YANGON PRIDE KICKS OFF WITH NEW #LOVEISNOTACRIME CAMPAIGN

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged &Proud, equality, featured, gay rights, human rights, lgbtQ+, LoveIsNotACrime, Myanmar, pride, queer community, sex workers, support, transgender, Yangon, Yangon Pride.

by Lotty Clare

Content warning: sexual violence, corrective rape, sexual abuse, suicide.

Last Friday was the beginning of Yangon Pride celebrations in a country where human rights abuses are rife, and homosexuality is criminalised. The rising profile of LGBTQ+ rights in Myanmar provides precious hope for queer people in the country. However, the road to equality is a long one.

Yangon’s 2020 Pride festival is organised by &PROUD and runs from January 18th to February 2nd. The opening day in Thakin Mya park attracted thousands of people. The city’s pride events include a boat parade, queer dance performances, drag shows, queer film screenings and panel discussions, and of course lots of rainbows. The films that will be shown include ‘A Simple Love Story’ a short documentary film that was given a distinction in the Wathann Film Festival but was not screened due to censorship, even though there was no nudity. The film centred around a trans couple and asked the question ‘does love have any gender?’. Continue Reading

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 3 (OF 3)

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged #balanceforbetter, #metoo, austerity, Bladerunner, Cambridge Analytica, conformism, demo, endorsement, equality, featured, feminism, gender rights, germaine greer, left, liberalism, Luce Irigaray, media, Naomi Klein, Nicola Rivers, populism, rally, Rashida Tlaib, speech, uk, womens march, work.

by Sunetra Senior

Part Three (of Three): An Ideological Ambush and Choosing Utopia. Read Part One here and part Two here.

Here, another sinister aspect of the Trump campaign, now verified by the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, was the invasive, online method through which I proposed that an amoral moneyed elite was not only manipulating, but also forcibly hijacking the public’s trust. I will again emphasise another, so far unacknowledged, caveat: this method of manufacturing investment not only cheats people short-term – including those vacuous nutjobs at the top- but sustains a deceptive, distinctly digital control well into the destructive future. Once removed and shiny, the technological medium of devices and social media is the perfect way to distract from the escalation of political inequality by cunningly feigning advancement.Continue Reading

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 2 (OF 3)

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged #balanceforbetter, #metoo, austerity, Bladerunner, conformism, demo, endorsement, equality, featured, feminism, gender rights, germaine greer, left, liberalism, Luce Irigaray, media, Nicola Rivers, populism, rally, Rashida Tlaib, speech, uk, womens march, work.

by Sunetra Senior

Part Two (of Three): Bladerunner 2049 and a Tragic Trajectory. Read Part One here and part Three here.

Yet, a year on and the opposite seemed to manifest. Last year’s big, sponsored march was populated by blatant careerists and women who seemed to think the Feminist conclusion lay in just stony vocational power. This was the severe, stifled energy I’d been feeling. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see a placard that read: ‘Good women Go to Work!’ No wonder then, that there was also interpersonal tension and division between the various organisations at the demonstration: women were feeling competitive. Here, I will emphasise: to fixate on external acquirement such as an invincible social status and intensive office hours and treat them as if a modern romance, is to internalise a toxic masculinity that does not oppose but instead reinforces historic gender inequality. Follow this regressive trajectory, and not only do women begin to undermine their previous progress, but too, start to become foot soldiers in a universally dark tyranny.Continue Reading

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 1 (OF 3)

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged #balanceforbetter, #metoo, austerity, Bloody Good Period, conformism, demo, endorsement, equality, featured, feminism, gender rights, left, liberalism, Luce Irigaray, media, Natalie imbruglia, populism, rally, sadiq khan, Salena Godden, Sophie Cameron, speech, uk, Women's Muslim Network, womens march.

by Sunetra Senior

Part One (of Three): Bourgeois Beginnings. Read part Two here and Part Three here.

‘Are we in the right place?’ was a semi-serious question posed by a friend of mine at the 2018 Women’s March, which took place in London on 4th March to commemorate worldwide Women’s Day. Having been to many demonstrations between us, including the historic 2017 Women’s March, which took place the day after President Trump’s inauguration, we had sound reference points between us too. Usually, there’s a friendly, lively atmosphere. You might even enjoy some canned ciders as you watch an animated speaker deliver one motivational speech after the next.

In 2018, however, the big women’s march was sedate, controlled, and most alarmingly of all: conformist. I even got elbowed in the face by a male police officer who told me to ‘stay within the demonstration line’. This was immediately after I’d passed a giant stone pedestal, encircled by a murder of male reporters, gathered creepily at that higher vantage point like gigantic crows. Hitchcockian voyeurism aside, women also seemed to be adopting the strange, disciplinary mood. One female speaker said to keep fighting ‘even if it took another 100 years’. But where was the urgency? Where ‘was the anger’? as feminist performer Sophie Cameron tweeted out.Continue Reading

ON ANARCHY, ANTIFA, AND APATHY

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged action, anarchy, anti-fascism, antifa, apathy, Bannon, Berkeley, Brexit, Civil Rights, Community, cooperation, direct action, Elisee Reclus, equality, featured, hate, justice, left wing, Milo Yiannopolous, Natasha Lennard, Peter Kropotkin, politics, Richard Spencer, Unite, volunteers, white supremacy, xenophobia.

by Sarah Edgcumbe

In a left wing social media group I am part of, a member recently asked whether anybody supported Antifa, before continuing on to state that he personally feels that “they sound like the fascists they are trying to rid the world of” and harming the potential of the left. This sentiment was unexpected given the online location. Why do the words “anarchist” and “Antifa” provoke such strong negative reactions?Continue Reading

