On opposite sides of the world, women and not-enough-male allies are rightfully and righteously angry about the failures of state actors to act – at all or enough – around women being raped and murdered. The facts of the UK case is relatively straightforward. On March 2nd a young white woman, Sarah Everard, was kidnapped... Continue Reading →
George Whitman of Shakespeare and Company
A long long time ago (okay, 1988) I stayed at Shakespeare and Co as one of the tumbleweeds. One of my abiding memories is as pillion passenger on George Whitman's motorbike as we went to somewhere in a posh arrondisement for - well, it may have been bookbuying? Anyway, my life flashed before me once... Continue Reading →
The emotional labour that “the Other” is forced to do… #AbsolutionServicesSyndrome
It must be seriously exhausting being on the receiving end of patriarchy, white supremacy, classism etc. It must take up insane amounts of mental energy, dealing with the daily insults, microaggressions, threats to physical safety etc. It's what Toni Morrison says about distraction.- “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps... Continue Reading →
Patriarchy and sexual violence. From complicity to resistance
Content warning: discussion of rape, suicide, complicity. I knew the woman who is at the centre of the allegations of rape against the Attorney-General of Australia, Christian Porter (allegations he denies). Her family have asked for her not to be named, and although her name is now circulating in corners of the Internet, their wishes... Continue Reading →
Don’t budge from the budget. The responsibility of intellectuals yet again
We need to put front and centre the fact that we've blown our (carbon) budget. “We're massively off target we're massively behind.” We know that those who run official events are not going to say it front and centre (at absolute best they might mutter it under their breath while making sure that their microphone... Continue Reading →
OODA loops and cat belling: of Jason Bourne, climate activism and the end of the world
Two of my favourite mental tools are OODA loops and the fable of cat belling. I'm going to describe both and then put them together as best I can. Why? Because I think it reveals something useful about "activism", such as it is. OODA loops are an insight developed by an American fighter pilot, John... Continue Reading →
The yomps explained.
Today I did another 10 lap yomp around the Alexandra Park, with my backpack of bricks and weights, while, er, talking to myself. The reason I blog about this one, and not all the others, is that I hit a couple of milestones that I’ve been struggling towards today. I feel a little bit proud... Continue Reading →
Which Deus? From which machina? Or ‘Can “the state” save us? From what? Under what circumstances?’ #climate #transitions #sustainability
Marc Hudson reflects on two academic events, and wonders if the right questions are being asked, or if "we" are pootling along happily in our comfort zones, slouching towards tenure (well, he's not) and apocalypse (well, all of us are). Over the last 24 hours I've "been" to three online seminars. The one in the... Continue Reading →
How online meetings can be done brilliantly. Ro Randall on #climate anxiety, for @centre_alt_tech
Organisations get stale. People get old, and even if they used to walk the walk, now just talk the talk. It happens. TV Smith sings "all my heroes died, while they were still alive. They were dragged down to the hole, where the blood and money flows." Not. Yesterday. Not with Rosemary Randall bringing her... Continue Reading →
De-lardification hits some milestones
It was partly dehydration. I know this. But so what, you take your wins and your milestones where you can. And I did not weaken and allow myself the reward of a veggie fry-up. That sucker is still 700 grammes away. Maybe Thursday, maybe next week. It will be, in Paul Keating's 1993 words, the... Continue Reading →
