How ‘socially responsible’ brands hurt rather than help Black Lives Matter and the struggle against racism

By Clara Tipper

“Every individual should be empowered to make their own political opinion, given impartial and sufficient information. Further, a country’s government should reflect the diversities of its people - this is far from our current reality”

Photo credits: BBC

By Calum Stewart

In this article, Calum explores Labour's pitch for second place in the Holyrood elections, and details a drinking game to get you through the results.

Photo credits: Getty Images

By Hitanshi Badani

In this article, Hitanshi presents a brief introduction to India's ongoing farmer protests against the 2020 Farm Laws. She further analyzes the legal implications of these laws and how they underscore some of India's broader socio-political issues.

Photo credits: Time Magazine

By Joseph Daly

In this article, Joseph Daly discusses the potential impact of Alex Salmond’s latest vanity project on the Scottish Parliament elections.

Photo credits: Getty Images

By Marina Damji

Marina explains how inequal vaccine distribution is exasperating inequality between high-income and low-income countries.

Photo credits: Markus Spiske / Unsplash

Valentina explores the complex realities of debt diplomacy starting from a recent financing war for Ecuador between the US and China, and invites readers to question a geopolitical narrative that neatly corners countries into “good” and “bad”

Photo credits: Presidencia de la República del Ecuador, 2018

By George Watts

George offers a semi-satirical homage to the Lib Dem's democratic nosedive

Photo credits: athousandflowers.net

By Hilary Chan

“[A] shattering of her capitol on the 6th of January, 2021, should have curled ripples better quieted with words than stared at in confused anger. […] It seems only Polis to convert your fears into words, chain them into sentences, into a problem (an ~1000 word article) capable of collaboration […] It is the metaphors and descriptors, melodious or not, that enable a response in solidarity.”

Image credits: Celebrity Parents Magazine

By Sara Weissel

“January 6th was a horrible day, and while my upset and hysterics were real, they were the product of inevitability rather than shock.”

Image credits: Celebrity Parents Magazine

By Martin Caforio

“There is a direct connection between his shakedown phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to the President’s first Impeachment and his shakedown call of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he asks Election officials to “find” him the votes needed to overturn the State’s Presidential Election and steal its’ 16 Electoral Votes from the President-Elect, Joe Biden.”

Photo credits: Samuel Corum / Getty Images

By Charles Hill

“On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. Nike released a video entitled “For Once, Don’t Do It”, Netflix declared that “to be silent is to be complicit”, and Amazon, Ben & Jerry’s and even Barbie posted their approval for the protests. If companies can use their influence for good, surely we should be celebrating their newfound social conscience?”

Photo credits: Le Parisien

Eva draws societal, functional and political parallels between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the current climate crisis. She uses these to reflect on how exceptionalism should again be implemented to counter Earth system breakdown.

Photo credits: Ben Blackall / Channel 4

By Emma McKeown

“In a generation raised on aesthetics, social media has become the ideal platform for romanticising - for proving ourselves and convincing others that we are having a good time rather than actually enjoying the moment”

Photo credits: Stamford University

By Jennifer Geminiani

Jennifer critically analyses current Italian political affairs and the past election dilemma. If you are Italian, or just have an interest in international relations, this is a must read!

Photo credits: Andreas Solaro / AFP

By Clara Tipper

In this article, Clara explores the diverse ways in which contemporary artists are shining a spotlight on the refugee crisis, and ultimately, why political art can be an effective medium for change.

Photo credits: Oliver Lang / Konzerthaus Berlin

By Grace Vollers

“To think of change, I believe, is to see a pandemic rip apart lives and families, or to see layers of systemic oppression reach their boiling point. It is to watch as world leaders are dragged down and to see governments break. It is to externalize transformation. But to perceive change, that is to feel it in each of us individually.”

Photo credits: Dallas News

By Laura Bennie

“When women are portrayed one dimensionally, it is easy to overlook sexual violence. It is far past time to challenge these conceptions, and to do so, it is important to understand how embedded they are in art history.”

Photo credits: Wikipedia / Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi

By Hilary Chan

Hilary explains how the decision to make Dr Alison Kerr redundant needs tripping up by its own reversion, where gender studies and the philosophy of hegemony protests an institution's narrative on women.

Photo credits: Mubi

By Giulia Colangeli

Life's too short to do things "because you have to, period". Enjoy uselessness, enrich your life with novelty and explore: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Photo credits: imgfave.com

By Calum Stewart

Calum explores the Malthusian discourse surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change

Photo credits: Calum Stewart

By Mostafa Hegab and Basheer Alsayd, Writing Analysts at Unicast Entertainment

From Facebook selling ad information to personal data breaches, headlines have one thing in common: privacy. As personal data continues to be exploited, the focus has shifted from why we need privacy to how we can protect it as our dependency on the internet grows. So while society takes on this debate, it might be beneficial to understand how humanity has dealt with privacy throughout the ages, and how privacy has become intertwined with democracy.

Photo credits: UnSplash

By Julia Swerdlow

“When Tim Kendall, a former Facebook executive interviewed in the documentary, was asked what worried him the most about the future of social media, he said imminent civil war. As Billy Ray Cyrus once said, much to think about.”

Photo credits: Daniel Macleod

By Harris Hutchison

"Sure, they [social media websites] might not cost any money to use, but it does cost you your personal information.”

Photo credits: welivesecurity.com

By Julia Swerdlow

"The past few months have seen the amount of resources surrounding topics such as The Black Lives Matter movement, Pride, or Environmentalism skyrocket. In line with this educational ‘side’ of TikTok, a new trend has emerged: sharing the daily reality of encompassing living with a chronic illness.”

Photo credits: STOCK / Getty Images

By Hilary Chan

“School girls, hairs braided, sitting in each one and half listening to class, some knitting below their desks. Now imagine they were all dead.”

Photo credits: John Moore / Blue Room

Written by Hilary Chan, Angella Morzolla-Browne, Sara Weissel, Martin Carforio, James Samuel, Julia Swerdlow, Emily Baxter

For this festive occasion we have brought together seven of our writers to make you a Polisspooky read. We hope you enjoy, and have a very Polis(spooky) Halloween.

Photo credits: Pinterest