Global Social Rights

Indonesia’s New President – Threat to Democracy? Perspectives from Indonesia and Germany

Image by Vecteezy.com/Deni Prasetya   On 20 October 2024, businessman and former general Prabowo Subianto became the President of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country. He took over from Joko Widodo after a landslide victory in the February election, in which he was supported by nine parties and won around 96.2 million votes, or…

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2023 Year in Review: Cost-of-living crisis and worsening inequality in the Philippines

  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.‘s first full year in office in 2023 demonstrated both disruption and continuity in governance. While Marcos declared that the war on drugs would continue, his administration has shifted its focus toward prevention rather than the brutal enforcement that marked his predecessor’s approach. This shift is reflected in the reported decline…

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Who stands to gain in EU Trade deals?

Image by Unsplash/Alexandre Lallemand Josua Mata is the Secretary General of SENTRO, a progressive multi-sector trade union alliance in the Philippines. The text presented here is an excerpt from a conversation that Liliane Danso-Dahmen, regional director of the RLS office in Manila, had with Josua in October 2023. This conversation breaks down the role of…

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Civic Education in the Philippines: Confronting the Challenges of the Present Times

Image by Rappler The results of the recent important political exercise show that the Philippines is yet to realize the ideals necessary for a functioning democracy. Civic education can play a pivotal role in the realization of democracy given its aim to develop informed, effective, and responsible citizenry who can better engage in governance. Civic…

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Disjunctures in Philippine History Education since the K to 12 Reform

Image by Rappler The unfortunate reality is that what the teaching of Philippine History suffers is symptomatic of a greater, more sinister ill that has long affected Philippine education in general. This crisis predates even the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic that has overtaken conventional educational approaches in the country. Republic Act No. 10533,…

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Decolonization: Militarism and the Dynamics of the Working-Class Movement

Image by Unsplash/Yusuf Sabqi The Indonesian decolonization war years were a complex process in an endless conflict involving political and military leaders, diplomacy versus armed struggle, the Republican government in Yogyakarta, communist and radical Islamic groups, and social bandits, as well as the conflict between the republican government and political elites in the Indonesian periphery….

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