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Showing posts from December 24, 2023

Imperialism in Context – The Case of France

After reading Serfati’s analysis, I would consider his essay as an introduction to why the French state and its ruling class act the way they do at home and abroad . France has maintained a major role on the international scene, especially militarily, despite experiencing a relative decline in world economic power since the 1990s. In 2011, it ranked fifth in terms of military spending and sixth in terms of arms exports. It is a major zone of capital accumulation in the world economy and is centrally integrated into the global dynamics of economic, political, and military power. The overall closeness of elites in state institutions and large transnational corporations. French TNCs are increasingly dependent on profits earned in emerging or peripheral economies. when analysing the role of France in Africa, one must consider an interrelated set of economic, geopolitical, and domestic socio-political drivers. In 2009, France ranked third as a trading partner with Africa as a continent, beh

‘L’Ordre et La Morale’

 

Spanish-Moroccan Letters of Forbidden Love

In Salamanca, a woman named Concha met Nasar, a Moroccan soldier stationed nearby.   Madly in love, she wrote to his superiors for permission to marry him in 1938. But for Spanish colonial authorities, such contact absolutely had to be banned .  They expressed disgust at Concha, who they disparaged as old, "ugly, fat like a hippo and with a slight limp".  They suspected that Nasar had only shown interest because Concha happened to own a house, which is what awakened his "volcanic love". **** Continuity Not very different from what I read and heard from many Brits about refugees when I arrived in London: “they come here for the benefits.” The tabloid papers popularised the idea of the refugee and asylum seeker ‘invading our country’ and ‘living on the benefit system ’, etc. The language continues today and even intensified: leaders in the EU such as Suella Braverman, Giorgia Meloni and François Borel talk about ‘invasion’ of Europe by ’swarms’ of immigrants/refugees,

The Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ in Africa

These liberals say it is a myth

The Slaughter of Palestinians, German Complicity and ‘the Samson Option’

     Source: wikipedia “The United States in particular, but also Germany, will forever be closely associated with this unrelenting slaughter of thousands of innocent men, women and children, a slaughter that both countries continue to underwrite materially and diplomatically. The German government, led by its feminist foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, demands ‘humanitarian pauses’ as an alternative to peace, after which the killings are to continue until ‘Hamas’, prepared for death by a free UNRWA meal, will finally be ‘rooted out’. The Gaza massacre risks turning Israel into one of the most hated countries in the world, together with Germany – which unlike the US is solidly united behind the Netanyahu government…” Wolfgang Streeck on submarines, nuclear weapons, ‘the Samson option’, myths as a source of power.

Capitalist Modernity: Child Labour Has Risen

According to Unicef UK, Every day, 14-year-old Tenasoa, who has lost the use of her legs, works in a mine to earn money for her family. "I don't know the origin of her disability,” explains her mother. “She has to work because it allows us to increase our income.” In Madagascar, about 10,000 children work in the mica mining sector . Mica is commonly found in products such as cosmetics, paints and electronics – and mining it requires people to work in dangerous conditions underground. Long-term exposure to mica dust can irritate the lungs and cause irreversible fibrosis that causes blood to be coughed up. In the mine where Tenasoa works, she sorts and cleans 2 kilogrammes of mica per day. Forty children work in the mine. They labour for seven days a week, with no access to school or health services. The dry, rocky landscape leaves few other ways to make a living. As one of the elders says, "If we don't work, we don't eat, it's very simple. Men, women and childr

Antonio Negri (1933-2023)

A communist life

Can We Speak of a “Genocide” in Gaza?

With the evidence we have so far, I think we can call it “an-going genocide. Israeli Holocaust historian Raz Segev was the first to point out that this war is  “a textbook case of genocide” The International Bureau of the International Federation for Human Rights has adopted a resolution recognizing Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people as  “ an ongoing genocide ”. “Most states (and political leaders) prefer to avoid using the term ‘genocide’, because if they recognize it, they must act, in accordance with the convention they have signed, to ‘prevent’it or to ‘put an immediate end to it’. And this, obviously, is not on their agenda.” A demonstrator carries an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and  US  President Joe Biden painted red to imitate blood, during a march in support of the people of the Gaza Strip, in Nablus, occupied West Bank, October 26, 2023. Zain Jaafar/ AFP  via orientxxi.info