Culture and media
Taking our cue from Raymond Williams’ ‘culture is ordinary’, we explore how politics works through old and new media, books, film, stage and screen, music and sport.
We cover a breadth of themes, from representations of class, race and gender in the arts, to progressive and reactionary uses of nostalgia, to the grassroots voices democratising the channels of communication.
Taking our cue from Raymond Williams’ ‘culture is ordinary’, we explore how politics works through old and new media, books, film, stage and screen, music and sport.
We cover a breadth of themes, from representations of class, race and gender in the arts, to progressive and reactionary uses of nostalgia, to the grassroots voices democratising the channels of communication.
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How the crackdown on squatting cramped British creativity
Ella Benson Easton explores how housing shapes the arts – and the impact of laws and funding cuts subtly killing alternative cultures
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The state of the arts
Danielle Child examines the key issues facing the arts under Labour, following 14 years of Conservative government, austerity programmes, Brexit and a global pandemic
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Twilight of the Soviet Union – review
Kate Clark’s memoir offers an insightful and tragic first hand account of the last years of the Soviet Union, writes Jonathan Steele
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Ending the horror of immigration detention
Felicity Laurence reports on Refugee Tales, an action-based campaign publicising the voices of people held in immigration detention centres and subject to horrifying conditions
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Fossil Free Books and the power of authors as workers
Workers can transform the publishing industry for the better, argues Jessica Gaitán Johannesson, not only through justice campaigns but by collective organising that radically challenges the status quo
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Geeks united: The power of board game clubs
A teacher at a Midlands secondary school, reports on the positive impacts of a board games club
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Radical board games: a history
Agitators, educators and organisers have long created board games to promote radical values. Red Pepper spotlights some playful examples – including one transformed by capitalism