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Debt as power
Every single one of us holds the key to power - debt. Just as coal miners in England used their access to coal to flip the balance of power, so debtors can use their access to credit by declaring a...
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Under the shadow of power: a short history of BBC war reporting - and its...
From WMDs and the Hutton Report back through the first Iraq war, the Falklands, the Cold War, Suez, WW2, all the way to Lord Reith's affinity for the British Empire, the BBC has always operated, as...
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What can be done to prevent further injury and death in the UK Border...
As immigration detainees continue to suffer injury, neglect and even death, the charity Medical Justice challenges the apparent impunity of the UK immigration authorities and their commercial...
View ArticleEditor's blog: Radio 4 and social class - the fall-out
What role does privilege play at the BBC in 2012 - and in the media at large? An ourBeeb survey into class and Radio 4 has touched a nerve in the press, and on the station itself. The ourBeeb report...
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Olympic Britishness and the crisis of identity
London 2012's opening ceremony offered an epic history of the British worker, but with no acknowledgement of what contemporary work is like. Its celebration of modern Britain was a trans-historical...
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Olympian worship - can't we give up the gigantism of it?
"Bread and circuses" really was the formula the Roman emperors used to buy the social peace needed to exercise their own power. And not just the Romans - every ruler in all time has always sought to...
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Little Strangers. ‘Get me out of here!’
When twelve-year-old Lyosha tried to escape a children’s home to return to his family, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital — an abuse of psychiatry immediately reminiscent of Soviet days. Lyosha was...
View ArticleOccupy Europe: a supranational front of progressive forces is needed to...
We have not only to replace Merkel, Rajoy, Monti forthwith and encourage Hollande. We have to get rid of Barroso and Van Rompuy as well. Taking fortress Europe is a much more important challenge than...
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Why Russia needs a defamation law... a proper one.
Many democratically-minded Russians have seized upon the recent re-criminalisation of defamation as an further example of Russia’s regression during Putin’s third term. They miss the point, argues...
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Snap goes the Crocodile
Marina Akhmedova spent four days in the company of drug users in Yekaterinburg, central Russia, and was met with a picture of desperation, punctured by love, humanity and misplaced hope. oDRussia is...
View ArticleWhy local power and self-interest can be good for transparency
Think of your local Indian, South African, Mexican or Russian investor looking for guaranteed profits; pool them all together and you could have community of millions to leverage for demanding...
View ArticleLibya and Islamism: the deeper story
The interpretation of Libya's elections of July 2012 as a victory for secularism is misleading. A more nuanced reading of the vote must accommodate the reality and potential of Islamism, says Alison...
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Senegalese youth: taking a stand
The recent elections in Senegal signalled the emergence of a youth consciousness in the country. Young Senegalese people have sent a strong message to the ruling elite that the times have changed, and...
View ArticleThe long war gets longer: the campaign of violent dissident republicans
Northern Ireland is held up as an exemplary case study of building sustainable peace. Recent violent activity from dissident republicans poses real threats, but isn't likely to establish a 32 county...
View ArticleThe unmaking of Syria
The Saudi regime and Washington are fundamentally working at cross-purposes, for the Saudis’ nemesis is al-Qaeda-like groups, not the Muslim Brotherhood, which will most likely be the beneficiary of...
View ArticleIn the new NHS, what the private sector wants, it gets
Monitor, the lead regulator, is already easing the ‘regulatory burden’ borne by private companies enjoying the new market for healthcare in England. When pushing its Health and Social Care Bill...
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BBC Olympics coverage: what are your thoughts?
The BBC's coverage of the Olympic Games has been met with mixed reviews, from effusive praise of Clare Balding to accusations of a sense of forced jingoism. How do you feel about it? The BBC prides...
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Beyond the pitch, track and ring: a guide to Olympian reading
With London 2012 drawing to a close, Mark Perryman rounds up the books which can help us to understand the long term significance of the Games. In the mid-1980s, a strain of leftist writing emerged...
View ArticleEthiopia after Meles
Does the Ethiopian state rest on the shoulders of a single man? His illness and recent disappearance from the public eye give some urgency to the question When Meles Zenawi, the omnipotent Prime...
View ArticleThe torch and the spotlight
While in antiquity the Olympic truce suspended wars and allowed people to travel safely, in the modern era it has worked more frequently the other way round: politics has muscled its way into sports....
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