We should not pretend otherwise: it is not a coincidence that the recent upsurge in popularity of the Toronto-based clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson comes at a time of tremendous existential pressure for masculine identity. Despite having been excoriated in the liberal press as a political reactionary who betrays an unprofessional academic status with his […]
Everyday Ideology: sweet decay – East Asia’s culture of ecological disaster
‘Make our skies blue again’ is becoming a worn-out catchphrase of the Chinese government. The same promise was made by the Chinese premier Li Keqiang in March after a meeting of the legislative branch over the country’s ecological crisis. But nonetheless, earlier this summer, it was reported that over 13,700 companies (70% of all Chinese […]
What is ‘Cultural Marxism’? – The Fantasy Red Scare in our Universities
Expecting to have another discussion on Joyce, I found Seminar Room 1A converted into a shady candle-lit hall, crammed full of Marxist and feminist iconography. Rows of students were gawping mindlessly at the rainbow banners, raised fist icons and red hammer-and-sickle flags draped across the far corners of the room. Spreading their arms, the lecturer […]
Accelerationism or Nostalgia? Why there is no alternative in this election
Following the financial crash of 2008, when confidence in the free market’s ability to protect the welfare of citizens fell apart, sci-fi utopian dreams from experimental fringes of academic thought began to influence an ever-more desperate political imagination. But rather than offer a safe relief from the deregulated economy’s evisceration of communities and identities, one […]
General Election 2017: are we living in post-populist times?
The opportunism of Theresa May’s U-turn for an early general election reveals an exploited populist effort, where the dynamic potential and energetic ire of anti-establishment politics have been re-channelled to serve the elites it was originally formed to oppose. To properly understand this historic development of British politics, we must also consider the broader expansion […]
Nationalism in the cyber-political age
What was most intriguing about Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention, following his unprecedented success in the primaries, was the subtle shift nationalist ideology has undergone to prove more popular with a 21st century audience. I do not wish to suggest that the staggering political events of 2016 – the decision from Britain to […]
Loneliness – the students’ curse?
Many new students who come to university feel painfully dislocated from their familiar home. For me going to university never felt as if it was a conscious decision; I just found myself, like many others, just drifting towards what felt like the next natural step lying for me at the end of the summer holiday […]
#TheUKDecides: The fragments of Brexit – an analysis of the referendum
It is easily assumed by the distinct binary logic of this result that Britain is fundamentally divided between two rival camps. One is slightly larger but nonetheless it is plausible that a public, a parliament and a nation has been effectively divided into two sides by the UK’s decision for Brexit by a slim four […]