Can the Scottish Nationalists embrace post-nationalism, the only route to independence?

Gerry Hassan 23 October 2011
Scotland's governing party looks forward to independence. But what does this mean in our time? A form of post-nationalist nationalism that embraces the world.

E-petitions aren't enough - Britain should learn from the 'Oregon model' of citizen juries

Janice Thomson and Simon Burall 22 October 2011
For the first time in Britain, the public has used e-petitions to successfully push for Parliamentary debates - but we could go much further. We need only take some lessons from across the Atlantic, where Oregon has set up citizen juries and embedded direct democracy at the heart of government.

Abkhazia's archive: fire of war, ashes of history

Thomas de Waal

For me the tragic story of Abkhazia's archive is inseparable from the story of its archivist.

I first met Nikolai Ioannidi in May 1992 in Sukhumi, then capital of the autonomous republic of Abkhazia and still firmly part of Georgia. War was about to break out between the Abkhaz and the Georgians, but I sensed this only vaguely, noticing that there was a curfew at night, a dispute over which security forces had the right to bear arms and worried speculation from the people I spent my time with about the future.

Secret mice and liberal hallucinations (or why the fatherland and freedom are strategically incompatible)

Daniil Kotsyubinsky 21 October 2011

The liberals' reaction to President Medvedev’s voluntary political suicide might well be described as ‘gloating disillusion.' For Daniil Kotsyubinsky, the surprising thing was some believed democratic evolution was a real possibility.

Occupy: Catalepsy/Multitude/Consensus/Crisis

search for the master copy 21 October 2011
When is a square 'occupied' and when is it 'seized'? Is the Occupy movement on behalf of the 'multitude' or the 'working class'? The tyranny of structurelessness or the tyranny of tyrannies - or can we choose neither? In this historic moment, we must revisit the old questions and rethink our answers.

A plea to St Paul's: follow Christ's teachings and support #OccupyLondon

Richard Murphy 21 October 2011
London's tent city is on sacred land - the skirts of St Paul's Cathedral. The Cathedral's position on the occupation will be crucial for its future. Will it remember Christ's mission to free the oppressed and bring good news to the poor?

The "Arab spring" in historical perspective

Sami Zubaida 21 October 2011

How will the popular uprisings in the Arab world affect the future of states and regimes in the region? All possible outcomes are shadowed by the fate of the contending ideologies and movements - nationalism and socialism, secularism and Islamism, dynasticism and liberal constitutionalism - that have dominated the Arab political landscape in recent decades, says Sami Zubaida. His overview of their rise and fall both illuminates a complex history and indicates the scale of the challenge facing democratic reformers today.

Is the Dale Farm eviction really ethnic cleansing?

Justin Baidoo-Hackman 20 October 2011
The UK's largest traveller community is being forcibly evicted from their homes. Violence has been used to remove them, but is it ethnically motivated? Is Britain really engaging in 'ethnic cleansing'?

A war on Iran: the delusive logic

Paul Rogers 20 October 2011
The arguments for and against an armed attack on Iran by the United States - or Israel - are sharpening. The increasing tension that surrounds the issue could itself precipitate a conflict that would be far lengthier than its advocates believe.

On playing by the rules – the strange success of #OccupyWallStreet

David Graeber 20 October 2011
The mass popularity of the Wall Street occupation is almost uncanny - so where have the protesters got it right?

A thin solution to a big problem

Amanda Conroy 20 October 2011
The globe is in the grip of an obesity epidemic, and the UK is one of the worst affected. Yet the government has responded by emphasising personal responsibility, ignoring the wider impact of the neoliberal economic system.

Conflict and Custom in the New World Order : a conversation with Gita Sahgal

Deniz Kandiyoti 20 October 2011

"There is a struggle to be had. It is time to challenge the hegemony of the formal human rights movement and its uncritical embrace of identity politics". Gita Sahgal in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti. Part two.

When Oxford is more 'English' than Hull, what's the point of nationalism?

Michael Calderbank 19 October 2011
Notions of 'England' have traditionally elevated certain citizens, from certain areas - London, the Home Counties, university towns. So why should 'the regions' invest in an English national identity?

Remember Liverpool 1946: Britain needs human rights to prevent immigration crime

Don Flynn 19 October 2011
The BBC2 documentary series ‘Mixed Britannia’ set out to show how ethnic diversity is central to the UK. Last week's episode took us back to a dark time in British history that demonstrates why immigration policy needs to be constrained by a strong commitment to human rights.

Egypt’s souring transition

Khalil al-Anani 19 October 2011
For the junta, the transition is not and maybe should never be a complete rupture with the old system, inevitably at their expense and a threat to their entrenched economic and social privileges.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

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