Author: Christian Sarkar

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Beyond Paris: what was really achieved at the COP21 climate summit, and what next?

Michael Hopkin, The Conversation As French foreign minister Laurent Fabius brought his gavel down on the most ambitious climate deal ever struck, at 7:27pm on Saturday December 12, 2015, applause broke out throughout the sprawling conference centre in Le Bourget. It spread even into the cavernous media centre that played host to an estimated 3,700 … Continue reading Beyond Paris: what was really achieved at the COP21 climate summit, and what next?

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FORTUNE: What the Presidential Candidates Are Failing to Address About CEO Pay

Phil Kotler’s latest article in FORTUNE asks us to ask more questions. In the last Republican TV debate, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief, Gerald Baker, put the following question to presidential candidate Rand Paul: “Income inequality has been rising in the United States. Fifty years ago, for example, the average CEO of a big corporation in this country earned … Continue reading FORTUNE: What the Presidential Candidates Are Failing to Address About CEO Pay

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VIDEO: Corpocracy – at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art

Corpocracy is the absurd reality of our society in which corporations and their interests are allowed to have dominance over the economic and political systems. Through the subversive imagination, the artist works toward a transformation of social consciousness. WATCH: The show features 13 artists including, Beehive Design Collective, Michael D’Antuono, Ron English, Clark Fox, Kenneth … Continue reading VIDEO: Corpocracy – at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art

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Can innovators build a future that’s both disruptive and just?

Ethan Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology A few days ago – October 30 – MIT’s Media Lab celebrated its 30th anniversary. The Media Lab is a place that takes very seriously the idea that we can invent a better future and have it spread around the globe. It’s a place that’s helped invent things that … Continue reading Can innovators build a future that’s both disruptive and just?

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Corporate America’s Plan to ‘Misbehave Without Reproach

by Jon Queally, staff writer – CommonDreams.org An independent investigation by journalists featured in the New York Times on Sunday offers an in-depth look at the way American corporations have used the inclusion of “arbitration clauses” within consumer contracts to strategically circumvent judicial review of their behavior and immunize themselves from class action lawsuits –”realistically the only tool citizens have to fight … Continue reading Corporate America’s Plan to ‘Misbehave Without Reproach

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Janet Napolitano: Why more scientists are needed in the public square

Janet Napolitano, University of California, Office of the President In this presidential election season, one thing is certain: candidates will rarely – if ever – be asked what they would do to keep this nation at the forefront of science and innovation. That’s a shame. The public dialogue about science is perhaps the most vital … Continue reading Janet Napolitano: Why more scientists are needed in the public square

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Art & Response: An Interview with Michael D’Antuono

Considered one of the world’s most controversial artists, Michael D’Antuono is known for making art that challenges people to think more deeply about sociopolitical issues. His collectors range from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Pete Seeger and his work has received high praise from fellow artists Shepard Fairey and Banksy. What made you decide to dive into this sort of … Continue reading Art & Response: An Interview with Michael D’Antuono

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Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism

Andrew J Hoffman, University of Michigan The tide is finally turning. In last night’s third Republican debates, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Governor George Pataki both acknowledged the scientific consensus that climate change is real and linked to human activities. These candidates participated in the “undercard” debate of four before the … Continue reading Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism

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The Real Revolutionary: The Art of Packard Jennings

Packard Jennings is the nicest revolutionary you’ll ever meet. Polite and soft-spoken, he’s as self-effacing as they come.  And yet this is the man who is one of our hyperconsumerculture’s sharpest critics, using “appropriation, humor, and interventionist techniques to explore the dynamics of public spaces, and to address political and corporate transgressions against public interest.” Jennings got … Continue reading The Real Revolutionary: The Art of Packard Jennings

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Questioning Reality: Yoshua Okón’s Videos of Alienation

Yoshua Okón was born in Mexico City in 1970 where he currently lives. His work has been described as “a series of near-sociological experiments executed for the camera, blends staged situations, documentation and improvisation and questions habitual perceptions of reality and truth, selfhood and morality.” Okón challenges the assumptions we make as so many of us live our lives … Continue reading Questioning Reality: Yoshua Okón’s Videos of Alienation

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The Struggle Against Joyless Materialism: The Art of Clark Fox

Clark V. Fox (aka Michael Clark), the “Godfather of modern underground art,” started making art full time in Houston, Texas at age 5 and has never slowed down since. “Art chose me: I’m an American Indian, and Indians make stuff. My father carved. My mother painted. when I was five, I’d go up and down the … Continue reading The Struggle Against Joyless Materialism: The Art of Clark Fox

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Make it Rain (∄MIR): The Social Practice of Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung

Social practice is an art medium that focuses on social engagement, inviting collaboration with individuals, communities, and institutions in the creation of participatory art. For artist Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, social practice meant taking on the very foundation of capitalist society – money. Running out of money?  What’s an artist/entrepreneur to do? Why not make like the Federal … Continue reading Make it Rain (∄MIR): The Social Practice of Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung

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Free Online Class: “The Creation and Destruction of the Great American Middle Class (1930-2010)” with Professor Stanley Stasch

This course is an economic history of what happened to ordinary American people and families from about 1930 to 2010. From the late 1940s to about 1980 ordinary people and families in the United States enjoyed a tremendous increase in their prosperity and quality of life, especially when compared with the conditions that existed during … Continue reading Free Online Class: “The Creation and Destruction of the Great American Middle Class (1930-2010)” with Professor Stanley Stasch

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WATCH: Hedrick Smith on Who Stole the American Dream?

Hedrick Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and editor, and Emmy award-winning producer/correspondent. He has won most of television’s top awards including two Emmys and two Dupont-Columbia Gold batons for the best public affairs programs on U.S. television in 1991 and in 2002. His current best-seller, Who Stole the American Dream … Continue reading WATCH: Hedrick Smith on Who Stole the American Dream?

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What is a Conscious Business? An Interview with Raj Sisodia

Raj Sisodia is a leading figure in the Conscious Capitalism movement – he is the FW Olin Distinguished Professor of Global Business and Whole Foods Market Research Scholar in Conscious Capitalism at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. He is also Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Conscious Capitalism Inc. Let’s begin by asking: what is a conscious business? … Continue reading What is a Conscious Business? An Interview with Raj Sisodia

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REPORT: Regenerative Capitalism

In April 2015, Capital Institute released Regenerative Capitalism (by John Fullerton) at an event hosted by Yale University.  John Fullerton is the founder and president of Capital Institute, “a collaborative working to explore and effect the economic transition to a more just, regenerative, and thus sustainable way of living on this earth through the transformation of finance.” Through the … Continue reading REPORT: Regenerative Capitalism