I was interviewed by writer and social justice coordinator with the American Humanist Association, Sincere Kirabo, about misunderstandings of intersectionality and the problems with the term “identity politics.”
Continue reading “Interview on Intersectionality”
In her historic maiden speech, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Yanyuwa woman and Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, addresses Indigenous resilience, support for migrants and refugees, and solidarity with LGBTQIA Australians. “I urge parliamentarians in both houses to understand this: the Yanyuwa are a people whose struggle for recognition took nearly 40 years. So many elders died well before such recognition and, most importantly, before any respect took place. Such long, drawn out legal battles have wearied many families of first nation peoples, constantly trying to defend their sense of self and identity and country. Maybe that was the intention … Continue reading Senator Malarndirri McCarthy
This coming Tuesday 7 February 2017, Australia is set to introduce a LIFETIME BAN on refugees who arrive by boat. This will affect all people seeking asylum who arrived after 19 July 2013. This law is cruel and inhumane. It contravenes Australia’s international responsibility under the United Nations Refugee Convention 1951. Australia’s treatment of refugees has been condemned by the United Nations and by the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014. My regular readers would know that Australia has been imprisoning refugees indefinitely in offshore detention centres since 2001. This new law would mean all those still in … Continue reading Stop Australia’s Lifetime Ban of Refugees
Sociological research shows that the longest established democracies suffer from the greatest level of democratic apathy. This is because people generally distrust their government.
Continue reading “How to Address Democratic Apathy”In 2013 Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argued Australia is overly focused on debt without putting this into international context.
Continue reading “Economics for Social Infrastructure”Students from Sydney’s Newtown High School of the Performing Arts give Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott a tough question time that he was evidently poorly prepared to answer with grace. The clip begins with Abbott giving weak environmental advice (“plant … Continue reading Youth Question the Prime Minister
A series of protests have been held around Australia today. The #MarchInMarch demonstrations are calling attention to a various policy issues that the Abbott Government is mishandling. Abbott is a climate change denier who is privileging the greed of Australia’s mining giants over … Continue reading March in March
“Social technologies also facilitate communities — that is, they enable people to connect up who might not otherwise have connected… It also allows the formation of strong social bonds; how strong they are compared to real-life communities remains debated, but in the Middle East they have been strong enough to inspire people to risk their lives together. But that’s different from causation, different from the factors that change the risk equation for people to decide it is worth risking their safety in the streets. The technologies aren’t as important as what is driving people to put themselves in harm’s way, whether it … Continue reading Does Technology Shape Social Revolution?
Nice animated video about standing up against conformity. Continue reading Think
This is a nice, brief analysis of the ‘Pepper Spray Cop Meme’. The video gives a quick run down of the development of this meme and it poses some interesting questions. Has the use of satire regarding this controversial act … Continue reading Pepper Spray Cop Meme
Social Science Insights 