Art from Under the Iron Thumb
Under Soviet rule until 1990, the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – lived in fear, hunger and censorship. Books, magazines and rock…
Politics
Cambodia: A Forgotten Generation
The scars of a country brutally bled of almost two million people are still embedded in every aspect of Cambodia today. The roots of…
Why do national anthems cause so much trouble?
Canadian MPs have voted in favour of making their country’s national anthem, O Canada, gender neutral, replacing the words “in all thy sons command”…
How to assess political stability? Follow the bread path
When Egyptians were protesting in 2011, they held up a piece of bread and demanded “bread, freedom and social justice”. Since the 2007-8 and…
How powerful is protest? Discussing the changing culture of opposition
The culture of opposition is an ever-evolving landscape and the role of protest, as an expression of this opposition, has changed significantly over the…
Politics and fashion: the rise of the red beret
Bobi Wine has come a long way in two years. The self-styled “Ghetto President” of Uganda used to be a music star, playing politically…
Imperialism in a coffee cup
Mainstream politics in Europe and North America is increasingly divided into two hostile camps: on one side are conservative reactionaries who glorify imperialism and…
A prison called Gaza: new book offers a startling insight into everyday life in the territory
“A place of spacious dimensions, and large population, with fine bazaars. It contains numerous mosques, and there is no wall around it.” To the…
The rise of veganism in politics
Manès Weisskircher, Open Democracy In November 1944, a woodwork teacher called Donald Watson founded The Vegan Society in the English city of Leicester, thereby coining ‘veganism’ as…
Why you shouldn’t dismiss Jeremy Corbyn as a leader
Words by Tom McGivan Like most people, I’m fairly wary of unsubstantiated claims. Particularly at election time. One I’ve repeatedly noticed over recent…
The artist and the Kurdish revolutionaries
It’s the middle of a war zone, and something unexpected is taking place: a Dutch artist has joined with Kurdish revolutionaries to build their…
The forgotten half-widows of Kashmir’s armed conflict
Among the devastating effects of war is one that is often witnessed yet hard to truly quantify: hundreds of thousands of people go missing…
An Exclusive Interview with Monster Raving Loony candidate Howling Laud Hope
British political history is about to made in the suburbs of south-west London. Placards are a-waving as activists fight to make their candidate the…
Stand With Jeremy Corbyn
The embattled Labour Party leader is hated by his opponents for all the right reasons. British politics is in a state of chaos after…
EU Referendum: how could Brexit affect our future generations?
The EU referendum on June 23rd will undoubtedly be remembered as a seminal date in the history of British politics and the wider world….
The Paroxysm of Human Absurdity: Reflections on Islamophobia
The current ongoing Islamophobic rhetoric in popular media has probably not gone unnoticed by the Bizarre Culture reader. It certainly got two colleagues at…
A Few Inspired Ideas About American Social Politics Before the California Primary
“We need to understand that as human beings we are not full human beings when we’re only concerned about ourselves; that we are stronger…
Brexit: a selfish option for our future climate?
On June 23rd, Britain will go to the polls to decide whether the nation will be better off in or out of the European…
Voting for the environment: Why should we care about the American election?
A Non-American guide to the American Election. Yesterday, a friend of mine asked my opinion on Donald Trump. In my head, I thought ‘a…
Megalomania Rising: Reflections on a Donald Trump Rally in New York
There are many ways to filet a sperm whale. I suspect most of them require a village working in harmony, or with tools beyond…