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Postmodern Populism: the cultural logic of the MoVimento 5 Stelle
Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement has often been called a shake-up for Italian politics. But what if 'M5S' really obeyed an established paradigm that is far from the revolutionary ideas it claims to...
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Tomatoes or terrorists
Europe has so far failed to build a comprehensive relationship with countries across the Mediterranean. This is a missed opportunity that adversely affects the state of security and democracy for all...
View ArticleSyria's peace: what, how, when?
Fawaz Gerges and Rosemary Hollis with Robin Yassin-Kassab at the openDemocracy conference Syria's peace: what, how, when?, discussing the regional proxy war, class dynamics in Syria, intervention and...
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When I can’t die
I grew up in a family that has been fanatical about death, although they claim the contrary. They took being concerned about death to a whole, other, unhealthy level.Muslims, and Egyptians especially...
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The maddening betrayal of potato-seller, Omar Salah
It is ironic that street vendors have spent more time in the square than any protestor ever has. Omar comes out staggeringly alive in his death. A spectrum of colours is added to his socially-perceived...
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Islam in the Arab transformations
The Shari’a is largely irrelevant to most important issues of policy and administration in the economy and in government. Its historical and symbolic locus is on family and sexuality: patriarchal...
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This week's window on the Middle East - February 18, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: The maddening betrayal of potato-seller, Omar SalahThe maddening...
View ArticleThe NHS as we know it needs a prayer
Regulations passed last week will turn England's National Health Service into a competitive market. They appear to contradict assurances from the Coalition government on one of the most central...
View ArticleThe real force behind the NHS Act - the EU/US trade agreement
An EU-US drive to harmonise services - particularly health - is critical to the NHS reforms. As the Trade Commission acknowledged, without the financial crash this would not have been possible....
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The Pope is out, long live the Pope!
Benedict XVI's papal resignation, the first in almost 600 years, took the world by surprise. It is now time for the Vatican game of cloak and dagger to start, and for us to ask: what kind of successor...
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A Farewell to Arts and a plea to Michael Gove
The chair of the English Arts Council for the last four years was removed by the Coalition. In her valedictory speech she sets out her case for the arts over the millenia and makes a moving appeal to...
View ArticleKeep openDemocracy open
openDemocracy needs your help to survive. We have to raise £50,000 by March 31 – if we don’t, we will have to close.This has not come out of the blue. In December we realised we must put openDemocracy...
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Marina Goldovskaya: documenting modern Russia
London’s Pushkin House is hosting a retrospective of Russian director Marina Goldovskaya’s documentaries under the heading ‘Russia since Perestroika'. Masha Karp reflects on Goldovskaya’s distinctive...
View ArticleChildren with mental health needs and low IQ caught up in the criminal...
A new report from Prison Reform Trust’s Care not Custody programme offers professionals practical advice on helping vulnerable young people in England and Wales.“I took lots of medication, but it was...
View ArticleESSAY COMPETITION: Do the media facilitate or threaten the administration of...
The Howard League for Penal Reform launches this year’s John Howard Essay Prize on OurKingdom.In 1773 John Howard was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, responsible for the county gaol. He was...
View ArticleUK press regulation must be truly voluntary: the post-Leveson battle continues
Three months after Leveson reported, the future of Britain's press still hangs in the balance. The Oxford Media Convention, an important pamphlet by IPPR and Hacked Off's draft Leveson Bill are all...
View ArticleDelivering Leveson into press law: a reply to David Elstein
Elstein has described the Leveson Bill and its proposals for delivering effective regulation for the British press as 'draconian'. Here, the founder of the Hacked Off campaign, which drafted the Bill...
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Fighting the developers in Kyiv
The fate of historic buildings is a global hot topic, but this month activists occupying an old trading complex in Ukraine’s capital to try to stop its redevelopment had to deal with a real fire...
View ArticleResisting the other of the ‘war on terror’: lessons from Japanese internment...
Though intended to be temporary in nature, Agamben argues that the ‘state of exception’ has become a permanent fixture of democratic governance. This ‘war’, declared by the US and its allies against a...
View ArticleLife, liberty, and the pursuit of homeschooling
The increasing presence of homeschoolers on the US election campaign trail testifies to the growing strength of this highly organized constituency. Could they rival the influence of labor unions?“The...
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