About Edward Denison

Edward Denison is an independent writer and photographer, and teaches at The Bartlett, UCL. His books include Asmara: Africa's Secret Modernist City (2003), Modernism in China – Architectural Visions and Revolutions (2008) and McMorran & Whitby (2009). His website is here

Articles by Edward Denison

Baby Boom to Moral Bust: How Britain's youth will suffer most from the cuts

Local councils will be deciding how to cope with debilitating cuts to their budgets in the coming weeks. Out of all those affected, it is young people, infants and the unborn who will suffer most from the accumulative impact of the cuts.

The architectural photographer as terrorist

There has been much questioning of police behaviour in Britain following the way the G20 protests in London on 1 April 2009 were handled. As an architectural historian and photographer who has stood in front of countless buildings in various countries armed with nothing more sinister than a camera and a wide-angle lens, the heavy-handedness of over-exuberant security officials is familiar. But few such experiences match the one I had in London recently - a few miles west of the G20 drama, in front of Hammersmith Police Station. The result was my detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), and a new sense of fear about my country.

Restoring history in China

The impending restoration of Shanghai's former Holy Trinity Cathedral, once described as "the most magnificent church in the East", may seem relatively insignificant compared to the massive changes taking place in China, but the decision to return this former British Protestant stronghold to a Christian flock belies important aspects of China's current transformation. Many of China's contemporary triumphs, problems and contradictions appear sharply in focus when viewed through the prism of urban heritage preservation (pdf), a topic that has become a political and historical minefield.

The Horn of Africa: a bitter anniversary

Five years after international arbitration over the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, the world remains dangerously indifferent to the still-unresolved issue, says Edward Denison.

Ethiopia's hostages to history

The seizure of British diplomats near the unforgiving Ethiopia-Eritrea border has a bloody precedent, says Edward Denison.

Eritrea: a cheap holiday in other people's misery

Edward Denison, author of "Asmara: Africa's Secret Modernist City", reports on the architecture and politics of a nation on its knees.

"London good. Asmara bad." In four terse words, Semret had summed up the distilled histories of two disparate capital cities in unwittingly Orwellian tones. Few people have heard of Asmara. Indeed many have not heard of the country of which it is the capital city ­- Eritrea.

Eritrea vs Ethiopia: the shadow of war

The Horn of Africa is on the brink of another devastating war. If it occurs, the blame will be widely shared, says Edward Denison.

This week's guest editors

openGlobalRights editors

Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:

Emerging powers and human rights.

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