FROM SCHALKE TO NEWCASTLE: ARE FOOTBALL CLUBS BECOMING COVERS FOR CORRUPTION?

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Amnesty International, Angela Merkel, Ben Mee, black lives matter, Bundesliga, commercialisation, community organising, corruption, fan activism, Fans Supporting Foodbanks, featured, football, free school meals, gazprom, Gerhard Schroeder, germany, Hatice Cengiz, human rights, international politics, Jamal Khashoggi, manchester, Manchester City, marcus rashford, Newcastle, newcastle united, Nord Stream, PIF, premier league, Ruhr Valley, Russia, Saudi Arabia, schalke 04, sheikh mansour, sponsorship, sport, U.A.E., Vladimir Putin.

By Howard Green

Professional football has been hyper-commercialised by every means available. Billion pound deals between private entities to secure TV rights, ridiculous sponsorship schemes that see clubs partner with the most strange or dangerous of companies, and ever-rising ticket prices turning the sport into an occasional daytime activity for the well-off rather than dedicated working-class fans. But there are still instances of defiance, of fans and players organising and speaking out against the commercial elements of the sport.

POLITICS AND POWERSLAMS – REACTIONARY NARRATIVES IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged ableism, Carmella, Chris Benoit, combat sports, Connor Michalek, Dave Bautista, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Eddie Guerrero, enterntainment, Eugene, fight, history, Jinder Mahal, John Cena, Kamala, Kane, Make a Wish, media, mental health, Mick Foley, Micky James, Muhammad Hassan, murder, Papa Shango, Paul Levesque, performance, Piggy James, racism, Raw, Rusey, scandal, sexism, sexual assault, Smackdown, Stephanie McMahon, steroid, Stone Cold Steve Austin, suicide, The Crusher, The Undertaker, triple h, vince mcmahon, violence, Vladimir Putin, wrestling, WWE.

by Chris Jarvis

CW: sexual assault, racism, ableism, violence, sexism, suicide, murder, mental health

Professional wrestling is big business, and there’s none bigger than the monolithic World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2015, its revenue totalled over $650 million dollars, whereas the second largest promotion in the world – New Japan Pro Wrestling – saw a comparatively paltry $30 million. WWE is a cultural and economic behemoth, with profound power and influence wrapped into its carefully crafted and tightly managed brand. Its most successful exports go on to become major cultural icons – film stars, stand up comedians, talk show favourites. WWE alumnus Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the world’s second highest paid actor with a barrage of accolades to boot. Dave Bautista has followed in the footsteps of the ‘People’s Champion’, with a major role in the third highest grossing film in 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy. In 1999, Mick Foley published the first instalment of his autobiography – Have a Nice Day – which shot to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Given the sheer scale of WWE’s operation and the wide reaching influence of its product and performers, it comes as little surprise that the company has built an extensive corporate social responsibility marketing operation. John Cena has granted more ‘wishes’ for the Make a Wish Foundation than anyone else. In 2015, WWE heirs apparent Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and Stephanie McMahon founded Connor’s Cure, a charity dedicated to researching pediatric cancer, after 8 year old WWE fan Connor ‘The Crusher’ Michalek tragically passed away in 2014. Most recently, programming of Raw and Smackdown were interspersed with fundraising vignettes for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Given the sheer scale of WWE’s operation and the wide reaching influence of its product and performers, it comes as little surprise that the company has built an extensive corporate social responsibility marketing operation.

Beneath the shimmering veneer WWE have created, though, lies a murky and unpleasant history. Continue Reading

IS THE GOVERNMENT KILLING YOU?

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged civil war, Congress, Donald Trump, Duma, dwp, Ecuador, famine, government, Guantanamo, house of commons, mental health, policy, rage against the machine, reproductive rights, Roe v Wade, Russia, South Sudan, structural violence, Texas, UN, US, Vladimir Putin.

by Gunnar Eigener

Content warning: mentions violence, execution, massacre, abortion, domestic violence

‘For example, what does the billboard say,
Come and play, come and play
Forget about the movement’

Freedom – Rage Against The Machine

A UN-declared famine is threatening the lives of over a million people in South Sudan, with 100,000 of those facing immediate starvation. It has been six years since a famine was last declared, but the difference is that this famine is the result of structural violence.Continue Reading

COLD WAR MARK II: UNNECESSARY, AVOIDABLE, AND A CHALLENGE TO INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Aleppo, arms, baltic states, barack obama, cold war, cold war mark 2, Crimea, defence, Eastern Europe, ideology, international relations, leninism, liberal capitalism, marxism, middle east, military, national interest, Nato, nuclear weapons, obama, power, putin, relations, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, US, USA, Vladimir Putin, West, western powers.

by Oliver Steward

Today in international relations we are witnessing a return to a new Cold War between Russia and the West. However, this Cold War Mark II is avoidable, and has only been institutionalised by the actions of both the West and Russia to antagonise one another, and rejuvenate the old Cold War which ceased since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now in the second decade of the 21st Century it is here once again. This new Cold War is characterised by increased tensions between the West and Russia, with rhetoric particularly from the latter becoming increasingly aggressive, and the use of economic measures such as sanctions against Russia by Western powers.

The recent Russian bombardment of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo has done nothing to ameliorate the current diplomatic tensions, only deepened it. However two important qualifications need to be made about this new Cold War that makes it different to the Cold War of the 20th Century.Continue Reading

BATMAN, THE PANAMA PAPERS AND THE EVILS OF CORRUPTION

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged batman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, corruption, david cameron, David Gunnlaugsson, Edward Snowden, gangsterism, george osborne, Gotham, government corruption, Iceland, ISIS, Mossack Fonseca, offshore, Panama Papers, Russia, Saudi Arabia, tax, tax avoidance, tax havens, terrorism, theresa may, uk, Vladimir Putin, WikiLeaks.

By Faizal Nor Izham

Two weeks ago, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened to mixed reviews from film critics, but nonetheless went on to perform spectacularly at the box office. Just this week, the Panama Papers were also unleashed into the public sphere, from the world’s fourth-biggest offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca. The 11.5 million document leak featured startling revelations on a web of shady offshore accounting, involving twelve prominent world leaders including David Cameron. Implicating a total of 143 world politicians, their families and close associates, the leaks demonstrated the various ways in which elite rulers have been exploiting secretive offshore tax regimes.

Vladimir Putin

FROM SCHALKE TO NEWCASTLE: ARE FOOTBALL CLUBS BECOMING COVERS FOR CORRUPTION?

By Howard Green

POLITICS AND POWERSLAMS – REACTIONARY NARRATIVES IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

IS THE GOVERNMENT KILLING YOU?

COLD WAR MARK II: UNNECESSARY, AVOIDABLE, AND A CHALLENGE TO INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

BATMAN, THE PANAMA PAPERS AND THE EVILS OF CORRUPTION

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