Alternatives International Journal

The Future of Canadian Journalism

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-05-01T03:01:21Z

Last weekend, from April 19 – 21, 2012, the Journalism Strategies conference was held at Concordia and McGill Universities in Montreal. The conference brought together attendees from Canada, Australia, France, the U.K., and Australia, to discuss some of the most pressing questions facing contemporary journalism: how should we define journalism in the age of citizen media? What potential new organizational and financial models should media companies investigate? What types of regulatory policies will foster a media that supports a thriving democracy?

The conference could not have come sooner: Canadian media is in a bad way. Over the last twenty years the number of independent Canadian media organizations has drastically shrunk: in 1990, 17.3 per cent of daily newspapers were independently owned, but by 2005, only 1 per cent were. A few large companies such as CTVglobemedia, Rogers, and the CBC control most of the flow of information to the general public.

But what do these companies publish? Salacious tidbits of apolitical “news” information stripped of any critical content, allthewhile ignoring the true activities and motives of the powerful. Why? Because in order to keep increasing profits in a fixed market, the mainstream media inevitably has had to make cuts. The advent of the internet has accelerated the cost-cutting. Investigative journalists have been the first to go: their work is relatively expensive and provides little revenue. Unsurprisingly, as the great journalist A.J. Liebling noted in 1961: “with the decline in the ‘number and variety' of voices there is a decline in the number and variety of reporting eyes, which is at least a malign”.

In his book Flat Earth News, the journalist Nick Davies found that in Britain, in 2006, only 12 per cent of newspaper articles in the highbrow papers were the result of real investigative journalism; 80 per cent were rewritten wire copy or press releases. The consequence is that global “flat earth news” stories, like the Millenium Bug and Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction stories, are allowed to perpetuate, because there are so few journalists checking the facts; the world was flat until somebody checked. This isn't journalism, it is churnalism: content churned out to keep up with the need to make money. Worryingly, Davies also found that more people now work in PR than in journalism. That is, more people are paid to disguise the truth than to reveal it. In service of profit the media has stopped fact-checking its own reports.

The problem with this is that many of the worlds news stories are the result of complex sets of historical forces, as most clearly described by Suzanne Pingree and Robert Hawkins:

“The myriad forms of oppression of women did not suddenly begin by Presidential decree last Thursday; they have been around for hundreds of years and have been adapted gradually as changing social and technological circumstances required.”

Replace “women” with “people” and the point still stands. Currently, 80 percent of the world's population live on less than $10 a day; one billion people are illiterate; and 80 per cent of the world's population live in countries with a growing income differentials. Contextualising these statistics will prompt readers to ask hard questions about the way the world is governed. That is not to say that there is a correct answer to the questions, but that news, decontextualized, ignores the political realities of the day. It is impossible for most people to address society's ills on the basis of most modern media coverage. Bernard Roshko concluded as much his 1975 book Newsmaking: news raises awareness but does not promote understanding. Even on those rare occasions when the facts are clear and correct, the mainstream media does not provide the context to further debate.

More sinisterly, the media often do appear to actively serve the interests of those they are supposed to critique. Chris Hedges, foreign correspondent for the New York Times for over twenty years, has argued that “a too comfortable relationship exists on the part of major news organizations...with the elite.” Instead of doing their own research, Hedges laments, the mainstream media rely politicians and CEOs for their news.

As British journalist George Monbiot has asked: Did all 247 of Rupert Murdoch's editors really just happen to support the second Gulf War? Well, according to a 2008 testimony given before the British House of Lords, absolutely not. Andrew Neil, the editor of Murdoch's The Sunday Times for 11 years, testified that Murdoch “never left [Neil] in any doubt about what he wanted...You knew, as an editor, that you did not have a freehold, you had a leasehold [which] depended on accommodating his views”.

That the journalism strategies conference billed itself as “part of the on-going efforts to reimagine journalism in Canada” was important enough then, and the organisers were extremely conscious of the fact that a healthy democracy depends on a healthy media. But what were the outcomes?

First and foremost, the conference was a success. Media theorists and practitioners from all over the world were able to debate ideas and models, and the organisers ought to be commended for their tireless efforts. No formal policy recommendations were made - there wasn't time - but the attendees did agree on releasing a joint statement. From my perspective, the best outcome of the conference was seeing the variety of different media models that work, and the different ways they integrate with communities. AllNovaScotia.com has had a decade of online success by doing everything wrong. They are a digital-only organisation, but hide behind a paywall and pay their journalists - shock! Groundwire are a wonderful community radio organisation based in campus-community radio stations across Canada. OpenFile.ca are following the digital route but incorporating crowdsurfing into their model; they get readers to suggest stories.

The common theme throughout all of this was the movement towards education and empowering citizens, particularly in the face of the rapidly-declining quality of the mainstream media. Many of the media models presented were local and community-based, and tried to to more than just emit news by including their audience in the production, distribution, and promotion of content. In fact, as Andrea Langlois and Frederic Dubois note, alternative media organisations tend to be characterised by an attempt to “move beyond issues of content”, while Academics Michael Boyle and Mike Schmierbach have shown that audiences of alternative media are likelier to be more frequently engaged in protest actions than audiences of mainstream media.

