Culture
Waste Colonialism is on the Rise in Post-Brexit Britain
Article by Alida Browne
High GDP countries capitalise on the fact that countries like Vietnam will accept their plastic at an inexpensive price due to its less regulated waste disposal laws. At face value, this may seem like a win-win situation. However, the sheer amount of plastic being exported by countries such as the UK has become too much for these nations to deal with sustainably.
What Does It Mean to “Be Kind” in the Social Media Age?
Article by Damilola Omotoso
"Be kind" is something we are taught from childhood: to be kind to others and to ourselves. This simple mantra, philosophy or way of life has been co-opted in recent years to mean something else altogether. In the age of the Internet and the ever-prevalent social media, this phrase is often used in an attempt to shirk responsibility. The response "be kind" is usually employed when someone is trying to defend their (or someone else's) actions that could otherwise be deemed "problematic".
Mental Health, Covid-19 and the UK Prison System
Article by Joe Strange
Controlling and stopping the spread of a pandemic within a confined space is laced with obvious obstacles. Social distancing is the very antithesis of incarceration. Lockdown measures have already been shown to have a detrimental impact on mental health in regular society. Its detrimental impacts have only been exacerbated in prisons.
The UK’s Eugenics Mindset: Engineering Bodies and Minds
Article by Justine Brooks
The story of eugenics did not end with Nazi extermination camps: it is entwined into current UK politics. Despite their harrowing history and continuous scientific negation, eugenic ideologies concerning human desirability continue to be welcomed into the country’s political inner circle.
The Myth of ‘British Values’
Article by Ben Dzialdowski
Britishness is hard to define. To many around the world, there are myriad interpretations of British culture and the values it embodies. With Boris Johnson saying “We are proud of our history and traditions” and calling to protect Britain’s culture, it begs the question: what are these supposed ‘core values’, and do they truly reflect Britain’s past and present?
What Next for US Democracy?
Article by Ethan Gray
It is difficult to sum up how deplorable Wednesday's actions were at the capitol. I would sincerely hope elected officials in the GOP can now grasp the repercussions we face from their fanning of conspiratorial claims. Elected officials that people trust indulged a false, destructive narrative in the pursuit of short-term electoral payoffs and did so at the expense of peace, liberty, and democracy. Make no mistake, the crescendo of events that led to Wednesday's riot was entirely preventable.
Understanding the Collective Memory of Francisco Franco
Article by Emily Daly
After having several hushed discussions with Spanish colleagues and friends, I soon realised that a complicated cultural taboo exists around the collective memory of Franco; a pandora’s box which in many ways, still remains shut.
The Quest for Proportional Representation
Article by Damilola Omotoso
The problem with FPTP in its pluralistic form is that government can be (and more often than not is) elected when most of the populace has voted against them. This is the case for the vast majority of British governments as the National Government of 1931 was the last to gain more than 50% of the popular vote. Is this what democracy has come to mean in the 21st century?
Women in Politics: Tough by Nature or Necessity?
Article by Grace Couch
This brings me to my next question: do you have to be inherently ‘strong’ or ‘tough’ to be a politician due to the nature of the role, or does the system condition women to act this way in order to ‘make it’? I would argue that despite the naturally higher levels of empathy in women, the political climate creates a necessity, or at least paranoia, to overcompensate for these characteristics.
Overcoming the ‘50 Shades of Grey Defence’
Article by Izzy Payne
Using this defence can result in a lighter punishment, shorter prison sentence, or even an acquittal. It has been increasingly used in the courts as a defence for sexual violence that ends in serious harm or murder, pinpointing the style of ‘consensual’ sex as the reason for the violence occurring, absolving the person who inflicted the violence from blame.
Transphobia Within Feminism Fuels Misogyny
Article by Justine Brooks
Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) assert that transgender women cannot be women, nor be supported by feminism because they do not share the experiences of cisgender women. In reality, trans women share a multitude of barriers with cisgender women. Ignoring these commonalities and campaigning against the protection of trans women only empowers prejudice and those who employ it. Ultimately, this scores an own-goal against feminism’s own objectives.
We Can’t Disregard Music at the Time We Need It Most
Feature by Kaya Purchase
But when the world is in a crisis, or recovering from such, music is a necessity, not a luxury. Listeners need it for inspiration and comfort. Musicians need something through which to vent their frustration and grief. The world needs an art form that will reflect those areas of society that the news won’t represent authentically.
Unequal Societies Have Unequal Disasters
Article by Ben Dzialdowski
During his speech on the 22nd of September 2020, Boris Johnson used the word ‘we’ 57 times. Johnson’s façade of ‘unity’ and getting “through this winter together” attempts to create a sense of collective struggle against a virus that we are supposedly equally equipped to fight. This fictitious narrative masks the disparity between social classes, ignoring the exacerbating effect that crises such as COVID-19 have on pre-existing class-based inequalities.
Rethinking the Science of Addiction
Article by Joe Strange
Drug discussion’s current residence in the realm of Addiction Science is fundamentally problematic. It champions the idea that the main reason for drug consumption is due to a pathological addiction on the part of the user. This is untrue.
The Case for Reinvesting in Public R&D
Feature by Ethan Gray
To quote economist Marina Mazucatto, “In 2012, China announced its plan to produce 1,000 GWs of wind power by 2050. That would be approximately equal to replacing the entire existing US electric infrastructure with wind turbines. Are the United States and Europe still able to dream so big?” At the moment, anyone would be hard-pressed to argue they are.
Porn or Person? The Social Impact of OnlyFans
Feature by Izzy Payne
OnlyFans and platforms like it allow for more constructive and balanced forms of intimacy between the entertainer and the viewer. In addition, this formula for sex work improves the larger societal effects of watching pornography.
The Slow Death of Berlin’s Nonconformity
Feature by Alida Browne
Spaces for affordable and alternative ways of living, especially in major cities, are becoming few and far between, as housing becomes increasingly more expensive and unattainable. Spaces such as Liebig 34 are therefore crucial for the safety, security, and for a sense of belonging for the people who ‘don’t fit’ in heteronormative society.
Speaking with a Victim of Human Trafficking
Written by Jasmine Laws
“I wanted to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of love, a sense of family. But instead, I lost my virginity to rape at 14. They are able to control you because you are young.”
Immigrating to the “Land of Law”
Feature by Safia Bolton
I feel concerned that the notion that immigrants cause all of England’s problems, and the deeply ingrained racism which is tied to this idea, is far from fading away, and it is being further cemented into policy.