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Help bring democracy to the USThe citizens are stirring on both sides of the Atlantic in defence of democracy. In the US an eminent group, including Michael Rattner, Gore Vidal, Ramsey Clark and many others has just set up the International Endowment for Democracy -- an appeal for international help that "asks the people of the world to contribute towards helping to save (and institute for the first time) democracy in the United States." It only hurts when you laugh. Meanwhile, in Europe, where electorates appear to be equally turned off by the kind of representative democracy they have to live under, direct democracy is flourishing, according to a new report in Accountancy Business and the Public Interest, a journal that may not, hitherto, have been everybody's favourite beach read. This issue, though, is worth checking out for the substantial report on direct democracy in five countries in Europe, downloadable free here. April 4, 2006 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) The New oD TodayDear Readers, This blog has been moved to a new location. Hope you like the new design! All the posts from this blog have been moved there. And you can access all other past and present oD blogs from the same convenient place. http://www.opendemocracy.net/openblogs/blog/od/ Sign up to the new RSS feed and stay tuned for more oD aventures in blogdom. Thanks, December 5, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) China's modernisation and its discontentsThe catastrophic 50 mile toxic oil slick that is blighting Manchuria is only one symptom of the growing problems of China's modernisation. In openDemocracy earlier this year, the deputy minister of the environment Pan Yue warned of the limits to growth that China's disastrous environmental degradation will impose. Chemical spills pass, but the degree of air and water contamination, the falling water tables, the loss of agricultural land and the creeping desertification are not easy to reverse. There is a more fundamental problem at the heart of this and other obstacles to China's political and economic health -- the turbid official reaction, the continuing preference for cover up over action, the lack of transparency and acountability in the Chinese political system that magnifies the effect of such events. In another symptom of a dysfuntional system, the Chinese government has been battling to contain the damage caused by a copper trader who placed a series of wrong bets on copper futures earlier this year. Continue reading "China's modernisation and its discontents" November 25, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) openDemocracy widgetHey Mac users and oD lovers, check out the openDemocracy widget by Marcus Gilroy-Ware. It gives you updates on new articles directly on your desktop. You know you want it. November 14, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) Don't be a lawyer in ChinaPresident Hu Jintao's visit to the UK has stimulated a discussion in the British media about whether Britain should stand up to China on questions of human rights and the rule of law , thus risking China's disfavour, or whether it's legitimate to concentrate on expanding economic ties and keeping criticism private. Tony Blair, asked what he would talk about with Hu Jintao, began his list with economic issues. His list never did reach human rights, or China's public desire that the EU arms embargo, imposed after Tiananmen, should be lifted.
Continue reading "Don't be a lawyer in China" November 9, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) The strange ways of FalungongHu JIntao, the president of China, is due for a big welcome during his two day state visit to Britain: not only does he get to stay with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, but the town is to be floodlit in red, in perhaps a misjudged attempt to make him feel at home. The East, of course, isn't really Red any more. Perhaps it's a sign that Chinese Communism has morphed seamlessly from threat to heritage, without passing through anything as definitive as collapse. There are vocal opponents of the state visit of course. Mr Hu is a particularily resonant figure for the Tibetans, for instance, since he was party secretary in Lhasa in 1989, when Beijing ordered a brutal crackdown on demonstrations and imposed martial law, months before the more celebrated repression in Tiananmen Square. Also much in evidence in London over the next few days, though he claims the timing is a coicidence, is Chen Yonglin, formerly the first secretary of the Chinese consulate in Australia, who defected in June and has since been a vocal critic of the regime. Mr Chen appeared at what was described as a press conference in London's Foreign Press Association, along with three British politicians. The press conference was sponsored by an organisation identified only as the FSC Centre. Inquiries produeced the response that this was the "Future Science and Culture Centre" in Cambridge. You may be none the wiser, and nor was oD. But it began to feel like Falungong. And so it proved. Now there is nothing wrong with Falungong putting its case against the Chinese government: they have as much right to do that as anyone else. But why the subterfuge? And why the video crews filming the audience, as well as the speakers? And why the still photographer taking pictures of everyone who asked a question? If Falungong advocates democracy and truth, as they say they do, how about a little transparency in their own operations? November 7, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Bad democracyAn Anti-Uribe blogger in Columbia, links to Isabel Hilton's article, Álvaro Uribe’s gift: Colombia’s mafia goes legit and says he