Sustainable Planet

This was an exhibition conceived with Kings Cross and Applied Research Creative to mark Earth Day 2023. Three themes were selected (sustainable fashion, plant trees and end plastics) and highlighted in the student work chosen for inclusion in this exhibition. The work exhibited included artworks, fashion items, graphic design and poetry. It was displayed in lightboxes along Lower Stable Street at King's Cross from 17 April 2023 for three months

Queering Public Space: Exploring the relationship between queer communities and public spaces

This report explores a number of factors which might contribute to making public space safer and more inclusive for all, not least LGBTQ+ people. It examines issues including the rise of the gayborhood, the location of hate crimes and incidents, the impact of planning, licensing and design regimes on inclusivity and safety in public spaces and the importance of queer heritage. The report concludes with a number of detailed recommendations about how developments in planning procedures and changing approaches to design should contribute to desistance of hate crimes and incidents and produce public space which is more truly public

Language, Religion and Ethno-National Identity: The Role of Knowledge, Culture and Communication

The influence of religion and language on ethno-national identity is well-established. This article explores these concepts as mutually reinforcing aspects of cultural identity and examines their relationship to the formation of world views and causal interpretations shaping often incompatible ethno-national identities and hence conflicts. Especially we focus on the role of oral cultures as primary communication forms as against print-based ones, and how they differ in recording the past and interpreting the present and future. In orality we find a relatively strong influence of traditional religion, mysticism and past references as key informers of identity, whilst print correlates with the declining role of traditional religion and the rise of science as fundamental dimensions of ethno-national identity. We argue that this distinction helps to explain different experiences of ontological security and insecurity linked to ethno-nationalism and religion

On statues and history: the dialogue between past and present in public space

Pippa Catterall discusses the role of monuments in public spaces and argues that they represent what people in the past chose to celebrate and memorialise. Consequently, they do not represent history but mediate a conversation between past and present

Why Partygate has a significance beyond the behaviour of an individual Prime Minister

Pippa Catterall writes that the emphasis upon the Prime Minister distracts from the wider implications of partygate. She argues that the parties at 10 Downing Street and other government buildings during lockdown are symptomatic of bigger problems for both the Conservative Party and for Britain

The constitution and Boris Johnson’s long goodbye

Pippa Catterall discusses key aspects of the relationship between the constitution and Boris Johnson’s resignation

Burke and Brexit: the UK’s chief negotiator displays a lack of concern about trade risks and accountability

Ahead of the government’s publication of its negotiating approach to agreeing a future relationship with the EU, the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, gave a speech that referenced the work of Edmund Burke. Pippa Catterall argues that Frost distorted Burke’s views, and in doing so displays a shallow and muddled understanding of the risk and uncertainty ahead

To oust or not to oust? Why Johnson has faced a much easier ride from Tory MPs than Thatcher

Pippa Catterall explains why Conservative MPs have been so reluctant to oust Boris Johnson in comparison to Margaret Thatcher. She writes that a big part of the reason is that Johnson resolved the Tory civil wars over Europe, and in the process of ‘getting Brexit done’ also removed many internal opposition figures around whom internal opposition could coalesce

Greed, my friends: has Boris Johnson finally revealed his political philosophy?

Boris Johnson recently told a private meeting of Tory MPs that the success of the UK’s vaccine programme was because of capitalism and greed. By associating capitalism with greed, it can be inferred that Johnson’s understanding of capitalism is a reductive one, misleadingly conflating enlightened self-interest, property rights, and individualism with the pursuit of greed, writes Pippa Catterall

Trussonomics, producer capture, and the contradictions of neoliberalism

In an analogy between politics and markets, democracy can be described as a power market whose main reason is to prevent concentration in the hands of vested interests. However, political markets can be captured by producers (politicians, the media, think tanks, and lobbyists), to the detriment of consumers (voters). Pippa Catterall writes that rising bonuses at a time of rising prices and falling real wages are indicative of how much markets have been distorted in favour of a distinctive form of producer capture