The end of the world as we know it

At a time when all commentary shares a sensibility of dread, it might be apposite to extract from the complexities of the uncertain present a thread of something else. Nothing so grand as a counter-trend or insurgency, just something else.

The 2019 Labour Manifesto: A Moderate Development Unorthodoxy in an Age of Total Capitalism

(Eastern) promises of transformation The 2019 Labour Manifesto promises to set up a Sustainable Development Board, a National Transformation Fund, National and Regional Development Banks, and a Local Transformation Fund. It aims to commit three percent of GDP to research and development. It signals an intention to keep as much of the production chain within […]

Borders and socialism

Borders as the social practice of filtering In order to consider what should socialists do about borders, it is useful to talk about practices of bordering. Although the term ‘border’ suggests a fixing of categorical difference between inside and outside, borders are, politically speaking, constructed, reproduced, changed, and contested.

Comic Relief and the celebrity curating of African poverty

A ticklish subject Sometimes a public statement is intriguing because it communicates a fairly moderate view but still seems to stir up controversy. This is the case with David Lammy’s comments on Stacey Dooley’s posting an image of her holding a Ugandan child above the text ‘OB.SESSSSSSSSSSED’ (sic). He says that ‘the image is a […]

What remains of Remain and what’s left of Leave

Remain I flatter myself that I was the least enthusiastic Remain voter in the 2016 referendum.

Dangerous Democracy

Defending democracy in (yet another) age of anxiety The current vexations about democracy and its prospects are as familiar as the values of democracy itself. Throughout its modern history democracy has, it has been claimed, threatened political order or generated bad governance. It has acted as an ideological smokescreen; it has been in terminal decline […]

Two cheers for Build it in Britain

This week, Jeremy Corbyn delivered a keynote speech to showcase Labour’s emerging electoral manifesto on industrial policy. Titled Build it in Britain, it sets out an industrial strategy based in three key policy directives: large-scale public investment in infrastructure, a revived and fit-for-purpose education and training programme, and a redirecting of subsidies towards job-creating and […]

Offence

A defence of offence In my first year of university, I saw the stand-up comedian Jerry Sadowitz. He started his routine as follows: ‘Nelson Mandela: cunt!’. This immediately generated shouting and heckling to which he replied ‘don’t drink on an empty head’ before finishing the line as best he could against the noise ‘he [Mandela] […]

A World for the Many not the Few? Modesty, policy, and the dangers of the global-liberal consensus.

On Monday 26th March, the Labour Party launched its new policy paper on international development: A World for the Many not the Few. The paper aims to set out a radical and revitalised development strategy for the British government, based in five priority aims: a fairer global economy; a global movement for public services; a […]

Rage against the machine

The notion of a pension fund deficit is slippery. Currently, the USS pension scheme is not in deficit: in 2017, assets generated £2bn income and paid out £1.8bn to existing pensioners. This on the basis of a massive £60bn asset base. But, evaluations of the fund’s financial sustainability do not make a simple balance of […]