The coalition's plans to reduce the number of constituencies in the UK to 600 and reduce their size poses a number of difficulties and will prove controversial.
A growing movement of African Christians are making waves at home and abroad with their ultra conservative interpretations of scripture. Far from a naïve embrace of conventional norms or a faithful embrace of scripture, these interpretations are emerging as clear political choices and are undermin
Three years ago an exhibition at Moscow’s Sakharov Centre of previously banned work entitled Forbidden Art led to the trial of its curator Andrei Erofeev and the director of the Centre, Yuri Samodurov. The prosecutors want them sentenced to three years in prison for ‘debasing the religious beliefs
Andrei Khrzhanovskii’s recent Russian film about the poet Joseph Brodsky evokes elements of his childhood, internal exile and emigration with history and stunning footage of St Petersburg. But above all, it is an homage, a cinematic celebration of his poetry
Here's a little taste of what you can expect from the second installment of openDemocracy's Discourses series, Financial Crisis and its representation, opening this Thursday, July 8th at 6pm.
The poet Andrei Voznesensky died on 1 June. One of the former “big 4” Soviet poets, he managed to hang on to his cult status until the 1990s as that of the outspoken Joseph Brodsky rose ever higher. The poet Elena Fanailova reviews his position in the pantheon of Soviet writers and assesses his co
The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is poisoning more than the region’s sea life, finds Jim Gabour
Historical and cultural detail provides a rich understanding of India's powerful new business houses
An online consultation into which laws and regulations should be removed marks a welcome reassertion of liberal values - but the government needs to prove that it's not another stitch up.
The new UK Justice Secretary's remarks on penal reform suggest an attempt to patch up a failing system, rather than the fundamental change of direction that's needed.