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), in their “Principles for Ethical Journalism”, state that “journalists have the duty and privilege to seek and report the truth, encourage civic debate to build our communities, and serve the public interest”. Many of the alternative media models presented at the conference do just that, away from the prying eyes of Rupert Murdoch.

Project Briefs

Stephen Eldon Kerr, Tamkinat Mirza — 2012-03-30T19:42:48Z

Stop Online Spying

Alternatives is in support of stopspying.ca. The Canadian government and Minister Vic Toews are currently trying to ram through an anti-Internet set of electronic surveillance laws that will invade your privacy and cost you money. The plan is to force every phone and Internet provider to surrender our personal information to "authorities" without a warrant.

This bizarre legislation will create Internet surveillance that is: Warrantless: A range of "authorities" will have the ability to invade the private lives of law-abiding Canadians and our families using wired Internet and mobile devices, without a warrant or any justification.

Invasive and Dangerous: The laws leave our personal and financial information less secure and more susceptible to cybercrime.

Costly: Internet services providers may be forced to install millions of dollars worth of spying technology and the cost will be passed down to YOU.

Alternatives encourage all our supporters to sign the petition now, forward it to everyone you know, and visit the Stop Spying website to learn much more.

Alternatives Montreal — Montreal, Canada

Alternatives is in support of the Voices-Voix coalition. Voices-Voix is a non-partisan coalition of Canadians and Canadian organizations committed to defending the people's collective and individual rights to dissent, advocacy and democratic space. It believes that both citizens and governments have positive roles to play in supporting civil society, and in encouraging respect for democratic rights and values, including free speech, transparency and equality. Voices-Voix documents attacks against organizations, individuals and institutions that have raised their voices, to show the pattern of government silencing of free speech, and offer solidarity to those who have been targeted. The organization promotes debate amongst its members and allies about how to defend the space for democratic dissent and advocacy in Canada, through its forum and events. It also encourages Canadians to raise their voices so that governments meet their core responsibilities to respect the equality, transparency and diversity of voices that make a democracy thrive.

Honduras and Nicaragua: Union Advocacy and Training

Alternatives support Union advocacy and training in both Nicaragua and Honduras. In conjunction with Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Confederacion Unitario de Trabajadores de Honduras (CUTH ), Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST) this project offers workers in Honduras and Nicaragua greater autonomy through the creation of dynamic participation. The objective is to create a training program in order to reinforce the governing capacity of union organizations in these countries. The project also aims to encourage union organizations to confront the challenges of regional integration in favor of women's participation in the work force.

This project serves to heighten the influence of union organizations within decision-making bodies and to increase the number of unions and the number of women in union organizations. In addition, the project aims to improve organizational and administrative capacities of union leaders in order to increase the influence and representation of central unions for the defense of worker's rights.

Contact Person & Details: Marcela Escribano ; 514-982-6606 p.2229
Read more

Maghreb/Mashriq: Civil Society Web Portal: E-Joussour.net

In collaboration with Alternatives (Morocco) and other partners of Alternatives International, Alternatives is supporting the establishment of the Web Portal “E-Joussour.net” to contribute to the increasing participation of social movements in the Maghreb/Mashreq region, offering citizens ideas and alternatives on a number of political phenomena.

The project will allow participating organizations to express their contributions and positions on diverse issues related to development, human rights, governance, economy, women's issues, youth, etc. The autonomous and automatic system of publication developed by Alternatives has already demonstrated its potential. It provides instantaneous publication of all pertinent information and eliminates the necessity for organizations to require high levels of computer performance.

CIDA under-fire for partnering with mining company

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-03-30T19:36:50Z

The Canadian government's decision to partner with mining firm Barrick Gold and development NGO World Vision Canada for a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in La Libertad, Peru, has been met with criticism from human rights activists.

The project, led by World Vision, was announced last September by Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda, and will be funded equally by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Toronto-based Barrick Gold. The La Libertad project is one of three pilot CSR projects that CIDA claims will reduce poverty in Peru, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.

Justin Broekema, press secretary at the Office of the Minister of International Cooperation, said that the project will "increase the incomes and standard of living for nearly 1,000 families [by supporting] small income-generating projects in agriculture". Broekma said that CIDA decided to support the project to help the local community diversify their economy and reduce their dependence on the mining industry.

Dave Toycen, President and CEO of World Vision Canada, is grateful for CIDA's support, and said that the project "will help residents of Quirulvilca, Peru, especially women, youth, and people with disabilities, become more involved and influential in their own community planning."

However, Miguel Palacin, the General Coordinator of the Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), criticized the project in a strongly-worded letter sent to World Vision, Barrick Gold, and CIDA.

In the letter, Palacin noted the "bad track record" of Canadian mining companies, arguing that "companies such as Barrick Gold are the source of many conflicts because of the dispossession of lands, destruction of water sources, and the ignoring of international rights." Rather than partnering with mining companies, Palacin believes CIDA should ensure Canadian companies respect the rights of indigenous peoples affected by mining.

However, CIDA is adamant that the La Libertad project will benefit the local community. Broekma stated that the municipal authority, government departments, the private sector, and the local community are all involved in the project's implementation and are consulted on a regular basis.

