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Building Fairer Cities: New Insights From Mohenjo-daro
Archaeological ruins at Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, Pakistan -- Saqib Qayyum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Adam S. Green Inequality and Urbanism Today’s cities are hotbeds of inequality. Urban real estate is one of the most expensive kinds of land in the world. It attracts billionaires looking to store their wealth and hedge funds looking to garner predictable returns: New York’s avenues, Paris’s thoroughfares, and Dubai’s dazzling skyscrapers are great at making the rich

The Left Chapter
6 days ago5 min read


The Environmental and Social Impacts of Fish Farming and Industrial Aquaculture
Often promoted as sustainable, fish farming can increase pressure on wild fisheries, deepen global food inequities, and damage marine ecosystems. Asc1733, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Laura Lee Cascada Fish farming, a form of aquaculture, is now the fastest-growing form of factory farming worldwide. This rapid expansion can be attributed to the industry’s emphasis on buzzwords such as “climate,” “conservation,” and “sustainability.” While discussions about land-base

The Left Chapter
May 129 min read


Bangladesh en la encrucijada: las elecciones y el futuro del octavo país más grande del mundo
Tarique Rahman on the campaign trail -- image via X video screenshot By Vijay Prashad and Atul Chandra El Partido Nacionalista de Bangladesh (BNP) obtuvo una victoria aplastante en las elecciones del 12 de febrero de 2026, asegurándose 212 de los 300 escaños parlamentarios. Esta victoria no representa simplemente un cambio de gobierno. Es la culminación de un proceso político que no comenzó con la ira espontánea de los estudiantes en las calles de Daca en 2024, sino mucho ant

The Left Chapter
Feb 147 min read


Bangladesh at the Crossroads: Elections and the Future of the World’s Eighth Largest Country
BNP leader Tarique Rahman -- Image cropped via X By Vijay Prashad and Atul Chandra The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a sweeping victory in the 12 February 2026 elections, securing 212 of 300 parliamentary seats. This victory represents not merely a change of government. It is the culmination of a political process that began not with the spontaneous anger of students on the streets of Dhaka in 2024, but much earlier, in the strategic calculations of sections of the B

The Left Chapter
Feb 146 min read


The War on Terror, the War on Drugs, and Other Bedtime Stories for Grown Nations
Obama, Clinton and Biden, along with members of the national security team at the Situation Room of the White House during the operation to kill Bin Laden -- Pete Souza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Raïs Neza Boneza If everything you thought you knew about the War on Terror were nothing more than a mirage—an extravagant shadow-play staged by geopolitical puppeteers—would you really be surprised? After all, the last two decades have taught us two things: nothing se

The Left Chapter
Dec 18, 20255 min read


Towards a Political Economy of Asia
Skyline of Pudong, Shanghai, seen from Suzhou creek area -- Steffen Wurzel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Shiran Illanperuma Is Asia possible? This provocation comes from a recent intervention by Tricontinental Asia, the latest in a series of conjunctural analyses on the Asian continent. There is increasing acknowledgement that the world economy’s centre of gravity is shifting to Asia. Home to 60 percent of the world’s population, the continent contributes to 70 per

The Left Chapter
Dec 12, 20255 min read


Exploring the High Rates of Social Violence in the Americas
For decades, the Americas have been the most violent part of the world outside active war zones. Many factors contribute to this, but...

The Left Chapter
Oct 4, 20257 min read


Cinco teses sobre a situação no Nepal
A protest rally in Kathmandu in early September -- image via X By Vijay Prashad and Atul Chandra Se sua casa não estiver limpa, as...

The Left Chapter
Sep 17, 20258 min read


Five theses on the situation in Nepal
Scene from the protests in Kathmandu, Nepal in September 2025. Photo via People's Dispatch By Vijay Prashad and Atul Chandra If your...

The Left Chapter
Sep 15, 20257 min read


Understanding APEC: Towards a Multipolar World
BRICS leaders in Brazil, July 06, 2025 -- Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), via Wikimedia Commons By Giovani Vastida and Steven Lee...

The Left Chapter
Sep 12, 20255 min read


Understanding APEC: The Making of Global Value Chains
The Chinese port of Zhangjiagang, 2024, representational image -- Pierre Marshall, via Wikimedia Commons By Matthew Phillips and Rory...

The Left Chapter
Sep 5, 20255 min read


What is APEC?
By Dae-Han Song If you look at the news, the media treats the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum more like a gala than a...

The Left Chapter
Aug 21, 20255 min read


Questioning the Corporation
From trading posts to tech empires, corporations continue to grow in strength. Without reform, their power may soon eclipse public...

The Left Chapter
Aug 8, 202513 min read


What Motivates People to Move Megaliths?
Stonehenge from a distance -- Noushin Nabavi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Andrew Califf How humans moved large rocks to...

The Left Chapter
Jun 14, 20258 min read


First, They Came for the Venezuelans
Trump is turning deportation into a weapon of mass destruction. None of us—undocumented immigrants, people with papers, naturalized...

The Left Chapter
Mar 25, 20255 min read


What Was It Like for Our Sapiens Ancestors to Meet and Mix With Cousin Species?
Between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago in Eurasia, the disappearance of hominin species or their biocultural assimilation with anatomically...
Michael Laxer
Mar 16, 20257 min read


Time for Truthful Narratives on Immigration
The “migrant crisis” was manufactured and is the fault of both Trump and Biden. We need to understand that the U.S. needs immigrants more...
Michael Laxer
Dec 6, 20246 min read


How the Built Environment Is Damaging Children’s Connection to Nature
Profit-driven urban development has disconnected us—particularly children—from the wilderness. The effects are unhealthy. An urban...
Michael Laxer
Oct 25, 202410 min read


How Australia Helps the U.S. Destabilize Asia
Rally initiated by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network to oppose the AUKUS security pact, 2021 -- Matt Hrkac from Geelong /...
Michael Laxer
Sep 27, 20244 min read


A Circular Economy
Latino community members in Southern California use the tanda system for mutual financial support. By Damon Orion Between 1942 and 1964,...
Michael Laxer
Sep 23, 20245 min read
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