The role of money

Is money a curse or a cure in relation to injustice and inequality? This series of articles investigates the role of money in the transformation of society.

Fire in neo-liberal London

Angela McRobbie 19 June 2017

The burnt-out shell of Grenfell Tower is a visible reminder that public responsibilities should never be watered down.

Getting to the heart of Universal Basic Income

Conrad Shaw 7 June 2017

The benefits of financial security are obvious, so why doesn’t the idea of UBI enjoy more popular support?

Neoliberal psychology

Joel Millward-Hopkins 8 May 2017

Why do we allow the logic of the market to occupy our minds?

Should funding agencies also share in the sacrifice of social change?

Michael Edwards 9 April 2017

The furor over Pepsi's fake protest ad resurfaces questions around the Ford Foundation president's decision to join their board. (Originally published December 5 2016).

Seven ways to think like a 21st century economist

Kate Raworth 5 April 2017

Economics matters enormously for the future, but its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date.

The inconvenient truth about foreign aid

David Sogge 6 February 2017

For recipients aid has been a very mixed blessing, but for donors it’s been a bonanza.

Welcome to another year of transformation

Michael Edwards 3 January 2017

We need your help to expand our coverage of deep-rooted personal and political change.

Four futures: life after capitalism

David Beer 23 November 2016

The alternatives we imagine are products of the times in which we live. A review of Peter Frase’s book Four Futures.

The corporate wax nose

David Sogge 16 November 2016

The European Commission has shelved the results of its largest-ever research project on corporate social responsibility. What happened?

For Hallowe’en this year, I’m dressing as the economy

Shaun Chamberlin 26 October 2016

Economics shapes the bulk of our waking hours, so how do we reclaim control of our lives from such a dismal science?

The privilege of being privileged

Michael Edwards 17 October 2016

The Ford Foundation believes we have an obligation to strengthen capitalism. In fact we have a duty to transform it.

Five disempowering traits that international NGOs must drop

Irũngũ Houghton 10 October 2016

Only one per cent of foreign aid reaches Southern NGOs directly. How long can this continue?

Unilever’s racist marketing shows why companies can’t be relied on to regulate themselves

Ben Phillips 3 October 2016

Using racial tropes to sell ice cream and skin whiteners shows that corporate social responsibility can never be achieved voluntarily.

How democracy vouchers could combat big money in politics

Lynsi Burton 16 September 2016

Across the USA, voters are pushing for public-matching systems to replace the influence of wealthy bankrollers in elections.

Why should Bill Gates decide how our children should be educated?

Megan Tompkins-Stange 14 September 2016

Billionaire philanthropists are imposing their views on the rest of society with little accountability for their actions.

Wildlife conservationists need to break out of their Stockholm syndrome

Margi Prideaux 29 August 2016

Instead of fighting a destructive economic system, international conservation NGOs are bonding with its brutality.

In the fight for our genes, could we lose what makes us human?

Ziyaad Bhorat 17 August 2016

There’s more to human beings than biology and physiology—and it shouldn’t be for sale.

Is social justice fundraising an oxymoron?

Kim Klein 3 August 2016

Raising money is part of the struggle for social change, not something that rich people do on behalf of the poor.

Husbandry: a feminist reclamation of men’s responsibility to care

Julie A. Nelson 31 May 2016

To stop the economy’s advance towards greed and destruction, we need new metaphors and images that inspire a radically different alternative.

Does a fear of death lie at the heart of capitalism?

James K Rowe 3 May 2016

True wealth and power are found in collectives of people working together to radiate out justice and equality.

Transforming finance can help to tackle the biggest problems of society

Chris Hewett 26 April 2016

The current financial system is part of the problem, not part of the solution. So what’s to be done?

Who gets to be an artist? An interview with cultural theorist Hans Abbing

Arturo Desimone and Hans Abbing 19 April 2016

Just why are artists so poor? Hans Abbing explains.

The erotic economy: it’s not what you think

Amy V. Rubin 13 April 2016

If we stopped imprisoning our emotions in industrially manufactured profit centers, desire could become an engine of social transformation.

Can ‘effective altruism’ change the world? It already has.

Scott Weathers 29 February 2016

How to achieve the most good in the world is a question that should occupy all our imaginations: a response to Lisa Herzog.

Can ‘effective altruism’ really change the world?

Lisa Herzog 22 February 2016

We must transform the world, not simply make choices that appear to be rational within the current global order. Scott Weathers responds here.

The Pipeline Strikes Back: the audacity of TransCanada's $15b suit against the U.S.

Jim Shultz 5 February 2016

The political saga of the Keystone XL pipeline is like a real-life version of The Force Awakens. So why are we giving the Dark Side even more power?

Could giving circles rebuild philanthropy from the bottom up?

Angela Eikenberry 19 January 2016

Grassroots giving could provide a healthier way of funding social change, but it also has its limitations.

Work less, play more

Lucy Purdy 6 January 2016

The 40-hour work week is an ingrained part of our culture, but it does very little to enrich our lives. Here's how to do away with the nine-to-five.

Five ways to make your Christmas truly meaningful

Julia Koskella 18 December 2015

If you don’t spend loads of money on presents and parties, what’s left? Here are tips for alternative gifts and traditions to close 2015.

Why slower money is the key to a real economic recovery

Keith Harrington 16 December 2015

An exciting crop of organizations are financing businesses in ways that create real and lasting wealth.

They cut, we bleed: activists are fighting cuts to domestic violence services

Elena Ezard 11 December 2015

Intimate partner violence kills two women a week, while around the UK refuges are forced to close. Sisters Uncut have had enough.

Why it’s time to say goodbye to ‘doing good and doing well’

Michael Edwards 9 December 2015

Being simultaneously rich and radical is certainly seductive, but the conflicts that have animated history can’t be wished away.

Trans ™: how the trans movement got sold out

Ray Filar 25 November 2015

From Zoolander 2 to Brewdog, now being transgender is cool, corporations are co-opting the sexy bits to turn a profit.

Is social enterprise becoming a reactionary force?

Rick Cohen 22 November 2015

It's highly unlikely that capitalism will be transformed from within (originally published May 13 2015 and republished as part of our tribute to Rick Cohen who died this week).