Mining is big business in Canada: Over 75 percent of the world's exploration and mining companies are headquartered in the country. In 2008, these 1293 companies had an interest in 7809 properties in over 100 countries around the world. Mining and exploration companies based in Canada account for 43 percent of global exploration expenditures, exploration which is funded by financial markets in Toronto and Vancouver — the world's largest source of equity capital for exploration and development.

Yet Canadian mining companies have long been criticized for misconduct abroad. In a report commissioned by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in 2007, Canadian companies were singled out for perpetrating almost half of all documented cases of misconduct around the world, including causing community conflict, engaging in environmentally unsound practices, and violating human rights. The report was unreleased until it was leaked by MiningWatch in 2010.

Given the history, it is perhaps unsurprising that in Peru local opposition to Barrick Gold's presence goes back several years, and has been increasing. On February 9, 2007 at least 3,000 people demonstrated against ongoing Barrick Gold operations in the district; in June 2011, the municipality of Santiago de Chuco created a conservation zone around one of Barrick's mines, because the area provides clean water for over 8000 farmers; and on February 9 of this year, rural dwellers descended on Lima — some having walked 557 kilometers — to join thousands of others in the National March for Water.

This local-level opposition is fodder for critics who contend that Barrick Gold's CSR program is an attempt to placate the local population. Barrick Gold denies this, arguing that mining companies must work with local communities to obtain a "social license to operate."

The company's rhetoric does not accord with its actions: Barrick Gold was quick to contest the Santiago de Chuco municipality's creation of the conservation zone by appealing to the Third Constitutional Court in Lima.

Barrick Gold's heavy handed approach to local resistance is consistent with the behavior of Canadian mining companies abroad. A series of documents sent to The Guardian by WikiLeaks show that mining companies are attempting to pacify local resistance across Latin America. In one, Felipe Cantuarias, Vice President of Commercial and Corporate Affairs for Minera Antamina, a copper and zinc producer, notes that mining companies will "have to take on more social responsibilities in the communities, providing jobs or visible infrastructure projects," if they are to appease often-hostile local politicians.

In another, Cantuarias recommends that foreign Embassies "urge the Catholic Church to rotate bishops operating in [mining] regions," to ensure that "anti-mining teachers and priests, who engage in inappropriate activities," do not ferment opposition to the mines.

Regardless, CIDA will push ahead with the La Libertad project, a fact consistent with the organization's focus on promoting and supporting CSR by Canadian companies operating abroad, as outlined in their 2009 document "CSR: Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector". Broekema noted that ultimately CIDA "would like to see all Canadian companies donate to international development projects."

The leaked cables also reveal that the Canadian Ambassador to Peru was "impressed that NGOs, such as Oxfam UK, regularly consult the public opinion surveyors to obtain a feel for what issues and concerns motivate communities, [and] appeared to be well ahead of the [mining] companies" in this area.

The failures of CSR programs on this front are well documented. Catherine Coumans, research coordinator at MiningWatch Canada, has written that CSR projects "will not and cannot address the long-term harm and development deficits caused by mining impacts, such as the depletion and contamination of surface and ground water upon which local food security and livelihoods depend, or the loss of national level revenues through tax evasion schemes, or the creation of resource dependent economies as described in the ‘resource curse' literature."

In a separate report, Coumans reviewed CSR programs and found them inadequate with respect to human rights norms, accountability mechanisms, and support for community agency. Coumans noted that CSR programs are "characterized by the evolution of an ever-increasing array of voluntary codes, standards, and alternative accountability mechanisms," and are implemented by companies that strongly resist regulatory and legal reforms.

Others agree with Coumans. Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, Associate Professor of Latin American History at McGill University, calls CSR "a well-established piece of the PR strategy deployed by the mining industry and its champions."

But CIDA continue to throw their weight behind CSR programs, calling them "win-win" programs, even if this means supporting companies such as Barrick Gold.

In 2009, a team of researchers from Harvard and New York University's Law Schools found clear evidence of environmental and health problems around a Barrick Gold run mine in Papua New Guinea. The researchers also documented accounts of physical abuse, forcible evictions, and gang rape perpetrated by the mine's security personnel.

In one account, a 25 year old woman relates how waste from the mine had ruined her farming land, forcing her to search for gold in a waste dump, where she was caught by security personnel. She was gang-raped by three of the armed guards and forced to eat the condoms they had used.

Another woman was raped near a mine dump area, and said that "whenever security guards catch the ladies, that's what happens." The woman was tried for trespassing and told the magistrate that she had been raped, but the magistrate said that women normally "give this excuse," before he sentenced her to five months in prison.

The researchers also noted the close relationship between the mine's security personnel and the Papua New Guinean police force.

Reports by Amnesty International in 2010 and Human Rights Watch in 2011 stress that the abuses have not stopped, and that Barrick Gold do seem to understand the gravity of the abuse. In fact, writing in the Globe and Mail, Barrick Gold Chairman Peter Munk said that "gang rape is a cultural habit" in Papua New Guinea, prompting Papua New Guinean Minister of Mining John Pundari to demand an apology from Barrick Gold.

Emilie Lemieux, a former Gordon Global Fellow, has looked at the initial stages of the CIDA-funded CSR project at Barrick Gold's mine in La Libertad, and found that the project "seems to fulfill the basic social needs the company is looking to address, as well as the Canadian embassy's interest to work in CSR, rather than the needs of the local population."

