Sexual violence as a weapon of war has been used in a myriad of conflicts throughout history. For example, it is estimated that the Soviet Army raped around 2 million women in Germany during World War II
Read MoreMake India Great Again?* The Tightening Grip of Hindu Nationalism in Postcolonial India
As the title to this piece may suggest, India’s political climate has me worried. In order to explore these worries, I am going to focus on two organizations: a volunteer organization known as the Rasthriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and, by extension, India’s current ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Read MorePublic Transport Musings
In an undergraduate class I’m tutoring, we recently discussed the definition of health, and one of the first suggestions from the class emphasized that health encompasses not only physical health, but also mental and emotional wellbeing.
Read MorePost-Brexit Thoughts: How To Move On In A Land Where No One Understands
There would be no need for more ink to be spilt on #Brexit if it weren’t for one view astoundingly missing from the post-referendum-debate: that is a view on how to move on from here.
Read MoreAfter Brexit
They say that a week is a long time in politics. It has now been two weeks, a veritable political epoch, since the United Kingdom narrowly voted to leave the European Union.
Read More“Leave” as “a vote against global governance”
The impact and influence of mainstream media in shaping public opinion has been dwindling.
Read MoreOn Brexit
Today, the world looks on with bated breath as Britons around the nation decide whether or not the United Kingdom will remain part of the European Union.
Read MoreWhy do Cypriot Greeks reject “peace” plans?
24th April marked twelve years since Cypriot Greeks rejected in a referendum, by an overwhelming 76% margin, the UN-sponsored “Annan Plan”. By contrast, 65% of Cypriot Turks with Turkish settlers in the occupied north accepted the plan in a separate referendum.
Read MoreOur photos suck
I am the person responsible for most of the photos you see at the top of all the articles published on this blog. Every week I sift through thousands of stock photos to pick something that is both free and illustrates adequately the article’s subject.
Read MoreProviding quality end-of-life: the stakeholder perspective
Since moving to Scotland, I have become increasingly interested in participative policymaking processes. In contrast to more traditional ‘top-down’ methods, wherein elected representatives develop and implement policy in largely insular fashion, participative policymaking offers relevant stakeholders a ‘seat at the table’.
Read MoreResilience rising: From the “sustainable” to the “resilient” city
In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy swept through New York and New Jersey leaving 73 dead and billions of dollars of devastation in its wake [1]. Former Mayor Bloomberg called it “the worst natural disaster ever to hit New York City.”
Read MoreThe Dialectic of Stupid
I love words: beautiful soft words which roll off the tongue and bloom as they meet the air; jagged hard words which contort the face and are spat from pursed lips; short words with immediate impact; long words which seep quietly into the atmosphere and resonate at an illustrious frequency.
Read MoreHarnessing the Local – Moving toward Conflict Resolution in Ukraine
Ukraine’s increasing problems has been wider coverage in recent international political and media debates. Opposition about the territory of the Ukraine between pro-Russian and pro-European supporters has been steadily growing and reached two major climax points – the ‘Orange revolution’ of 2004 and the ‘Euromaidan revolution’ during 2013-2014.
Read MoreArchives
Since January 2016 I have been working on a British Library-funded project to “protect” and “preserve” the “endangered” archive of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Kenya. For most of our team this has involved many hours and many days wearing face-masks and dust-coats, cleaning, sorting, and copying piles of old documents.
Read MoreReflecting on the legacy of Rebecca Masika Katsuva in Eastern DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffered from civil war from 1998 to 2003. This war mostly centred on the control of natural resources, and cost millions of lives. Whilst this war officially ended in 2003, violence remains part of the political environment in the country, mostly in the Eastern DRC where various rebel groups and the Congolese national army still engage in armed confrontations
Read MoreHow the World Became Neoliberal…
All the World has become neo-liberal. This is no news. But how did it happen? How come that an ideology which, up until 50 years ago, was only known by a bunch of isolated thinkers in sparse universities of Anglo-Saxon countries, became the dominant economic ideology in the whole World?
Read MoreWhat are the Alternatives? Community Challenges to Capitalism at the Annapurna Eco-village
Diverse alternatives to capitalism are emerging in a myriad of spaces and forms, with the shared intention of creating a more socially and ecologically sustainable world.
Read MoreWelcome to the Jungle, It Gets Worse Here Everyday
Can you be an academic and have a life?
We’re growing up. Inescapably, and probably faster than many of us would like. Ten years ago, I would have thought that at this stage I’d definitely feel like an adult. Lo and behold, I feel older, only slightly wiser, and certainly worse at staying up late.
Read MoreThe Thick of It
On the HBO show Last Week Tonight, comedian and host John Oliver joked in a monologue about “the United Kingdom, where I’m formally known as ‘who?’”
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