feels it shows that scepticism in the world is greater than the Columbian press - or government - would make it seem. Is anybody as surprised as I am that Silvio Berlusconi is leading over Uribe in the current results of openDemocracy's BAD democracy awards? Ibn ad Dunya on Fustat nominates his own candidates for Egypt and the Arab world. In Norway, an oD fan votes for John Bolton. October 29, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) openDemocracy event in New YorkObviously, everyone in NY should come to this. I'm very excited about the speakers. Check out Anthony Barnett's interview with Mary Robinson about her human rights work from 2003. In New York, openDemocracy, the The Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, and New York Society for Ethical Culture present: "Is a FAIRER Globalization Possible?" *Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, and President of Realising Rights: Ethical Globalisation Initiative Continue reading "openDemocracy event in New York" October 24, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) Arabamerican.netIt's a pleasant surprise to see openDemocracy's RSS feed included on the ArabAmerican.net news portal (in the right hand column). It's really simple to set something like this up. With more than 4 new articles a day, it's a good service too. October 19, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Response to Barnett and HiltonMarc Schulman on the blog American Future, carefully uncovers what he says are leftist, anti-American flaws in Anthony Barnett and Isabel Hilton's recent democracy article on openDemocracy. "Dangerously naive," he says. Him or them? Singabloodypore rallies behind openDemocracy and says it's time to fight back against threats to democracy and human rights. October 19, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) German election blogIt seems appropriate to announce the launch of Michael Naumann's election blog from Germany where I have been for the past week. Election posters are hanging everywhere in the streets of Berlin. My German is nowhere near good enough to make sense of the newspapers, and I'm looking forward to his insights. Naumann is editor and publisher of Die Zeit. In 2003 he wrote a short-lived column on openDemocracy which was immensely popular. Check his new blog regularly from now until September 18. Already his first post is jam-packed with information. And murder x 9... August 16, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) openDemocracy shortlisted for awardopenDemocracy has been shorlisted for the New Statesman New Media Awards in the category of "Contribution to civic society". Other candidates are My Society super star Not Apathetic, Public Whip, and TheyWorkForYou. Congratulations to the brilliant folks behind all three projects. Losing to them wouldn't hurt so much. Losing to Net House Prices (cool site, but how on earth did they make that category?) would. June 17, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) openDemocracy goes Creative CommonsMost people have heard of copyright. It means you can't just pluck things off the internet and publish them on your own website. And that you shouldn't download Britney Spears music onto your iPod without paying for it. In many cases it also locks down science, scholarship, culture and development because someone needs to make a profit. Copyright is good. But sometimes it is used in bad ways. openDemocracy wants to be good. We don't publish articles to make a profit. And most of the authors on this site write with no pay because they really care about the issues. The more people who read the things they write, the more hope we have for dialogue and understanding worldwide. So we've been thinking: it's time to change our copyright terms to make it easier for you to share the articles - and the ideas - with anyone you like. From today openDemocracy is publishing the majority of its articles (subject to author agreement) under Creative Commons licenses. Today is a great day. We're inviting you to visit your favourite article, check if it is licensed under the Creative Commons, and then republish it in any non-commercial medium of your choice. Got a blog? Do it! Work for a non-profit organisation with a members newsletter? Do it! Are you the editor of the school newspaper? Do it! Want to read our articles aloud and podcast them? We want you to think of this site as a resource for your work. Free, simple, permission granted in advance. But openDemocracy also wants to survive. We ask that you follow some simple guidelines for attribution. And commercial publishers must pay for the rights to republish just as before. If we see you are using our gift to enrich yourself, we will send you an invoice with the thundering speed of lightning. Newspaper editors, we welcome you here. Siva Vaidhyanathan has written an article celebrating the Creative Commons and our decision to join. And you can browse through a selection of some of the hundreds of articles from the archive we have set free on openDemocracy's home page. I'm so excited about this move I could burst. If more scholars and writers, (and publications) had the courage to set their ideas free, the world would already be a better place. Congratulations to our generous authors, who have embraced this idea enthusiastically. (If you like the idea too, consider making a small donation. I'm hoping to prove the people who would consider this commercial suicide wrong. Free thinking! Not free beer.) June 13, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) oD HQHossein Derkhshan (aka Hoder - the Iranian blogger) has posted photos of openDemocracy headquarters on his Flickr photo-sharing account from his recent visit to London. Ever wonder what we look like in action?
