Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

In view of the parliamentary elections in Iraq, the EU's External Affairs Commissioner Borell recently expressed the cautious hope that this election if free and fair could become a milestone for democratic consolidation in the country. Note Borrells constraint: he has good reasons for phrasing this sentence so carefully.

The largest-ever mass protests in Iraqi history in October 2019 had brought down the government and resulted in both a change in electoral law and early elections. However, the core demand of the Tischrin (October) movement, a fundamental reform of the political system and the abolition of the so-called muhasasa, was not met. Since 2004, muhasasa has stood for an unwritten social contract in Iraq that distributes positions and power according to an ethno-confessional key. While this system was supposed to ensure that no ethnic group would ever again be able to oppress another in the post-Saddam Hussein period, it has undergone a destructive metamorphosis in the years that followed.

For the Tischrin movement, muhasasa is a cipher for politically sponsored corruption, since it allows the established Shiite but also Sunni and Kurdish parties to systematically plunder the state. An elaborate system of dividing up key positions in the administration ensures that whenever money or jobs are at stake, the democratically legitimised government has to consult with the non-democratically legitimised party leaderships. As a result, a completely bloated and at the same time inefficient civil service was created, which consumes about a quarter of the GDP and pays salaries or pensions to eleven million people (out of a population of 40 million). This includes an estimated half a million po so-called ghost workers which are people who receive a salary but do not actually work anywhere.

Another side effect of the muhasasa is that ministers often find themselves unable to enforce cabinet decisions or fulfil contracts they have entered into because they are sabotaged by holders of so-called special rank positions in their respective houses.

Toby Dodge and Renad Mansour have accurately described this often ignored central aspect of Muhasassa as politically sanctioned corruption.

Special rank officials exist throughout the entire civil service. One thing they have in common is that they are remunerated better than the salary scale normally allows. Moreover, they usually occupy functional positions, involving something of interest to the parties either to decide or to sabotage. Traditionally, forming a government also takes such a long time because about 600 special rank posts are renegotiated and filled by the parties after each election as bargaining chips of the muhasasa.

Toby Dodge and Renad Mansour have accurately described this often ignored central aspect of muhasasa as politically sanctioned corruption. The Tischrin movement intended to both scandalise and abolish this practice, which has allowed corruption to become the DNA of the political system. Unfortunately, it failed to do so.

As in the 2018 elections, according to the relevant forecasts, most of the 329 seats will go to candidates from the big three Shiite, three Sunni and two Kurdish camps the new electoral law has made no difference here. The new candidates of the Tischrin movement are predicted to win between 18 and 26 seats. Given that the largest group in the last parliament had only 54 seats, this would be a considerable number, especially since a large part of the original movement (together with the Iraqi communists) will boycott the election. However, in order to wield power in the muhasasa system and fight it from within via a march through the institutions, the Tischrin MPs would have to unite into a parliamentary group. At present, however, this is unlikely because of discernible disunity.

Parliamentary opposition as an attempt to present an alternative to the voters has no tradition in Iraq.

Instead, it is foreseeable that among the relevant string-pullers will be names such as Sadr, Ameri/Maliki and Hakim/Abadi (Shiites) but also Halbousi, Nujaifi and Khanjar (Sunnis) as well as Barzani and Talabani (Kurds). They all exemplify a manageable group of almost exclusively men who have no interest in fundamentally changing the system that efficiently secures their power, influence, and the financing of their movements.

Parliamentary opposition as an attempt to present an alternative to the voters has no tradition in Iraq. Despite a likely further decline in voter turnout, this option remains unlikely for the future because opposition would also mean giving up a piece of the petroleum pie. Shifts in the balance of power between the parties can be expected to be gradual at best protest movement and elections aside.

Unlike his predecessors, Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi has renounced his own list. He hopes for a second term in office as a compromise candidate of the aforementioned men of power. If that succeeds, it would not be the worst thing for Iraq and the region. Admittedly, several of his reform efforts have failed because of the veto power of individual parties (and the militias they support).

But Kadhemi has shown that he is not discouraged. Even the murder of a confidant by a pro-Iranian militia has not prevented him from (so far mostly futile) attempt to limit the power of the militias. The general security situation has improved during his time in power. He has also proved that he would be able to accomplish a substantial amount in Iraq's foreign policy role as a mediator in the region.

The election, however, decides the composition of the parliament and only indirectly the prime minister it would hence be risky to make a prediction.

However, as far as the core objective of the Tischrin movement is concerned, namely the abolition of the muhasasa system, the outlook is clearer: this election will not usher in the change needed to achieve it.

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In Iraq, you can't vote out the 'muhasasa' - IPS Journal

After being postponed from its originally scheduled dates in early September due to a surge in COVID-19 cases on campus last month, Panhellenic hosted its recruitment last weekend from Wednesday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 3.

The Panhellenic Council, the governing body for Colgates sororities, was forced to upend its original plans for the weekends events upon new guidance in response to the case surge, according to Panhellenic council president senior Elizabeth Morin.

We had to make some last-minute changes to our schedule in order to abide by indoor capacity limits placed on residential spaces, Morin said, noting that the first two days of recruitment, Sisterhood and Philanthropy rounds on Thursday and Friday, took place in tents outside each of the sororities houses. Saturdays preference round took place at limited capacity inside the houses.

This led to our Saturday schedule being so long, but I think it worked out well and we were able to still have the indoor experience and follow all guidelines.

Despite the last-minute changes this year, members of the Panhellenic Council were relieved to have an in-person Recruitment week, as last years was held entirely over Zoom.

Colgate is home to three sororities, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Delta Delta and Gamma Phi Beta. Delta Delta Delta Recruitment Co-Chair Jordana Kaller expressed her frustration with the initial ambiguity regarding the impact of the recent surge in on-campus COVID-19 cases on fall recruitment.

I had been working hard with my co-chair since this summer and we were disappointed when it was pushed back, Kaller said. Despite the initial uncertainty, she felt that the overall experience was very successful.

Although it was super cold out, having smaller groups of [potential new members] (PNMs) in the tent and in our house allowed them to have a more intimate experience talking to our members, Kaller said, adding that Delta Delta Delta was able to bring PNMs on one-on-one tours of their house on preference round as a result of the new format.

Senior Hayley Jackson, who served as a Recruitment Counselor (RC) and guided a group of PNMs through the recruitment process, also expressed her excitement regarding the return to in-person recruitment activities, despite the unanticipated delay. Jackson noted the uniquely rewarding experience of guiding PNMs down Broad Street.

It was frustrating at first to have it postponed because we were uncertain about whether or not we would be able to hold recruitment in person, and all the houses had done a ton of planning, but Im very glad we were able to have the tents and make it work with Colgates rules, Jackson said. I found my experience as an RC to be super rewarding because, after having everything online last year, a lot of my PNMs had questions and concerns about the process, so it was really nice to be able to talk with them and provide support in person. All the RCs were great and I am super proud of all the work that was put into this weekend, even though it looked a little different than what we originally planned.