José de Echave, director of the Collective Rights and Extractive Industries Program at CooperAcción, a Peruvian NGO that supports local actors affected by mining, agrees. He said that "as long as resources are not managed by the Peruvian government, mining companies direct their actions based on their own interests."

According to De Echave, the result of this is that mining companies hire development experts to co-ordinate initiatives such as the World Vision led project in Peru. The companies' approach to becoming involved in health, nutrition, and education relies on forming alliances with experienced NGOs, meaning companies most often work with non-local NGOs instead of relevant actors and authorities in the community.

Lemieux corroborates this, noting that CSR codes "do not require that communities be consulted or that they provide consent for the implementation of CSR projects decided upon by corporations." Lemieux found that, in Peru, "consultation with local actors is non-existent and the project is led exclusively by external actors."

Professor Studnicki-Gizbert, echoing Lemieux's sentiments, said that development projects are "as much about form as financing," and that the decision to reorient CIDA towards co-financing development projects with NGOs and mining corporations is consistent with "the Conservative government's support of corporate self-regulation instead of public accountability."

However corporate self-regulation, as it stands, remains an ineffective means of regulating the mining industry. CIDA's pilot project with Barrick Gold and World Vision Canada in La Libertad is not proving otherwise.

Canada tries to remove human right to water and sanitation

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-03-30T19:35:56Z

On World Water Day, United Nations water and sanitation expert Catarina de Albuquerque critiqued countries including Canada for spearheading a move to eliminate references to the human right to water in a United Nations document that will frame negotiations at the Rio+20 Earth Summit.

De Albuquerque, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, stated that "some States, including Canada and the United Kingdom, are apparently proposing the removal of an explicit reference to the right to water and sanitation for all, from the first draft of the ‘Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development' outcome document." The declaration is currently being discussed in New York.

Further, an international coalition of over 400 NGOs from 67 countries is challenging "an apparent systematic effort by particular governments to delete virtually all references to well-established rights to water, energy, food and development."

Canada's opposition to the right to water is well known. Sources at the World Water Forum in Marseille, France confirmed earlier this month that the Forum's Ministerial Declaration fails to explicitly affirm the UN recognized rights, because Canada insists on the weaker language of: “human rights obligations relating to access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation”.

Following the conference, Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda said that "access to clean water and basic sanitation is fundamental to human health and sustainable development," but stopped short of acknowledging access to water and sanitation as a human right.

In contrast, Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced on World Water Day that "the EU acknowledges the recent recognition of the human right to water and sanitation by the UN General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council's specification that this right is part of the human right to an adequate standard of living."

In a February 28 statement, Amnesty International expressed concern that the Ministerial Declaration does not commit states to implement the human rights to water and sanitation, because of "a small number of states, such as Canada, that have persistently opposed recognition of the rights to water and sanitation at the international level, over the last decade."

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted overwhelmingly to recognize the human right to water and sanitation, but Canada abstained from the vote—having tried unsuccessfully for years to prevent the decision. Canada and Tonga are now the only countries in the world that do not to recognize water and sanitation as a human right.

Interestingly, the Canadian government's opposition to the human right does not reflect the views of Canadian citizens. A poll conducted by the Trudeau Foundation and University of Manitoba found that 96 per cent of Canadians agree that water is a human right.

The Canadian public's support for the human right to water and sanitation is unsurprising. Canada has vast supplies of fresh water for its small population of 35 million, who expect the government to ensure water and sanitation services for all.

The Canadian government appears to disagree. In June 2010, prior to the UN vote, then-Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon stated that he “will not put Canada in a position where our sovereign right to protect our natural resources is compromised by any international treaties…”

UN experts have assured the Canadian government that the UN resolution obliges Canada to provide clean water and satiation to its own people, but does not require Canada to share its water resources with another country.

Critics contend that the government is acting in the interests of multinational corporations, and not Canadian citizens. Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow said: "Here we have an example of a country like Canada that is using the World Water Forum, a non-democratic forum run by multinational water corporations, to try and negate what has been achieved at the United Nations General Assembly."

"Canada is legally obligated to write a right to water implementation plan," Barlow said, "but the Canadian government is using the illegitimate space at the World Water Forum to try to negate the right to water."

The World Water Forum has come under increasing attack lately, accused of being dominated by corporations, and of trying to rewrite the historical UN General Assembly vote. The damage is beginning to show. 25,000 attended the last forum in Istanbul, but Benedito Braga, the chief organizer for the Marseille forum, admitted that attendance at this year's forum was about 9,000 people. There have been reports of up to 1,000 lunches being thrown away each day because of the drop in attendance.

However, this year's Alternative World Water Forum was bigger than the one in Istanbul, and activists now point to it as the future venue for international agreements on water issues.

Even the Pope Benedict XVI has weighed in on the issue, saying at a Sunday Mass that "despite some progress, an adequate access to potable water is not yet guaranteed to a good portion of the world's population". The Pope added that all countries must "consider water a common resource and not saleable goods, [ therefore] water management with a non-merchandising approach [is required]."

Top Vatican official and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Bishop Mario Toso, supported the Pope's speech, and said that "reasonable access to clean water is a fundamental human right and its distribution should not be left solely to private companies seeking profit."

