A DAM SHAME

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Africa, bank, Bujagali, Bujagali Energy Limited, china, dam, deals, energy, environment, featured, flow, Isimba, jinja, Kalagala, loans, nature, neoliberalism, Nile, Owen Falls, prfot, The Blackstone Group, trade, Ufandan Wildlife Authority, Uganda, uk, US, water.

by Stu Lucy

For the best part of the tail end of the twentieth century, rich countries in various guises have lent considerable sums to leaders of African countries, elected or otherwise, in order that they ‘develop their infrastructure’. Over the years numerous heads of state have accepted these tempting offers, skimming a little off the top for themselves and their cronies, leaving the rest to fulfil some grand construction touted by politicians as intrinsic to ensuring the economic success and prosperity of their beloved country.

Home to the source of the river Nile, Uganda has had its fair share of such development projects, most commonly in the form of hydroelectric dams. Since construction of the Owen Falls dam, the first to harness the power of the mighty river built under colonial rule in 1954, numerous other power stations have been constructed with help from international lenders such as The World Bank, alongside numerous import-export banks of countries set to profit from the dam’s construction.Continue Reading

THE SMOKING GUN OF FREE TRADE

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Africa, Australia, Biritish American tobacco, Burkina Faso, canada, CETA, cigarette, deals, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, featured, free trade, Gabon, gdp, ISDS, NAFTA, Nambia, Namibia, neoliberalism, Philip Morris, smokers, smoking, tobacco, Togo, TPP, trade, TTIP, Uganda, uk, US, WHO.

by Stu Lucy

Following the abhorrent remarks recently made by America’s comb-over-in-chief, I was impelled to pen an article outlining the plethora of innovative, iconic, and exemplary movements and people to emerge from Africa, contrasted with the shameful, embarrassing and downright inexcusable socioeconomic destitution rife across the ‘wealthiest country in the world’. However, after further consideration I imagined the brief expression of dismissive ridicule that my good friend Siraj, a native Ugandan, would have offered in hearing such an immature and ignorant statement about his fair land, and so have decided to give as little attention to it as he.

Instead my article concerns a far more serious problem endemic across the continent, one that has been allowed to become so widespread through international free trade mechanisms, that it threatens to circumvent democracy, subverting whole nations into passive submission. We shall now consider the tobacco industry’s fervent assault on Africa.Continue Reading

FOOD (NOT SO) GLORIOUS FOOD. PART 3: WIRED TO EXCESS

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Africa, bitter, Cafe Direct, chai, coffe, coffee, colonialism, consumerism, cups, drink, ECTLI, empire, Equal Exchange, Ethiopia, food, Harar, health, ICA, International Coffee Agreement, neoliberalism, Nero, series, Sidama, slavery, Starbucks, tea, trade, TRIPS, Yirgacheffe.

by Stu Lucy

As I mill around town needlessly purchasing disposable junk to wrap in trees so I may conform to the widespread Western orgy of consumption that is Christmas (sorry), I can’t help but notice that they’re everywhere. Costa, Nero, Starbucks, Coffee #1, it seems you can’t walk more than 100 metres before passing one of the acceptable narcotic dispensaries so many of us rely on to get through the day. It’s time to close this short series of food, and now drink, related pieces with a quick overview of coffee and its long and eventful relationship with Africa.Continue Reading

TRADE SECRETS #1 – HOW TO HUNT THE STAG: POWER, BLACKMAIL AND EXPLOITATION

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Bretton Woods, Brexit, china, comparative advantage, David Ricardo, dilemma, economics, empire, exploitation, Game of Thrones, game theory, Greece, IMF, infant industry, Nanking Treaty, opium war, positive sum, power, privatisation, series, stag hunt, trade, trade secrets, trade secrets series, World Bank, zero sum.

By Toby Gill

Part of a new series exploring the concept and consequences of ‘free trade’ from a variety of perspectives.

John, Tyrion and Ned lie patiently in wait. They have cornered their target, a colossal, fully-grown stag, grazing nearby. The three of them are in position, bows drawn, waiting to strike. Suddenly the stag bolts, leaping into the undergrowth. Tyrion jumps into pursuit. He knows he has little hope of catching the beast, but he does not despair – it is headed directly towards John’s position. The creature approaches the bush where John is hiding, its end clearly drawing near. But there is no shot. The stag runs past unscathed, and escapes into the night. Tyrion runs over to the bush, exasperated, ready to strike John with the back of his hand. But John is not there. He is around the corner – attempting to catch a rabbit with his pocket knife.Continue Reading

LEARNING TO LOVE OUR CITY HALL

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged 1938, architecture, City, City Hall, civic busines, civic centre, communal, Community, culture, explore, history, john piper, King George VI, marketplace, marmalade factory, norfolk, norman long, norwich, Norwich City Hall, politics, private buildings, stockholm city hall, trade, university.

by James Anthony

Growing up in Norwich gets you used to quite a few things about the city. If you’ve been here for as long as I have, you stop noticing the churches hidden on street corners, the city walls poking out from behind trees — even a massive castle overlooking the city just becomes part of normal life. Staying on in Norwich for university allows me to get to know the city through the eyes of people who haven’t lived here for quite so long.