New member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sophomore Izzy Olavarria expressed her appreciation for the postponed in-person experience, despite masking protocols and other COVID-19 guidelines.

Im so happy it was in person, but wearing masks definitely made it hard to remember faces and names, Olavarria said, adding that she enjoyed being able to see the inside of the houses on the last day. We were frustrated when it was postponed for multiple weeks due to COVID, and that it ended up being right before midterms, which was very tiring, but everyone was so friendly during the process.

According to Morin, the challenges of the pandemic have made the bonds made in Greek Life Organizations stronger.

Sisters leaned on each other a lot for emotional support during these hard times and still do. We have very close bonds given the hard situations we have been experiencing and know that we will be there for each other no matter what arises, Morin said.

Panhellenic recruitment does not represent a system of sisterhood and support for all students. Many students each year choose not to involve themselves in the recruitment process, and some students advocate for a complete abolition of Greek Letter Organizations on campus. Abolish Greek Life (AGL), a nationwide movement that came to Colgate last fall advocating for the eventual abolition of Greek Life, argues harmful practices including hazing are inextricable from Greek Life Organizations.

While there may be more news coverage about hazing and sexual violence in Greek Life recently, this is not new at all. Greek Life has always sheltered perpetrators of many forms of violence, argued a statement drafted by AGL Colgate as a collective group.

Recently, Abolish Greek Life Colgate has created a virtual form for students to Pledge Not to Pledge. In this form, students have listed their reasons for not joining Greek Life. Members of AGL Colgate have varied reasons for joining the movement, including serious concerns with racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, transphobia, normalization of sexual violence, substance abuse, social pressure and exclusion at Colgate and other colleges. Their website also includes testimonials from graduated students on why they disaffiliated, past articles of legal and administrative cases against Colgates Greek Life Organizations and their hopes for abolition.

We do not plan on abolishing Greek Life overnight, the collective statement from AGL said. Long-term, we imagine Colgate as a place that does not need exclusive, monetary based social groups based on oppression, and will in fact be a place for all students of all identities and backgrounds to feel welcome. As a group, we pride ourselves on the creativity necessary to envision a Colgate without Greek life, and invite our student body to envision a new Colgate with us.

Members of the Panhellenic Council understand the concerns of AGL Colgate, and are working towards more transparency in the Panhellenic Recruitment and membership processes.

As leaders in the Greek Life community, we too share the concerns of the Abolish Greek Life movement; we have zero-tolerance for occurrences of sexual assault and racism across any of our organizations and we actively engage in preventative activities through our SAPAS and DEI chairs, said Morin. We are currently working on being more transparent about all of our processes, especially those relating to recruitment [] For the future, we have more initiatives planned, such as the Broad Street Open House, to bridge the gap between affiliated and non-affiliated communities that we hope will foster a more accepting and inclusive community and social scene at Colgate.

The Panhellenic Council and Abolish Greek Life Colgate welcome readers to explore their Instagram accounts and websites for more details on their respective organizations and goals.

Read more from the original source:

Postponed Sorority Recruitment Takes Place In Tents The Colgate Maroon-News - The Colgate Maroon-News

With recurring cases of police brutality around the world, many have joined the Defund the Police movement, which calls for the abolition or reallocation of police funds to other areas of public safety. Morgan Freeman, however, is not one of those people.

While discussing his latest film, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, the Bruce Almighty star shared his stance on withdrawing funds from the police.

Im not in the least bit for defunding the police, he said in an interview with Selena Hill. Police work is, aside from all the negativity around it, it is very necessary for us to have them and most of them are guys that are doing their job. Theyre going about their day-to-day jobs. There are some police the never pulled their guns except in rage, that sort of thing. I dont know.

His costar Frankie Faison agreed with his take, adding that officers tend to treat celebrities better than everyday people and should be treating everyone equally.

Freemans new film The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain is based on the 2011 police involved-killing of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a Black veteran suffering from bipolar disorder who accidentally triggered his medical alert device and was fatally shot by responding officers who arrived to check on him.

According to multiple news reports, none of the officers involved in Chamberlains killing were charged because they acted appropriately. In an effort to seek justice, the late mans family filed a federal civil suit for $21 million against the City of White Plains and the White Plains Police Department. The court ruled in the cops favor, so Chamberlains family appealed the decision and won. The appellate court later admitted that the previous judge dismissed some of the claims made in the 2011 suit.

Look below to hear Morgan Freemans thoughts about defunding the police.

Originally posted here:

Morgan Freeman argues against defunding the police: It is very necessary to have them - REVOLT TV

Every year in October, the UK celebrates Black History Month with events and activities to teach people more about Black history and celebrate the impact of Black people across the country and the world.

For centuries, Black history has been an integral part of British history - yet many argue that it has been overlooked over the decades. The aim of the month is then to discuss and learn more about those missing history chapters.

Read more: Sewage warnings at 23 Cornish beaches after heavy rain

It's also to celebrate Black people who have changed the lives of many, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou and many, many more.

At CornwallLive, we believe it's essential to remember Cornwall's involvement in Britain's colonial past and role in the slave trade.

You can stay up to date on the top news and events near you with CornwallLive's FREE newsletters enter your email address at the top of the page or go here

It is estimated that, between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million Africans were shipped to America.

Britain was one of the most active slave-trading countries. According to the National Archives, Britain and Portugal accounted for 70% of all Africans transported to America. They were used as slaves and forced to work on plantations or as domestics and oppressed for centuries.

And Cornwall is no exception as many people across the county played a part in the slave trade between the 16th and the 19th century, when slavery was abolished.

The slave trade benefited Cornish merchants and landowners who sometimes owned hundreds of slaves - while others across Cornwall campaigned for the abolition of slavery.

With its ports, the county had easy access to the waters and Africa. Slave ships were coming into places such as Truro, Falmouth and St Ives.

October 9: Black History Month- Talks, Spoken Word, Jamaican Food in Truro, by Inspiring Women Network. More information here.

In Truro, the land now known as Walsingham Place was called Caribee Island or Cribby Island at the end of the 1600s.

The name is thought to derive from the Caribbean due to the large number of slave ships docking in the city's port.

England's first slaving expedition, led by John Hawkins who was Sir Francis Drake's cousin, was from Plymouth. It left the port in 1562 and captured 300 Africans before selling them in the Caribbean.

Since then, Cornwall had its fair share of slave traders and owners.

One of them was Thomas Corker, of Falmouth.

Corker, who lived approximately between 1669 and 1700, was an agent of the Royal African Company in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

He married an African woman there and had two sons. Together they developed a family dynasty which supplied slaves up until the 19th century.