De Albuquerque agrees, saying "In the context of the Rio+20 agenda...who does not want a future where every single individual enjoys safe drinking water? Who does not want a future where nobody dies due to drinking unsafe water? Who does not want to eradicate the indignity and humiliation of open defecation?"

The Canadian government is under pressure to prove that they understand these rhetorical questions.

Islam and the Liberated Egyptian Woman: An interview with Shahinaz Ahmed

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-03-01T02:01:14Z

The Western media tends to view women in Islamic societies through a lazy and paternalistic eye. Bound by the Burqa and silenced by patriarchy, the women of the Middle East are objects of pity in that exist within scored Islamic societies. (The UK Guardian describes Pakistan as one of "The worst places in the world for women.") When Muslim women's suffering occurs in the West, the media shifts the blame from society to “extremists.” The “moderate Muslim” is the voice of Islamic reason; “moderate” means more “like us”, and a “Muslim” is someone who kneels down to pray five times a day.

Through the beatings, rapes, honour killings, and stonings, we hear more about Muslim women than we do from them. The Telegraph tells us that the Muslim Council of Britain thinks "women cannot debate [while] wearing veil". Adnan Khan writes in the Globe and Mail that "we have failed to protect Muslim women under threat." The sympathy is warranted, but the paternalism is evident.

For Shahinaz Ahmed, there is a problem here. "I think that Western perception is skewed. There is this view that the veiled women who is controlled by the man and who is not free must be liberated. The notion of wanting to liberate Muslim women from their shackles, while not even asking women how they want to be liberated, is faulty."

Ahmed is the CEO of Education For Employment Foundation (EFE), a nonprofit company that tries to help disadvantaged youth via market-based education. EFE provides its students with instruction that qualifies them for entry-level positions with private sector companies. It has been able to place 96% of its graduates in formal employment.

"At EFE, about 40 percent of our students are women", Ahmed said, "And they are incredibly hard working women. We try to teach them how to negotiate society, the home, and work, so that they can be able to make their own decisions."

Ahmed, who has lived in both the UK and Egypt, thinks that one problem women face the world over is being judged according to a male scale. "I know many women who are working and successful, but they are also responsible for their home life. So they are really carrying two jobs. Women carry a bigger load and take on a lot more in life than men, just in order to be deemed equal".

When the Egyptian Revolution was in its infancy, many within the Western media were quick to suggest that the protests raised a new hope for women's rights. The LA Times reported that Women in Egypt, "long treated as second-class citizens... [had] found an unexpected equality on the front lines of the protest".

"Women of Egypt”, a popular group on Facebook, showed dozens of photographs of women in colourful veils and denim jeans standing amongst thousands of protesters, facing the army. "Egypt Women Show Courage Participating In Mubarak Protests," headlined the Huffington Post. Muslim women, the story went, were seen seizing their once-unthinkable chance for "liberation."

The story soon soured. The LA Times, merely 12 days after proclaiming a "new hope" for women, ran the headline "After Egypt Revolution, Women's Taste of Equality Fades". In December, Foreign Affairs told us "How Egypt's Revolution Has Dialed Back Women's Rights", and by January 2012, the New York Times signed away hopes of Egyptian women, speaking on the women's behalf: "Egypt's Women Find Power Still Hinges on Men," the paper ran. The implication being that the women's power was not physical or intellectual, as women were still "dependent on the protection of men," but as "symbols of the military government's repression."

Take another look at that early and optimistic media coverage. The women "found" equality, as if they stumbled into it accidentally, perhaps under the protection of men. The images of Muslim women that were beamed around were nothing if not symbolic, especially to Western prejudices.

To a Western audience, the symbolism was revolutionary: "Middle Eastern women wearing jeans, dancing and singing in public? This must be a good thing" we were asked to think. The veil, which had once covered what we presumed to be frowns in swathes of black fabric, now framed smiling faces. Symbols of repression now became symbols of hope.

In this coverage, the place of women never changes. The women move from symbols of Mubarak's repression, to symbols of liberation, and finally, to "symbols of the military government's repression".

Each of the articles above was written by a man, and each of the articles focused on the “subservient” place of women within Islam

"When the mantle of Islam is brought into a variety of problems it becomes contentious, because Islam is a part of people's identity," Ahmed noted, "In the West, there is a perception that Arab women are weak, religious, and covered up. That perception is very limiting, and not true either".

"I see a lot of young women in Egypt doing things that my generation would never do. I see women starting businesses and NGOs, or [those] who are confident enough to stand up for their political beliefs,” she continued, “The Revolution has really changed our beliefs as a society. Women have questioned our society. Women are vocal in the streets, on Twitter, on Facebook, and that is not going to stop."

Perceptions can be skewed in two directions, Ahmed observed. "Women in the West who choose to stay at home and look after their family are seen as unaccomplished. It is as if they should be apologetic for staying at home. In Egypt, it is the opposite, a woman who stays home and looks after her family is highly regarded. Of course, the opposite is also true, a woman who wants to go out and work and become economically independent is perceived negatively in Egypt, but one of the most important things for women is economic independence, and with that comes autonomy."