Here's Caspar Henderson, Dominic Hilton, and a sneak peak at Isabel Hilton (no relation to Dominic). * May 11, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) How I am votingPeople often asked me what openDemocracy actually stands for. I have always said (sounding ever more precious by the second) that it stands for openness, thinking hard, dialogue and, of course, democracy - but, as an organisation, doesn't support any political party or movement. But, I add, this does not mean that people who work at or with openDemocracy are , as citizens - or in the UK case, subjects - political eunuchs. This remains the case. openDemocracy does not endorse or support any political campaign or party. But those of us who work for it or with it may do so as individuals. I think we should be up front about about this. Continue reading "How I am voting" May 4, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) Dominic Hilton on FiveLive tonightopenDemocracy's great Dominic Hilton will be on BBC's FiveLive tonight talking about "how to get British yoof' engaged in politics, or something". You may remember his article on fashionable anti-americanism, and more recently "Is Britain a Banana Republic?". On the radio, it's harder to get away with phrases like, "Attractively-packaged, nice tasting, creamy, chocolaty, cookie-dough anti-Americanism that clogs the arteries and numbs the brain". But if anyone can do it, Dominic can. Watch him live or later on the Net. Continue reading "Dominic Hilton on FiveLive tonight" April 29, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Isabel Hilton on BBC in 20 minutesopenDemocracy's editor, Isabel Hilton is going to be on BBC Radio 4's programme, Thinking Allowed at 4pm (GMT). You can listen online wherever you are, live or later. Isabel will be speaking on how working conditions in Chinese factories have changed in tact with the economy over the past 30 years. Read her recent article in Granta (issue 89): "Made in China: what became of the workers' paradise?". Continue reading "Isabel Hilton on BBC in 20 minutes" April 20, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Why do butterflies flutter?
April 6, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Video from NY event on Social Securty
Watch 128k stream (slower internet) You need RealPlayer (free) to watch the video. March 29, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Letter to Blunkett about democracyFor those of you who missed it in today's Guardian (UK), here is openDemocracy editor-in-chief Anthony Barnett's letter in response to former home secretary David Blunkett's piece in that newspaper, which in addition to defining englishness feebly in our global multicultural times etc - tried to nick the phrase "open democracy". Scandalous! Below is the uncut version of the letter: Letters Editors, The Guardian Continue reading "Letter to Blunkett about democracy" March 23, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Debating social security in New YorkIt's easy to forget how unusual this whole idea of open debate is between people who fundamentally disagree with each other. Last night openDemocracy co-sponsored an event on Social Security Crisis (Or Not) in the United States with speakers Paul Krugman, Michael Tanner, and Joshua Micah Marshall (see biogs below). Continue reading "Debating social security in New York" March 16, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) The longest discussion in the world?Well, the longest on openDemocracy for sure. A discussion, prompted by the BBC's The Power of Nightmares TV series, which has ranged far and wide over months, in marathon style, reached a momentous 1000 posts on 4 March. The thread's initiator David Thompson commented: " March 8, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) IslamOnline interviews openDemocracyMy pal and openDemocracy colleague Caspar Melville was interviewed in a live chat on IslamOnline.net in Qatar this afternoon. The topic was religion and democracy. You can read the whole thing here. But here's a morsel: Q: "Religion is a threat to the world; democracy is the key for now...." A: "Well Tom that's certainly a forthrightly expressed point of view - and one no doubt shared by others. Perhaps we could call it militant secularism. The problem for me is that it seems to me to come from precisely the same kind of place, or impulse, as any other militant, fundamentalist perspective. It proceeds from the sense that you have already made up you mind about the world, everyone else (hundreds of millions) are wrong, or ignorant, or have 'false consciousness'. It seems so odd that you have posted the message on IslamOnline.net Its as if you came here precisely to say that, not, as i would hope, to find out more engage in dialogue and try and challenge some of your own assumptions- which are always the ones which need to be challenged first. "I think a bit of humility and listening, finding out and bothering to try and understand might make the difference here. Otherwise it's just your militant position against theirs, or whose got the biggest guns, which would be a shame." March 7, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Wikipedia for everSolana is right to enthuse about Wikipedia. What it shows is the power of what can be called co-creation. Co-creation is very different from two things that have grown fast on the web: forums and blogs. Forums are a kind of live letters page. They contribute to an argument or debate, but often ramble off into semi-private exchanges. Sometimes brilliant, other times unreadable to anyone else, they can be very uneven and time-consuming. Blogs are multiplying by the thousands, even millions. They are competitive and very individualistic. Even when written jointly like this one, they strive to make their voice heard, sometimes by SHOUTING or making things up (also known as lying). Co-creation does something different. The breadth of the web makes it possible for many participants to improve and raise the level of the same shared offering. Open source paved the way, drawing on technical specialism to protect itself. Wiki has taken the leap and gone further to ensure unlimited public access. It is an inspiration whose lessons we want to learn and apply to openDemocracy.net. March 7, 2005 in openDemocracy | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) |
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