Down in Penzance, one particular family was known for owning slaves.

Sir Rose Price and his family, who owned country house and garden Trengwainton, made their fortune from sugar plantations in Jamaica.

Penzance East Councillor Tim Dwelly previously highlighted his story in the hope of raising awareness on the distressing past of the estate.

"I am sorry to say this is not a bit of local history we can be proud of," he wrote on his Facebook page. "The Price family from Penzance made its fortune from its Worthy Park Estate sugar plantation in Jamaica. Price was forced to sell Trengwainton in 1833 when slavery was abolished in the colonies and his ill-gained profits came to an end.

"The well-known walled garden at Trengwainton was funded on the back of slave labour. Records show his slaves were treated abysmally, beaten and neglected, often dying young."

The slave trade in Britain and the British colonies was abolished in 1807. But reports say Price continued to practice slavery for decades.

Mr Dwelly continued: "Price, who was often seen around Penzance with his livery-dressed black servants (also thought to be slaves), continued to practice slavery for a full 26 years.

"Jamaica Terrace in Heamoor was named at this time."

Rose Price was eventually knighted.

In 1833, one year before his death, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed and abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.

You can read Mr Dwelly's full post here.

The will of his father, John Price the younger, of Penzance, shows the extent of the familys link with slavery.

Price Snr lived between 1738 and 1797. He owned several estates in Jamaica, as well as a plantation called Spring Garden, for which Sir William Lemon Lemon Quay and Lemon Street in Truro are named after him - is reported to have been a co-mortgagee.

In his will, which is now in the public domain, Price mentioned all my plantations, sugar works and estates in Jamaica with all and singular Negro and other slaves, mules, horses, stock and all buildings, etc.

Sir William Lemon, who was an MP in Cornwall for 54 years, is one of several local people mentioned in the will as trustees.

It is not clear if Lemon was a slave owner himself. The History of Parliament website describes him as a staunch friend to the abolition of the slave trade.

A map, created by CartoDB and shared by the University College London (UCL), shows that 17 addresses across Cornwall were linked to slave ownership or to people who received a payout after slavery was abolished in 1833.

Each address can, of course, be linked to several people.

The following addresses have been identified - note many streets have been renumbered since then. All details can be found on the website for the UCL's Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership

The property is linked to Samuel Long, who owned properties in Jamaica. It is also estimated that he owned 222 male slaves and 221 female slaves.

Park, Landulph, Saltash

The property is linked to George Cotsford Call, who lived between 1784 and 1855. His father was MP for Callington for 17 years.

It is not clear whether he actually owned slaves, however he received a compensation after the abolition of slavery for being the trustee of the marriage settlement of his sister Catherine and Henry Mackinnon, who owned slaves in Antigua.

Bodmin

Two people linked to slave ownership have been identified in Bodmin.

Eldred Lewis Blight Pearse, who lived between 1808 and 1878, received a compensation.

William Michell (1796 - 1872) received some compensation for the slaves on Cradley estate on Tobago and for 122 slaves on another estate.

"William Michell was identified in the will of Rev. William Sloane Wilson as the MP for Bodmin in Cornwall," the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership reports.

Pencarrow, Egloshayle

Sir John Molesworth 4th Bart. (1705 - 1766) is linked to this address. He was the MP for Newport and for Cornwall.

His great-uncle, Hender Molesworth, was a slave owner and Governor of Jamaica.

Sir John and his son William were the owners of 3,269 acres of land in St Dorothy.

Truthan, St Erme

Edward Collins the younger, who lived between 1782 and 1855, is linked to this address.

As mortgagee, he received, with other people, compensation for the slaves on the Whim estate on Tobago.

Rectory, St Allen

Rev. George Kemp, who lived between 1799 and 1842, was granted compensation for two slaves in Barbados.

Rectory, Tregassick Road, Gerrans

Judith Campbell Longlands (ne Pendrill) and Rev. William David Longlands (1792 - 1866), who inherited New Milns in Hanover, Jamaica , of Judith's grandfather William Campbell.

They and Judith's sisters received compensation for the slaves on the estate.

Mylor

Two people have been identified for this address - George Webbe and his son Charles. Charles (1799 - 1839) unsuccessfully claimed a compensation for slaves on Stoney Hill, Nevis.

Flushing

Thompson Spottiswood, who passed away in 1796, owned slaves.

Penryn

Rev. George Kemp is also linked to a Penryn address.

Falmouth

Anna Binny (ne Marshall) has links to Jamaica. Her parents married there and baptised their children there.

"Enslaved people on Mount Moses were registered by Rev. Edward Marshall as owner and natural guardian to his children Anna and Lucy Marshall in 1817," Legacies of British Slave-ownership reports.

"It's not clear why only two of Edward Marshall's children are mentioned in the earlier registers. They may have inherited a small number of enslaved people rather than a share in the estate."

Richard Bosanquet (1735 - 1809), known as 'Richard the Rake', is also on the list. He was a director of the East India Company and a partner in Bosanquet and Fatio, Hamburg merchants which also had West Indian interests.

Robert Henry Church, who died in 1848, was a slave owner and attorney on Grenada.

Legacies of British Slave-ownership reports: "He left his estate to be divided six ways, including two shares to two daughters of Jane Sangster deceased a free woman of colour."

George Munro (1766 - 1824) owned slaves. William Ross and Robert Robertson were granted compensation, as the administrators of Munro, for Plantation Alness in British Guiana.

Budock

George Cavell Webbe was the son of George Webbe - mentioned above. He was named 'tenant-for-life' of his father's unnamed estates on Nevis.

Madron

George Pinnock (1801 - 1880) received compensation for nine slaves on the Esher estate in St Mary.

Trengwainton, Penzance

This property, as mentioned above, is linked to Sir Rose Price (1768 - 1834).

He was granted compensation for the Spring Garden estate and his executers were given compensation for the main family estate, Worthy Park, and for Mickleton Pen.

2 Wellington Terrace, Madron, Penzance

This address is linked to Rev. William Sloane Wilson, who was granted compensation for the slaves on the Cradley estate, Tobago, and on another Tobago estate which is currently unknown.

2 Penrose Terrace, Penzance

Elizabeth Bryan (1792 - 1859) was given a compensation for six slaves on Hall's Delight in Clarendon, Jamaica.

Penzance

John Price of Penzance, the elder, was listed as the owner of 225 acres of land in St Catherine, 500 acres in St Ann and 2869 acres in St John.

Mary Elizabeth Pennant Bryan is also on the list for Penzance. She died in 1890.

Many stories of African people taken away from their countries before being brought to Cornwall were actually shared at the time.

The published diary of John Tregerthen Short (JTS) of St Ives, narrates how, on Decembre 9, 1825, a French ship called Perle docked in St Ives harbour from St John's, on the coast of Africa, having on board five slaves.

