From: Nick Buxton <nick@tni.org>
Date: Sat, Jan 24, 2015 at 6:24 AM
Subject: [Networkedlabour] State of Power 2015 report
To: climatesecurity@lists.tni.org, multipolarworld@lists.tni.org, Post Social Movements Riseup <social-movements@lists.riseup.net>, networkedlabour@lists.contrast.org, urpe-announcements@lists.csbs.utah.edu
Here is a list of what we published. We welcome sharing of the analysis by forwarding on this email to interested networks/people or retweeting our materials via @transinstitute or sharing them using Facebook. We also welcome comments and feedback on the materials as well as ideas and suggestions for State of Power 2016...
State of Power 2015
http://www.tni.org/stateofpower2015
The fourth edition of our annual State of Power report, coinciding with the international meeting in Switzerland of what Susan George calls “the Davos class”. This series seeks to examine different dimensions of power, unmask the key holders of power in our globalised world, and identify sources of transformative counter-power.
- Individual chapters of State of Power 2015 (with summaries) can be read here
- Infographic on Chevron and the architecture of impunity (23 Jan)
- Essay: Davos - where journalism is corporate PR and change is consumer choice (23 Jan)
- Who are the Davos class? See our infographic and essay developed with occupy.com (21 Jan)
This year, TNI experimented with ‘crowd-sourcing’ by putting out an open call for contributions. We were keen to engage activist-scholars outside our immediate circles and curious as to how this would shape the content of the report. The compiled essays cover an impressive breadth of themes, from corporate law to the dominance of the financial sector, from big mining to food speculation. They also bring to the fore social struggles to challenge power dynamics, from Mexico to Mozambique, from Canada to Italy and Greece.
Contents
The new Global Corporate Law
(pdf, 179 KB)
Juan Hernández Zubizarreta
How transnational corporations have succeeded in replacing rule of law with Global Corporate law, using a multitude of norms, treaties and agreements - most recently the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership - to secure their rights to profit above human rights.
Political Capture by the
Financial Industry (pdf, 184KB)
Manolis Kalaitzake
How did the financial sector succeed escaping censure and even effective regulation despite the global economic crisis? Through the case study of the proposed Financial Transaction Tax, Kalaitzake looks at how the financial sector succeeded in capturing policy and politicians and how we might challenge their power.
The True Stakes of Internet
Governance (pdf, 103KB)
Richard Hill
Many people understand how the Internet has revolutionised society, but have we really grasped the power implications? Richard Hill shows how US policy-makers have used the ad hoc ‘multi-stakeholder’ governance of the Internet for political and economic ends.
Gambling on Hunger and Climate
Change (pdf, 520KB)
Sasha Breger Bush
Financial speculation has not just rewarded bankers; it has played a major role in fuelling hunger, land dispossession and climate change. Yet the financial sector innovates false financial ‘solutions’ to the very problems it creates.
Mexico: Challenging Drug
Prohibition from Below (pdf, 1010KB)
Sebastian Scholl
The horrific forced disappearance of 43 students in Iguala reveals how organised crime and corruption thrive in conditions of institutional or democratic weakness, shaped to a large extent by distinctive transnational relations (importantly, in this case, with the US). Fortunately groups like the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity are showing a burgeoning ‘social power‘ that has the potential to change politics and policy.
Contesting Big Mining from
Canada to Mozambique (pdf, 358KB)
Judith Marshall
How have mining transnational companies and the
extractive industry become so powerful in every country,
no matter their political shade? Marshall shows how the
‘promiscuously intimate’
relationship between governments and companies developed
and how we might resist.
Organising workers’
Counter-power in Italy and Greece (pdf,
142KB)
Lorenzo Zamponi and Markos Vogiatzoglou
Austerity in Greece and Italy has struck workers' particularly hard, but it has also been the context for radical innovations in ’organising the unorganised’, building new kinds of work spaces and even taking control of production.
How Economics bolstered Power by
obscuring it (pdf, 177KB)
Michael Perelman
Economists consistently have upheld the power of elites, at times by taking their side overtly, but most often by ignoring or obscuring power, giving economics a veneer of science, in which the impact on people and the environment is hidden from public view.
In addition to these featured essays in the book, a number of other excellent submissions were received, which can be seen in our 'recommended reading' section.
Dear friends and allies of TNI,
I am writing to ask for your help in distributing this call for essays for Transnational Institute (TNI)'s flagship annual 'State of Power' report.
TNI in the last four years has been producing an annual 'State of Power' report that examines corporate and elite power and also counter-power from different angles and is released at the time of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report has taken the form of essays and infographics: you can see previous editions here http://www.tni.org/category/series/state-power. It has been our most popular report by far and is now eagerly anticipated by many activists, movements and scholars worldwide.
This year we decided to open up the call for essays to everyone (see draft call below). We are particularly open to essays by young activist scholars and those based in the Global South. The timing is tight this year (abstracts by the end of this month) but we are open to reworked versions of existing essays as well as new analysis - and hope the popular profile of our report will get the best analysis out to an audience beyond academic circles.