AFTER WEINSTEIN

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged #metoo, activism, Alice Kessler-Harris, bell hooks, equality, exploitation, featured, feminism, feminist movement, Harvey Weinstein, health insurance, Jordan Peterson, low wages, margaret thatcher, maternity pay, me too, Milo Yiannopoulos, movement, pension, sexual harassment, Susan Faludi, theresa may, time person of the year, unsafe working conditions, victim, Weinstein, white, womens equality, workforce, workplace, World Bank.

by Scott Mclaughlan

Content warning: article mentions sexual harassment, violence against women, exploitation

According to bell hooks feminism is for everyone; it’s a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Remarkably, given the stream of allegations of sexual harassment and violence against women, triggered by the exposure of sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, today’s popular media appears to have moved on.Continue Reading

THE 2017 PAPUA NEW GUINEA ELECTION: BAD LUCK?

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged campaign, corruption, elections, equality, farce, fraud, Human Rights Watch, international, minorities, Papua New Guinea, Parliament, Peter O'Neill, PNG, police, student, student activism.

by Maud Webster

The 2017 Papua New Guinea election was fraught with allegations, violence and anger. Yet the object of the disquiet – Peter O’Neill – was still re-elected as Prime Minister. He represents the People’s National Congress Party, which has been rising rapidly in popularity over the past couple of decades. In 2002, they were in opposition with two votes, but entered government in 2007. Now, they hold twenty-seven. O’Neill has held the position since 2011 and just about holds it still, by obtaining support from minor parties and scrabbling together support for his party’s re-election. Following coalition discussions, his vote support margin stood at sixty votes to forty-six.

The election itself was blighted by disorganisation and electoral roll irregularities, in addition to initial dissatisfaction with O’Neill’s first term. Voters expressed concerns about the chaotic economy, rife with extensive borrowing. Whilst statistics show growth in GDP, growth has dropped from 13.3% in 2014 to a mere 2% in 2016.

The election itself was an appalling farce. Continue Reading

GOING BACKWARDS – OXFORD AND THE UNIVERSITY CLASS PROBLEM

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged bias, black students, BME, class, David Lammy MP, discrimination, diversity, elitism, ender, equality, equity, ethnicity, government, Grenfell Tower disaster, higher education, Oxford, politics, prejudice, privatisation, prospective students, regional inequality, ruling class, solidarity, students, uk, universities, upper class.

by Laura Potts

I was shocked to see in recent news that Oxford university has been accused of ‘social apartheid’ after their student intake was analysed. This story joins the long standing and highly complicated debate around the wider concept of university equality and educational fairness, revealing some worrying patterns that have begun to emerge in recent years.

IT’S A GIRL!

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged acting, actor, arts, bbc, casting, Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who, equality, gender, Jodie Whittaker, Mary Shelley, media, parity, Peter Capaldi, Rey, role model, scifi, sexism, showrunner, star wars, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, time travel, TV, white, whovian, women.

by Paige Selby-Green

“They’ll never do it,” I said, with total certainty. “I mean I’d love it – if it wasn’t Stephen Moffat writing it, at least – but they’ll never do it.”

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be so wrong.

WHO DESERVES TEF GOLD? AND DOES IT MATTER?

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged access, boycotts, elitism, equality, fairness, government, graduate employment, HE Act, HE bill, higher education, league tables, marketisation, national student survey, NSS Boycott, NUA, privatisation, profit, progress, reductionism, russell group, Sauder and Espeland, Sauder and Espeland boycott, student satisfaction, teaching, teaching standards, tef, TEF metrics, Tories, tuition fees, UEA.

by Laura Potts

Last week, the first set of Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rankings were released for 2017. The TEF is fairly complicated and students are rarely informed of how it works, or the possible implications it holds for the future of education. In short, it is a framework of metrics or measures introduced by the Tory government, ostensibly to assess teaching in higher education institutions in England. These metrics categorise two areas: student satisfaction and graduate earnings / employability. A lot of the data comes from the National Student Survey that final year students are often pressured to take part in. This years’ rankings gave some unexpected results for some of the UK’s most prestigious institutes, with many not doing as well as expected – only 8 of the 21 elite Russell Group universities were awarded ‘Gold’. This suggests that we should be cautious about taking the TEF results as accurate representations of institutions.

equality

YANGON PRIDE KICKS OFF WITH NEW #LOVEISNOTACRIME CAMPAIGN

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 3 (OF 3)

Part Three (of Three): An Ideological Ambush and Choosing Utopia. Read Part One here and part Two here.

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 2 (OF 3)

Part Two (of Three): Bladerunner 2049 and a Tragic Trajectory. Read Part One here and part Three here.

THE WOMEN’S MARCHES: FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM & A WORRYING, WAYWARD TREND – PART 1 (OF 3)

Part One (of Three): Bourgeois Beginnings. Read part Two here and Part Three here.

ON ANARCHY, ANTIFA, AND APATHY

AFTER WEINSTEIN

THE 2017 PAPUA NEW GUINEA ELECTION: BAD LUCK?

GOING BACKWARDS – OXFORD AND THE UNIVERSITY CLASS PROBLEM

IT’S A GIRL!

WHO DESERVES TEF GOLD? AND DOES IT MATTER?

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Part Three (of Three): An Ideological Ambush and Choosing Utopia. Read Part One here and part Two here.

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Part Two (of Three): Bladerunner 2049 and a Tragic Trajectory. Read Part One here and part Three here.

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Part One (of Three): Bourgeois Beginnings. Read part Two here and Part Three here.

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