According to the African Institution, the ship initially had on board 244 slaves, including 30 or 40 children. Most of them were transferred into another boat at sea, and two boys died.

By the time Perle arrived in St Ives, most of the crew had perished.

Penwith Local History Group reports that two of the five slaves on board did not survive their time in England. The other three were freed in 1826. Their names are not known.

A very famous former slave and abolitionist who visited Cornwall was Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa.

According to his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, published in 1789, he was from the Eboe region of the Kingdom of Benin.

He was born in 1745 and enslaved as a child and taken to a Caribbean. He was subsequently sold several times before purchasing his freedom in 1766.

Olaudah visited Falmouth when he was about 12 years old.

He wrote: "All my alarms began to subside when we got sight of land; and at last the ship arrived at Falmouth, after a passage of thirteen weeks.

"Every heart on board seemed gladdened on our reaching the shore, and none more than mine. The captain immediately went on shore, and sent on board some fresh provisions, which we wanted very much: we made good use of them, and our famine was soon turned into feasting, almost without ending.

"It was about the beginning of the spring 1757 when I arrived in England, and I was near twelve years of age at that time. I was very much struck with the buildings and the pavement of the streets in Falmouth; and, indeed, any object I saw filled me with new surprise."

Olaudah's owner was staying with a Falmouth family, whose young daughter befriended Olaudah very quickly.

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Remembering Cornwall's role in the slave trade on Black History Month - Cornwall Live

Kazakhstan is moving towards reforms progressively and steadily, with the state now supporting and financing NGOs and the political opposition enjoying full parliamentary rights, Aida Balaeva, the information and social development minister, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Aida Balaeva has been Kazakhstans minister of information and social development since May 2020. She has a degree in sociological sciences and has held various positions, including deputy akim (mayor) of the capital (then Astana). She answered written questions sent by EURACTIVs Georgi Gotev.

We have already reported that President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev initiated a whole package of reforms, including in the field of human rights and civil society. What steps is your ministry taking to support these initiatives?

As you may know, this year is a special one for our country. We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Independence. For the Kazakh people, it is a period of great changes. I am talking primarily about civil society. This concept appeared here along with the gaining of Independence.

Of course, there were serious difficulties of a social and economic nature. But time has shown that we have managed to create an active independent community of non-governmental organizations. So, at the dawn of Independence, only a couple of dozen NGOs worked in Kazakhstan. Today, 17,000 NGOs are actively working in the country, more than 22,000 public organisations are registered in total. This means that nowadays, in any field, processes are taking place with the participation of civil society institutions. And state funding for NGO projects increased from 100 thousand to 45 million US dollars, and in total, about 37,000 people are employed in the civil sector.

In the process of active development of the civil society, laws and strategic documents were adopted and improved. All this ultimately allowed the non-governmental sector to become the most important cluster of the countrys socio-economic sphere.

Today we see that modern Kazakhstani civil society is ready to become an engine to implement the package of reforms in the country announced by President Tokayev since it has become a reliable partner of the state.

Is there any centralized body in Kazakhstan for mediation between the state and society?

We have created a powerful consultative and advisory body the National Council of Public Trust, where the most pressing problems of the state and society are discussed by leading experts, well-known public figures with the direct participation of the President of the country.

It has been in operation for only two years but has already significantly increased the publics confidence in the authorities. First, there is evidence from sociological studies. Secondly, the principle of openness of its work and the constant rotation of its composition gives the society a sense of belonging, delegation of powers, since the members of the Council become personalities from the people, the so-called leaders of public opinion.

Of course, it is difficult, and in some places impossible, to cover all the problems of society within the framework of one Council. The NCPC is the supreme body. Besides it, we still have many platforms for interaction between the state and society. The fact is that one of the key cases of the Presidents reform package is the concept of the Hearing State. Now it is being introduced into the functional work of every state body. The main provision of the concept is an obligatory reaction to the opinion of society and the civil sector. For example, government agencies have designated authorized officials for interaction with NGOs. The Coordination Council and regional councils for interaction with NGOs at various government levels are successfully operating, where issues of interaction between government bodies and civil society institutions are discussed.

In other words, the development of an active civil society is a priority for state policy, especially considering that Kazakhstan is moving towards further democratization.

Is the state financially supporting the NGOs?

Non-governmental organizations receive financial support through state social orders, grants and awards for NGOs. Today it is recognized in many countries of the world and the most effective method of supporting the development of NGOs.

In Kazakhstan, over the past five years, allocated funds for state social orders have grown by 54.8%. Last year, more than 1600 projects were implemented across the country in various areas of societys activities. Hundreds of organizations were given the opportunity for further development, and thousands of people were employed.

The operator of the grant funding is a specially created Center for Support of Civil Initiatives. The Center itself can receive support both from the state and from extra-budgetary sources, for example, from foreign donors. At the same time, the Operator Center is obliged to annually publicly report to the public on the work done. It is a practice in such countries as the USA, Russia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, etc.

Can you give an example of what you consider successful activities of NGOs and civil society?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, civil society, primarily activists and volunteers, played a big role in preventing the pharmaceutical business from entering into price collusion, not creating an artificial shortage of necessary medicines, so that quarantine measures were respected by food and entertainment entities. It became clear that there was a need for legislative regulation of public control.

In this regard, our ministry has developed a draft law, On public control, which was actively discussed on many platforms. Public control is a tool that will directly influence many processes in the country, including ensuring the transparency of the state and quasi-state sectors.

Also, in our country, the institution of public councils of various levels has been developed under the central state, local executive bodies. Their activities have also recently been regulated by law. Thanks to this, the procedure for forming the composition of public councils has been improved, which makes the competitive selection of members more transparent and accessible, the quantitative composition of public councils has been determined, their powers, rights and obligations have been expanded etc.

I should note that today almost all laws applied in the field of social relations are undergoing a process of improvement, updating the norms in accordance with modern realities.

Earlier this year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights violations in Kazakhstan. The document mentions a significant increase in pressure on non-governmental organizations. Will Kazakhstan work to implement the recommendations of the European Parliament?

Kazakhstan observes deliberately and steadily its obligations in the field of human rights. This is an indisputable fact. Indeed, today large-scale political transformations have been launched in terms of protecting human rights, building a democratic society and introducing the concept of a hearing state. Among the current achievements, I want to note the adoption of a new law on peaceful assemblies, the decriminalization of defamation, the humanization of certain articles of the criminal code, the introduction of a 30% electoral quota for women and youth, as well as the accession of Kazakhstan to the Second Optional Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.

In accordance with the amendments to the Law On Political Parties, registration barriers for the creation of political parties have been lowered. Now in Kazakhstan, it is necessary to collect only 20 thousand signatures instead of 40 thousand.