Perhaps you might have a paper you would like to distribute, or perhaps you are on an email list which you could send this to, or know people with whom you collaborate who should participate? Any help in spreading the call is appreciated. If you are able to copy stateofpower@tni.org that helps me keep track of where the call has gone.
Thanks in advance.
Best wishes, Nick
Call for papers for TNI's State of Power report
Transnational Institute (TNI) is issuing an open call for essays/short papers for its forthcoming State of Power report launched in late January 2015 to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos.TNI’s annual State of Power reports have, since their launch in 2012, become a must-see reference point for citizens, activists and academics concerned with understanding the nature of power in our globalised world. With a mixture of compelling infographics and insightful essays, State of Power has examined dimensions of power (economic, political, cultural, social), exposed the key players who control power, and highlighted movements of counter-power seeking to transform our world.
Understanding power
In 2014/2015, TNI is opening up the call to the public, particularly the progressive academic community, in order to pull in the best analysis on power. TNI is keen to interrogate how power is defined, distributed and functions in our globalised world; to expose the often invisible bodies, corporations and others who exercise influence and control over public policy; to understand the mechanisms by which power is both acquired acquired, used, manipulated and maintained; to understand shifts in power, even amongst elites, that provide openings for social movements; and to highlight the growing sources of counter-power, their potential and contradictions, and how they might be supported in advancing social and environmental justice.
Themes
TNI is particularly interested in essays that relate to areas we most closely work on such as corporate impunity, trade and investment policies, land and agrarian issues, resource grabbing, public services, security and civil liberties, social movements and counter-power (see http://www.tni.org/listing/work-areas) However we are ultimately interested in the best analysis (whatever the topic) if it approaches power from the critical perspective held by movements engaged in the struggle for social and environmental justice and political transformation.For an idea of the kind of essays we are interested in, please read the essays featured in State of Power 2014: http://www.tni.org/briefing/state-power-2014
As timing is tight, TNI is happy to publish reworked versions of previously published material as well as new unpublished essays.
Process
The call is an open one, but TNI has designed a process to feature what we consider the top eight best essays in the main report. The decision on which papers are featured will be decided by an Editorial Panel made up of the current TNI Fellows, the Director and the Communications Manager. The selection process will follow three stages:1. In the first stage, researchers will be asked to provide abstracts and a short bio. These can be abstracts based on existing papers.
2. Those whose abstracts are chosen will be asked to submit an essay. The top eight essays will be selected for the book by the Editorial Panel
3. The top eight essays will go through a final round of revisions based on feedback by the Editorial Panel, and subject to final copyedit. We hope to feature one essay as an infographic. Essays that do not make the top eight – and are considered good essays by the Editorial Panel - will be available as downloadable PDFs linked from the main report.Instructions for submission
Abstracts must be emailed to stateofpower@tni.org by 31 October 2014. Final essays will be due on 1 December 2014.
- Abstracts/essays must address the issue of power from a critical perspective, seeking to provide useful knowledge and analysis for movements engaged in the struggle for
- Abstracts/essays can be based on reworked versions of existing or previously published essays/papers
- TNI particularly welcomes submissions by young scholars and people based in the Global South. Due to resource constraints though, at this point, we can only accept essays in English and can not pay for submissions.
- Abstracts must be a maximum of 1000 words. They do not need to be of continuous prose but must capture the main arguments of the essay and can be expanded outlines. Bios should be 200 words.
- Essay length: 5000 words. Shorter essays are acceptable, but not longer than 5000 words.
- Style: TNI has five basic criteria for its research and publications that will also be used to assess the abstracts and essays:
- Credible: Well researched and evidence-based
- Accessible: Readable by a broad non-specialist audience (in other words please avoid too much academic jargon)
- Additional: Adds depth, new insights or detail to existing knowledge/research
- Radical: Tackles the structural roots of critical issues
- Propositional: Does not just critique, but also where relevant puts forward just alternatives- Please include an abstract at the top of the paper (maximum 500 words) and add a short bio (150 words)
- Provide bibliography at end of essay and/or provide endnotes for references, preferably in APA style. Please do not overdo it on the endnotes – use it mainly for referring to facts/evidence that may be surprising, questioned or challenged.
- Please send as .doc file (not .docx)
- The decision of the Editorial Panel is final. If your abstract or essay is chosen for the book, please be ready to respond to peer reviews and copyediting comments based on the timeline below.
Timeline
September Call for abstracts/papers
31 October Deadline for submission of essays
5 November Notification of chosen abstracts for final essays
1 December Submission of essays
5 December Notification of chosen essays
10 December Comments sent to authors
2 January Final version submitted by author
9 January Copyedits sent to author for final check/revision
19 January Launch
-- ----------------------------------------------------- NICK BUXTON Communications Manager m: +1 530 902 3772 e: nick@tni.org twitter: @nickbuxton skype: nickbuxton w: www.tni.org ----------------------------------------------------- CONNECT WITH TNI - Sign up to TNI's e-newsletters: http://www.tni.org/subscribe - TNI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TransnationalInstitute - TNI on twitter: https://twitter.com/transinstitute
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