Ahmed believes that the Arab Spring has shown women challenging the paternalism of the Arab World, echoing the way in which women achieved greater empowerment during World War 2.

"The Arab world tends to be a very paternalistic society, in Egypt our parliament has less than ten women in it,” she said, “But during the election many women went out to vote. They just didn't get to vote for women."
"What amazes me about young women in Egypt today is that if the system doesn't work, they create their own systems. My generation tried to navigate the system, but this generation is trying to do away with the system completely by creating businesses and NGOs, going out and getting involved, teaching people. The awareness of women's issues now exists throughout Egypt."

Ahmed went on to express her optimism about the future of women in the country. “They are a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “At the moment it is looks very bleak; women's voices are not heard; there is a push to restrain women using religious discourse, but I think we will work our way out of that."

Ahmed's caution is wise. The military is brutal in their treatment of women. Not long after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, female demonstrators were forced to undergo virginity tests to ascertain whether they were “suitably moral.” At the same time, videos of women being beaten in the streets spread all over the world.

Perhaps the best thing men, and the Western media as a whole, can do is to give more space to the opinions of women who are trying to build something for themselves.

A woman is not a veil, and neither is Islam.

Project Briefs

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-03-01T01:51:34Z

Stop Online Spying

This bizarre legislation will create Internet surveillance that is:
Warrantless: A range of "authorities" will have the ability to invade the private lives of law-abiding Canadians and our families using wired Internet and mobile devices, without a warrant or any justification.

Invasive and Dangerous: The laws leave our personal and financial information less secure and more susceptible to cybercrime.

Costly: Internet services providers may be forced to install millions of dollars worth of spying technology and the cost will be passed down to YOU.

Alternatives encourage all our supporters to sign the petition now, forward it to everyone you know, and visit the Stop Spying website to learn much more.

Read More

Alternatives Montreal — Montreal, Canada

Read More

Honduras and Nicaragua: Union Advocacy and Training

Contact Person & Details: Marcela Escribano ; 514-982-6606 p.2229
Read more

Maghreb/Mashriq: Civil Society Web Portal: E-Joussour.net

Remembering Canada's Missing and Murdered Women

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-03-01T01:50:09Z

Across the world, Valentine's Day is celebrated with love; in Canada, it is also a day when people march to remember hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

Following the first march in 1991, campaigners have assembled every year on 14 February in cities across Canada, to draw attention to a problem that the Canadian government largely refuses to address.

As of 31 March 2010, The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) estimates that 582 Aboriginal women are missing or murdered. Of the 582 cases, 115 (20%) involve missing women and girls, 393 (67%) involve women or girls who died as the result of homicide or negligence, and 21 (4%) fall within the category of "suspicious death"—incidents that police have declared natural or accidental, but that family or community members regard as suspicious. There are 53 cases (9%) where the nature of the deaths remain undetermined.

The real figures are likely to be far worse. Six out of ten incidents involving violent crimes against Aboriginal people go unreported. From reported incidents, it is clear that Aboriginal women are three times more likely to face physical spousal violence, three times more likely to face psychological spousal violence, and eight times more likely to be murdered than non-Aboriginal women.

Moreover, Statistics Canada's General Social Survey, from which these figures are gathered, was conducted by telephone and only in English and French; Aboriginal women living in remote communities without access to telephones or unable to speak English or French fluently could not participate.

In Saskatchewan, the only Canadian jurisdiction that gathers the Aboriginal status of every missing person's case, 59 percent of missing women and girls are of Aboriginal ancestry.

Those present at the Montreal Valentine's Day march were consistent in their replies as to why the government has failed to address the problem of missing Aboriginal women.

“Ultimately, it comes down to racism and sexism,” said Molly Swain, a Metis woman from Alberta. “The government, historically as well as in contemporary times, thinks that native women's lives are worth less than other lives, and that the women who go missing are drug addicts, prostitutes or runaways and so don't deserve the time or money necessary in order to keep them safe.”

Lisa Gagner, a Saulteaux woman from Saskatchewan, stated that “female native women are often subject to racism because of people's ignorance.” Gagner believes most Canadians are particularly unaware of the “trauma and inter-generational abuse that native women face daily.”

In fact, Aboriginal women are more likely to be sex workers. In Vancouver, despite making up only two percent of the population, Aboriginal women account for 30 percent of the city's sex workers.

Sex workers are undeniably vulnerable women, likely to suffer abuse and violence. Despite the gross inequalities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women, Swain noted that “when you look at [the numbers of] organisations that are specifically geared towards helping and supporting native women versus the organisations that are geared towards helping non-natives, you can't make a comparison.”

The numbers support Swain's claim. The Canadian government announced $10 million to combat violence against Aboriginal women in the March 2010 budget, but closer inspection shows that not all of this money is earmarked for strictly Aboriginal issues.

Of the amount, $4 million will go to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force (RCMP) to establish a support centre for, and to create a registry of, missing persons. Other amounts are dedicated to generic “community safety plans”, with only a broad stipulation that these services cater to Aboriginal women. By law, all Canadian public services must cater to people regardless of ancestry, so these stipulations amount to nothing. Furthermore, the allocation of funds within the $10 million was decided without consultation with NWAC.

