Remembering a younger Paul Hirst, and beyond
A tribute to an intellectual mentor and great friend to openDemocracy.Like many, I assembled a gallery of late-, or post-adolescent heroes, replacing the school ones, philosophers (Nietzsche) and...
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Solidarity through divergence: Leanne Wood's speech on Scottish independence
The Plaid Cymru leader spoke this week at an event organised by the Radical Independence Campaign in Glasgow. Here is the full text of her speech.Leanne Wood - wikimediaI want to thank you for the...
View ArticleYemen: a state born of conflict
Yemen has slipped well down the global agenda—behind Israel-Palestine, Syria and Iraq—but, as security deteriorates, significant international effort is needed to renew its stalled transition.Earlier...
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How Qatar's hand casts Syrian shadows
As Qatar assumes an increasing role in the political diplomacy of the Middle East, its subtler interventions in Syria's civil war continue unquestioned.A 2012 demonstration at the front of the Qatar...
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Syria and Gaza: a false equivalency
Though the indiscriminate violence in Syria and Gaza is becoming indistinguishable, unlike Syria, the west can take relatively simple measures to end the war on Gaza. The world has demonstrated its...
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E-1, or how I learned to stop worrying about the two-state solution
The development of the E-1 area is seen as a ‘doomsday device’ that can make or break the Israel-Palestine two-state solution. Despite its significance, however, it is merely one of many factors...
View ArticleNo Glory – a campaign
The particular way in which we commemorate the First World War has an umbilical link to the present.I’m writing on behalf of the No Glory campaign; important not just because we’re commemorating...
View ArticleThe abuse of emergency legislation: here we go again
A video of Brian Eno’s historic warning against emergency legislation that takes away liberty. DRIP, the British Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act, was rushed through parliament as an...
View Article"Two peoples, one future"
An interview with Glyn Secker of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, on the history of JfJfP, his views on the ravaging conflict in Gaza and the international community's response, and the distinction...
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Turkey’s political system under an Erdogan presidency
Erdogan is likely to win the upcoming presidential elections in Turkey, but he faces many challenges that will leave a mark on Turkish politics.On 1 July, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party...
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Slow and steady: Hungary’s media clampdown
The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, sent a frisson across the EU with his boast last weekend that he is building a “non-liberal” state, like in China, Russia or Turkey, free of “western...
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What would a Scotland Yes mean to Northern Ireland?
Whether a Yes or No, the decision will cause waves across the Sea of Moyle.Giant's Causeway. Flickr/Christolakis. Some rights reserved.“We cherish the relationship that we have. Nowhere else in the UK...
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David Cameron: Hold an inquiry into benefit sanctions that killed my brother
My brother, David Clapson, a diabetic ex-soldier, died starving and destitute because he was penalised by the Job Centre for missing a meeting.David had his £71.70 weekly allowance stopped meaning that...
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Power to the people: an open letter to Arvind Kejriwal
In 2013, openDemocracy published Pradeep Baisakh’s interview with Arvind Kejriwal, charting his transition from Gandhian social activist to politician. One year on, Baisakh writes an open letter to the...
View ArticlePalestinian unity should not become a victim of Israel’s war on Gaza
If one of the motives of Israel's war on Gaza was to crush the nascent Palestinian unity government, it may have failed. For the sake of whatever peace process is still possible, Palestinians need to...
View ArticleIn Israel, as in Gaza, human rights are the last line of protection
Plain & simple sadness is a natural human reaction to the killing in Gaza. But we are told such emotional reactions must be politically calibrated.My brother and I are experiencing the current...
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A discourse of denial: memories of the Armenian genocide
Why should we return to the now 100-year-old genocide of the Ottoman Armenian population? The study and acknowledgement of this genocide, and what it symbolises, is critical to the practice of an...
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Film review: 'Omar' and the nature of colonialism
A review of Omar (2014), the most recent offering from the Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, which portrays the reality of life under occupation.Palestinian film director Hany Abu Assad. Demotix/...
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What would Miliband really do about Gaza?
Recent rhetoric aside, the speech he made to Labour Friends of Israel a few weeks ago suggests a slightly different reality. Flickr/Plashing Vole. Some rights reserved. Ed Miliband stated publicly this...
View ArticleRevoking banker's bonuses is not nearly enough
In February 2014, Professor Prem Sikka wrote a policy paper for Class on progressive reform of the banking sector. You can download and read the paper here:...
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