It is twenty years since the premature death of David Widgery, a singular radical who combined a prolific writing and political life with work as a medical doctor in London's East End. A man always "alive to things" is recalled by David Hayes.
The halfway point of Britain’s five-year parliament finds all the main parties under pressure to adapt to a changing political environment, says David Hayes.
A thrilling opening ceremony turned London’s mood from cynical towards euphoric. But after artistic seduction comes political reduction, says David Hayes.
A season of high spectacle in London offers only a temporary respite from the United Kingdom's economic and political troubles. But the two kinds of experience also overlap, says David Hayes.
"We want to be citizens of the world and not its mere inhabitants." A group of leading intellectuals has composed a document arguing that deeper and more extensive forms of democracy are essential to cope with the demands of globalisation and its associated transformations of governance. The docum
* Perry Anderson, New Left Review
Perry Anderson, New Left Review
For originality of mind, Tom Nairn is without equal among his contemporaries. In fifty years, there has never been a
The core themes of a new book of Fred Halliday’s openDemocracy columns underline his work's enduring vitality, says David Hayes. [This article was first published on 23 March 2011}
The celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s sixty years on the throne coincides with the best of recent times for the British monarchy. The moment and the mood will pass, but the wider challenge to the institution’s paralysed opponents is enduring, says David Hayes.
A high-stakes constitutional tussle over the future of the United Kingdom is under way. The political transformation of Scotland since the 1950s will help to shape the outcome, says David Hayes.
A sympathetic film portrayal of Britain’s most divisive modern prime minister fits a broader mood of reappraisal of her years in power, says David Hayes
London’s mayoral election might be overshadowed in 2012 by royal and Olympic pageants, but it’s more revealing of the city’s heartbeat than either, says David Hayes.
An encampment around St Paul’s cathedral in London casts a new light on this icon of British wartime defiance. But the epic days of the 1940s may have something to teach the protesters in return, says David Hayes.
