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
Featured Articles
Sparsh Pandya, BA International Relations and South Asian Studies The past year and a half of Narendra Modi’s term as prime minister of India has marked a clear push towards neo-liberal economic policy and an attempt to establish India as a powerful global actor. Within the domestic sphere, welfare
cameron
Theo Clay, Msc Development Studies Earlier this month during his visit to Jamaica, David Cameron was called upon to apologise for Britain’s role in the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade and to enter into a discussion with Caribbean leaders over how to make amends and heal this historic
Opinion
Awa Konate, BA Politics and African Studies Cities, hopes and lives are perishing. What one once called home has now been reduced to nothing but reminiscence, where hope thrived. Deprived of any prospects for a better future, one has been reduced to nothing but a mere refugee, and a little
Opinion
Joe Dunne, BA Politics Why bother? Why bother investing emotionally sacrosanct political trust in those whom we elect to represent us in Parliament, knowing full well that this trust will be filed into the metaphoric paper-shredder when it becomes strategically convenient for the politicians who sought our support and promised
Opinion
Awa Konate, BA Poltiics and African Studies By now, most of us (if not all) have heard of Rachel Dolezal; an NAACP president and professor of African-American studies, and also a white woman who, for nearly a decade, pretended to be Black. Yes, people, you were bamboozled, and ultimately the