Kester Brewin

The report into the horrific bombings in the village of Claudy in 1972 – in which 9 people were killed – has been published today. It appears to make sickening reading: The Police Ombudsman found talks between the Catholic Church, the police and the government led to a priest suspected of involvement in the attack [...]

One of the sources I quote a number of times in Other is The Spirit Level – Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. The thrust of their thesis is very simple: by collating hundreds of studies over a long period of time they have concluded that the [...]

Jonny has posted a very comprehensive review of ‘Other’ on his blog, which is well worth a read. He admits that he found it tricky to get right given the back-and-forth we’ve had recently over the issue of institutions, but I think he’s done a good job. It seems that the book is causing quite [...]

HT to Barry for putting me on to this animation of a short talk by Marx-expert David Harvey. Brilliant.

In ‘No Exit’ – what is considered to be his best play – Sartre wrote the line ‘L’enfer, c’est les autres‘ which is commonly translated as hell is other people. I was reminded of this last night hearing AC Grayling introduce Zizek, who had written in the Guardian that the worst job he had ever [...]

Violence of Heaven [ 1 ] I opened the first post with the story of Christiania – a ‘micro-nation’ in the centre of Copenhagen that has been going since the early 1970s. Seen as a ‘social experiment’ by the generally left-leaning governments of Denmark, it is now under increasing threat from more right-wing administrations, as [...]

As promised yesterday, a post about a brilliant piece by Porter Fox in this month’s Believer about the micro-nation ‘Christiania.’ Christiania began when a group of Danes broke down fences to a long-abandoned military base in the centre of Copenhagen and started to use some of the space as a playground for their children. Covering [...]

(Brown writes his letter wishing David Cameron well – from a great set of photos on his last hours here) The waiting is over. We have a new government, what some are calling the ‘ConDems’. My feelings are mixed. They range from huge disappointment and concern at the return of a Conservative administration, to relief [...]

I’m really excited about the new book coming out in the next few weeks, especially as the over-arching theme of engaging the other is so current. British politics has historically been about governing by majority. One party gets enough seats to be able to vote through whatever legislation it sees fit. Rebellions are uncommon; the [...]

Great cartoon from Steve Bell as usual. The question now is, what should Clegg do? Having seen support for the Liberal Democrats deflate at the polling stations more quickly than a balloon in a pin factory, he now faces the most important political decision of his life. Does he trust the Tories enough to believe [...]