Remembering the Holocaust is something I have been involved with at my university since I started working here over ten years ago. As a researcher who focuses on more recent forms of fascist and far right politics, recalling the horrors of fascist violence has in many ways never seemed more important. In recent years, antisemitism... Continue Reading →
Walking in the footsteps of revolutionaries
The arrest of the Cato Street conspirators On the final day of the Christmas break I went for a walk around some of the sites mentioned in Vic Gatrell’s new study of the 1820 Cato Street conspiracy. Strolling around my home city of London with a camera is one of my favorite ways to spend... Continue Reading →
Should we think of Vladimir Putin a ‘fascist’?
As I finished this blog, I was struck by a video on Twitter showing the building of the Faculty of Sociology of Karazin National University in Kharkiv on fire, symbolically and literally documenting the burning of learning and knowledge. Such scenes from this new war in Europe raise many questions, not least about how the fascist... Continue Reading →
Is Vladimir Putin an Imperlialist?
Is Vladimir Putin an Imperlialist? On Wednesday 24 February 2022 Vladimir Putin order the 200,000 troops surrounding the Ukraine and in the two Russian backed separatist areas of Donestsk and Luhansk in the east, to invade Ukraine. There is no doubt that this a date that marks a turning point in European and probably global... Continue Reading →
In Praise of the Black Cultural Archives
The Black Cultural Archives and Transport for London have developed a Black History Tube Map, reimagining tube station names as notable figures from black history. It’s a fascinating and inventive resource. As a former Londerner, I can see that I used to live near Bernie Grant Centre, named after the Tottenham Labour MP and anti-racism campaigner,... Continue Reading →
Charismatic Leadership and the Far Right
For students at Northampton interested in studying fascism, this blog on charismatic leadership I wrote for Fair Observer and the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right may be of interest to you, Dr Paul Jackson. Horia Sima, a central figure within the interwar Romanian fascist organization the Iron Guard, once described his leader,... Continue Reading →
Count Binface: A Very British Phenomenon
What would British elections be like without candidates such as Count Binface, who is one of 20 people standing for London Mayor today? Britain has a long tradition of joke candidates contesting elections. Sometimes they have something more serious to say, other times they are seemingly motivated by the attention they draw. Famously, in 1984,... Continue Reading →
Lockdown Recipe: Carbonara!
Ursula Watkins has sent in another recipe to help you through lockdown, this time carbonara! Here it is: So my adventures in Northern Italy exposed me to a lot of food, not least of all the local delicatessen and food market in the nearby town of Treviso. I managed to sample some lovely local foods and... Continue Reading →
Lockdown Recipe: Tomato and Mozzarella Chicken with Rice
Ursula Watkins has supplied another recipe, following on form her delicious Tiramisu. Hopefully these ingredients can be found too! Ingredients serves 4 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 garlic clove peeled and sliced you can add more if you like garlic 1 onion peeled and sliced 1 pepper any colour of your choice sliced and deseeded... Continue Reading →
Thinking about the History of Women’s Work in the Age of Covid-19
Since the implementation of restrictions on movement in the UK since 23 March 2020, there have been extensive discussions about how best to protect key-workers who are continuing to ensure that the population is able to access food, medicines and other essential items during the lock-down. Employees of the NHS and care-workers have been singled... Continue Reading →