August, 2010
Arts & Culture, Features, Music & Dance, Profiles - Sunday, August 15, 2010 0:13 - 0 Comments
Culture Fix: Robert Chrisgau, doyen of US music critics, retires
After more than 40 years at the top of the music journalism game, Robert Christgau, formerly of the Village Voice and legendary author of the 'Consumer guide' series has this month announced his retirement from writing his weekly column. To mark this end of an era, academic and writer Donal Mac an Eala writes a moving tribute to a unique, encylopedically rich voice in music and cultural criticism.
Columns, Features, Ideas, In Theory - Friday, August 13, 2010 13:30 - 4 Comments
In Theory We come in peace – shoot to kill: On the perils of peacekeeping
The creation of the UN, sixty years ago, has introduced the concept of "international peacekeeping" into the public lexicon. The UN peacekeeping missions are now regular features of news bulletins from conflict zones. And yet, both in its theoretical underpinnings and its practical manifestations, peacekeeping remains a highly problematic idea. Political theorist Andrew Robinson presents the many issues surrounding the idea of peacekeeping, and conducts an impassioned and lucid analysis of how peacekeeping efforts often get things wrong, and what needs to be done to set them right.Columns, Diary of a Domestic Extremist - Thursday, August 12, 2010 13:53 - 5 Comments
Diary of a Domestic Extremist: When legal means are not enough
The recent bankruptcy of the Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) charity has left thousands of asylum seekers stuck in hopelessness and despair, leading at least one of them, Rasul Osman, to take his own life. This is the latest in a series of attempts by the previous government and the current coalition to make it harder than ever for those seeking a safe haven from torture and violence to do so in dignity and respect. Mikhail Goldman explains the impact created by recent changes to the legal aid system and the catstrophic consequences on the lives of the vulnerable. He also sends out a clear message: when the law fails those it is supposed to protect, only human solidarity and a common determination can make a difference.
Features, Ideas, Politics - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:02 - 3 Comments
Think Big! In defence of ideology
The protracted aftermath of the worst world recession in living memory has seen not a fundamental questioning of the basic ideological premises of liberal capitalism, but a call for technocratic, ideologically "neutral" solutions instead. Is this another failure of the left to seize the moment and present a credible alternative? Alex Andrews bemoans the growing reticence towards big ideologically-driven programmes and says thinking big is the only thinking worth doing.
Columns, Modern Times - Tuesday, August 10, 2010 13:39 - 10 Comments
Modern Times: Meet the Amish
Idiosyncratic, quixotic, or just plain sinister? the Amish community has been, almost since its inception, the butt of jokes and the subject of fascination tinged with hostility from the mainstream. And yet, considering the giant spiritual malaise afflicting the west of the twenty first century, doesn't the frequent smugness towards the Amish seem rather misplaced? A recent Channel 4 programme makes Corin Faife consider what the Amish philosophy of life can teach us about the modern world, and ourselves.
Features, Politics, Profiles - Monday, August 9, 2010 17:46 - 4 Comments
Remembering Mahmoud Darwish – How the revolution was written
Two years ago today Palestine’s National Poet, Mahmoud Darwish passed away after a 6-month battle with cancer. He was 67. The ensuing reverberations, of loss and mourning and a sense of things left unsaid continue to resonate to this day. On this second anniversary, Ahmed Masoud, Palestinian academic, writer and theatre director, revisits the astonishing achievements of a literary giant. In particular, he guides us through a crucial period in Darwish’s intellectual journey, namely the years 1950-1971 when he was still living in Israel. It's a fitting homage, celebrating the life of a true humanist and the fighting conscience of a nation.
Jody Mcintyre's Life on Wheels - Monday, August 9, 2010 12:00 - 0 Comments
Week 69 – Happy Birthday Haifa
By Jody Mcintyre The fact that we managed to smuggle a Palestinian girl from Ramallah through an Israeli check-point proves an important point; the Wall that they have built around the West Bank is not for security, and never has been. It is purely a symbol of the system of apartheid that Israel is imposing on […]Blogs, Books, Ceasefire Bites, Editor's Desk - Saturday, August 7, 2010 22:17 - 1 Comment
R.I.P. Tony Judt (1948-2010)
It's with great sadness that we've received news of Tony Judt's death.
This is, without a doubt, a loss of monumental scale for both the world of ideas and the fight for global social justice.Tony Judt was one of the most emnient historians of his generation. His status as master chronicler of post-war europe (Notably with his book, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945, published in 2005) was well deserved and will surely continue to be appreciated for generations to come.
Features, Short Stories - Saturday, August 7, 2010 12:16 - 1 Comment
Short Story – “Bang crash splat”
In a new exclusive short story by Dave Prescott, a street musician is faced with an unusual audience and finds himself at the centre of a surreal, and unnerving, series of events. A short tale, comic yet sombre, about what happens when intensities come into contact with each other.
Columns, Ideas, In Theory - Friday, August 6, 2010 15:53 - 9 Comments
In Theory Anarchism, war and the state
Of the many movements and "isms" that have emerged in the past two centuries, none have had the run of stigma, mischaracterisation and sheer venom thrown at it as has the idea of Anarchism. Some use the term as shorthand for political violence, others for nihilistic rejection of societal coherence. Even those who admire its general principles often find themselves in conflict over how those principles are to manifest themselves in the world of reality. In a brilliant and thorough tour d'horizon, Ceasefire columnist Andrew Robinson looks at the development of the Anarchist response to war and the state. He uncovers some striking affinities as well as the nuances in difference within this widely variant (and much maligned) field of thought and offers a neat encapsulation of the major strands involved