Odd discussions of Norwich with university friends often involve chatting about places and buildings, and being known as a local, I often end up giving directions to people. If ever in these talks I mention our City Hall, most responses I get are “what?” and “where?” and this to me is a massive shame. City Hall is often forgotten by Norwich residents and ignored by those visiting. It’s a building that represents us like no other and suits Norwich just perfectly, and we should learn to love it.Continue Reading

BREXIT — THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES STARTS NOW

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Brexit, british politics, campaign, conservatives, environment, EU, eu citizen, EU ref, eu ref results, EU referendum, european commission on human rights, european union, fight, grassroot, greens, human rights, immigration, Labour, Leave.EU, left exit, Lexit, migration, Plaid, points based system, refugees, snp, trade, TTIP, UKIP, vote, Vote Leave.

by Josh Wilson

For all those who voted and campaigned to leave the European Union I would like say congratulations, we may have had a difference of opinion but that shouldn’t leave any animosity between us. For all of those that voted and campaigned to remain within the EU, like myself, it is okay to cry. It is okay to feel upset, angry and disappointed. It is not easy to let go of something you believed in so passionately. The future is scary; it is uncertain what direction the country will now head in, whether we will enter into another period of recession and who our next Prime Minister will be now David Cameron has said he will resign. But this is exactly why we must come to terms with the fact that Brexit is going to happen, and the fight has only just begun.

The referendum was largely fought between different sides of the right-wing of British politics, but the opportunity now lies with the Left. I truly believe everyone on the Left, whatever your party affiliation and which ever way you voted must unite and galvanise around a campaign for a progressive exit from the EU. This view was recently aired by Paul Mason in the Guardian, although in fear of being a hipster, I thought of this before it was ‘cool’ (You can read Paul’s more eloquent article here). In this article I want to cover another angle and lay out some of the biggest battles that are going to be thrown our way in the very near future.Continue Reading

THERE IS NO THIRD BOX TO TICK: ‘LEXIT’ IS NOT AN OPTION

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged Aaron Bastani, AV, ballot box, Boris Johnson, breaking point, Brexit, british politics, British society, Bush, Cameron, campaign, Clinton, corbyn, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, European Parliament, european politics, european union, general election, gore, Greece, homophobic, isolationism, Jacque Chirac, Labour, Leave.EU, left wing, Lexit, LGBT+, Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, PR, propaganda, racism, self interest, socialism, trade, Trump, uk, Vote Leave, Vote Remain, voting, xenophobia.

by Elliot Folan

So. The referendum is nearly upon us. And the reactionary Leave campaign rolls on, with Farage unveiling his latest piece of racist propaganda and Leave.EU exploiting the homophobic murder of 49 LGBT+ people for political gain. The leaflets that keep dropping through my door from the official Vote Leave campaign, meanwhile, tell me that we must take back ‘control of our borders’ and rid ourselves of EU regulations that protect workers’ rights. The campaign to leave the EU has had no left-wing voices in it, despite the hopes of lapsed Lexiter Aaron Bastani (who has flipped, and will now vote to Remain). Yet some activists, and a handful of Labour MPs, continue to push the narrative that an exit from the EU will be a triumph for progressive politics.

I understand this view. I don’t want to pretend that I find it incomprehensible, or that it’s without any rational basis. The European Union is an institution weighted towards transnational capital, its decisions are made in backroom committees far from public scrutiny or understanding, and the only directly elected institution — the European Parliament — lacks the formal powers of a proper Parliament. The left-wing critiques of the European Union are not without foundation.Continue Reading

THE ‘SHARING ECONOMY’: HOW ABOUT DOING SOME SHARING?

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Community, Inter|national and tagged Airbnb, Community, economics, norwich, Norwich Trade School, sharing, sharing economy, trade, trade school, Uber.

by Colin Hynson

Uber and Airbnb, the two poster–children of the ‘sharing economy’, have found themselves in the public spotlight for several months. One reason for this is their rapid growth. Uber, an on–demand taxi service, is now operating in 290 cities worldwide, over one million Uber trips are taken daily and the number of new drivers registering with Uber is growing by 50,000 a month. Airbnb, the room–rental service, now has vacancies in over 190 countries and has been used over 35 million times since it started in 2008.

This growth has led to both companies being described as ‘disruptive’. They have come in and shaken up taxi and hotel businesses across the globe. This has led to a backlash. In London and Paris taxi drivers have held rallies protesting that their livelihoods are being threatened. There are also legal challenges as cities from Delhi to Montreal and Brussels have clamped down on both companies.Continue Reading

trade

A DAM SHAME

THE SMOKING GUN OF FREE TRADE

FOOD (NOT SO) GLORIOUS FOOD. PART 3: WIRED TO EXCESS

TRADE SECRETS #1 – HOW TO HUNT THE STAG: POWER, BLACKMAIL AND EXPLOITATION

LEARNING TO LOVE OUR CITY HALL

BREXIT — THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES STARTS NOW

THERE IS NO THIRD BOX TO TICK: ‘LEXIT’ IS NOT AN OPTION

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