societies
Why should you return to a place that no longer welcomes you? Jacob Loose, MA International Studies and Diplomacy Photo Credit: Tobias Schreiner, http://www.tobias-schreiner.com Speaking at a SOAS Syrian Society event on ‘Reconstruction, Politics, and Justice in Post-War Syria’, Mr Ibrahim Olabi said that for ordinary Syrians
Uncategorized
Ines Rodier, BA Politics and Development On the 7 January, at 4:30 am, a group of junior officers from the presidential guard declared on the national TV station that they had seized power of the Gabonese regime. A few hours later, the government announced that it had neutralised the
International News
Arooj Sultan, BA Economics & Politics The Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) anti-austerity and anti-government protestors marched for the 10th consecutive weekend, on the 19th of January. An estimated 84,000 people demonstrated against the government. Government buildings were vandalised, rioting broke out at the tomb of Napoleon, and protestors hurled
Co-Presidents
Disclaimer:The SOAS Spirit believes in providing the SOAS community with a platform to voice their thoughts, and given the depth of concern surrounding the library restructuring we at the Spirit are compelled to accurately reflect the sentiment of the SOAS body. To that end we have elected to run
emergency relief
Benjamin Jackson, MSc Violence, Conflict and Development On the 22 December, Indonesia was once again staring down the barrel as the archipelago was hit by another natural disaster; years of reconstruction now lay ahead. Anak Krakatau, a volcano which lies off the Sunda Strait and Indonesian islands Java and Sumatra,
Brexit
Kitty Walsh, BA History and World Philosophies Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in the summer of 2016, applications for Irish passports have skyrocketed. Prior to June’s referendum, the number of applications averaged approximately 46,000 in 2015, a figure that doubled to 81,000 in 2017
discrimination
Monika Radojevic, MSc Development Studies A student, who identifies as a white male, complained that SOAS as an institution, “has held events and produced material which directly portrays whiteness and maleness as negative traits”. A two-year legal dispute between the former student and the SOAS SU continues to simmer as
Konstantin Kisin
Jeiran Ganiyeva, BA Japanese and Korean Studies Comedian and ‘free-speech’ advocate Konstantin Kisin was one of a group of comedians invited to perform as part of a fundraiser organised by the Unicef society at SOAS, however, he chose not to proceed with the event when asked to sign a behavioural
Boycott
Khadija Kothia, BA History SOAS students have voted against boycotting the National Student Survey (NSS) after referendum results showed a 160 majority against boycotting the survey. The result means that SOAS Students’ Union will not be campaigning to boycott the NSS after a two-year boycott, leaving students to decide if
features
By Gaia Tan, BA Development Studies and Social Anthropology
features
Capricorn – Main building lifts Aquarius – Water fountains Pisces – Library toilets Aries – Hope in our government to work past their capitalist agenda Taurus – Computers with no mouse Gemini – eduroam Cancer – Everything except the new carpets in Brunei Gallery Leo – Broken hearts on floor B 🙁 Virgo – Desks in your 9am class Libra
Opinion
Alexandra Bate, BA Social Anthropology and History of Art Photo Credit: @martinschoeller, @vanityfair On January 3, the winners of the 2017 November midterm elections were sworn into their official seats in US Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. This marks a historic moment for an