. Elle aurait été (…)

We strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and continued detention of Ms Meghna Alam, Chairperson of the Miss Bangladesh Foundation, under the Special Powers Act of 1974. This act of repression reflects broader structural failings in the protection of civil liberties and human rights in Bangladesh. Ms Alam was arrested from her residence on 9 April 2025 by individuals identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. She was reportedly taken without a warrant, held incommunicado by the (…)

During the 2024 Generation Pride march, participants held up posters demanding labour rights and abortion rights, and chanted in solidarity with Palestine. As part of the ongoing struggle for the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships, Sri Lankan activists across generations are continuing to push back against state and societal oppression The movement faces renewed challenges following political shifts both domestically and internationally, yet remains resilient in its push for (…)

Solar power is at the forefront of the global move towards renewable energy. But how significant is this shift, in countries like Pakistan? For left-wing environmental activists, the rapid expansion of solar energy presents both an opportunity and a challenge. In recent years, Pakistan has seen a staggering increase in solar panel installations, both on and off the grid. Official figures show that grid-connected solar capacity has expanded more than sevenfold in just three years, while (…)

Les ménages et les entreprises à travers le Pakistan couvrent leurs toits de panneaux solaires chinois bon marché. Produire sa propre électricité atténue les effets des prix en forte hausse. Plus les panneaux s'installent sur les usines, les magasins et les maisons de la classe moyenne, moins les compagnies d'électricité perçoivent d'argent pour leur approvisionnement, qui est généré à partir de centrales au charbon, au gaz, nucléaires et hydroélectriques. Cela a exacerbé la crise de (…)

Households and businesses across Pakistan are covering their roofs with cheap Chinese solar panels. Generating their own electricity is softening the blows from steeply increasing prices. The more panels go up on factories, shops and middle-class homes, the less money electricity companies collect for their supply, which is generated from coal, gas, nuclear and hydro power stations. This has exacerbated the cash crisis in the electricity sector, which is about $9 billion in debt, and (…)

Since the start of the large-scale war, due to Russian bombing, more than 3,400 educational establishments have been damaged and 400 have been completely destroyed. Among them are many universities. In these establishments, the conditions for students to study are becoming increasingly difficult, particularly because the university administrations are not carrying out the necessary repairs. This issue of repairs is one of the concerns of the student union Priama Diia, which is demanding that (…)

Depuis le début de la guerre à grande échelle, en raison des bombardements russes, ce sont plus de 3 400 établissements d'enseignement ont été endommagés et 400 ont été complètement détruits. Parmi eux de nombreuses universités. Dans ces établissements, les conditions d'études des etudiant·es deviennent de plus en plus difficiles, notamment parce que les administrations universitaires ne procèdent pas aux réparations nécessaires. Cette question des réparations est une des préoccupations du (…)

Despite hopes for change, things may stay the same or worsen in Myanmar, as the junta's fight against resistance groups and civilians continues into another year. On 1 February 2025, Myanmar will enter a fifth year under military rule. Will 2025 bring change to Myanmar's current woes? As 2025 began, more people and members of the resistance against the military in Myanmar were hoping for and expecting the fall of the State Administration Council (SAC) junta. The junta is intent on (…)

L'idéologie dominante de l'extrême droite est devenue un survivalisme suprémaciste monstrueux. Notre tâche est de construire un mouvement suffisamment fort pour les arrêter. Le mouvement pour les cités-États corporatives n'en croit pas sa chance. Depuis des années, il promeut l'idée extrême que les personnes fortunées allergiques aux impôts devraient créer leurs propres fiefs high-tech, qu'il s'agisse de nouveaux pays sur des îles artificielles en eaux internationales (« seasteading ») ou (…)

L'élection d'avril 2025 en Équateur confirme un schéma mondial : les institutions démocratiques ploient sous le poids d'un autoritarisme axé sur la sécurité tandis que les forces progressistes peinent à présenter des alternatives convaincantes. Daniel Noboa, fils de 37 ans du magnat de la banane, a assuré sa présidence non pas par l'innovation politique mais en exploitant une réponse militarisée à la crise sécuritaire de l'Équateur, en manipulant les ressources de l'État et en capitalisant (…)

The April 2025 election in Ecuador confirms a global pattern: democratic institutions buckling under the weight of security-driven authoritarianism while progressive forces struggle to present compelling alternatives. Daniel Noboa, the 37-year-old son of a banana magnate, secured his presidency not through policy innovation but by exploiting a militarized response to Ecuador's security crisis, manipulating state resources, and capitalizing on widespread resentments after the broken promises (…)

The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them Image: A businessman's fist striking the Earth like a meteor, scattering debris. The movement for corporate city states cannot believe its good luck. For years, it has been pushing the extreme notion that wealthy, tax-averse people should up and start their own high-tech fiefdoms, whether new countries on artificial islands in international (…)