March 2004
Issue No. 365
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The Power and the Folly
The IMF and the World Bank are the 21st century equivalent of colonial governors, argues Chris Brazier.
States of Unrest
Resistance to economic ‘adjustment’ is growing with every passing year, as this worldwide round-up shows.
The Hospital that makes you Sicker
The IMF is run by free-market fundamentalists, says former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Wild West goes East
Long-standing World Bank consultant Peter Griffiths blows the whistle on the damage done, from Russia to Sierra Leone.
Globalizing Greenwash
The World Bank claims that its environmental policies have been transformed. Pamela Foster sifts through the evidence.
The Two Towers
Gandalf, wizard of the World Bank, has a dilemma. Should he stand alongside the hobbits and elves of Middle-earth against the powerpointwielding orcs? Or should he go along with IMF mage Saruman’s plan for world domination? A comic extravaganza by
No prescription needed
The grassroots SAPRIN network spent years working with the World Bank – only for the Bank to batten down the hatches. Mark Engler reports.
Structurally Adjust This...
Adam Ma’anit gives the Bank and the Fund a taste of their own medicine.
...Imagine That!
Adam Ma’anit steps towards a world without the IMF and the World Bank.
Resistance is Fertile!
Action directory and resources.
News, views, and & voices
Letter from Lebanon
How government offices finally discovered computers, by Reem Haddad.
Southern Exposure
The dream of dance, captured by Sri Lanka’s Dhanushka Amarasekara.
View from the South
Two writers who uncover the heart of Africa, introduced by Ike Oguine.
Currents
Pain and freedom
Haiti’s heroic past and troubled present
Sudanese truth and reconciliation
truth and reconciliation in Sudan
Good to talk
why mobile phones are all the rage in Africa
In the bag
the ubiquitous plastic bag
Worldbeaters
Yet another idealistic comrade turned brutal dictator: Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki.
Big Bad World
The transnational approach to ethics.
The NI Prize Crossword
84 by Axe
Mixed Media
Film
Osama directed by Siddiq Barmak
Music
BourgieBoho-PostPomoAfroHomo by Deepdickollective
Music
Unearthed by Johnny Cash
Book
The Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire by Arundhati Roy
Book
North Korea/South Korea by John Feffer
Book
Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel
Making Waves
Why two exiled Colombian activists have launched their own ‘world tour’.
Essay
Cuba is not quite the multiracial nirvana that Rotimi Ogedengbe was hoping for...
Country Profile
Yemen
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
THE 60th anniversary of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this year is a birthday most of the world will feel disinclined to celebrate. But it is one we felt we had to mark, if only as a token of our determination not to let their exploits slip by unnoticed. The two institutions are rarely mentioned in mainstream news stories and the IMF in particular seems to wear a cloak of invisibility to rival Harry Potter’s. Yet their impact on most of the world’s people is profound – and profoundly disturbing.
We are grateful for the support of the 50 Years Is Enough network. This is a coalition of campaigning organizations from around the world which is co-ordinated from Washington DC by Njoki Njoroge Njehû and Soren Ambrose. We hope this issue of the magazine will encourage many more people to join their campaign.
The NI was privileged to carry one of the last interviews with Julius Nyerere, former leader of Tanzania, before he died in 1999. In it he recalled being asked by the World Bank what had gone wrong during his time in power up to 1985. He came right back at them. ‘In 1988 Tanzania’s per-capita income was $280. Now, in 1998, it is $140. So I asked the World Bank people what went wrong. Because for the last 10 years Tanzania has been signing on the dotted line and doing everything the IMF and the World Bank wanted. Enrolment in school has plummeted to 63 per cent and conditions in health and other social services have deteriorated. I asked them again: “What went wrong?” These people just sat there looking at me. Then they asked what could they do? I told them have some humility. Humility – they are so arrogant!’
Chris Brazier and Adam Ma’anit for the New Internationalist Co-operative
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
