Stories of change from four continents this week. I'll start with the quietest: to hold back climate change we must learn to stop throwing so much stuff away. Janet Gunter, writing for ourEconomy, explains why we need a Right to Repair to reduce the West's 'consumption emissions' – and I was delighted to learn that there is a word for 'shame of buying new' (it's Swedish, of course).
Having to wean yourself off throwaway culture is about the best example of a first-world problem that I can think of. Radha Davar and Manguben have rather different concerns: they are villagers in rural India who are getting a regular basic income as part of a trial scheme. It's made radical changes in their lives, as they tell our Beyond Trafficking and Slavery section. They've been able to buy water to irrigate a farm, open a small shop and allow a daughter to continue her education. For these women it all means freedom: not just economic breathing room but freedom to meet new people, to travel, to talk to government officials on equal terms.
It's election day tomorrow in Argentina and Uruguay, and we've joined forces with feminist journalists from the region to explore the numbers, track records and views of conservative candidates. It's timely work: "Never before has abortion been such a high-profile campaign issue [in both countries], while new and explicitly ‘anti-gender’ parties have also emerged," says the team.
This week we've also looked at the one change we're all certain to encounter. In the Transformation section, Cynthia Greenlee introduces us to the 'death doulas' who "provide non-medical support to help ease the final transition for the terminally ill. But it’s not merely about 'The End'. They help the dying and their loved ones navigate death with all its 'before and afters' - including sickness, acceptance, finding resources for all the legal housekeeping, funeral planning and bereavement."
A noisier kind of change is happening in Lebanon right now. In our North Africa, West Asia section, Rima Majed, an assistant professor of sociology at the American University of Beirut, describes the extraordinary scale and unprecedented tactics of the widespread protests. She also has strong views on what must happen now if the 'October Revolution' is to deserve its name.
In Algeria, meanwhile, the Hirak protest movement has been on the streets for 35 straight weeks. Latefa Guemar, Adel Chiheb and Jessica Northey – also in North Africa, West Asia – say: "Algerians have truly broken the wall of fear... Whilst challenges are significant, there remains huge hope on the streets." The Hirak has already made a difference through "beautiful moments" of reconciliation and the reclaiming of public space for art and music. Think of that if politics elsewhere seems bleak.
Highlights
Why Al-Shabaab’s attack on US drone base shouldn’t be ignored
The long-term impacts of Western operations exacerbate the very radicalisation and violence they claim to be trying to avoid.
On death row in Saudi Arabia: forgotten Pakistani prisoners
Saudi Arabia executes more Pakistanis than any other nationality, but Pakistan continues to fail its citizens in Saudi prisons.
Informal workers: an untapped asset for Asia’s unions
Unions could grow their power while helping informal and precarious workers to secure their rights, but they need to up their game.
Impoverished economics? Unpacking the economics Nobel Prize
When the world is facing large systemic crises, why is the economics profession celebrating small technical fixes?
Corporate abuse is a feminist issue
This week’s binding treaty negotiations on transnational corporations must include a gender perspective.
