Ideas

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Friday, May 11, 2012 0:00 - 4 Comments

Comment | Richard Falk: Palestine’s hunger strikers have created a Gandhian moment

Palestinian children take part in a rally in front of the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City marking Palestinian Prisoners Day (Photo: REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories and world-renowned legal scholar, argues that despite the silence from Western media and politicians, the extraordinary hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners marks a dramatic shift in Palestinian tactics of resistance.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Saturday, May 5, 2012 0:00 - 3 Comments

Comment | Rupert Murdoch and his amazing dog-whistle

News Corp's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, trying not to influence David Cameron in June 2009. (Photo: Julian Andrews - Guardian)

When testifying last week before the Leveson inquiry into media ethics, Rupert Murdoch insisted he had never used his media outlets to exert political influence. Donnacha DeLong, president of the National Union of Journalists, begs to differ.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Monday, April 30, 2012 16:18 - 6 Comments

Comment | Why I started ‘cc all your e-mails to Theresa May’ day

Appalled at the UK government's plans to monitor our every text, phone call and email, Eric Finch decided to act by launching "National 'cc all your e-mails to Theresa May Day" due to take place on Tuesday, May 1st. He explains why he did it, and why we should all join him.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Thursday, April 26, 2012 0:00 - 5 Comments

Comment | Reflections on the Finkelstein Controversy: BDS and the Palestine Solidarity Movement

In an exclusive essay, Anaheed Al-Hardan argues that the Norman Finkelstein interview controversy has created the perfect opportunity for the Palestinian BDS National Committee and activists worldwide to critically engage with, and reflect on, the challenges and prospects facing the Palestinian advocacy movement.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire, Olympics Watch - Wednesday, April 25, 2012 15:02 - 4 Comments

Special Report | #London2012: an Olympian exercise in corporate greenwashing

Victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy protest against Dow Chemicals' sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics

Amidst its lofty rhetoric about excellence and sustainability the London Olympics have chosen some of the world's most unethical companies as corporate sponsors. Phil England presents powerful first-hand testimonies from victims and campaigners dismayed and angry at this betrayal.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 0:00 - 4 Comments

Comment | On the perils of sectarianism in Syria

As the Syrian tragedy becomes increasingly painted in sectarian terms, author Robin Yassin-Kassab asks why so many Syrians, including leftists, liberals and secularists, continue to ignore the issue. It is time, he argues, to break this taboo once and for all.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Tuesday, April 10, 2012 18:37 - 1 Comment

Ideas | On the rise and rise of China: threat, challenge, opportunity?

Chinese President Hu and US President Barack Obama during Hu's January 2011 state visit to the US (Photo AP)

In an exclusive essay, David J. Franco examines the rise of China on the world stage.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Thursday, April 5, 2012 19:36 - 0 Comments

Reflections | From Tahrir to OWS: Resources for a Journey of Hope

Roger Bromley reflects on how the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement, which arose out of very different circumstances and in very different places, have both challenged the individualism of neoliberalism by seeking to reclaim public spaces, demonstrating the power of assembly, and acting collectively.

Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Monday, March 26, 2012 15:01 - 0 Comments

Ideas | Screening Žižek: Laconic Axe vs Lobottonised Thought

London Mayor Boris Johnson “participates” in the post-riots clean-up operation

In the second of his essays on "Screening Thought" Paul Taylor explores the wider constraints imposed on serious thinking by the media. Despite the problems caused by Zizek's popularity, his celebrity-intellectual persona still retains an important aspect of “the return of the repressed” - abstract thought's stubborn survival in a heavily mediated age.

Books, Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Sunday, March 18, 2012 20:18 - 1 Comment

Books | Review: “Hermeneutic Communism: From Heidegger to Marx”

In 'Hermeneutic Communism', Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala offer a radical recasting of Marx’s theories that openly challenges calls, such as those by Negri and Hardt, for a return of the revolutionary left. Lev Marder argues this could be a Communist Manifesto for the 21st Century.