In the same budget, the Government informed NWAC that it would no longer fund Sisters In Spirit, an organisation created in 2004 as a research, education and policy initiative. Sisters In Spirit collected information about missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls across Canada, and constructed an essential, reliable database of information.

The Government has entrusted this work to the RCMP, but the RCMP lacks the expertise demonstrated by Sisters in Spirit and is limited by policy and expertise from collecting data about Aboriginal identity. It will also take several years for an RCMP database to be fully functional, even if it is adequately funded.

For Swain, the Government has simply taken fiscal “resources out of [Native women's] hands and given it to the very institutions that are allowing [the abuse] to continue.”

At the march, Louis, who asked to only be identified by his first name, agreed: “The government needs to develop solidarity amongst communities, particularly between urban Aboriginals and those who have chosen to stay on reserves.”

Sisters In Spirit was committed to building not only urban-rural links, but links between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. “The government needs to stop turning a blind eye to this issue,” added Louis, “and prioritize programmes that build solidarity.”

The issue has attracted international attention. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) announced in December that it will conduct an inquiry into the case. The Committee is the UN's main authority on women's human rights and is composed of 23 independent experts from around the world. Its members believe that very serious violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women have taken place in Canada.

The investigation has not properly begun, although the CEDAW called on Canada in 2008 to “develop a specific and integrated plan for addressing the particular conditions affecting Aboriginal women, both on and off reserves,...including poverty, poor health, inadequate housing, low school‐completion rates, low employment rates, [and] low income.”

The Canadian government has, until now, stopped short of addressing the “specific” needs of Aboriginal women, but the organisers of the Valentine's Day march, and women and Aboriginals throughout Canada, hope that international attention will finally force the Canadian Government to address this long-running issue.

The African National Conference and South African Democracy

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-01-30T19:05:33Z

The African National Congress (ANC) began anniversary celebrations for the 100th time on January 8, 2012. A crowd of 50 000, as well as 46 foreign dignitaries, packed into the Bloemfontein Rugby stadium to watch speeches from President Jacob Zuma and American civil-rights campaigner Jesse Jackson. The self-congratulations will continue throughout the year and will culminate with the ANC national conference held every five years to elect new leaders.

Celebrations are in order. No other African liberation movement is as old as the ANC, and the party can be proud of many of its achievements. It has enshrined a host of civil and social rights in the constitution; guaranteed 12 years of education to every child; reached the 1st Millennium Development goal by halving the number of people who live on $1 a day; and brought housing, electricity, and sanitation to millions of people.

But after 17 years in power the ANC's leaders have run out of ideas. The end of apartheid created space for a new upper class of black politicians and businessmen to emerge, but the majority of South Africans still live in poverty. 40% of South Africans live on less than $2 a day and 40% of South Africans are unemployed. Before 2010 the government had not acknowledged the link between HIV and AIDS, which limited the availability of treatment programs.

ANC supporters point out that South Africa's economic growth is forecast at 4.3% for the coming year, and the government's budget deficit is set to shrink too. The country's relative political stability compared to the rest of the continent means South Africa remains one of the top African destinations for Foreign Direct Investment, notably from China.

Yet the benefits of this growth have not always been used wisely. Foreign capital is too frequently used to maintain the ANC's political dominance; corruption is now so commonplace that it barely registers as news.

When the money is used legally either a select few reap the rewards of growth, or the government misuses the funds. Over the last 17 years the wealth and power of the small class of rich South Africans—regardless of race—has increased exponentially compared to the rest of the population.

Investors, however, continue to bemoan the low education levels of the population, insisting that a more educated workforce is necessary to foster continued long-term growth. The ANC, once the anti-establishment party of change, is now the establishment: protecting its own interests in the face of calls for change. When Jackson roared 'Happy Birthday to the New South Africa' to the gathered ANC crowd in Bloemfontein, the conflation of party and state was all too clear.

Always a broad coalition, the ANC now struggles to present a united front. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), historically an important part of the ANC coalition, is now highly critical of the government. COSATU fears that neo-liberal economic policies have been pursued without adequate checks on the power of foreign capital. For example, the government recently permitted Walmart to buy one of South Africa's leading monopoly retailers. The government welcomed the capital inflow but COSATU fears the downward push on wages will not be cushioned by increased public sector spending.

Disaffection at the grassroots level has led to the rise of populist politicians such as Julius Malema. Malema, recently removed as the head of the ANC's youth wing, preached anti-white sentiment so strongly that Genocide Watch upgraded South Africa's status from level 5 to level 6: the level before the one characterized by mass exterminations.

As long as South Africa remains sub-Saharan Africa's dominant economy it is unlikely genocide will occur, but Malema's removal highlights the embarrassing level of division within the ANC. As the government strives to maintain a respectable appearance to the international community and investors, ordinary South Africans feel abandoned by the party.

Regardless, 60% of South Africans would still vote for the ANC, and it will always be the party of freedom for the black 79% of South Africa's 50 million people. There are also no other viable alternative black parties at the moment. A real problem for budding South African politicians, then, is the ANC's curtailment of press and judicial freedoms. ANC officials have threatened to leak dossiers containing the private details of journalists who critique the party. In this context, it is difficult for a credible grassroots political movement to gain supporters. The ANC is the party of the establishment, but South Africa needs viable political alternatives if the wishes of the general population are to be taken into account along with the need for economic development.

