More than half of humanity now resides in cities. By 2050, this number is expected to double, creating an unprecedented level of urban growth. Will these cities be places of justice and equality, where prosperity and quality of life are available to all? Or will the urban future be one in which cities benefit the global 1 percent at the expense of the many, where growth and opportunity are coupled with exclusion and repression? The rising level of urban unrest worldwide may be a sign of the direction in which cities are moving.
Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism is still relevant today, as many of the issues he identified remain unresolved. In particular, Marx’s analysis of the exploitative nature of capitalism, in which workers are paid less than the value of their labor, and capitalists profit by appropriating the surplus value created by workers, remains a contentious issue.
C. L. R. James, also known as Cyril Lionel Robert James, was a Trinidadian-British Marxist theorist, historian, and cultural critic who made significant contributions to the study of colonialism, slavery, and the African diaspora. Born in 1901, James spent much of his life traveling and writing, and his ideas have had a lasting impact on the fields of history, sociology, and cultural studies. In this article, we will explore James’s thoughts on migration and its relationship to the broader themes of colonialism and globalization.
Trouillot argues that history is not simply a neutral record of past events, but a product of the social, political, and economic structures of the present. He contends that the way in which history is written and the stories that are told reflect the interests and perspectives of those in power. In other words, history is not just about the past, but also about the present and the future.
A critical study of how Iranian nationalism, itself largely influenced by Orientalist scholarship first undertaken by the European Orientalists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, has shaped modern conceptions of Iran and Iranian identity, as well as narratives of Iranian history, leading to the adoption of a broad nationalist construction of identity to suit Iranian political and ideological circumstances.
The story contained in the ancient petrous bone is one of continuous movement – ancient people around the world mixing and merging. Physical differences, like skin color or height, are simply the shifting modifications of the human body reacting to different environments. Rather than homo sapiens, a more fitting name for us would be homo migratio.
Bringing migrants to the Ethiopia-Djibouti border is not a simple task as there are several checkpoints along this migration route. Smugglers carefully work with different actors. They may secure support from border agents at various checkpoints, or they may use diverse transport strategies. Smugglers often transport migrants during the night, and they do not always take their clients by themselves, but instead use a variety of methods, depending on the context.
Contemporary refugees in Greece are often viewed in negative and hostile terms. They are seen to represent a burden on the host country, and a particular source of discontent arises when refugees are perceived to have a better life than some of the Greeks themselves. While it is to the credit of the Greek news media that they apparently do not associate refugees with terrorists to the extent that the British press do, the perception that refugees enjoy better treatment by the state than Greek homeless people is a key source of political and social tension.
The 4 December 2007 (13 Azar 1386) protest rally to commemorate national Student Day (16 Azar) on the campus of the University of Tehran marked the last public manifestation of the leftist student movement known as Students for Freedom and Equality (aka DAB, acronym for Daneshjuyan-e Azadikhah va Barabaritalab; literally, “Freedom-Seeking and Equality-Demanding Students”).
In our modern world, the basis for this kind of critical thinking should be laid in school. Unfortunately, however, the quality of science education, and the quality of grade school in general, has suffered a sharp decline in recent decades.
If you are a true internationalist you should support struggles against capitalism and authoritarianism wherever they occur in the world. Maybe you have more leverage to support struggles against your own state, but regardless of that you should do your best at least to speak out against oppression.
We like to think that prehistoric humans were simpler than we are. We might even think they were stupid – think cavemen and -women dragging clubs around and gnawing raw meat. Of course, these depictions are far from accurate. The Flintstones is not a documentary. But these ideas point to a deep-rooted idea, an idea long espoused by philosophers and intellectuals – that people in the past weren’t capable of abstract political thought or social organization. We now know that this isn’t true.
View More
