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Technology is everywhere. Its influence on our lives is enormous.

But how does it function?

How does it affect us?

Who does it serve?

Can it support radical social change towards free and equal societies living in harmony with nature?

Are humans fated to wind up as pets for hyper-intelligent robot hamsters?

These are -mainly- important questions. However, the dominant view is that technology is apolitical and inevitable, that it represents human progress, making our lives easier, more fulfilling, or just ‘better’. Let’s dig a little deeper.

We are at a unique moment in human history – an ecological precipice, perhaps a social tipping point. Whatever path we take, unravelling technology and the dilemmas it presents will give us a clearer view of the horizon ahead of us.

This book is a brief introduction to the politics and philosophy of technology – a simple guide to how interacts with society and the world around us. We hope you find it useful.

“Technology is not neutral. We’re inside of what we make, and it’s inside of us. We’re living in a world of connections — and it matters which ones get made and unmade.” Donna J. Haraway

The post TECH: A Guide to the Politics and Philosophy of Technology appeared first on Corporate Watch.

Click here to download it for free.

Click here to read it online.

Doom, despair, denial, depression, IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!

These are common reactions when people learn about the reality of climate change.

Similarly, sometimes when people think about capitalism it can seem as though nothing can be done to change it, that it’s too big, too strong, that maybe that’s just the way the world is.

But things change, worlds end. New ones begin…

Part of what prevents action on these big issues is the way people tend to talk, think and feel about them. Using words and pictures, this new comic aims to help people understand climate change and capitalism and encourage a different approach, one that builds power to fight them.

The post Worlds End appeared first on Corporate Watch.

The UK border regime includes the razor wire fences at Calais, the limbo of the asylum system, and the open violence of raids and deportations. Alongside the Home Office, it includes the companies running databases and detention centres, the media pushing hate speech, and the politicians posturing to win votes. It keeps on escalating, through Tony Blair’s war on refugees to Theresa May’s “hostile environment”, spreading fear and division.

This book describes and analyses the UK’s system of immigration controls. It looks at how it has developed through recent history, the different actors involved, and how people resist. The aim is to help understand the border regime, and ask how we can fight it effectively.

NB: we will be glad to send copies for free to asylum seekers and other people without papers. For other people and groups fighting the border regime, we can send at cost price or whatever you can afford to donate.

You can download this book for free here.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Acknowledgements, Summary

Part One: Background
1. A brief history of the UK border regime
2. The Home Office: an overview
3. Sorting people
4. What is the border regime?

Part Two: Control
5. In limbo: reporting, dispersal, destitution
6. Immigration raids
7. Detention
8. Deportation
9. Calais (the ultimate “hostile environment”)
10. The “hostile environment”: making a nation of border cops
11. Hostile data
12. The logic of hostility: how collaboration works
13. Does immigration control work? The deterrent dogma

Part Three: Consent
14. Public opinion: target publics
15. Media: communication power
16. Politicians
17. Corporate power
18. Agitators
19. Anxiety engine

Part Four: How can we fight it?
20. Fighting the border regime

Annexes

Annex 1. Border profiteers: list of major Home Office immigration contracts
Annex 2. Border profiteers: company mini-profiles (G4S, Serco, Mitie, GEO, Carlson Wagonlit, Titan Airways)
Further reading

The post The UK Border Regime appeared first on Corporate Watch.

The Prison Estates Transformation Programme aims to create 10,000 new prison places by 2020 through the construction of six mega prisons and five new ‘residential centres’ for women.

Read detailed information about each of the proposed prisons and their locations, the companies building the prisons and the people behind the projects. The report also includes information on the new prisons being built by the Scottish Prison Service, including a potential prison for people of non-binary gender, as well as the British Government’s attempts to build prisons abroad in Nigeria and Jamaica.

The report is also available to download for free:

• Low res (3mb)
• High res (19mb)

Third Edition

In October 2021, we produced our third update on the current status of prison expansion across England, Wales and Scotland. Since our first report, the state has nearly doubled its incarceration plans, from 10,000 new prison places to 18,000.

Download a copy of the report:

• Low Resolution – Prison Island 2021 (877kb)
• High Resolution – Prison Island 2021 (4.5mb)

All orders will include both reports.

The post Prison Island appeared first on Corporate Watch.

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Click here to download this magazine for free.

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