In this post, Lisa Buckner discusses why the Census is so important, particularly during a pandemic. THE 21st March 2021 is Census Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This marks the latest in a series of household and population counts that date back to 1801, or even further if...
In this post, Nick Emmel discusses why a sociological understanding of trust is so important as vaccines for COVID-19 become available. I KNOW where I was when the paper confirming the safety and efficacy of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AZD1222) against SARS-CoV-2, the Oxford—AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, was published. I was...
IN this post, Chong Liu reflects on her experience of researching and teaching sexuality education in China. She states that the existing institutional challenges are being surmounted through the agency and actions of individual social actors. I got up early one day in December 2020 to teach an online sexuality...
In this poem Dr Rodanthi Tzanelli revisits Hannah Arendt’s thesis that the phenomenon of totalitarianism has broken the continuity of Western history, rendering meaningless most of our moral and political categories. The poem is from Rodanthi’s participation in the Two Sylvias Press December Advent Calendar. To listen to...
In this post, Dr Sarah Marusek situates the issues arising from the recent presidential election in the United States in the historical struggle for rights in that country. She argues that the persistence of Trumpism cannot be viewed in isolation, especially because it is happening at a time when the...
In this post, Dr Rodanthi Tzanelli explores the ethical and aesthetic controversies surrounding the making and evolution of Borat-induced tourism advertising. Art and the new spirit of capitalism Critiques of the ‘new spirit of capitalism’ often focus on the ways art has been transformed into a money-making machine of innovation....
In this poem, Dr Rodanthi Tzanelli uses poetic language to reflect on the multiple crises humanity faces today, with particular reference to attitudes towards what is “real” and “realistic”. You are drifting away from what was agreed to be real, past the luminopolitan paradox of the movies we...
In this post Professor Scribano explores the colonisation of human sensibilities by technological and biomedical processes. The colonization process of the 21st century has its territory in bodies and its precious metal in sensibilities. Today’s mines are about sensations and data about their formation. Ships are digital, machines are cellular...
This is the final post in a three-part series reflecting on questions of racism, violence and identity politics during lockdown. In this post, Dr. Sarah Marusek revisits a popular American television series to decode meanings in the contexts of ethno-racial conflict. Identity politics has become a contentious topic in recent...
In this post, Barnor Hesse and S. Sayyid argue that the latest protests in support of Black Lives Matter illustrate how the racially unfamiliar has recast the racially familiar, creating spaces for an enduring politics of Blackness that expands the decolonial horizon. We have been here before: another killing of...
“RT @LeahFBurch: Excited to return to Leeds (virtually!!) next week to present some of my PhD findings. Although it has been so long… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…”
“Delighted 2 welcome SSP alumna, Dr Leah Burch (@LeahFBurch) of @LiverpoolHopeUK, to give Research Seminar MARCH 10t… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…”
“We are enjoying listening to and learning from Alex Chelegeer who is today's speaker at our weekly #Research Semina… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…”
