Identity Hunters
Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises, is the life story of Jiro Horikoshi, the famed designer of Mitsubishi’s “Zero” fighter plane. Jiro is a man born into poverty whose passion for aviation and natural intelligence push him into higher education and eventually a career as a brilliant aviation engineer. Along the way, Miyazaki tells the story […]
By Anonymous Introduction In 1951 the Estado Novo reaffirmed its colonies as overseas provinces, in a gesture that sought to strengthen its claims of a pluricontinental state in the era of decolonization. As Portugal faced mounting pressure from the United Nations to evidence its decolonization, Portugal instead sought to defend its possessions through its theories […]
By Alessandro Colletti Internationally, France appears as a cohesive nation with a homogeneous identity and a single language; however, this is a projection of years of centralisation and cultural repression rather than historical reality. Ever since the French revolution, the Paris government has made it its commitment to eradicate regional cultures and languages, branding the […]
By Imane Ait-Kaci Blood stains mark the theatre where Abdelkader Alloula fell from three bullets to his back. In his flat lies Jean Sénac’s body, while M’Hamed Boukhobza’s daughter bears witness to her father’s torture. Through these assassinations, Assia Djebar builds more than a memorial in “Algerian White” – she dissects how nationalism engulfs its […]
By Guest Writer Hamir Thapar It is difficult to contest the claim that the 2024 Lok Sabha election was not the vote of confidence many expected. Narendra Modi may be just the second Indian Prime Minister ever to secure three consecutive terms, but with the National Democratic Alliance securing just 240 out of 545 seats, […]
By Hannah Jung “The worst of the eight hells is continuous hell – it has the meaning of Continuous Suffering.” The 2002 action thriller Infernal Affairs opens with this unsettling verse from the Nirvana Sutra. It turns to the drug lord Hon Sam recruiting Lau Kin-ming as his mole in the police, while Superintendent Wong […]
By Qishen Peng The Yuanming Yuan, also known as the Old Summer Palace, was a vast imperial garden complex in Beijing, renowned for its exquisite architecture and cultural treasures. In October 1860, during the Second Opium War, French and British troops destroyed the Yuanming Yuan to punish China for its delay in settling the conflict. […]
By Angelika Etherington-Smith In November 2024 thousands of farmers descended upon Westminster protesting the new the Labour government’s reform to Inheritance tax – making farmers pay 20% over 10 years and from which they have been except since 1984. Leaders of the protest included composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber and presenter Jeremy Clarkson, with the latter running […]
By Idunn Engstad On September 22nd this year, the Swiss Cantons of Bern and Jura voted on the destiny of a town called Moutier. With a remarkable 83.2% approval rate from Canton Bern and 72.9 % (Keystone SDA, 2024) from Canton Jura, Moutier will officially ‘move’ Cantons in 2026. This comes 44 years after Canton […]
Identity Hunters 