Category: Features
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The Artificial Construction of Iraq
Written by: Martha Stutchbury In 1921, the British combined three Mesopotamian vilayets (districts) into statehood under King Faisal I, establishing the geo-political territory that we recognise as present-day Iraq. This article briefly considers the ethnically and religiously diverse composition of Iraq in 1921, and the subsequent attempts of British and Iraqi authorities to engender a…
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An Antidote to Narrow Conceptions of Jewish History
Written by Josh Newmark I left seven years of formal Jewish education with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the early Israeli-Arab Wars, but little knowledge of Jewish diaspora history – despite being a history geek on my way to a history degree. Aside from a bit about the school’s historical origins in the Jewish East End of…
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The Origins and Evolution of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago
Written by Candice Maharaj Image: Melton Prior, Carnival in Port of Spain Trinidad, 1888, Illustrated London News. Carnival is a festival that is celebrated annually during the weeks leading up to Lent. It is a period of celebration that involves music, costumes, processions, feasting and a lot of alcohol. Traditionally, during Lent people had to abstain from…
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Celebrating Twenty Years of the Human Rights Act 1998
Written by Candice Maharaj Friday 9 November 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). The Act incorporates the content of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. Additionally, the Act makes it unlawful for public bodies to act in a way that is incompatible with the ECHR; it requires courts…
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Searching for Meaning in the Political Bubble: Donald Trump and Maurice Cowling
Written by Luke Neill Much has been written about the daily routine of Donald Trump. In particular, after the recent release of various White House documents regarding his lists of meetings and appointments, this has revolved largely around the several hours of ‘executive time’ that Trump has each day. What is ‘executive time’? If you…
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Research Seminar Review: Dr. Julia McClure’s ‘Poverty on the Move in the Spanish Empire’
Written by Carissa Chew On 17 October, the Global and Transnational Group and Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies jointly welcomed Dr. Julia McClure from the University of Glasgow to present her latest research on ‘Poverty on the Move in the Spanish Empire’, a project that McClure framed as part of a broader challenge to the…
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The Use of History in the 2018 Labour Conference
Written by Chris Spencer Image: Photograph of the 2018 Labour Conference, https://www.rt.com/op-ed/439492-uk-labour-party-conference-corbyn/, accessed 21 October 2018. Keynote speeches at this year’s Labour Party conference were especially notable for their use of history. Speeches were littered with anniversaries that, supposedly, socialists should celebrate. The centenary of female suffrage in Britain was an unsurprisingly consistent feature, but then…
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The Armenian Genocide: Revisiting Turkish Denial
Written by Martha Stutchbury Image: Rita Willaert’s 2008 photograph of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/2903021240/, accessed 21 October 2018. On 10 October 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged and condemned the Armenian Genocide during a speech delivered at the Yerevan Memorial, continuing France’s longstanding policy of officially recognising the disaster. However, global acknowledgement of…
Retrospect Journal 