Food is one of the most basic of human needs. Routine access to a balanced diet is essential for both growth and development of the young, as well as for general health throughout one’s life. Although food is mostly plentiful, malnutrition is still common. The contradiction between plentiful global food supplies and widespread malnutrition [...]

  In the last few decades there has been an enormous shift in the capitalist economy in the direction of the globalization of production. Much of the increase in manufacturing and even services production that would have formerly taken place in the global North—as well as a portion of the North’s preexisting production—is now being [...]

  The trend towards feminization of employment in Asian countries resulted from employers’ needs for cheaper and more “flexible” sources of labor, which meant more casualization of labor, a shift to part-time work or piece-rate contracts, and insistence on greater freedom of hiring and firing. All these aspects of what is now described as “labor [...]

  The majority of the workforce at the Manesar plant (65 per cent) is non-permanent. These irregular workers — trainees, contract workers and apprentices — are made to do jobs of a regular nature in brazen violation of labour laws with open support of the government. The corporation saves significant labour costs by dividing workers [...]

  A provocative new study suggests the timing of the Arab uprisings is linked to global food price spikes, and that prices will soon permanently be above the level which sparks conflicts • Climate cycles linked to civil war, analysis shows A Tunisian protester holding bread confronts riot policemen during a demonstration in Tunis on [...]

The Cases of Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal To understand the situation in the countries at the periphery of the European Union, four countries within the Eurozone, Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, we have to understand the political context they have in common. All of them were governed by fascist or fascist-like dictatorships (Spain, Portugal, [...]

  An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens. We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what [...]

  Tirupur, Tamil Nadu -Textile Workers in a Globalized Workplace India’s game plan to compete in the globalized environment is based on our “asset” of cheap labour. The Tirupur manufacturers have carved a niche for themselves on the strength of cheap and abundant labour. Exports gained momentum in the late eighties and Tirupur came into [...]

The  news that a Romanian sweatshop manufactured one of Kate Middleton’s most famous dresses has inspired renewed popular interest in the ethics and economics of outsourcing jobs to utilize super-cheap labor. This is only the most recent of a string of cases that exemplify the shocking proliferation of sweatshops — even across Europe — over [...]

  Last year may have been a cruel year for much of the country with slow growth and double-digit food inflation, but India’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs) prospered — just over 120,000 in number, or 0.01% of the population, their combined worth is close to one-third of India’s Gross National Income (GNI).   HNWIs, [...]