OUR DEMOCRACY REQUIRES WE MAKE 2017 THE YEAR OF THE EXPERT

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 2016, 2017, academia, America, american politics, american presidential election, anglo-saxon, arron banks, Boris Johnson, Brexit, british politics, david davis, deliberative democracy, democracy, Donald Trump, education, election, elections, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, Europe, european politics, european union, experts, first world war, gove, higher education, intellect, inter|national, ivan rogers, liam fox, mary beard, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage, participatory democracy, President, society, students, Trump, uk, uk politics, UKIP, universities, university, US, US election, US president, US presidential election, USA.

by Olivia Hanks

All people are of equal value. The same is not true of opinions – and the conflation of the two is leading us down a dark path to ignorance and authoritarian rule.

2016 was not a good year for experts. Michael Gove (that straight-talking man of the people) declared that the British public had “had enough” of them. On the face of it, it seems he was right: in voting to leave the European Union, 17.4 million people defied the advice of specialists in every field from finance to ecology to social cohesion. A few months later, in the best Anglo-Saxon tradition of oneupmanship, the United States voted to be led by a man whose approach to policy is to say things at random and see which gets the biggest cheer.

THE NORWICH RADICAL YEAR IN REVIEW 2016

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Community, Inter|national, Perspectives, Student and tagged #noDAPL, #readwomen, #shakespeare400, #standwithJNU, 2016, academies, Amelia Womack, articles, arts, Australia, BDS, Beyonce, biomass, black lives matter, BLM, Brazil, Brexit, canada, caroline lucas, Chris Jarvis, Colombia, comics, Community, conference, cricket, cuba, david bowie, divestment, easter rising, editorial, education, empire, Ende Gelände, energy, erik petersen, EU ref, feminism, football, fossil free, France, gender, Green Party, hate crime, HE, Heathtrow 13, housing, India, international, iraq, israel, Italy, IWD, JNU, Jonathan Bartley, journalism, Leave, LEMONADE, LGBTQIA+, malia bouattia, Marina Prentoulis, meantal health, media, mental health, migration, mischief brew, music, national, Nigeria, norfolk, Norway, norwich, Norwich Radical, NUS, owl sanctuary, Panama Papers, people and planet, Perspectives, Peter Tatchell, poetry, PokemonGO, politics, punk, queer, racism, radical, reclaim the power, refuge, refugee, refugees, Remain, representation, resist, review, round up, SAAC, sadiq khan, school, sexuality, Standing Rock, student, student movement, Syria, the gambia, the Philippines, trans, translation, UEA, UEA SU, uk, university, US, US presidential election, violence, visibility, War of Words, whitewashing, wrestlemania, writing, year in review, Zambia.

by The Norwich Radical

2016 was a bleak year for many. Across the world, the forces of liberty, of social progress, and of environmental justice lost time and again in the face of rising fascism, increased alienation, and intensifying conflict. That notwithstanding, there have been moments of light. In the Austrian Presidential election, the electorate confirmed the independently Green candidate Alexander van der Bellen; the #noDAPL water protectors gained a soft victory in early December; in fact, there is a full list of positives from the past year, if you want cheering up.

2016 saw our team expand to more than 25 writers, editors, and artists as well as host our first ever progressive media conference, War of Words. Our readership has grown from 5,000 per month to more than 6,500 per month. In total, nearly 80,000 people have read content on The Norwich Radical website this year.

In 2017, The Norwich Radical will turn three years old, with plans to grow our team and publication more than ever before. We’ll also be returning to Norwich to bring debate and discussion on the future of the media, with War of Words back for a second year. Continue Reading

THE RADICAL NOTION THAT WE ARE PEOPLE: 5 REASONS TO HAVE HOPE FOR 2017

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged 2016, 2017, art, arthoe, bbz london, berries, cultural appropriation, diversity, fashion, Gal-dem, good news, homophobia, LGBT+, music, non collective, safe spaces, sexism.

by Candice Nembhard

From terror attacks to constitutional changes, there is no doubt that 2016 will go on record for being an insanely dismal year. To paraphrase Ginsberg’s Howl, ‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by bigotry, fear and greed’ (or something like that).

However, despite certain adversities and geopolitical setbacks, much was gained by the likes of small yet vocal communities campaigning for drastic change. With the help of social media and public platforms, we have seen a burgeoning of new safe spaces for women of colour, nonbinary folk and creatives alike. It goes without saying that their good and honest work should not go unnoticed, nor should it be underrepresented.

