September 1, 2000

Prague in Perspective

A guide to alternative views and news of the IMF/World Bank protests and the participants.

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News sources:

Independent Media Center
A great resource for up-to-the-minute coverage as well as detailed background on how Prague is handling the convention and the state of globalization.

Undercurrents
Independent news reports, photographs, and video from the protest front in Prague.

The Independent International
A weekly British newspaper with fresh Prague news.

Czech Today
An objective news portal offering updated news articles as well as schedules of events, IMF background, and photos.

IGC Peace Net
Read updates from IGC members and participate in discussions.

Radio Prague
News stories audio clips directly from the Czech Republic. Also general information about the Czech Republic and the IMF.

News for Change
Updates on events from a Western perspective

Czech News Agency
Timely updates on events in Prague

Views:

Waking up the Power Elite
From The Nation.

The IMF — Peddling Misery
From the Washington Post

Prague protests — bashing those who truly help the poor
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Case for Globalisation
From The Economist

Activist groups:

INPEG
Initiative Against Economic Globalization, Prague 2000. The umbrella group of peaceful anarchists, environmentalists, and human rights activists that is coordinating much of the protests.

Associazione Ya Basta
Zapatista-affiliated group in Italy

Workers Power
Labor activists in Prague

Mobilization for Global Justice
An umbrella group for organizations working against globalization

People’s Global Alliance
Opposition group focusing on the World Trade Organization

The Committee for the Establishment of Civilisation
Coordinating anarchist and grassroots actions

Corporate Watch
Global watchdog site, featuring regular dispatches from the streets of Prague and a good backgrounder on the World Bank and IMF. :

Did we miss a source or activist group? Let us know. Email MoJo at mojowire@motherjones.com

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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