Some are tired of waiting. In January 2011, the first conference of the Democratic Left was held. Activists at the conference determined to forge a new, post-national liberation, democratic movement among impoverished South Africans. The activists are committed to using grassroots action to pressurize South African politicians; the Democratic Left supported South Africa's first factory occupation at Mine-Line Engineering. The desire for comprehensive change of the current political status-quo exists, but in order for widespread reform to be achieved, the ANC will have to begin fostering a culture of democratic involvement. It remains to be seen whether the political will exists within the party for such reform.

President Zuma dedicated most of his anniversary speech to praising past ANC accomplishments, and with good reason. The party can be proud of what it has achieved, but the party must now start listening to the wishes of its population if it is to have a future it can be proud of too.

The Decline of British Nationality

Stephen Eldon Kerr — 2012-01-30T19:00:54Z

Over the past twenty years, there has been a decline in the proportion of British citizens who consider their nationality primarily British. A report by Anthony Heath and Jane Roberts for the British Department of Justice shows that since 1979, the number of English, Welsh, and Scottish residents who consider their nationality to be primarily British has fallen. At the same time, the number describing themselves as Scottish, Welsh, or English has risen.

In 1979, 38 percent of Scottish people described themselves as British, a figure which fell to 20 percent in 1992, and then 14 percent by 2006. By contrast, in 1979, 56 percent of Scots described themselves as primarily Scottish, and by 2006 this had risen to 78 percent. This pattern is repeated in Wales and England.

This has led to calls for British identity to be redefined for the twenty first century. As a result, the current British government aims to reassert a ‘traditional British' identity based on a ‘muscular liberalism' that can create a ‘shared national identity that is open to everyone'.

The decline in British national sentiment is partly due to the change in ethnic and religious makeup of the country. In 1951, 4.2 percent of total British residents were born abroad, but this figure had risen to 8.3 percent by 2001. In other words over 2.5 million more people were born abroad in 2001 than in 1951.

The fastest rates of growth occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1950s, the British government offered citizens of former British colonies the opportunity to move to Britain and to automatically gain full rights as residents. This resulted in large-scale immigration from South Asia and the Caribbean to Britain.

Since the 1960s, the majority of new immigrants have come from Europe. This reflects the gradual integration of Britain into the European Union, and the subsequent easy passage of labour between the Union's member states.

In the 1970s, the majority of European immigrants were Irish, and in the 2000s the majority were Polish. In every decade since the 1970s, Asia has been the second largest contributor to Britain's foreign-born population, with India the largest single contributing country. All of these immigrants have brought into Britain diverse sets of cultures, belief systems, and religions that they cherish, believe in, and are not willing to lose through assimilation.

As Walter Menski notes, ‘immigrants resist outright assimilation, and will therefore reconstruct their own little worlds in diaspora in new ways'. Take a walk through Bethnal Green in London and you might mistake it for Bangladesh. Journey south to Brixton and you won't be able to escape the sounds and smells of Jamaica.

Yet the special relationship between the Church of England the British state excludes other religions from being allowed to feel properly British despite there being a greater plurality of religious belief in Britain than ever before.

First, the close relationship excludes other religions because it symbolises the primacy of the Church of England above all other religions. Second, as Tariq Modmood notes, such a relationship:
‘reinforces the image that Jews or Catholics or Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs are not really British and therefore cannot really be trusted to understand or cherish Britain…or have a lesser birthright to it, and so may legitimately be denied some of the available jobs, prizes, and distinctions and may legitimately be objects of suspicion in times of political and international tension.'

At the same time, many British people have concluded that granting automatic citizenship to former subjects of the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s was a mistake. British politicians are wary of promoting multicultural policies because of the feared backlash. For example, in a 2003 White Paper, the British government emphasises the view that skilled immigrants should only be accepted as long as they can fill a job that a British resident cannot.

Professor Will Kymlicka of Queens University remarked that the British government ‘felt that the public would not accept increased immigration if there were any possibility that immigrants would take jobs from new residents, even if this cost were more than outweighed by the creation of new jobs.' The same White Paper makes no reference to ‘multiculturalism', instead proposing that immigrants must prove they are no threat to the British way of life. In the twenty-first century, the British perceive immigrants as a burden on their society.

This does not have to be the case. Professor Rainer Baubcock at the European University Institute argues that it is nearly impossible to create a shared identity out of the past, because we can never all share the same history.

Instead, Baubock suggests a shared identity should be formed out of the potential for a common future. In this view, transnational migration is a ‘catalyst that sets into motion a process of self-transformation of collective identities towards a more pluralistic…outlook'.

Rather than the metaphors of the assimilationist melting pot or multicultural salad bowl, the catalyst model suggests that social cohesion between different groups can be assured if citizens understand identities to be overlapping and overarching, and respectfully engage in dialogue with other identities in order to create a coherent identity narrative that balances the needs of all histories and cultures.

In the future British national identity should be built on the idea of a common future. The world is smaller than ever as more people are able to migrate than ever before. A view that sees immigration as the potential catalyst for great things is a truly 21st century view. Potential will sometimes require costs to be advanced, but if we persevere, the returns will make the pain worthwhile.