“In considering who should manage the last days of the decline of an empire, we are paralysed by the thought: If not Barack Obama then Mitt Romney”. William Wall reviews Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion by AK Press
As we wait for the definitive manifesto of Occupy Movement to be written – if that is possible given the diverse range of opinions and voices that are associated with it – this is arguably an opportune moment to look back 50 years at another radical grouping , which did succeed in putting together and […]
I attended the talk one evening last June, upstairs in a second-hand bookshop a short walk from my home. The journalist had reported in the past from Iran and Iraq and was now just back from Libya, the outcome of the war there still uncertain. During the discussion which followed a human rights lawyer who […]
The chart-topping political debates in Italy at the moment are the economic crisis, crime and security, federalism, and illegal immigration – ranked in importance according to the particular peccadiloes of each political party. One interesting phenomena, which is tied to each of these issues in one way or another, is the issue of Italian emmigration. […]
The chart-topping political debates in Italy at the moment are the economic crisis, crime and security, federalism, and illegal immigration – ranked in importance according to the particular peccadiloes of each political party. One interesting phenomena, which is tied to each of these issues in one way or another, is the issue of Italian emmigration. […]
In the same week that Berlusconi’s much contested minister for education, Mariastella Gelmini, took a leaf out of Obama’s book and created a youtube channel to address students directly*, Silvio Berlusconi announced to the world that he would be seeking to sort out the internet at next year’s G8 summit which will be held (disgracefully […]
Every December one of the most important car shows in Italy – and perhaps Europe – takes place in Bologna. For two weeks the city’s transport system is put under ever-more pressure as car-crazy enthusiasts flock to the city to see the latest glitzy models (in the traditional and automobile sense) on display. Walking back […]
Last week, seemingly against the odds, Vladimir Luxuria won the Italian reality-tv game show L’Isola dei Famosi (a type of ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’). What makes her victory worth discussing – outside of the tv pundity columns – is that she is a) transgender, and b) a former member of parliament […]
Fannulloni is a word much in vogue in Italy at the moment, in part because of a headline-grabbing crusade by the Minister for the Public Sector, Renato Brunetta, against this seemingly large and well-deployed group. Fanulloni put simply means a layabout – and there’s plenty of evidence that the public sector is full of them. […]
During a recent television debate between government spokespersons and students over the much contested educational reform decree, one of the students was briskly interuppted by his governmental interlocutor because he had not addressed her with the customary ‘Honourable’, a title automatically given to members of parliament (much like the British system). Respect for the institutions […]
