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Showing posts from November, 2020

Defund the Police: ‘Politically Toxic’, or Absolutely Necessary?

  Though Joe Biden ended up with more than the 270 electoral college votes required for the US election, commentators rushed to ask, why did this election at times appear so narrow? The speed at which commentators – self-proclaimed conservatives, liberals, and social democrats - claimed that anti-police messaging had done severe damage to the Democrats was incredible. It was clear, they claimed, anti-police rhetoric was, simply, ‘politically toxic’. This is of course, odd, considering the condemning of protestors that Biden and Harris made only weeks prior, and their historical unwavering commitment to the carceral state. Black Lives Matter in the US is an organisation that refuses to take endorsements from political candidates. It has no affiliation with any political party. Some take issue with this, but is there any wonder why they insist on this distance? Joe Biden, for example, is a firm believer in police reform. During his presidential campaign, and following the murder of Georg

The cold machinery of university bureaucracy and the fence around Fallowfield Halls.

The fence erected around Fallowfield Halls without any warning on the 5th November 2020 is indicative of an anti-student sentiment across the university bureaucracy, the administrative system of the University of Manchester. The University argues that the fences were erected as part of controlling the spread of coronavirus during the second lockdown measures imposed in the United Kingdom , students could only leave through a single exit guarded by security. I bet the fence looked like a good solution on the email when it was sent around the office prior to the building of the fence. Academics like to talk about ‘ethics’ a lot, but I suppose the buraeucrats were all skiving that day. Is the erection of fences and the monitoring of people who the University makes a profit not reminiscent of the prison-like conditions of 19th century Salford textile factories? Might I remind the University of the consequences of locking down the student, locking the student into one territo