After the Apocalypse
The growing appeal of dystopias, end-of-the-world scenarios and depopulated landscapes is often attributed to cultural decline – but it also speaks to a mourning for better worlds we failed to build.
4361 Articles by:
Jenna Norman
Jenna Norman is a London-based writer and campaigner.
Keir Starmer’s First Year Has Been a Disaster for Progressives
One year ago, Keir Starmer was elected leader on a promise to make Labour a ‘real opposition’ again – instead, he has consistently failed to push back against the most right-wing government in living memory.
Fire and Blood: Walter Benjamin’s Paris Commune
Walter Benjamin’s ‘Arcades Project’ provides a counter-history of Paris in the 19th century – and offers a vivid portrait of the revolutionary chaos and bloody demise of the Paris Commune.
How the Pandemic Screwed ‘Generation Left’
Private renting and precarious employment have left under-35s facing the worst of the economic fallout from Covid-19 – and the result is likely to be an even deeper generational divide.
The Campaign for an Irish NHS
The failures of Ireland’s two-tier healthcare system have been exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic – now, momentum is building for a real alternative: a public and universal national health service.
Vaccine Nationalism Is Putting World Health At Risk
As of today, the United States has distributed 15 times more vaccines than the entire continent of Africa – hoarding by the Developed World threatens the global Covid response and will deepen inequality for years to come.
Britain’s Long Fight Over the Right to Protest
The Police Crackdown Bill is a threat to our right to protest, but that right has been contested for centuries – and from Peterloo to Cable Street, it has often been defended by breaking the law.
The Fight for Britain’s Libraries
During the pandemic, library workers have been deemed ‘essential’ and many forced to continue work – but government cuts have led to 1,000 closures in a decade, the real measure of how these services are valued.
COP26 Is Our Last Chance – We Can’t Let the Tories ‘Greenwash’ it
The Tories will try to turn this year’s COP26 into a PR exercise, talking up their meagre green credentials – it’s our job to ensure it delivers a path to bold action and climate justice.
The Sewell Report Is Just the Latest Weapon in the Tory Culture War
The government-backed Sewell Report has declared Britain free from institutional racism. Its findings are laughable, but it was never intended as a rigorous study – it is just the latest weapon in the Tory culture war.
The Warmonger Internationalists
The moves to realign Labour’s foreign policy after Corbyn reveal exactly what the political centre means by ‘internationalism’ – liberal values advanced at the point of a cruise missile.
Remembering Nawal El Saadawi
Pioneering Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi passed away this month. Her work challenged Western assumptions about Arab women – and emphasised the vital link between socialism and women’s liberation.
The Long Struggle Over the Suez
Since its construction just over 150 years ago, the Suez Canal has been at the heart of the global capitalist system – and has played a key role in the Arab world’s struggle against its old colonial masters.
Yes, Business Is the Enemy in the Fight Against Climate Change
Yesterday, Labour shadow minister Alex Sobel apologised to Keir Starmer for branding corporations ‘the enemy’ when it comes to climate change – but he was right: capitalism is destroying the planet.
30. A Marine History of Capitalism: An Interview with Laleh Khalili
In this week’s episode, recorded before the Ever Given incident, Grace speaks to academic and writer Laleh Khalili about the role of global shipping role in networks of state power, corporate sovereignty, and imperialism.
In Defence of the Picket Line
The Shrewsbury 24 case lifts the lid on one of the ways the British state has disempowered the working class since the 1970s – a war on the most effective tool available to trade unions: the picket line.
A Country Fit for Carers
After the First World War, David Lloyd George promised ‘a fit country for heroes.’ The carers at the frontline of Covid-19 deserve the same commitment – because when Britain looks after our health system, we all benefit.
How the Police Bill Threatens Britain’s Gypsy and Traveller Communities
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has been condemned for its implications for peaceful protest – but it also threatens to effectively criminalise one of the country’s most discriminated-against groups.
How the London Riots Set the Stage for Boris Johnson’s Authoritarianism
A decade ago, mayor Boris Johnson responded to the London Riots by encouraging police authoritarianism and criminalising the city’s youth en masse – as prime minister, he is following a familiar pattern.
Taking Back West Yorkshire’s Buses
Buoyed by a string of recent victories across the country, campaigners in West Yorkshire are calling for an end to their rip-off privatised bus service – and fighting for a public bus system that works for everyone.