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 →
Tiramisu!
In an online revision session last week on the history of Communism module, second year student Ursula Watkins let slip she had a killer recipe for Tiramisu. I persuaded her to write it up as a blog in our series on recipes to get though the Covid-19 crisis. So here it is. Paul Jackson, Senior... Continue Reading →
Deporting people is not the answer to the problem of crime, nor has it ever been.
Clearly we need to have the full details of those individuals who have today been deported from the UK to Jamaica. However, the Home Office was forced to remove well over half of those they wished to deport after last minute appeals that they had not had their cases properly represented by lawyers. Which begs... Continue Reading →