These days, talking to my partner, we discussed why many immigrants and refugees, in several situations, seem to have a more fearless attitude than those who grew up in a country like Germany. Few understand the extent of our constant contact with violence and how it shapes our perception of the world - whether as individuals or in our relationships with our families and friends. Perhaps they only know the surface of what it's like to live in such an unequal society, where this reality is imposed on us from birth. And in the end, people from countries like ours will always be reduced to stereotypes. And this is true for all of us who grew up in the global south, regardless of social class and possible differences in opportunity.
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#globalnorth
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Replied to Feral Thoughts
As a direct consequence, the majority of #GlobalSouth users who drift into the #Fediverse get disillusioned, and return/move on to #Facebook or #Twitter or #Threads.
The #GlobalNorth users on the Fediverse never even become aware of this loss; though many of them perceive the monotony of voices/topics, and silently move out; leaving behind a tiny, malnourished social medium.
(continues)
Replied to Feral Thoughts
That’s it, that’s the mechanism.
Forget #GlobalNorth users, even #GlobalSouth users cannot find fellow users from their regions, or find posts about the global south, even if both exist.
This happens with most global south users, and with an overwhelming majority of the posts on global south topics.
That’s how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the global south.
(continues)
Replied to Feral Thoughts
An overwhelming majority of #GlobalNorth users have no interest in #GlobalSouth topics. They neither follow users focussed on global south issues, nor boost or like posts on global south topics.
That’s their prerogative, of course; but that is also the root cause underlying the above dynamic. There is no obvious resolution to it, at least not within the narrow confines of the #Fediverse.
(continues)
Replied to Feral Thoughts
Generalize mastodon.social in the above example to all mainstream, primarily #GlobalNorth, #Mastodon servers. No user on any of those servers will ever become aware of user X’s post containing #Namibia, even if some of them consciously search for the term.
(continues)
That's how racism spreads. A 2025 German textbook published by Mildenberger Verlag teaches children that while a German child plays the guitar after school, a Brazilian child doesn’t go to school at all - he collects garbage to survive.
This isn't just a stereotype; it's a deliberate reinforcement of racist narratives. When such depictions go unchallenged, they shape perceptions, justify inequality, and fuel the rise of parties like the AfD, whose racism is no accident - it's fomented.
And
ALT
Sadly, the #Fediverse is full of #GlobalNorth people virtue signalling their ideological purity. That’s how you get posts here blaming Palestinians for not being the perfect victims of genocide, and for not resisting in the approved fashion. The same bunch keeps incessantly whining about Bluesky and Threads and New York Times and Fox News. And about Putin and Musk and Trump. And they cosplay white suburban pleasantville the rest of their time here.
Older article, yet the #HumanRights issue of #ChildMarriage is still a problem, globally, to this day.
While many folks in Western nations in #GlobalNorth are quick to judge #BIPOC in #GlobalSouth for the abusive, oppressive practice of child marriage - they don't seem very aware that it happens in Canada, UK & US too.
I believe in ending ALL child marriages everywhere.
I support the work of #TooYoungToWed organization.
https://tooyoungtowed.org/main/index
CBCChild marriage is 'a hidden crime,' and it's happening in Western nations, says survivor and advocate | CBC RadioOne in five girls around the world are married as children, before the age of 18. It's not just an issue specific to developing countries; it’s taking place in Canada too.
@Erin Kissane
The Engine Room report is a well-meaning effort. But as you note, the “majority world” refers to
“places and populations that have historically been colonized and underdeveloped by the ruling classes of the "Global North." Not incidentally, these are also the places and populations from which the Global North extracts both the raw materials and the crushing physical and cognitive labor that our networks and increasingly voracious software systems require.”
As you hint in your second sentence, #colonialism and #imperialism were not something that simply happened in the past, they are ongoing processes of exploitation. The peoples of the #GlobalSouth, in their myriad ways, are working to redress the injustices and the imbalances of colonialism and imperialism, practiced by the #GlobalNorth. What we see on social media (even the alternative social media) is just a reflection of those injustices and imbalances.
The best path to a more egalitarian social media, whether centralized or federated or whatever, is through the struggle for the overthrow of colonialism and imperialism. For obvious reasons, the global north is deeply invested in crushing such struggles. If it ceases to exploit the global south, the global north ceases to exist (in its present dominant form). Therefore, the most resilient and meaningful social media will be shaped by the antagonistic relation between the global north and the global south.
But reports like this will not, and cannot, point this out. Ultimately, funding for these initiatives comes from non-governmental organizations that are a part of the global north establishment, and have a stake in maintaining the dominance of the global north.
Within that structural limitation, the Engine Room report does a decent job. But because of that limitation, its recommendations amount to nothing more than a band aid.
I am not discouraging such efforts, merely pointing out that they will have built-in limitations precisely because they come from structures within the global north establishment.
The Engine Room report is a well-meaning effort. But as you note, the “majority world” refers to
“places and populations that have historically been colonized and underdeveloped by the ruling classes of the "Global North." Not incidentally, these are also the places and populations from which the Global North extracts both the raw materials and the crushing physical and cognitive labor that our networks and increasingly voracious software systems require.”
