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Race and Racialism in the Rainbow Nation

Written by: Saskia Alais/ Edited by: Jake Dickson When Nelson Mandela assumed the South African Presidency in May 1994, he sounded the final death knell of apartheid, a system of legalised racial segregation that, for more than five decades, had stripped non-Whites of their socio-economic rights and consigned indigenous Blacks to the bottom of the […]

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Kia Ora – The Essence of Nationhood

Written by: Tanya Paul/ Edited by: Jake Dickson ‘Kia Ora’—a traditional Māori phrase of welcome—symbolises more than a simple hello. Meaning the essence of life, ‘Kia Ora’ also epitomises New Zealand’s national identity struggle. Greeting telephone callers with ‘Kia Ora’, Rangimarie Naida Glavish had not intended revolution. And yet, the mere use of this traditional […]

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Russia’s Arctic Strategies and Nationalism

Written by: John R. /Edited by: Jake Dickson Russia’s ambitions towards the Arctic have caused concern in Western eyes in the past decade. With increasing tensions between both NATO and the European Union regarding Russia, heightened by events such as the 2014 Crimean annexation and the following crisis, Russia’s stance in the Arctic has come […]

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Nationalism’s Predictable Trajectory to Violence

Written by: Sanjna Menon /Edited by: Jake Dickson The events in the United States capitol on January 6, 2021 shocked much of the world, but it shouldn’t have. From the day Donald Trump started his presidential campaign it was evident that should he be elected, the extreme nationalism and bigotry would only continue. If there […]

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The Rise of State Owned Media: Russian Inspirations for the Polish Government

Written by: Paula Rabiega /Edited by: Conor Hiliard Democratic countries are associated with the existence of free, independent media – it is one of the pillars ensuring the country functions the way it was supposed to. Recently however, Alexei Navalny’s case shows that even evidence of poisoning of political opponents can pass without making a […]

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Myth and Memory of Mehmed the Conqueror: Turkish Nationalism and the Conquest of Constantinople

From a Byzantine church built in 537 to an Ottoman mosque in 1453 to a Turkish museum in 1935 to a mosque again in 2020, the Hagia Sophia has seen many forms and none of these changes have been surprising.  This is as the form of the Hagia Sophia has been tightly tied to a […]

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The Smiths, Aestheticised Misery, and the British Nostalgia Identity

Written by: Ewa Bialoglowska/Edited by: Lila Ovington Once upon a time, a band from the North came with a sound so fresh and vigorous it took the nation by storm. The sound was rock, but crucially it was pop, too: concise, punchy, melodic, shiny. The singer was a true original, delivering a blend of sensitivity […]

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False Defenders: Western Populist Right-Wing Discourses on Homosexuality

Written by: Thomas Sørensen & Manfredi Pozzoli /Edited by: Emanuela Lipari Right-wing narratives on homosexuality are far from static. The gradual triumph of value-based Western liberalism throughout the 20th century has meant that Western right-wing movements have conformed many of their stances on social issues vis-à-vis the liberal ‘cultural hegemony,’ while still maintaining ‘conservative’ positions […]

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From Natives to Stateless: Tracing the historical construction of Rohingya Muslims as an enemy ‘other’ and exclusivist nationalism in Myanmar

Written by: Paula Arrus & Femi Ivan /Edited by: Lila Ovington On August 2017, nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee from Myanmar (formerly Burma) due to a ‘clearance operation’ executed by the Myanmar military. Today, Rohingya refugees remain the most vulnerable and racially oppressed ethnic minority in the world (Alam, 2019). Referred to as […]