Challenging the empire

This paper considers how Paul Gilroy transformed hitherto dominant understandings of the relationship between race and class by developing an innovative account that foregrounded questions of racist oppression and collective resistance amid the organic crisis of British capitalism. The returns from this rethinking were profound in that he was able to make transparent both the structuring power of racism within the working class, and the necessity for autonomous black resistance. At the same time, significant lacunae in his account are identified, including the neglect of the episodic emergence of working-class anti-racism and the part played by socialists, particularly those of racialized minority descent in fashioning a major anti-racist social movement. The paper concludes with a lament for the disappearance of such work informed by a ‘Marxism without guarantees’ in the contemporary field of racism studies, and asks readers to consider the gains to be derived from such a re-engagement

The organic crisis of British capitalism and race: the experience of the seventies

Chapter 1 of the "Empire Strikes Back" examines the place of "race" and racism in the political transformation of Britain at the end of the 1970s, and argues that Britain has entered a long-term political and economic crisis which has brought new urgency to the politics of race and nation. The authors argue that the British state is very far from its popular image as a liberal democracy, and all our notions of culture, nation and class are based on deeply racist structures

Affect - an ethnocentric encounter?: Exploring the 'universalist' imperative of emotional/affectual geographies

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Locating the ‘radical’ in 'Shoot the Messenger'

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below, copyright 2013 @ Edinburgh University Press.The 2006 BBC drama Shoot the Messenger is based on the psychological journey of a Black schoolteacher, Joe Pascale, accused of assaulting a Black male pupil. The allegation triggers Joe's mental breakdown which is articulated, through Joe's first-person narration, as a vindictive loathing of Black people. In turn, a range of common stereotypical characterisations and discourses based on a Black culture of hypocrisy, blame and entitlement is presented. The text is therefore laid wide open to a critique of its neo-conservatism and hegemonic narratives of Black Britishness. However, the drama's presentation of Black mental illness suggests that Shoot the Messenger may also be interpreted as a critique of social inequality and the destabilising effects of living with ethnicised social categories. Through an analysis of issues of representation, the article reclaims this controversial text as a radical drama and examines its implications for and within a critical cultural politics of ‘race’ and representation

Dialkynylborane Complexes of Formazanate Ligands: Synthesis, Electronic Properties, and Reactivity

Dialkynylborane complexes of N-donor ligands have received significant attention due to their application in biological imaging, as light-harvesting materials, and as the functional component of organic photovoltaics. Despite these advances, relatively few types of N-donor ligands have been explored in this context. To this end, we prepared a series of dialkynylborane complexes of formazanate ligands and explored their electronic properties and reactivity. In doing so, we demonstrated that: 1) The nature of the alkynyl substituents has little influence over the UV-vis absorption properties of the title complexes, but does affect the potentials at which they are electrochemically oxidized and reduced. 2) Dialkynylborane formazanate complexes can be converted to stable radical anions by chemical reduction with cobaltocene derivatives. 3) Copper-assisted alkyne-azide cycloaddition chemistry at the alkynyl substituents directly bound to boron can be used to elaborate structural diversity. These conclusions are likely to lead to the development of, and provide guiding principles for the design of, future examples of functional molecular materials based on boron complexes of N-donor ligands

Band-Gap Tuning in Acceptor-Donor-Acceptor Boron Difluoride Formazanates

π-Conjugated molecules with acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) electronic structures are an important class of materials due to their tunable optoelectronic properties and applications in, for example, organic light-emitting diodes, nonlinear optical devices, and organic solar cells. The frontier molecular orbital energies, and thus band gaps, of these materials can be tuned by varying the donor and acceptor traits and π-electron counts of the structural components. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of a series of A-D-A compounds consisting of BF2 formazanates as electron acceptors bridged by a variety of π-conjugated donors. The results, which are supported by DFT calculations, demonstrate rational control of optoelectronic properties and the ability to tune the corresponding band gaps. The narrowest band gaps (EgOpt= 1.38 eV and EgCV= 1.21 eV) were observed when BF2 formazanates and benzodithiophene units were combined. This study provides significant insight into the band-gap engineering of materials derived from BF2 formazanates and will inform their future development as semiconductors for use in organic electronics

Non-invasive respiratory support in the management of acute COVID-19 pneumonia: considerations for clinical practice and priorities for research

Non-invasive respiratory support (NIRS) has increasingly been used in the management of COVID-19-associated acute respiratory failure, but questions remain about the utility, safety, and outcome benefit of NIRS strategies. We identified two randomised controlled trials and 83 observational studies, compromising 13 931 patients, that examined the effects of NIRS modalities-high-flow nasal oxygen, continuous positive airway pressure, and bilevel positive airway pressure-on patients with COVID-19. Of 5120 patients who were candidates for full treatment escalation, 1880 (37%) progressed to invasive mechanical ventilation and 3658 of 4669 (78%) survived to study end. Survival was 30% among the 1050 patients for whom NIRS was the stated ceiling of treatment. The two randomised controlled trials indicate superiority of non-invasive ventilation over high-flow nasal oxygen in reducing the need for intubation. Reported complication rates were low. Overall, the studies indicate that NIRS in patients with COVID-19 is safe, improves resource utilisation, and might be associated with better outcomes. To guide clinical decision making, prospective, randomised studies are needed to address timing of intervention, optimal use of NIRS modalities-alone or in combination-and validation of tools such as oxygenation indices, response to a trial of NIRS, and inflammatory markers as predictors of treatment success