This Remembrance Day, it’s time for a new English pacifism
The Civil Society Review editor, Bertie Harrison-Broninski, takes us through the moral dilemmas of poppy-wearing. In Britain, it is commonplace to wear a red poppy in November as an act of war ‘remembrance’. Some, however, object to the Poppy Appeal and The British Legion, believing their messaging to be overly jingoistic. Many believe these organisations […]
Philanthropy is no get-out clause for immorality
The current zeitgeist over statues in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests should serve as a warning to contemporary ‘philanthropists’, says Jake Smaje. At the time of writing (the 8th June, 2020), the first sentence of the infamous Edward Colston’s Wikipedia page reads, “Edward Colston was an English merchant, slave trader, Tory member of […]
Childcare in Africa: a crisis of westernisation?
Not only does the imposition of Western cultural and societal norms in the field of OVC care maintain an unhealthy acceptance of a postcolonial imbalance that tacitly undermines local development efforts, it also attacks local customs and culture and leads to damaging psychological effects
Evaluating Universal Basic Income
By Sara Dube The concept of universal basic income has policymakers and influencers around the world hotly divided. Those in favour frequently have a clear argument centred on the claim that there is less need for traditional nine-to-five jobs due to the impact of automation on society, opening up time for people to pursue creative […]
The importance of the PISA global competencies test
By Sara Dube Recently, I read Sean Coughlan’s article about how schools in the UK and the USA will not be incorporating the new Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) global competencies test run by the OECD into their curriculum. I would disagree with this decision. The PISA global competencies test, as described by Coughlan, […]
The Lady of None
By Shahana Nair Joshi Aung San Suu Kyi— a leader whose name once evoked emotions of hope, inspiration and resilience and who was once a symbol of democracy and championed the need for an equitable power dynamic in the world— now lives under harsh criticism for maintaining a jarring silence over the alleged genocide that […]
The Trouble with Humanitarian Aid
Humanitarian agencies are an important international response mechanism to conflicts worldwide. The broad purpose of aid organisations is to relieve the suffering of victims, a worthy goal that may in theory sound simple enough but in practice can prove extremely complicated. Many conflicts are driven by years, perhaps decades, of tensions, and understanding the nuances […]
Beyond GDP
By Matteo Roscio “Gross Domestic Product measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile”; this was the concluding sentence of Robert Kennedy’s speech at the University of Kansas on March 18th, 1968, a statement embodying debates regarding the dominant use of this index to measure and direct wealth and development globally.
Should Aung San Suu Kyi be stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize?
Aung San Suu Kyi is known across the world as a devoted pro-democracy fighter and a beacon of perseverant light against autocracy. However, in recent months, global leaders and media have become particularly concerned about her response towards the persecution of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority. The UN has called the situation akin to ethnic cleansing, […]