Columns
New in Ceasefire, The Unveiled Truth - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 21:14 - 8 Comments
The Unveiled Truth: The virginity myth
In the first instalment of a new exclusive column, 'The Unveiled Truth', writer and journalist Shirin Sadeghi takes a look at one of the most controversial and taboo topics around: female virginity.
Modern Times, New in Ceasefire - Tuesday, October 12, 2010 8:53 - 1 Comment
Modern Times: Box-office bomb
When news emerged that Richard Curtis, director of 'Love Actually' and 'Notting Hill', had agreed to make an advert for the 10:10 campaign to cut carbon emissions, it seemed like an inspired choice. Until he made it. Instead of soft-focus arty shots, the public got blood, gore and exploding children. In this week's Modern Times, Corin Faife examines the causes, and repercussions, of an unnecessary fiasco.
Deserter's Songs, New in Ceasefire - Saturday, October 9, 2010 1:01 - 2 Comments
Deserter’s Songs – The Shape of Utopia to Come
In this week's Deserter's Songs column, David Bell looks at the rich possibilities of free improvisation, and how it allows musicians 'to be fully a part of the crowd and at the same time completely removed from it'. At its best, Bell argues, improvisation can unleash stunning displays of creative power.
In Theory, New in Ceasefire - Friday, October 8, 2010 6:05 - 10 Comments
In Theory">Autonomism: The future of activism? In Theory
One of the major influences on contemporary activism has been European Autonomism, whose mark was present in the 2008 uprising in Greece, the Ungdomshuset revolt in Denmark, as well as the wave of summit protests around the world. Political theorist Andrew Robinson traces its origins and development, and explains why it could be the future of activism.
Diary of a Domestic Extremist, Ideas, New in Ceasefire - Wednesday, October 6, 2010 2:00 - 49 Comments
Diary of a Domestic Extremist: Why I hate activism
What does it really mean to be an "activist"? Are activists deluding themselves about being agents of radical change? In an impassioned polemic, Mikhail Goldman argues that today's activist movements, far from being the creative, truly revolutionary wave they purport to be, risk becoming, themselves, agents of bigotry, sexism, and elitism.
Columns, Modern Times, New in Ceasefire - Tuesday, October 5, 2010 5:14 - 1 Comment
Modern Times: WAR.com
You might not have realised it, but the world is at war. Not a war of tanks and guns, but one of espionage and government-sponsored, carefully buried paper trails. From computer viruses targeting Iran's nuclear sites, to cyber attacks against the banking systems of entire nations, Corin Faife examines, in this week's Modern Times column, a crackling, effervescent yet invisible frontline.
CounterSpin, New in Ceasefire - Sunday, October 3, 2010 0:15 - 1 Comment
CounterSpin – Quality Control: Why ‘great’ (media) minds think alike
From the “Muslim plot against the pope" that never was to “Red Ed” Miliband’s victory, Musab Younis shows, in this week's CounterSpin column, how the media industry systemically enforces conformity within its ranks. Indeed, a journalist’s route to success, Younis argues, is not merely a readiness to obey orders, but the hard-earned discipline not to need them at all.
Columns, New in Ceasefire, Sabir on Security - Friday, October 1, 2010 0:30 - 2 Comments
Sabir on Security">You can spy on me or you can ask for my trust, but not both Sabir on Security
In 2007, the police installed a network of cameras around specific Birmingham areas. This was, they claimed, in order to fight against crimes such as drug-dealing. As the publication of a governmental report confirmed yesterday, they lied. The cameras were used to spy on an entire community. In this week's On Security column, Rizwaan Sabir examines an extraordinary story of cynicism and incompetence.
Columns, Modern Times - Tuesday, September 28, 2010 0:00 - 1 Comment
Modern Times: Battle with the Beast
With so much going wrong with our world, we still find it easier to focus our resentment and antipathy onto one single avatar: "The Banker", "The System", "The Man". As Corin Faife argues in this week's Modern Times column, it might be time to come up with a better target: The Beast.
Arts & Culture, Columns, Deserter's Songs - Saturday, September 25, 2010 0:00 - 2 Comments
Deserter’s Songs – Hang on to Each Other: The Critical Dystopianism of Silver Mt.Zion
In this week's Deserter's Songs column, Dave Bell revisits critical dystopia through the music of the Canadian band Silver Mt.Zion, which expresses a juxtaposition of horror and hope better than any other he knows. Their pained, sorrowful and always beautiful music invites the listener to meditate on the horrors of US imperialism; the ineptness of Canadian politicians and the general “shit and dismay” of a world in which neoliberal capitalism has run amok.
