Oakland Institute Fellows

• Fellows

  See a complete list of our Fellows.
  
  
  
  A New Revolution? Chinese Working Classes Confront the Globalized Economy

  

  The number of protests in China today, the vast majority of them by the working classes, is quite extraordinary. According to the Chinese government, “mass incidents, or demonstrations and riots,” rose to 74,000 in 2004, up from just 10,000 a decade ago, and 58,000 in 2003. This rising tide of protests is unleashing new political forces.

  Yet in the United States, as in other places outside of China, little attention has been paid to these developments. Both media and activist concern has been focused on the coastal export zones, relying on low cost migrant labor from the countryside, frequently working under sweatshop conditions. While this certainly deserves both exposure and protest, it represents only a very small proportion of the overall labor scene in China, where the vast majority of the population still lives in the rural areas and their situation has rapidly deteriorated in the wake of new “globalized” market forces. In the cities the most dramatic change has been the layoff of tens of millions of workers and the influx of over a hundred million migrants from the countryside seeking jobs in export factories, construction and services.

  Senior Fellow Rob Weil addresses some of these developments in Oakland Institute's new Policy Brief, A New Revolution? Chinese Working Classes Confront the Globalized Economy.
  
  
  
  The Choice is Yours

  Senior Fellow, Dr. Gregor Wolbring's biweekly column, The Choice is Yours, highlights scientific and technological advances and introduces different social discussions in regards to S&T advances in an alternate fashion.

  He hopes the information is useful to and reaches readers especially from marginalized population and entices them to get involved in the issues covered.
  
  
  Zimbabwe, La Punition Occidentale: Oakland Institute's Senior Fellow Frederic Mousseau's Opinion Editorial in the Liberation

  In an opinion editorial in the Liberation, Oakland Institute's Senior Fellow Frédéric Mousseau writes that Zimbabwe has been under a regime of sanctions since the implementation of land reform in 2000. Western donors have pulled out most of their funding and the bulk of their assistance consists of short term humanitarian interventions, mainly food aid. Agriculture and health sectors are neglected whereas they should be a priority - the former essential to combat poverty and hunger and the latter to fight HIV/Aids. Frédéric Mousseau questions the use of humanitarian assistance in such a situation and if it is appropriate to address the tremendous challenges faced by Zimbabwbe...... Read More

  Frédéric Mousseau is the principal author of the report Zimbabwe : Insight into the Humanitarian Crisis and Food Politics To download a copy of the report Click HERE.
  
  

  Biotech Crops and Foods : The Risks and Alternatives by Fellow Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero

  The raging worldwide controversy over genetically engineered (GE) crops and products continues to grow. Proponents claim these novel crops are helping feed the hungry, improve the economic situation of farmers and make agriculture more environmentally sound.

  But a growing number of critics, which include environmentalists, farmers, intellectuals, indigenous peoples, students, academics, biologists, agronomists and people from all walks of life and from all over the world, hold that genetic engineering presents serious social and ecological questions that the proponents have not addressed adequately.

  What is the truth then? Are GE foods safe? Are GE crops environmentally benign? Can biotechnology mitigate poverty and fight world hunger? Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, Oakland Institute's Fellow, explores the track record of genetic engineering in agriculture.
  
  
  Summary of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the WTO Dispute Panel Interim Report on GMOs, By Senior Fellow Lim Li Ching
  
  

  On February 28, 2006, Friends of the Earth Europe published a leaked copy of the secret draft ruling in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute over GM foods.

  The US, Canada and Argentina launched a legal challenge against the EU in May 2003, claiming that EU measures to protect consumers and the environment from the risks posed by GM food and crops constituted a trade barrier in GM products.

  Read a Summary of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the WTO Dispute Panel Interim Report on GMOs.
  
  
  French Protests: An Idealistic Fantasy or More?

  In an editorial, "France's Misguided Protesters," dated March 27, 2006, the New York Times hails the new labor law in France as a partial answer to "sons of North African immigrants," greatly affected by unemployment, who rioted in the suburbs last November. The editorial would have the readers believe that the current movement is a selfish move by privileged university students who are blind to the necessity of reforming labor laws and are solely driven by the "knee jerk defense of the job security" that the French hold sacred.

  In an article published by Common Dreams on March 31, 2006, Senior Fellow Frederic Mousseau states that the New York Times editorial is an example of American media's misleading coverage of the issue and demonstrates its poor understanding of the movement.

  Read the whole article and readers responses.
  
  
  
  Reunification is on the March: Oakland Institute Fellow Christine Ahn's Opinion Editorial in the International Herald Tribune

  In an opinion editorial in the IHT, Oakland Institute Fellow Chrisine Ahn writes, "The Bush administration is drawing up plans to further tighten the noose around North Korea by barring financial firms investing in Pyongyang from conducting business in the United States. Washington is moving fast to capitalize on Pyongyang's alleged counterfeit dealings, but so fast that it is omitting a major factor: Korea is reunifying... Read More