Category Archives: Politics

Debating Growth.

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Conway Hall recently hosted a public debate about the proposition “The pursuit of growth is a disaster for our country and our planet” sponsored by the ‘How To Academy‘. Supporting it were Ida Kubiszewski, Associate Professor at UCL’s Institute for … Continue reading →

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Code red for human survival

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide us with a global agenda for human survival. From poverty to peace and justice they list the urgent challenges we face and set a broad direction of travel towards a fairer … Continue reading →

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The politics of silence.

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Simplex and Sapiens are discussing the opposition’s strategy. Simplex: This government has lost all credibility and support and has no plan for dealing with the crisis. Sapiens: Agreed. The times we’re living in require a complete change of policy and … Continue reading →

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Climate justice, heat justice and the politics of resilience

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Lethal heat and climate justice. The increase in extreme heat events around the world shows that the impact of climate change is increasingly lethal. Any climate justice strategy needs to include ‘heat justice’ and a politics of resilience. More than … Continue reading →

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Nancy Fraser’s eco-socialist common sense.

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Nancy Fraser’s ‘Climates of Capital’. In the essay ‘Climates of Capital’ (2021) Nancy Fraser argues that we need to see the various major crises we face as systemic and connected, resulting from capitalism. If we are to survive and flourish, … Continue reading →

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Education, social justice and survival in a time of crisis.

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Based on a presentation for the CSPACE ‘1000 little fires’ conference at Birmingham City University, July 2022. A system in crisis. It is clear that we are living in a global crisis which threatens our very survival. The climate emergency, … Continue reading →

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A political education.

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Why political literacy? Politics is about power and change, how we live our lives and what kind of world we want. The political is not a separate sphere of life, it’s embedded in our everyday experience, as are the ideologies … Continue reading →

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Redistribution and recognition should go hand in hand.

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Reading Nancy Fraser’s critique of progressive neoliberalism. Continue reading →

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French presidential election: could Mélenchon make it?

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Today’s French presidential election. Today’s first round of the French presidential election comes at a time of shifting political assumptions, although the line-up of leading candidates looks familiar, with the top 3 candidates this time round all having been in … Continue reading →

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Owning our crises

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

The climate emergency and environmental degradation, the Covid-19 pandemic, the injustices of systemic racism, wars and their humanitarian consequences, the sharp rise in the cost of living… As one crisis succeeds another in dominating our thoughts, it’s easy to see … Continue reading →

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French elections 2022

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Electing a French President. #1 The presidential election system.  2022 is a big election year in France, with the presidential election in April followed by the parliamentary (National Assembly) elections in June. Each of these elections has two rounds, meaning … Continue reading →

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Zola’s ‘Money’

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Eddie Playfair

Rougon-Macquart #18 A powerful anti-capitalist novel. Emile Zola’s wonderful 1890 novel ‘L’Argent’ (‘Money’) is set in the world of finance and share-speculation in 1860’s Paris. It is still fresh and relevant and should be on any reading list of anti-capitalist … Continue reading →

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“You either bend the arc or it bends you”

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Eddie Playfair

‘Attack Surface’ by Cory Doctorow. ‘Attack Surface‘ (2020) is a gripping action-packed story of oppression and resistance with plenty of insights into the potential of new technologies and big data. It is also a powerful manifesto for the necessity of … Continue reading →

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‘The Ministry for the Future’ by Kim Stanley Robinson

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

Fiction can change the world and the didactic approach or the ‘novel of ideas’ can be compatible with good storytelling. Like any work of art, a work of fiction can change us as individuals and, through us, help to make … Continue reading →

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Starting to rethink education.

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Eddie Playfair

There are different ways to think about life after a crisis. One is: ‘let’s try to get back to things as they were as quickly as possible’, another is: ‘we can’t go back to things as they were, this is … Continue reading →

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