An institution of parliamentary opposition has been introduced, for which legal guarantees are assigned to initiate parliamentary hearings on topical issues of the life of the state and society, to introduce alternative bills to those government bills on which the opposition does not agree, as well as the opportunity to speak at joint sessions of the chambers of Parliament, plenary meetings of the Mazhilis and other events within the walls of the Parliament by the leaders or representatives of opposition factions.

These novels represent an important political reform. They fully correspond to the main positions of the report of the European Commission for Democracy through Law, On the Role of the Opposition in a Democratic Parliament.

Regarding the checks reflected in the resolution in relation to a number of civil sector organizations, it should be noted that violations in 13 non-profit organizations were identified as part of the monitoring carried out by the state revenue authorities. The fact of violations is confirmed by the leaders of these organizations.

I want to emphasize that the actions of the tax authorities in terms of control over the financial activities of organizations are carried out solely with the aim of ensuring the transparency of the use of funds received from abroad.

You know that the requirement to provide non-profit organizations with a report on their activities, including information on funds received from foreign sources, is in line with modern international practice. Such norms are contained in the legislation of different countries of the world, such as the USA, Great Britain, Israel, etc.

In general, I want to say that Kazakhstan is moving towards reforms progressively. We are a relatively young state, but over the 30 years of independence, we have done a lot for our country to develop and Kazakhstanis to feel free and protected.

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Kazakhstan minister: We steadily observe our obligations in the field of human rights - EURACTIV

Alness, Ankerville, Belladrum, Borlum, Brahan, Cromarty, Culcairn, Dingwall, Dunrobin, Edderton, Fearn, Foulis, Fyrish, Glastullich, Golspie, Inverness, Kilcoy, Kilmorack, Kiltearn, Kingillie, Kintail, Limlair, Lochaber, Nigg, Novar, Rosehall, Ross, Tain, Tarlogie.

Mainly in the ancient county of Berbice, these distinct names of rural villages and places spread all along the flat, muddy coastline of Guyana, roll off our tropical tongues with some unease, and we mispronounce many of the Gaelic ones daily, without stopping to consider the intertwined history or geography.

Yet, our legacy of labels for former lucrative slave-powered sugarcane estates and similar holdings of coffee and cotton, is a shared story. It originates from across the other side of the Atlantic, in the mountainous and misty, loch-filled Scottish Highlands about 5, 000 miles away, in a cold country of close-knit, kilt-wearing clans that collectively chose to conveniently forget and efface their lead in British and personal empire building.

All around us, the human and genetic consequences are evident, with surnames like Anderson, Brown, Cameron, Campbell, Davidson, Douglas, Fraser, Gordon, Graham, Grant, Henderson, Hughes, Johnston, Macdonald, Mackintosh, Maclean, Malcolm, McAllister, Miller, Patterson, Robertson, Scott, Shand, Sinclair, Stewart, Thomson, Walker and Wilson.

For more than 20 years, the historian Dr David Alston has been on an often lonely road, carefully researching the extensive role of Highland Scots in the transatlantic African slave trade, and the profitable plantations of the Caribbean, but especially the prized jewel British Guiana, where they came to seek, make, keep and add to their fortunes.

From his restored, 19th-century merchant home in the Scottish seaside town of Cromarty with a population of just about 800, looking out on the firth, Dr Alston posted the unvarnished truths of his findings on a public website simply called, Slaves and Highlanders https://www.spanglefish.com/slavesandhighlanders/index.asp?pageid=261689

He is among the first Scottish historians to draw attention to the prominent part played by his countrymen and key figures from within his small community, in the slave trade and the indentureships that followed abolition.

Due for release this month as a scholarly book of the same name, subtitled Silenced histories of Scotland and the Caribbean, his 400-page publication by Edinburgh University Press, is an important and courageous collection of evidence that seeks to help correct the national narrative, including the myth that the Scots were more egalitarian than the English, and that they did not engage in the slave trade.

In profound parts, as painful as it is plaintive, Dr Alstons dedicated work offers powerful glimpses of the victims and perpetrators of widespread abuses, the bloody terror and casual horror of everyday estate life and the brutally suppressed revolts, from the initial haunting page with the severed and bleeding head of a slave taken from a reproduction for Cromarty Courthouse Museums Slaves and Highlanders exhibition in 2007, based on an illustration by Joshua Bryant for his account of the August 1823 Demerara Slave Rebellion published in Georgetown, in 1824.

Above it, Dr Alston cites a historical excerpt, [It was] a scene which none could well bear, the young men were getting bewildered with it, but one old Scotchman Donald Young was as cool as if he had been shooting a partridge . . . Orders were given [to other slaves] to cut off the heads of some of those shot; their own comrades, who had just seen them in life, were most inhumanely set to mangle the bodies of those who had been their friends, sawing off their heads with cane knives and screwing them onto sharpened long poles.

His book details the powerful family links and clan networks among the plantation and slave merchant owners, that would hurtle many of them into high political office in the United Kingdom, even as they used the proceeds from slavery and generous compensation to build lavish mansions, several of which remain in Cromarty.

Pointing out that slave ownership was not confined to the upper classes, and that an enslaved person was considered a sound investment by ordinary Scots willing to inflict extreme punishments, the academic shows wealth from the Caribbean was used to transform the Highlands, becoming linked with trade to and from the British colonies and with the financial systems on which the plantations depended. Key chapters also look at the Highlands Black History or the presence in the area of enslaved Black people, of free Black servants and of the mixed race children of Scots and enslaved and free coloured women.

Scots were involved in every stage of the slave trade: from captaining slaving ships to auctioning captured Africans in the colonies and hunting down those who escaped from bondage. This book focuses on the Scottish Highlanders who engaged in or benefitted from these crimes against humanity in the Caribbean Islands and Guyana, some reluctantly but many with enthusiasm and without remorse. Their voices are clearly heard in the archives, while in the same sources their victims stories are silenced reduced to numbers and listed as property.

In an advance copy, he writes, If we had a keen vision and feeling for all the ordinary human lives destroyed or marred by slavery it would indeed shake the frames of our being. In writing this book I have tried to hear something from beyond the silence. Something not merely from the white northern Scots but from the enslaved Africans and their descendants, from those who reclaimed their freedom, from free women of colour, from the Black Caribs of St Vincent, from house servants, and from children of mixed race who found themselves in the increasingly racist society of Britain in the mid-1800s.

He adds, But these voices remain a whisper. And yet even that whisper is difficult for us to bear. We (The Scots) are indeed well wadded with stupidity and are inclined too readily to wrap ourselves in comfortable narratives of Scottish and Highland victimhood, a reference to the Highland clearances, when thousands of tenants were evicted from agricultural lands.

In 1833, Britains Parliament finally abolished slavery. Negotiations between the state and the main grouping defending slave owners were protracted because of the vested interests represented in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The negotiated settlement brought emancipation but only with the system of apprenticeship tying the newly freed men and women into another form of unfree labour for fixed terms, and the grant of 20 million in compensation, to be paid by the British taxpayers to slave owners, the University College London states on its invaluable website, related to the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/project/context/.

