UK Sneak Preview: The Big Sell Out

Has privatisation gone too far? Is it dehumanizing millions of people around the world?

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and former chief economist at the World Bank, certainly thinks so.

So does Bongani, a self-described “electro-rebel” in Soweto, South Africa, who illegally restores electricity to the homes of people too poor to pay the bills of the newly privatized provider.

Simon, a train driver who has worn the uniform of countless firms since his beloved British Rail was privatized, tells of the steady decline in service and maintenance and the increase in accidents that have followed.
In the Philippines, where the privatization of healthcare has led to an exodus of nurses and doctors, Minda struggles to afford the kidney dialysis treatments needed to keep her son alive.

Martial law is declared in Cochabamba, Bolivia as protesters fight the privatization of water.

A compelling portrayal of a complex subject, The Big Sellout offers an empathetic and sobering study of the human cost of privatisation.