David Hayes

David Hayes is a co-founder of openDemocracy. He has written textbooks on human rights and terrorism, and was a contributor to Town and Country (Jonathan Cape, 1998). His work has been published in PN Review, the Irish Times, El Pais, the Iran Times International, the Canberra Times, the Scotsman, the New Statesman and The Absolute Game. He has edited five print collections of material from the openDemocracy website, including Europe and Islam; Turkey: Writers, Politics, and Free Speech; and Europe: Visions, Realities, Futures. He is the editor of Fred Halliday's Political Journeys - the openDemocracy Essays (Saqi, 2011)

David Widgery, 1947-92: against oblivion

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.

By David Hayes

/ 28 Oct 2012

Britain's misty political season

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.

By David Hayes

/ 8 Oct 2012

An Olympics dream

A thrilling opening ceremony turned London’s mood from cynical towards euphoric. But after artistic seduction comes political reduction, says David Hayes.

By David Hayes

/ 6 Aug 2012

Britain's holiday from reality

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.

By David Hayes

/ 29 Jun 2012

A global democracy manifesto

"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

By David Hayes

/ 27 Jun 2012

Tom Nairn: the world and Scotland too

* 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

By David Hayes

/ 2 Jun 2012

Fred Halliday: an unfinished voyage

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}

By David Hayes

/ 26 Apr 2012

A refound monarchy and a lost republic

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.

By David Hayes

/ 24 Apr 2012

Scotland, and the end of romance

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.

By David Hayes

/ 22 Feb 2012

Margaret Thatcher, between myth and politics

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

By David Hayes

/ 13 Jan 2012

London, the intimate megacity

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.

By David Hayes

/ 8 Dec 2011

After St Paul's: the smoke this time

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.

By David Hayes

/ 1 Nov 2011