April/May 2008 Archive 

What’s in the April/May issue

Booktopia Peter Tatchell picks the eight books he’d take to the ends of the earth with him

Up for a fight The anti-choice lobby, with David Cameron at the helm, has proposed amendments to the abortion law that would target a vulnerable minority of women. Reforms are needed, but to extend rather than restrict women’s reproductive freedoms, argues Laurie Penny

The troubles with food Food prices have soared over the past year. One might think that this would provide a welcome boost to the incomes of the world’s poorest people, most of whom are farmers and farm workers. But it doesn’t work that way, as Raj Patel explains

Dog whistles and guard dogs Oscar Reyes on the best course of action for London voters in the mayoral elections

Hope in dark times The peace agreement between the Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga achieves calm but not peace. Meanwhile, many Kenyans are trying to make peace themselves. Ewa Jasiewicz talks to some of those involved

1968 The mysterious chemistry of social change The last thing the legacy of 1968 needs is nostalgic commemoration, writes Mike Marqusee. Even as it was happening, it was being packaged for consumption. Nor should we celebrate it in the name of some abstract spirit of resistance. It was a year of contradictions and confusions, many of which continue to confront anyone who wants to take part in a movement for radical change

A red guide to Italian politics Italians have often led the way in creating a European left but now they face a crisis in the return of Silvio Berlusconi. Hilary Wainwright talked to a range of left activists as they prepared for the elections

Virgin on disaster Richard Branson believes biofuels are the answer to guilt-free flying. But there is growing evidence that they are a downward spiral to increasing carbon emissions. Jackie Jacobsen reports

Redrawing the map of US politics Barack Obama’s campaign for the US presidency may still have a long way to go, but the levels of participation by African-American and young voters in this year’s primaries have the potential to transform the shape of US politics. In particular, they could neutralise the racist ‘southern strategy’ that has produced such an inbuilt conservative bias since the 1960s. Frances Fox Piven and Lorraine C Minnite investigate

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