The record sum is the equivalent of about 17 billion. But that money was given to 3 000 slave owning families for loss of human property and represented 40 percent of the British Treasurys annual spending budget. The Treasury famously tweeted in 2018, The amount of money borrowed for the Slavery Abolition Act was so large that it wasnt paid off until 2015. Which means that living British citizens helped pay to end the slave trade. It was later deleted, after causing an uproar.

The West India house of Cromartys clansmen Davidsons & Barkly collected 164,875, with the equivalent purchasing power today of 14.25 million for dozens of estates across the Caribbean from Antigua to Trinidad, and including British Guianas Plantations Highbury, Bellevue and Rose Hall. It was shared among just four partners, 32-year-old-old Henry Davidson and his younger brother William, 66-year-old Aeneas Barkly and his only son Henry.

ID reads about Henry Barkly who would become the Governor of British Guiana, and later Jamaica, prompting Lord Grey, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, to refer to his remarkable skill and ability in addressing the colonys economic issues by introducing indentured servants from India and Asia.

See the article here:

A whisper behind the silence - Stabroek News

Since the dawn of capitalism collective commons have been challenged by the capitalist class in a logic of private appropriation

From the 16th to the 19th century the various countries that one after the other fell under the yoke of capitalism all went through vast periods of destruction of collective commons, a process that has been well documented by such authors as Karl Marx (1818-1883). Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) in The Accumulation of Capital, Karl Polanyi (1886-1964), Silvia Federici (1942) in Caliban and the Witch.[1]A great film by Raoul Peck about the young Karl Marx[2]. visualizes examples of the destruction of collective commons with dramatic scenes of the brutal repression of poor people collecting wood for fuel in German Rhineland forests and Karl Marxs stand in support of their centuries old legal and traditional right to do so that was running contrary to capitalistic logic. Daniel Bensad wrote [Les Dpossds : Karl Marx, les voleurs de bois et le droit des pauvres- (in French) a concise description of the process of destroying collective commons.[3]

The usurpation of feudal and clan property, were just so many idyllic methods of primitive accumulation

In Capital, Karl Marx describes certain forms of grabbing by the capitalist system in Europe: The spoliation of church properties, the fraudulent alienation of the State domains, the robbery of the common lands, the usurpation of feudal and clan property, and its transformation into modern private property under circumstances of reckless terrorism, were just so many idyllic methods of primitive accumulation. They conquered the field for capitalistic agriculture, made the soil part and parcel of capital, and created for the town industries the necessary supply of a free and outlawed proletariat. Capital, Book I, eighth section. Chap. 27[4]

The turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, one more idyllic proceeding of primitive accumulation

While capitalist production was being imposed on Europe it was also spreading all over the globe: The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalised the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production. These idyllic proceedings are the chief momenta of primitive accumulation.[5]

According to Marx, colonial rule, public credit and modern finance are among the different methods of primitive capitalist accumulation

Marx very succinctly describes the four centuries leading up to the generalization of the industrial revolution at the time Capital was written: The different momenta of primitive accumulation distribute themselves now, more or less in chronological order, particularly over Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, and England. In England at the end of the 17th century, they arrive at a systematic combination, embracing the colonies, the national debt, the modern mode of taxation, and the protectionist system. These methods depend in part on brute force, e.g., the colonial system. But, they all employ the power of the State, the concentrated and organised force of society, to hasten, hot-house fashion, the process of transformation of the feudal mode of production into the capitalist mode, and to shorten the transition[6] .

Since then, capitalism has continued its offensive against collective commons for two reasons: 1. The commons have not yet entirely disappeared and therefore they limit the total domination of capital, which consequently seeks to appropriate them or reduce them to the bare minimum. 2. Important struggles have recreated commons during the 19th and 20th centuries. These commons are constantly being challenged.

During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, popular movements recreated social commons by developing systems of collective support

During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, popular movements recreated social commons by developing systems of collective support: cooperatives, strike funds, solidarity funds. The victories of the Russian revolution also led to a short period of creation of common properties, until Stalinism degenerated into dictatorship and shamefully privileged a bureaucratic caste as described by Leon Trotsky in 1936[7].

In many capitalist countries (in varied degrees of development) the governments realized that to maintain social peace and even to avoid a resurgence of revolutionary movements some scraps had to be thrown to the populations. This resulted in the development of welfare states.

The human right to development also implies the full realization of the right of peoples to self-determination which includes the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources

After WW2, from the second half of the 1940s to the end of the 1970s the wave of decolonizations mainly in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East, and the victorious revolutions in China (1949) and Cuba (1959) led to the redeployment of some collective commons notably through the nationalizations of strategic infrastructures (Suez canal in 1956 by the Nasser regime) and commodities such as copper by Allende in the early 1970s and petroleum resources (Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Iran).

This period of reaffirming collective commons is expressed in several United Nations documents from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the 1986 Declaration on the Right of Development which in article 1 paragraph 2 affirms: The human right to development also implies the full realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, which includes,() the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources.[8] This inalienable right of peoples to full sovereignty over their resources is constantly challenged by the IMF, the World Bank and the majority of governments in the interests of big private corporations.

Collective commons go from the collective property of the land to public services that arise from social struggles

In this article we will not establish a stricto senso definition of what are collective commons. The term will be used in a wide generic sense. This will include the collective ownership of lands which under different forms has marked the history of Humanity right up to the most recent concepts of collective commons; public services which are 20th century social conquests won through social struggles and financed through taxation. Collective commons also includes workers own solidarity structures that grew with early capitalism such as solidarity and strike funds, cooperatives, mutual loans, not forgetting more recent developments such as labour laws and welfare state structures won by the working classes during the 20th century and analyzed in an original manner by Bernard Friot.[9] In a collective commons environment mercantile relations are either excluded or reduced to minimal proportions.

An extract of Jean-Marie Harribeys book, La richesse, la valeur et linestimable suggests that the ever worsening ecological crises would stimulate renewed interest in the notion of the commons [arising] from the awareness of the existence of a common heritage of humanity and therefore of the need to preserve certain material resources (water, air, soil, forests, raw materials) and also immaterial resources (climate, knowledge, culture, health, financial stability, peace, etc.).[10]

In a collective commons environment mercantile relations are either excluded or reduced to minimal proportions

The activity of social reproduction has also come to the forefront of concerns about the commons through the work of feminist movements. As Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya and Nancy Fraser write in their manifesto Feminism for the 99%,[11] Finally, capitalist society harbors a social-reproductive contradiction: a tendency to commandeer for capitals benefit as much freereproductive labor as possible, without any concern for its replenishment. As a result, it periodically gives rise to crises of care, which exhaust women, ravage families, and stretch social energies to the breaking point (page 65). The authors define social reproduction as follows It encompasses activities that sustain human beings as embodied social beings who must not only eat and sleep but also raise their children, care for their families, and maintain their communities, all while pursuing their hopes for the future. These people-making activities occur in one form or another in every society. In capitalist societies, however, they must also serve another master, namely, capital, which requires that social-reproductive work produce and replenish labor power (page 68).

