As a general remark I would like to point out that it can be very worthwhile to focus on your own neighborhood. Try to look for a community center or local welfare organisation (for Belgium: volunteer at your local CAW). You could be surprised how much activity is there without others being aware of it. People tend to underestimate what impact an individual can have in his or her own neighborhood.
Then on a broader scale: thanks to the internet, the discussion is now widespread. Here a limited enumeration of media that I recommend to follow, in no particular order:
Books
- 'Debt' by David Graeber (a must)
- 'How rich countries got rich ... and why poor countries stay poor' by Erik S. Reinert
- 'Dead Aid' by Dambisa Moyo
- 'Brand Aid: Shopping well to save the world' by Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte
- 'The Bottom Billion' by Paul Collier
- 'De rattenvanger van Hameln' by Francine Mestrum (in Dutch, Belgian book about the World Bank, translation: 'Pied Piper of Hamelin')
- 'The Coffee Paradox' by Stefano Ponte (*)
- 'Hoe durven ze?' by Peter Mertens ('How dare they?') (*)
- 'Ending Aid Dependence' by Yash Tandon (*)
- 'Direct Action' by Luke Hauser (*)
- 'We Can! Live Without Capitalism' by Enric Duran (*)
- 'Stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world food system' by Rajeev Charles Patel (*)
- 'Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real World of International Trade Negotiations' by Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen Kwa (*)
- 'Prosperity without Growth, Economics for a Finite Planet' by Tim Jackson (*)
And here is an extra link to an online collection of leftist literature in electronic format.
(*) books on my own reading list
Documentaries
- Surplus - Terrorized into Being Consumers
- What Would Jesus Buy? (Youtube version)
- The Corporation
- We Feed The World (watch at TDF or Google Video)
- Enjoy Poverty - Episode III (trailer)
- Food Inc.
- Unser Tägliches Brot
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Home
- Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse
- Garbage Warrior (*)
- Plastic Planet
- Zeitgeist
- Zeitgeist Addendum
- The Yes Men
- The Yes Men Fix The World
- Debtocracy (concerning the Greek financial crisis)
- Catastroika (concerning the Greek financial crisis) (*)
- Inside Job
- The War You Don't See (*)
- Mugabe and the White African
- World Peace and other 4th Grade Achievements (Trailer, TED Talk) (*)
- Schooling the World: The White Man's Last Burden (*)
- De Fortuinjagers ('The fortune hunters', Belgian documentary that criticizes the division of wealth and its taxation in Belgium)
- Economy of Happiness
Belgian organizations
- Earthship Belgium, currently building in Kemzeke and in need of extra hands
- Time/Bank Belgium (e-flux)
- Vrede vzw (Belgian peace movement)
- Intal: Globalize solidarity
International blogs
Television and other media
- Democracy Now
- Tegenlicht ('Backlight', series of television documentaries by a Dutch public broadcasting organisation)
- TED talks
- LinksRechtsdebatten ('LeftRightDebates', debates in Belgium, organized by deBuren – Toneelhuis – DeWereldMorgen.be )
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