Shanty
A shanty town is an area of makeshift housing, but what is a shanty? A shanty is a roughly built cabin or hut; the first recorded use is in Ohio in 1820. In Canadian French a chantier is a cabin used by a lumberjack or shantyman. Chantier is from the Latin cantherius (beam or rafter). Or shanty may be from the Irish sean tig (old house).
Bidon is French for oil drum or petrol tin; bidonville is a shanty town, usually in Africa, made of bidons. Other words for shanty towns are favela and rancho (South America), barrio (Central America) and busti and kampong (Asia).
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
