PKK’s decision to disband shows the benefit of engaging in politics rather than an armed struggle: The recent decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disarm and disband has important lessons for any country facing a seemingly intractable insurgency. On May 12, the group stated that following its 12th Congress it will “dissolve the …
Rwanda’s genocide: why remembering needs to be free of politics – lessons from survivors: Memory and politics are inherently intertwined and can never be fully separated in post-atrocity and post-genocidal contexts. They are also dynamic and ever-changing. The interplay between memory and politics is, therefore, prone to manipulation, exaggeration or misuse by clever actors to …
Jean-Marie Le Pen died knowing his extremist far-right politics have been successfully mainstreamed in France: The death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, former leader of the party once known as the National Front, occurs at a time when the mainstreaming of far-right politics in France seems almost complete. Le Pen was, for most of his career, …
I research race in politics – Kemi Badenoch’s views on inequality should worry Black Britons: House of Commons/Flickr, CC BY-NC Kemi Badenoch has become the first Black leader of a UK-wide political party. But her ascent is unlikely to translate into meaningful gains for Black Britons. Badenoch’s record suggests she is uninterested in tackling the …
Kenya unrest: Ruto awakened class politics that now threatens to engulf him: Many of the grievances of Kenya’s Gen-Z, young people who took to the streets in late June, have been palpable for years. I witnessed these during field research as a social anthropologist studying land, livelihoods, urbanisation and electoral politics in Kiambu County, which …
Men still dominate Uganda’s party politics – women’s participation is mostly cosmetic: Electoral gender quotas in Uganda – first introduced in 1989 – have increased women’s numbers in Uganda’s parliament to 34%. Today there are 189 women out of 557 members of parliament. But women politicians in Uganda continue to be restricted to minority representation. …
What is a secular state? How South Africa has tried to separate religion and politics: The shifting relationship between state and religion has historically been a contested space, and the focus of much scholarship. It is important for observers to understand this unstable boundary, so that neither political nor religious actors undermine democratic freedoms. Calvin …
Alexei Navalny: reported death of Putin’s most prominent opponent spells the end of politics in Russia: Reports of the death of Russia’s most famous opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, in an Arctic prison camp are shocking, but not entirely unexpected. It draws a line under Russia’s political development over the past two decades by highlighting that …
Six books (and one play) to read to understand British politics today: With a general election on the horizon in 2024, this holiday season is a good time to curl up with a book that explains the state of British politics and society today. We asked politics experts for their recommendations. Why Is This Lying …
Benjamin Zephaniah: how the poet’s linguistic anarchy and abolitionist politics impacted education – and me: Like so many others who work in education, I was devastated to hear the news of Benjamin Zephaniah’s death. His work has profoundly shaped our understandings of race, language and education – and his work continues to have enormous influence …
Five tips on talking politics with family without falling out – from a conflict resolution expert: Family gatherings can be difficult, especially when politics enters the conversation. If you feel anxious about discussing divisive issues and falling out with people you love, you are not alone. The war between Israel and Gaza, climate change, culture …
Nostalgia in politics: pan-European study sheds light on how (and why) parties appeal to the past in their election campaigns: Unsplash/Jon Tyson, CC BY Have you ever felt nostalgic when thinking about the past? Then you are not alone. According to survey research, around two-thirds of the European public feel nostalgic. Nostalgia is defined as …
India to Africa to the UK: Diasporas don’t influence politics in predictable ways: Former UK home secretary Suella Braverman (left) with prime minister Rishi Sunak. Both are of Indian-African descent. WPA Pool/Pool Leading politicians in the UK, including the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, are of African Indian descent. Other high profile examples include the country’s …
Gay Games: Hong Kong’s groundbreaking role as first Asian host could be overshadowed by politics: esfera/Shutterstock The Gay Games – a global sporting event for LGBTQ+ athletes – have been held in San Francisco, Paris, Sydney and several other cities in North America and Europe. This year, the games will be held in Asia for …
The thorny issue of ‘race’ in South African politics: why it endures almost 30 years after apartheid ended: “Race” continues to have much political salience in South Africa, a country where, in the past, perceived differences of skin colour were used to construct a hierarchy of “races”, with whites at the top, to justify their …
Between state and mosque: new book explores the turbulent history of Islamic politics in Mozambique: Mozambique is a multi-religious southern African nation with excellent relations between faiths. Relations between Muslims and the state have been good too. But the situation became more complicated in 2017 when a bloody jihadist insurgency broke out in the north. …
What Angela Rayner’s speech tells us about Labour’s potential to curtail short-termism in UK politics: With no apparent irony, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced he was cancelling HS2 – one of the UK’s largest long-term infrastructure projects – under the 2023 Conservative party conference strapline, “Long-term decisions for a brighter future”. He did so …
Rishi Sunak is introducing the polarised climate politics of the US, Canada and Australia to the UK: In two recent speeches, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak highlighted the costs of everything from heat pumps to electric vehicles as justification for weakening the country’s climate policy. There is a strategy behind this, but it’s one that …