What the authors add later on brings us closer to the situation highlighted by the current multidimensional crisis of capitalism and the coronavirus pandemic: [Capitalism assumes]that there will always be sufficient energies to produce the laborers and sustain the social connections on which economic production, and society more generally, depend. In fact, social-reproductive capacities are not infinite, and they can be stretched to the breaking point. When a society simultaneously withdraws public support for social reproduction and conscripts its chief providers into long and grueling hours of low-paid work, it depletes the very social capacities on which it relies. (page 73)

When a society removes public support for social reproduction and, at the same time, forces the people on whom this burden rests to do back-breaking, poorly paid work, it exhausts the social capacities on which it depends

What is denounced in this passage allows us to better understand the fragility of capitalist society in the face of epidemics, the inability of governments to do what is necessary in time to best defend the population, the pressure put on workers in the essential and vital sectors to come to the aid of the population while, at the same time, as a result of the decisions of these same governments, they are underpaid, devalued and in insufficient numbers. The same can be said about the causes of the failure of governments to address the consequences of climate change and the under-equipment and lack of civil protection personnel in the face of increasingly frequent natural disasters.

Debt is one of financial capitalisms weapons of choice

Since the 1970s public debt has systematically been used as a means of grabbing commons, as much in the North as in the South. The CADTM, along with other social movements, has not ceased to denounce this since the 1980s. We have devoted a dozen books[12] and several hundred articles to this issue. It is very satisfying to see that more and more writers are now highlighting the issue of debt as a weapon against public property.[13]

Financial capitalism lives off sovereign debt

We cite once again Feminism for the 99%:

Far from empowering states to stabilize social reproduction through public provision, it authorizes finance capital to discipline states and publics in the immediate interests of private investors. Its weapon of choice is debt. Finance capital lives off of sovereign debt, which it uses to outlaw even the mildest forms of social-democratic provision, coercing states to liberalize their economies, open their markets, and impose austerity on defenseless populations. (page 77)

Some of the political policies imposed through debt repayment obligations have seriously hindered the capacity of states and populations to deal with public health crises including the coronavirus pandemic

All through the neoliberal offensive that has been the dominating ideological tendency since the 1980s, governments and different international institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF have insisted on the duty to repay external debt in order to generalize a tidal wave of privatizations of many countries strategic economic sectors, public services and natural resources, whether in developed countries or not. As a consequence, the previously existing tendency towards reinforcing collectivism has been reversed.

The list of assaults on public properties based on public debt is long. Some have accelerated the ecological crisis and the development of zoonoses: rapid deforestation, intensive animal farming and monocrops to gain foreign currencies in order to pay foreign debt, all of this in the framework of structural adjustment policies induced by the, already ill mentioned World Bank and IMF.

Struggle for the abolition of illegitimate debt

Some of the political policies imposed through debt repayment obligations have seriously hindered the capacity of states and populations to deal with public health crises including the coronavirus pandemic: stagnation or reduction of public health budgets, imposing compliance to medical patents, renouncing the use of generic drugs, giving up producing medical equipment domestically, preferring private sector medical treatment and medicine distribution, suppressing free access to medical care in many countries, reducing the quality of working conditions in the medical sector and introducing the private sector into numerous essential public health services.

Public debt = alienation of the State

Already, over a century and a half ago Marx put it in a nutshell: Public debt: the alienation of the state whether despotic, constitutional or republican marked with its stamp the capitalistic era.[14] Once we have become aware of the way repayment of public debt is instrumentalised to impose mortal neoliberal capitalist policies, we know we must fight for the cancellation of illegitimate debt.

Coming next part 2: Knowledge appropriation and Big Pharma profits during the pandemic

Acknowledgements to Alexis Cukier, Jean-Marie Harribey, Christine Pagnoulle, Brigitte Ponet, Frank Prouhet and Claude Qumar for their advice and suggestions. The author is entirely responsible for any errors.

Translated by Mike Krolikowski and Christine Pagnoulle

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The destruction and grabbing of collective commons - International Viewpoint

At the heart of abolition is the idea of abundance for all.

Many people hear the word abolition and think of endings of things. What I know of abolition is it is about beginnings how ideas of abundance can shift us away from systems of harm to systems of care. That investment in our beginnings and throughout our lives can bring wellness that is simply unimaginable in a world where slavery in any form is allowed to thrive.

When folks ask me about being an abolitionist, they often ask about what it means to believe in an end to prisons and policing. I always respond that abolition is not about endings, but rather about building alternatives to prisons and policing.

I am proud to say Im an abolitionist, because I follow the lead of hundreds of thousands who have been in abolition work for over 400 years now people who believe a future without slavery is not only possible, but necessary. The abolitionist movement has always been a movement of collectivism and working together to create new laws, new systems, new ways of being. It has always been a movement of solidarity between Black people and white people, poor people and rich people.

But why do we need abolition in 2021? We talk about the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 as an end to slavery in the United States, but this was not the case. We simply gave it a new forum and way of being: specifically, our incarceration systems, and therefore the policing systems that intersect with and regulate that system.

Many are still learning that the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place of their jurisdiction. This is a loophole that still allows legal slavery in our country. And if you havent seen the documentary film 13th by Ava DuVernay, I highly recommend it for deeper understanding.

At any given time, we have about 35,000 people incarcerated in Washington. Most people dont associate Washington State with the gravest versions of slavery via the 13th Amendment loophole the three strikes rule yet such practices originated here in a law passed by the legislature in 1993. We were the first state to say that you could be incarcerated for a lifetime for causing harm three times. The legacy of that law, and copycat laws around the country, led to an explosion of incarceration rates and costs over the last 25 years and greatly expanded the harms caused by incarceration.

When I say incarceration is slavery in action, I mean this literally. Until a decade ago in Washington state, if you were incarcerated and pregnant, you were shackled handcuffed by your hands and/or feet to a bed while you gave birth. This is a legacy of slavery in action. In Washington prisons, just like in all prisons, there are rations and rudimentary sleeping quarters shared with others, while other basic needs, such as menstrual products, are paid for by those who are incarcerated. We still allow incarcerated people to be paid well below minimum wage for prison work and to be contracted out for unprotected labor for private industry. We also have incarcerated people doing highly dangerous jobs, like putting out forest fires, with little pay, protections or ability to advance in the field once released.

We have work to do to make this right.

