Transnational Institute (TNI)

The Transnational Institute was founded in 1974 as a worldwide non-partisan fellowship of committed scholar-activists. TNI seeks to create and promote international co-operation in analysing and finding possible solutions to such global problems as militarism and conflict, poverty and marginalisation, social injustice and environmental degradation.

Address : Transnational Institute
PO Box 14656
1001 LD Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Phone : 31 20 662 66 08
Fax : + 31 20 675 71 76
Email : tni@tni.org
Website : http://www.tni.org

Direct Action against Climate Change

As politicians meet for more climate talks in Barcelona, they continue to be fixated on measures like carbon trading that will only exacerbate the climate crisis. Fortunately the last year in the UK and worldwide has shown that direct action against carbon-intensive projects can deliver results. Read more read

date of on-line publication : 26 November 2009

Selling US Wars

> Edited by Achin Vanaik, march 2007, 370 pages, 15€

The real reasons for the war in Iraq-control of oil pricing and policies, expansion of US power, strategic establishment of US bases in the Middle East, defense of Israel-were kept hidden from the American people. Instead, justifications for the illegal war were cloaked in the high-sounding slogans of "fighting the war on terrorism," "keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue states," and finally, "bringing democracy to the Middle East." Selling US Wars is a valuable, (...) read

date of on-line publication : 30 July 2007

Public Services in Europe from privatisation to participation

Across Europe a major conflict is raging over the future of public services. On the one hand are those who believe that privatisation and liberalization is the only way to meet the needs of consumers, improve the efficiency of public finances and create a common European market allowing enterprises, professionals and workers to move freely. On the other hand are those who highlight the risks of privatising services that have been historically guaranteed and protected by the state, thereby (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 July 2007

United Nations and Transnational Corporations: a deadly association

The United Nations is failing in its duty to control the abuses of transnational economic power, argues Alejandro Teitelbaum. The recent report by John Ruggie, special representative of the UN Secretary-General on business and human rights, represents a setback in attempts to establish international control over the activities of transnational corporations. I. The United Nations Organisation (UN) was created in order to keep the peace and defend human rights and dignity. Some important (...) read

date of on-line publication : 23 April 2007

Losing ground : drug control and war in Afghanistan

> « Drugs & Conflict », Debate Papers n°15, December 2006, 36 p. (pdf)

The worsening armed conflict and the all-time record opium production in Afghanistan have caused a wave of panic. Calls are being made for robust military action by NATO forces to destroy the opium industry in southern Afghanistan. But intensifying a war on drugs in Afghanistan now would further fuel the conflict, which is the last thing that the country needs. This « Drugs & Conflict » briefing focuses on opium elimination efforts and the controversy about involving military forces in (...) read

date of on-line publication : 21 March 2007

Morocco : between economic liberalisation and political stagnation

> In "Beyond the Market : The Future of Public Services", Elâabadila Chbihna Maaelaynine and Massimiliano Di Tota, April 2006, 7 p. (pdf)

Given the lack of a project for the democratic modernisation of the state and the construction of citizenship, Morocco is caught between economic liberalism and political stagnation. The public services on offer do not satisfy the basic needs of the population. Recent market-oriented reforms have aggravated the social and political crisis, as shown by the increase in corruption, clientelism, foreign debt, impunity and religious fundamentalism. Read Morocco : between economic liberalisation (...) read

date of on-line publication : 21 March 2007

Public services in South Africa : transformation or stasis

> In "Beyond the Market : The Future of Public Services", Greg Ruiters, April 2006, 9 p. (pdf)

Although the South African state has shifted away from uncritical promotion of neo-liberal public management, the government continues to mesh limited welfarism with market-driven reforms. It has tried to use service delivery to win political loyalty, but this strategy has largely backfired. There is growing public awareness that the current failures and inequities in access to public services can no longer be blamed on the legacy of apartheid. Read Public services in South Africa : (...) read

date of on-line publication : 21 March 2007

Networked politics : rethinking political organisation in an age of movements and networks work in progress

> Amsterdam, January 2007, 72 p. (pdf)

Networked Politics is the product of a collaborative research process for rethinking political organisation in an age of movements and networks. In a world where the traditional institutions of democratic control have been weakened by an unconstrained global market and superpower military ambitions, it uncovers diverse forms of resistance with the potential to create new institutions for social change. The authors set out the principles upon which such transformations should be based, and (...) read

date of on-line publication : 21 March 2007

Lebanon and Syria : blackouts as a way of life

> In "Beyond the Market: The Future of Public Services", chapter written by Alessandra Galié and Bernhard Hack, april 2006, 11 p. (pdf)

The politics, economics and societies of Syria and Lebanon have been closely intertwined for many years. This chapter discusses the countries’ different approaches to the concept of ‘public’ and ‘private’ services. Focusing on the water and electricity sectors, it highlights how international bodies and regional agreements are influencing domestic policies towards the dominant model of market-oriented reforms. Read Lebanon and Syria : blackouts as a way of (...) read

date of on-line publication : 21 March 2007

Hungary : water privatisation in the context of transition

> In "Beyond the Market: The Future of Public Services", Zsolt Boda and Gábor Scheiring, April 2006, 7 p. (pdf)

Privatisation was to be the key to creating a healthy economy with competent companies that provide jobs for people and pay taxes, rather than being dependent upon state policies and subsidies. Just a few years into the transition to a marketeconomy, however, Hungarians have discovered that private ownership does not necessarily mean efficiency, and that the argument of additional investment is also questionable. The process of water privatisation well illustrates the pitfalls of (...) read

date of on-line publication : 13 March 2007

South-South strategic alternatives to the global economic system and power regime

In recent years, the governments of many Southern countries have come to realise that the international trade and investment regime is thoroughly biased in favour of the interests of the richest and most powerful countries. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is at an impasse and neo-liberalism in general is in crisis. The appetite for alternatives is growing. This extends to the global power regime. While few would hanker for the old bi-polar Cold War world, even fewer find the current (...) read

date of on-line publication : 20 December 2006

Beyond the market : the future of public services

> Public Services Yearbook, edited by Daniel Chavez, TNI / Public Services Internatinal Research Unit (PSIRU), april 2006 (pdf)

This yearbook is not just a compilation of articles - however important and excellent they may be. It is also a call to arms. Many of its chapters prove that privatisation is not inevitable, that we can and must react to protect, preserve and reclaim our public service inheritance. It is clear that without extensive, universally distributed public services, there is no way the world can realise the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. View the chapters and read online the Public (...) read

date of on-line publication : 12 November 2006

Trouble in the Air: Global Warming and the Privatised Atmosphere

> TNI/Centre for Civil Society (Durban), November 2005

http://www.carbontradewatch.org/pubs (...)

A critical analysis of carbon trading, this publication explores the impacts of the carbon market in South Africa. By connecting energy privatisation with issues around the enclosure of the atmosphere, this collection of essays hopes to give a good grounding in the justice implications of the new carbon market. Authors range from activists to journalists to researchers.

• Publication avaliable online in pdf format here

date of on-line publication : 1 December 2005

Hoodwinked in the Hothouse

The g8, climate change and free-market environmentalism

> Transnational Institute/Carbon Trade Watch, June 2005, 64pp., PDF, 600Ko

http://www.carbontradewatch.org/pubs (...)

This briefing examines the relationship between free-market economic forces and climate change policy while scrutinising the rhetoric and reality behind promises on climate made by the most powerful politicians in the world - the G8. It also explores the origins of free-market environmentalism and analyses the conflicts and synergies that arise when the worlds of trade and environment collide.  read

date of on-line publication : 1 December 2005