climate change
Our friend in Amman takes a look at the intersectionality of climate change in Jordan. Ammanymous King Abdullah II of Jordan attended the recent COP 21 talks in Paris to continue his country’s preparations for climate change. His numerous photo opps with other world leaders will hopefully raise more
Boycott
Mel Plant, BA Arabic and Turkish On the date of publication, it will be almost a year since the SOAS community passed a motion for the academic boycott of Israel. Part of the School’s historic support of the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the academic boycott motion
east germany
Harry Wise, BA Politics In the third episode of the television series, Deutschland ’83, the East German Secret Service (HVA) is trying to access information stored on a floppy disk stolen from NATO. The disk contains a NATO security report regarding the viabilities of a nuclear attack. It’s extremely
cultural appropriation
Sophia Moghal, BA History and Southeast Asian Studies Deciding to click on the following headline on a news site led me to discover Mango’s newest campaign. The title: “Kendall Jenner’s New Mango Campaign Shows A Side We’re Not Used To Seeing”. “Tribal Spirit”; is apparently the side
Opinion
Joe Dunne, BA Politics How could I forget that quiet Which descended over a city of three hundred thousand? The calm How could I forget those pleas Of a dying wife and child Emitted through the whiteness of their eyes, Piercing our minds and souls – Sankichi Toge, August Sixth The
Opinion
This writer got arrested at the Free Education Demo early in November. He came out of it an entirely changed activist. Since the last issue of the Spirit went to print at the end of October, we’ve seen a fair few protests, one member of staff suspended, and then
media
Lara Sarlak, MA Anthropology and Media The results of the previous Turkish general elections in June 2015 had many people carried away by the illusion of possible change. A pro-minority party, the HDP, had managed to pass the arbitrary electoral threshold and Erdoğan’s AKP had finally had its majority
gujarat
Atika Dawood, BA Arabic and Linguistics Trigger Warning: (Sexual) violence against women and children The spectre of the 2002 Gujarat Riots has re-emerged following the landslide victory of Narendra Modi early last year. The ‘riots’ began when 59 Hindu pilgrims died after a train carrying them was set on fire.
mental health
Florence Goddard, BA Politics and Development Studies Trigger Warning: Article deals with issues of mental health and mentions suicide. As a fairly privileged middle class student of a notoriously left-wing university I spend most of my time in the world of radical idealism, safe spaces and tolerance that is SOAS.
Opinion
Joe Dunne, BA International Relations As rarely happens in the 21st century, a Hollywood blockbuster in the form of Hunger Games: Catching Fire struck a satirical cord in its uncanny resemblance to our global political system. The head ‘Gamesmaker’, the absurdly named Plutarch Heavensbee, advises President Snow that ‘more fear’
Opinion
Sofia Moghal, BA History and Southeast Asian Studies The need to educate on consent and make ourselves aware of the very real prevalence of rape culture is becoming more and more urgent. The extent to which rape is considered a cultural norm is shocking. It is obvious when athletes convicted
International News
Mel Plant, BA Arabic and Turkish It only took three days to formulate an excuse for another Western air force to kill hundreds of Syrian civilians. But with Raqqa being the capital of the self-declared Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham, surely there’s no problem with bombing a bunch