As an abolitionist, I believe in second chances. I know this is a moment when Washington and our country can make amends for what we have done and continue to do. And we took some important steps this last legislative session to imagine new ways our state can invest in care. The war on drugs has far too many neighbors arrested and incarcerated. Last session, we made one of the largest investments we have ever made as a state in treatment for substance use disorder and mental health services. We also passed 12 policing accountability laws this year, with a focus on the practices that need to change so everyone in our communities feels safer and we have more transparency. When care is centered around individuals and families, crime goes down and communities dont have to worry about harm happening, because everyone has what they need to be whole. This is a completely new way of thinking about governance as care instead of harm reduction. It is the promise of what abolition can deliver if we see mistakes as opportunities to identify peoples needs and how we can all work together to serve those needs.

As a Black woman, a mom, an abolitionist and a neighbor who works from love, I will continue striving with my colleagues to bring more and more abolitionist heart to our laws.

Kirsten Harris-Talley serves in the Washington House of Representatives for the 37th Legislative District, spanning from Seattles Beacon Hill to Skyway to Renton.

Read more of the Oct. 6-12, 2021 issue.

See more here:

The case for abolition at the Capitol | Oct. 6-12, 2021 - Real Change News

Comment

7 October 2021

Symon Hill envisages a world without the military and plots a path to peace.

Change is hard. Even radical activists can struggle to envisage a world without established institutions and practices. Perhaps this is why most anti-war campaigners stop short of calling for the abolition of military forces.

Theres a common misconception that armed personnel serve a positive function. In fact, armed forces fundamentally exist to engage in violence or to intimidate in the service of the powerful.

Of course, violence is varied, complex and nuanced. For much of history, armies were only raised when war broke out. In Europe, well into the 17th century, standing armies were viewed as a sign of tyranny. But as capitalism developed, the search for new markets and materials became entwined with violence as states moved to colonize, fight rival imperial powers and suppress dissent at home. As the pacifist socialist Bart de Ligt wrote in 1937: Without war, or at least the threat of war, capitalism does not work.

The military must also be challenged as an abusive institution that denies human rights to its own personnel. All too often, armed forces recruit the poorest people, who are brutalized through military training, sent to fight other poor people and then dumped back into poverty when they exit. Thats why progressive peace-loving people dont attack rank-and-file forces personnel as individuals, but focus on the authorities that employ them.

The justifications given for retaining armed forces dont stand up. Theres a common belief that soldiers are needed to defend a country, in case of invasion. Yet many of the worlds most militarily active countries prepare their forces for fighting abroad not at home. Equipment belonging to British armed forces, for example, is often designed for fighting in desert conditions. It would be of far less use if Russian troops landed in Cornwall. In the unlikely event that Russian troops did land in Cornwall, there can be little doubt that British troops would be deployed to guard government buildings, military installations and sites of commercial importance. But defending people and towns would be some way down the list of priorities. Acts of mass non-co-operation with invaders by civilians might well be a more effective form of resistance.

Another justification given for retaining armed forces is the work that they do delivering aid, tackling fires or floods and, recently, helping to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. We are rightly grateful to people who do these things but why do they need to be in an armed force? A country choosing to abolish its armed forces could transfer personnel to new or enlarged civilian services able to offer disaster relief.

So, how might this radical reform be carried out? A progressive government would need considerable political will to drive through such a policy, as the opposition from military leaders, arms companies and other countries would be hard to resist. But it has been done by Costa Rica, the only country to abolish its armed forces and enshrine the move into its constitution. (Icelands lack of a standing army is undermined by its military deals with NATO.)

It would require a powerful abolition movement, built through alliances with anti-militarist veterans and connections with other anti-militarist campaigners around the world. When armed forces are eventually disbanded there would be compensation to those losing their jobs, alongside offers of retraining.

Only a global campaign can lead to the abolition of all armed forces. Networks such as War Resisters International unite pacifists and anti-militarists around the world in campaigns such as these. Citizens can also call for an end to armed forces in our own countries, as well as continue to campaign against individual wars, weapons and arms deals. But ultimately it needs resistance against militarism as a whole.

Armed forces are not there to protect us, but to preserve the power of the powerful. Lets have the courage to say so.

Home page photo by Filip Andrejevic on Unsplash

This article is fromthe September-October 2021 issueof New Internationalist.You can access the entire archive of over 500 issues with a digital subscription.Subscribe today

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What if armed forces were abolished? - New Internationalist

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $1,977,000 grant to support Visualizing Abolition, the nations most ambitious and sustained art and prison abolition initiative, led by UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Associate Professor Gina Dent, and Rachel Nelson, Director of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences.

The funding provides three years of support for the development of new work by artists, musicians, humanists, and other researchers. Programs will include public online and in-person events, art exhibitions, postdoctoral fellowships, a faculty working group, and curriculum development that reaches across prison borders.

Visualizing Abolition launched in fall 2020 at UC Santa Cruz to examine the ways people see and understand issues of mass incarceration, detention, and policing in the United States and abroad, challenging the prevailing social, economic, and political worldviews that prisons promote.

Over the last, tumultuous year, we have created art exhibitions and online events bringing together artists and scholars to engage with the issue of prisons, carcerality, and abolition, Dent said. What we have come to understand is that there is a strong cultural attachment to prisons despite all the data that prove they perpetuate inequities and fail to make people safe.

Our goal with Visualizing Abolition is to emphasize the roles art, music, and culture can play in a different mode of knowing, enabling us to move towards a more just future. This funding from the Mellon Foundation bolsters our efforts and gives us the resources to build something lasting at UC Santa Cruz. We are so appreciative.

We are beyond grateful to the foundation for this support, Nelson added. Its especially thrilling to be able to continue this incredibly meaningful collaboration between the arts and humanities. The Institute of the Arts and Sciences was created in the Arts Division with the belief that the arts can bring together people from across the campus and in our communities around shared social justice concerns. Partnering with Professor Dent last year, we were able to highlight UC Santa Cruzs long and important commitment to prison abolition across the disciplines by featuring the work of current and emeriti faculty in the social sciences, arts, and humanities along with that of many collaborators. Its gratifying now to be able to cultivate new creative research and teaching on art and abolition through exhibitions and educational endeavors that cross prison borders.

The award funds a range of exhibitions and programming for the campus community and larger publics. A partnership with the San Jos Museum of Art, the largest contemporary art museum in Silicon Valley, will help to ensure the programs reach.

This is a transformative gift for UC Santa Cruz, Chancellor Cynthia Larive said. Visualizing Abolitionis poised to be one of the largest, most expansive public scholarship initiatives ever on art and prison abolition. This award allows us to increase the impact and visibility far beyond our university of the important scholarship unfolding on our campus about incarceration and social justice.

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Mellon Foundation award to support UC Santa Cruz's 'Visualizing Abolition' initiative - UC Santa Cruz