Welcome to the inaugural edition of Alternatives International Journal. Alternatives International is a network of alter-globalist social and political movements, founded in 2004 by 9 organizations from Brazil, Canada, France, India, Israel, Morocco, Niger, Palestine and South Africa. The journal is made possible through the participation of a volunteer editorial board, with written submissions from academics, activist, and journalists who believe that there is a need for a progressive, independent forum to inform, inspire and mobilize people to transform our communities and our world. Through the dissemination of critical and balanced information, and through dialogue and collaboration, we believe that we can contribute to social, political and economic change.
Our journal will carry articles, interviews, topical commentary and book reviews.
Our mission is an ambitious one. We aspire to:
– Be a platform for critical debate and independent analysis;
– Raise awareness of social, political, economic and environmental issues from a progressive perspective;
– Create spaces for people who are not generally represented, or underrepresented, in traditional print venues to speak for themselves;
– Build solidarity between various progressive local, national and international social movements;
– Contribute to the creation of a new political paradigm that challenges Left versus Right discourse, that sees the futility of thinking one dimensionally.
We stand for peace, social, economic and political justice, equality and human rights, and resolutely against sexism, racism, and militarism. Within these broad principles freedom of expression shall be the guiding policy. We invite everyone who shares this vision to join us in our mission.
To thank everyone who has contributed to the realization of this issue I’ll borrow from Bertolt Brecht’s “Questions from A Worker Who Reads,”
Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the name of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
And Babylon, many times demolished.
Who raised it up so many times?
Bonne lecture!
