Spectre: I see a red door and I want it painted black
The attempts to escape the nightmare of Stalinism provoke false fantasy alternatives, of vacuous democratic participation or individual freedom. NSK works through elements of the revolution betrayed,...
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Does social justice work against human rights?
Social and economic rights are laudable goals, but qualifying them as “rights” may actually do more harm than good. EspañolLast year, the former head of Human Rights Watch and the Open Society...
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“We had to wait for Snowden for proof”, an exchange with William Binney
The NSA preferred a much more expensive system of bulk collection of foreign data. That was a fatal choice as it deprived the NSA of understanding what it was monitoring and this permitted the planning...
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Event: a small spark of hope
The Spark, in London, will be a chance to be inspired by those winning political change.This June St Peter’s Community Hall in Bethnal Green, London, will be transformed into the Spark: a week-long hub...
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Activists in Bahrain denounce Al-Khalifa anti-Shi'ite policy
Earlier last week, on 7 May, political activists affiliated to Bahraini opposition groups delivered a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon, calling for his office to take a stand against the...
View ArticleReset the Net and take back your online privacy
openDemocracy supports today's day of action against mass surveillance.Today openDemocracy is supporting the Reset the Net day of action against online surveillance. The Reset the Net campaign...
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Event: The radical case for Scottish independence: with Red Pepper &...
Join us in the Houses of Parliament on Thursday the 26th of June to hear some of the leading voices making the radical case for Scottish independence.One of the most important events for Britain will...
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The BBC and the referendum
BBC Scotland is having a bad referendum - and things just got worse.The independence referendum has thrown a spanner in the works of large parts of institutional Scotland. So far the biggest meltdown...
View ArticleTip of the iceberg: European migration policy in Greece and the Euro-elections
Many people will be affected by the results of the Euro-elections in Greece and across the continent—including those fetching up at its borders.Reports of “push-backs” of migrants, their long-term...
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The ultimate conspiracy theory
The National Liberation Movement, led by Yevgeny Fyorodov, a Duma Deputy, believes that Russia has been occupied by the Americans, that the US has been drafting Russia's laws... But the NLM has a plan...
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Bloody mess: why sovereigns fail, and how they get away with it
When confronted with the question of how much killing is enough the answer is always more (c.f. Blair’s calls for the west to enter the Syrian civil war). If a strategic sufficiency of death were...
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The economics of anxiety: neoliberalism as obsessional neurosis
Neoliberalism is not a monolithic shock doctrine. It is an anxious form of crisis management, which evolves through its failed attempts to conceal a repressed truth. Image from Marc Bauder's film...
View ArticleHuman rights: gated community or ecosystem?
Proposals for the human rights movement to set priorities assume a hierarchical model of action that is outdated for today’s networked and decentralized activism – this gatekeeping model would...
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Graffiti: a new form of expression on the walls of Cairo
Despite restrictions on expression in Egypt, cultural trends like the spread of graffiti show that the marginalised have created a space for themselves in the public sphere.Political graffiti near...
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Beyond propaganda
Two hundred election monitors from Russia observed the Ukrainian presidential election. They were surprised by the lack of linguistic and ethnic divisionKiev, Ukraine: Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s...
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Turkey and the tug of war in Central Asia
In the 19th century it was Britain and Russia that played the ‘Great Game’ for influence in Central Asia. Throughout the 21st century the ‘game’ has continued, but the players have changed.A statement...
View ArticleEuro elections 2014: You tell us bloggers on life after elections (Part One)
Our You Tell Us bloggers say farewell to the Euro elections and for now at least, to Can Europe make it?. See part two here.UKIP earthquake? More like a tremorA reformed Europe is the way...
View ArticleEuro elections 2014: You tell us bloggers on life after elections (Part Two)
Our You Tell Us bloggers say farewell to the Euro elections and for now at least, to Can Europe make it?. See part one here.Blogging here really caused a profound change in my views about EuropeWhat...
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The battle for Donetsk
People are not yet calling the situation in Eastern Ukraine a ‘civil war,’ but the battle for Donetsk might change that. During the two months of fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the...
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The contentious politics of China’s New Citizens Movement
Despite their many efforts to stave off greater mobilization inspired by the ideals of the New Citizens Movement, the Party must know that eventually the force of popular mobilization will be too great...
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