Perspectives

On Monday, the national UCU strike will be in its sixth day. A disgruntled commentator wants to let you know that moaning isn’t enough: it’s time to act for the livelihoods of members of staff across the country!

The UCU strikes are now underway as members of staff head to the picket lines. Dan Smitherman discusses why strikes are such a taboo subject in a neoliberal vocabulary, and how solidarity can redefine and restore faith in union action.

The national UCU strike begins on Thursday. Malcolm Lowe explains the importance of maintaining and defending the picket line and what you, as students, can do to support striking staff.

Many mainstream news services today choose to value unity over genuine critiques of society. Matthew Dale examines how the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is depoliticised in much of today’s rhetoric and why we should instead maintain his powerful political memory.

Jason Hung investigates both shortcomings and contributions from working as a photographer in humanitarian services.

By the end of the 2010s, it is estimated voluntourism could represent $25-30 million worldwide. Stu Lucy critiques voluntourism, examining the concerns and potential dangers of the volunteering industry.

Dora examines the history of the controversial refugee camp, ‘The Jungle’, at Calais, tracking its development from its conception in 1999 to its current standing in today’s turbulent climate.

Alex explores what it means to be a black woman and the unique ways in which black women struggle.

In an open letter, Finn Halligan addresses the highly problematic approach that most centre-left liberals take to the some of the methods of Antifa.

Perspectives Co-Editor Matilda Smith explores the reason for the failures of the Conservative party in the recent general election.

Bogdan Padalko discusses the Greek philosopher, Gorgias, drawing parallels between his oratory and the modern discipline of Economics.

The Grenfell Tower fire is proving to be a battleground for the future of austerity. Our new Arts & Culture editor, Molly Russell, explains how this tragedy is eminently political and how it will influence the future of urban space.

Last night’s election was nothing short of a mixed bag. Our co-Editor-in-Chief, Finn Halligan, addresses some lessons to be learned from the shock outcome.

For too long now, the old ‘left-right’ spectrum has lacked meaning. Jack Winchester examines whether we ought to be talking of the ‘open-closed’ spectrum, instead.

With the fate of America sealed for the next four years, Finn Halligan examines exactly what the president-elect stands for and why it is so hard to identify.

Craig McVegas examines the banning of ‘smart drugs’ in the Psychoactive Substances Act, and hints at the trans-humanist political horizons latent in such substances.

Connor Woodman breaks down the mainstream British intellectual culture incapable of coming to terms with the UK’s role in the Iraq War.

Michael Haddad investigates the hidden underbelly of Ayahuasca tourism.

In the first of the new ‘A Student Explains…’ series, Finn Halligan provides a historian’s perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, explaining that nationalism, not ideology, lies at the core of the crisis.

Maddy Winters critiques the role of NGOs in social movements, arguing they hold back progressive politics and act as a force of co-optation and marginalisation for the state and private power.

Joe Rosettenstein reacts to the most devastating mass coral bleaching ever to strike the Great Barrier Reef.

Finn Haligan questions why Britian’s period of colonial involvement in India continues to be remembered nostalgically.

Arts & Culture Co-Editor Clare Hymer examines how the IDF have hijacked the vegan movement, and British media complicity in this propaganda effort.

Perspective’s Editor Thames discusses the film ‘The Lobster’ in the context of online dating and suggests that looking for love and searching for a job have more in common than you think.

Themes Co-Editor Lizzy Yarwood takes a look at the colonial structures underpinning the Rio Games, and the violence and environmental destruction maintaining them.

Since Oriel College in Oxford responded to a 2,300-strong petition calling for the removal of a monument to Cecil Rhodes, mainstream commentators have gone into hyperdrive. Connor Woodman analyses what it tells us about the British media.

Sophie Monk argues that BP’s promotion of LGBT rights is a corporate facade.

Arts & Culture Co-Editor Clare Hymer explores how developments in communications can help us to foster empathy by bridging geographical, cultural and temporal distances.

Perspectives Editor Thames Menteth breaks down the social and political conditions that gave rise to the recent attack on the Cereal Killer Cafe in London: gentrification.

Campaign Against Arms Trade’s Rachel Melly exposes the British state’s complicity in the global arms trade.

Most in the West remain oblivious to the material reality facing the vast majority of people in the world, and the causes underlying these conditions. Nowhere is this reality clearer than in the DRC, the poorest country on earth and the subject of centuries of vicious foreign interference, writes Editor-in-Chief Connor Woodman.