As you hint in your second sentence, #colonialism and #imperialism were not something that simply happened in the past, they are ongoing processes of exploitation. The peoples of the #GlobalSouth, in their myriad ways, are working to redress the injustices and the imbalances of colonialism and imperialism, practiced by the #GlobalNorth. What we see on social media (even the alternative social media) is just a reflection of those injustices and imbalances.
The best path to a more egalitarian social media, whether centralized or federated or whatever, is through the struggle for the overthrow of colonialism and imperialism. For obvious reasons, the global north is deeply invested in crushing such struggles. If it ceases to exploit the global south, the global north ceases to exist (in its present dominant form). Therefore, the most resilient and meaningful social media will be shaped by the antagonistic relation between the global north and the global south.
But reports like this will not, and cannot, point this out. Ultimately, funding for these initiatives comes from non-governmental organizations that are a part of the global north establishment, and have a stake in maintaining the dominance of the global north.
Within that structural limitation, the Engine Room report does a decent job. But because of that limitation, its recommendations amount to nothing more than a band aid.
I am not discouraging such efforts, merely pointing out that they will have built-in limitations precisely because they come from structures within the global north establishment.
mas.toErin Kissane (@kissane@mas.to)5.17K Posts, 1.42K Following, 13.9K Followers · Working on governance, risk, and social patterns across federated & decentralized systems. Previously: COVID Tracking Project + Knight Mozilla OpenNews + editorial and community in tech and culture orgs.
I want our tools and networks to be better in more ways for more people in more places.
Mostly offline rn. <3
Degrowth Is About Global Justice
https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/degrowth-is-about-global-justice/
Jason Hickel explains how degrowth can help fix the worsening ecological crisis and what it means for relations between the Global North and South.
Building Bridges for a Just Technological Future:
#GlobalNorth-#GlobalSouth Collaboration in #ActionResearch
Moving beyond the noise of #AI, we seek to bring about #TechnologicalHumanism—ensuring #AI benefits everyone, particularly those in marginalized communities.
But in this context, in my keynote, I dare to ask:
Why does #decentralization matter?
Watch the full keynote here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jGw3xRQsPI
@dosch
As long as it is tended with fire safety in mind, more areas would benefit from this.
#green #autumn #fall #leaves #environment #compost #homeowners
#landscaping #yards #habitat #UrbanPlanning #Suburbs #fire #GlobalNorth
“Ending Oil Subsidies, Taxing the Rich Could Help Free Up $5 Trillion a Year for Climate: Report”
by Jake Johnson in Common Dreams @commondreams
"[..] there is no shortage of public money available for rich countries to pay their fair share on fair terms for climate action at home and abroad."
More Terrorist Attacks in Lebanon
Three people dead and hundreds injured as more bombs went off in Lebanon on crowded streets where civilians gathered for the funerals of those who died in the attacks yesterday.
The US needs to be called out and booed of stage any and every time it claims to be against terrorism, or tries to call out other nations for supporting terrorism.
The Global North keeps pumping out the most emissions and then turning a deaf ear to those that suffer the most from it: Developing countries denounce rich nations’ disregard for just transition talks #ClimateJustice #GlobalNorth #ClimateCrisis https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/09/17/developing-countries-denounce-rich-nations-disregard-for-just-transition-talks/?utm_source=cbnewsletter
Climate Home News · Developing countries say rich nations' disregard just transition talksUN just transition talks provoked frustration among developing countries as rich nations did not attend in person and refused to discuss thorny issues.
Rich countries silencing #ClimateProtest while preaching about rights elsewhere, says study
Report says governments in #GlobalNorth increasingly using draconian measures while criticising similar tactics in #GlobalSouth
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/climate-rights-report-draconian-measures-protest
#ClimateCrisis #DontLookUp #hypocrisy
The Guardian · Rich countries silencing climate protest while preaching about rights elsewhere, says study
So even more need to be raising the alarm by taking part in protests and civil disobedience to flood this increasingly undemocratic system:
#sustainability #cleanenergy #juststopoil #civildisobedience #regenerative #globalnorth
The Guardian · Rich countries silencing climate protest while preaching about rights elsewhere, says study
Spot on:
#Environmental #activism
Rich countries silencing #climate #protest while preaching about #rights elsewhere, says study
Report says governments in #globalnorth increasingly using draconian measures while criticising similar tactics in #globalsouth
The Guardian · Rich countries silencing climate protest while preaching about rights elsewhere, says study
Op-Ed in Geo, #Pakistan's largest TV network explaining how the #GlobalNorth is hamstringing #ClimateAction in the #GlobalSouth, though I disagree with their solution at the end.
"For..ministers from developing countries, it was the same distressing narrative of how high levels of external sovereign debt and debt service severely hamper their governments' ability to invest in their..goals."
Geo News · In pursuit of climate prosperity
"Institutions in #GlobalSouth more commonly adopt bibliometric approaches than those in #GlobalNorth, which more commonly adopt qualitative approaches for assessing research outputs. For governmental policies however, we see the exact opposite trend: Global North favours quantity over quality and Global South favours quality over quantity"
Presentation by Yensi Flores Bueso at the #UN Event "Implementing for Impact: Measuring #OpenScience for the #SDGs"
Study source: https://shorturl.at/Qb43U
