G20 Under Siege Analysis This year, Indonesia holds the presidency of the G20. During the preparations for the upcoming summit in November 2022 in Bali, how does Indonesia navigate growing controversies amongst the G20 member states concerning the Russian aggression towards Ukraine? Yulius P Hermawan
Underscored by the algorithm: AI's impacts on labour and environment Commentary What are the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human labour and the environment? How do legislative proposals for regulating AI in Europe and Brazil respond to these impacts beyond discussions on surveillance and automated decision-making bias? José Renato Laranjeira de Pereira, Thiago Guimarães Moraes
Reframing Reproduction Discussion series The freedom to decide over one’s own body and reproduction is still a privilege in today’s world. Whether or not to have children and how to raise them is a very personal choice, but also a choice with political implications: Who is encouraged or forced to have children? Who has access to resources and the means to have children? Whose parenthood is the subject of reappraisal or prevention? How do laws, policies, and public health programmes influence people’s access to reproductive self-determination?
Global Feminist Pitch 2022: Call For Application Call for Application The Global Feminist Pitch is back to support feminists from Latin America, Asia, Africa, Middle East and (South) Eastern Europe. This year we are looking for ten feminists who will write on the topic of feminist mobilisation in their region. Apply now!
Technology Assessment: Towards People-led Governance of our Future Commentary The ETC group reviews the process of technology assessment (TA) – an inclusive corrective to policymaking on new and emerging technologies. It involves people’s informed views on long-term common good, to replace top-down and opaque decision-making processes by power players. ETC Group
Disruptive Technologies: The Case of Indigenous Territories of Andhra Pradesh, India Article Sagari Ramdas shows how agribusiness use big tech and big data to fulfil their ‘sustainability goals’ from indigenous Adivasi farmers of Andhra Pradesh, India. It turns out to be a case of exploitation in the name of sustainability. Sagari Ramdas
Pandemic Poker? Big Tech’s Gamble on the Molecular Manipulation of Life in the Asia-Pacific Region Commentary Even with unprecedented global investment and effort by some of the world’s most expert professional genetic engineers trained in the task of taming SARS-COV2, it is clear that just one virus continues to surprise and outwit humans’ best attempts to control biology and that social divisions are increasing as a consequence. Here we explore what other technologies would-be molecular manipulators are developing as part of their ongoing mission for human mastery. ETC Group
International Women’s Day: The diverse meanings of “work from home” for women in Asia Article Increase in domestic violence, lay-offs, care responsibilities, restrictions on domestic and international movement, economic insecurities, psychological burdens - these are just a few of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia in the last two years. The gendered nature of COVID-19 impacts is obvious and has sparked large feminist responses in the region.
Food for Good: Genetic Technologies Boost Output and Options Article The world is never short of food supply issues. They become headlines on economic and political pages, as when the US food price index surged 3.1-4.2% in 2021, and China urged its people to stock up on food ahead of winter. Scientists have resorted to plant-based meat, cultured meat and genetically engineered plants to mitigate food shortages. The author believes that some emergent food technologies are promising in terms of addressing the problems of feeding the poor, biodiversity, and climate change, yet there are also new challenges to be resolved. Isaac Lam