What happens when an historian brings his teenage daughter along to study a women's movement begun by teenagers? And what can a social movement in rural Brazil tell us about activism, social change, and possibilities for greater democracy? Jeffrey Rubin and Emma Sokoloff-Rubin tell the story of women who fought for social justice and for equality at home.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela passed away last Tuesday. How radical were the principles he articulated and the programs he and his allies introduced? And what impact did the Bolivarian Revolution have on the ground? Michael McCaughan, Christina Schiavoni, and Michael Lebowitz describe and interpret what they found and observed.

Huge tracts of fertile land in Africa are being gobbled up, not by Africans but by foreign investors with deep pockets. Many African governments, in cahoots with the World Bank, are doing all they can to encourage these land deals, but the consequences for ordinary Africans and the environment are staggering. Joan Baxter has done extensive on-the-ground investigation in Mali and Sierra Leone.

Fair trade coffee, fair trade products -- we're told to buy these items because the extra amount we pay at the register goes to improving the lives of agricultural laborers abroad. But does it? Sarah Besky has done extensive fieldwork on fair trade-certified tea plantations in Darjeeling, India. And Mark Moberg co-edits a volume that features Besky's case study and many others.

Should the neoliberal "free market" govern food production and distribution? Or can we learn from the efforts of Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, to address food insecurity? Christina Schiavoni describes the transformation of that nation's food and agriculture system. David Pimentel points out the colossal energy demands of the US system, and proposes ways to reduce fossil fuel inputs.

Why are more than ten thousand farmers in India committing suicide each year? Among the reasons, asserts the award-winning journalist P. Sainath, is neoliberal globalization. Also, Melissa Hart discusses the rejection by Colorado voters of a Ward Connerly-backed anti-affirmative action ballot initiative.