TIME TO FUCKING STAND

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 2016, alt-right, authoritarian states, bigotry, capitalism, Cathy Newman, daily mail, DAPL, dread, dreams, Erdogan, Europe, facts, fake news, fascism, fear, fight back, First Nations, future, get ready, Golden Dawn, hate crimes, homophobia, humans, individualism, Italy referendum, Junot Diaz, Kashmir, KKK, Lind Tirado, Marine Le Pen, Modi, Movimento 5 Stelle, mysogny, neo nazi, neoliberalism, North Dakota, Orban, Pakistan, politics, putin, racism, radical hope, refugee camp, resist, Roland Martin, sarah kendzior, Snoopers Charter, standards, taking a stand, Teen Vogue, transphobia, Trevor Noah, US, violence, white nationalism, write.

by Alex Valente

Content warning: mentions racism, xenophobia, bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and the general mess that is 2016.

And so the world has suddenly changed, again, seemingly even louder than before. For a lot of people who claim to be interested in following politics, nationally or internationally, the events of the past month can feel like a shock. We’ve all trying to find someone to blame, someone to accuse, someone to stand in front of us as we look in a mirror, and global media has been having a field-day of think-pieces on the issue. But quite frankly, who cares?

We fucked up. We’ve been doing so for a long time. We’ve been doing so with every time we didn’t speak up, stand up, stand in the way of neoliberalism, aggressive capitalism, individualism and their opening the gates to full-on, fully backed racism, xenophobia, bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and so many other horrors that not even patriarchy-mythologised Pandora could be blamed for them all.Continue Reading

WELL, WHAT NOW?

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged 2016, America, black, Brexit, british empire, campaign, clickbait, climate change, democrats, Donald Trump, Enid Blyton, fear, fight back, hate, latino, LGBT+, natural disaster, nuclear, obama, political system, power, President, president elect, protest, putin, racism, republicans, response, sexism, the left, United States, US election, vote, Warren Ellis.

by Zoe Harding

Content warning: As you’d expect, this article contains Donald Trump and all the associated bullshit that comes with him. It gets better at the end, but it’s still pretty grim. For a TL:DR, try Warren Ellis’ excellent Transmetropolitan comics, or this. Also contains strong language.

It’s not been a great year for fans of basic human decency towards people who aren’t white, straight, cis men. I’d list the crappy things that have happened on that front alone but I’ve got 800ish words and 2016 is going to get history books all of its own. Now, the self-proclaimed Land of the Free has elected a President who dog-whistled his way into power on a wave of fear, hate, intolerance and general bastardry. Well, great. All we need is a major natural disaster in December and then we’re on track for a nuclear war in January. Shitty things are already happening. Here’s a running list. (Note: The election is still recent. I hope these turn out to be sensationalist clickbait. I really hope.)Continue Reading

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged 2016, adele, Amy Winehouse, arts, At The Drive In, Black Sabbath, Bloc Party, Blur, BRIT, charts, comeback, Ed Sheeran, Grime, Guns'n'Roses, James Bay, Jay Z, kanye west, LCD, music, music industry, nostalgia, NWA, pop music, popular music, radio, Sam Smith, Stormzy, Take That, teenage.

by Mike Vinti

We’re barely a month into 2016 yet it’s becoming plain to see the musical trend that’s going to dominate the next twelve months: comebacks.

For as a long as there’s been a history of popular music there have been comebacks, it’s a natural part of the scene. The bands and musicians you idolise as a child and throughout your teenage years hold a special place in your heart and that’s always going to translate into a desire for more music and more shows form those artists; nostalgia is a powerful force.

Of, course, where there’s nostalgia, there’s money. Artists that have been around for longer can charge more for tickets, command larger production budgets and utilise the demand from fans to open doors not available to their more contemporary peers. This is doubly true for those than have been away and come back again. From Blur to Black Sabbath, Take That to Jay-Z, the combination of die-hard fans and risk averse record label execs sets the stage perfectly for a comeback if you’ve been officially out the scene for more than five years. Money and nostalgia, it seems as simple as that, right?Continue Reading

2016

OUR DEMOCRACY REQUIRES WE MAKE 2017 THE YEAR OF THE EXPERT

THE NORWICH RADICAL YEAR IN REVIEW 2016

THE RADICAL NOTION THAT WE ARE PEOPLE: 5 REASONS TO HAVE HOPE FOR 2017

TIME TO FUCKING STAND

WELL, WHAT NOW?

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

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