Society
essay
Politics and government
India and indigeneity
In a country of such extraordinary diversity, the UN definition of ‘indigenous’ does little more than fuel ethnic violence
Dikshit Sarma Bhagabati
video
Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
essay
Economics
Who bears the risk?
Under the guise of empowerment and freedom, politicians and business are offloading lifethreatening risk to individuals
Suzanne Schneider
essay
Political philosophy
The battles over beginnings
Niccolò Machiavelli’s profound insights about the violent origins of political societies help us understand the world today
David Polansky
essay
Political philosophy
Liberal socialism now
As the crisis of democracy deepens, we must return to liberalism’s revolutionary and egalitarian roots
Matthew McManus
essay
Thinkers and theories
Against power
As a republican, Sophie de Grouchy argued that sympathy, not domination, must be the glue that holds society together
Sandrine Bergès & Eric Schliesser
essay
History
The mythos of leadership
How the biblical King David and Machiavelli’s Prince can help us understand the dominant view of leaders as individualists
Moshik Temkin
essay
Information and communication
How to hate
The manifesto was always a hotheaded call to arms. Then it got a slick, digital makeover in the cause of coldblooded hate
Tyler Thier
essay
Global history
The Asian world order
Before modern Europe existed there was a grand, interconnected political world, rich in scientific and artistic exchange
Ayşe Zarakol
essay
Religion
Indomitable Sufis
Once a centre of Afghan culture, Sufism seems to have disappeared in the maelstrom of war and upheaval. But still it survives
Annika Schmeding
video
Fairness and equality
A tragicomic account of how the Los Angeles Police Department blew up a city block
19 minutes
essay
Religion
Secularism in Iran
Postcolonial intellectuals and Iran’s rulers agree that secularism is just Western imperialism in disguise. They are wrong
Patrick Hassan & Hossein Dabbagh
video
Art
Why a forcefully phallic portrait of Henry VIII is a masterful work of propaganda
6 minutes
video
Global history
Meet the jesters who’ve spoken truth to power around the globe and across centuries
5 minutes
video
Religion
How Jewish leaders in the US are fighting abortion bans on religious grounds
24 minutes
video
Political philosophy
Liberal democracies are backsliding worldwide. Could anarchy help?
24 minutes
essay
Nations and empires
Settler colonialism
Displacing and destroying peoples by colonisation is not just a historical Western evil but a global and contemporary one
Lachlan McNamee
essay
Political philosophy
In the interests of all
How Eugene V Debs turned American republicanism against the chiefs of capitalism – and became a true crusader for freedom
Tom O’Shea
essay
Economic history
Deservingness
In post-communist eastern and central Europe, history is intensely personal and economics is saturated with moral feeling
Till Hilmar
essay
Nations and empires
The Arab Kingdom
Amid the chaos of the First World War, a new pan-Arab empire was proclaimed. It faltered, but its historical lessons remain
Adam Mestyan
video
Fairness and equality
To build a fair society, we must first be able to envision it. John Rawls can help
64 minutes
essay
Politics and government
Models of antiquity
Radicals in the Age of Revolution saw the classical world as a common inheritance that could aid their fight for liberty
Francesca Langer
essay
Political philosophy
The Swedish theory of love
All countries must balance the freedom of individuals with the demands of the community. Sweden’s solution is unique
Lars Trägårdh
video
Politics and government
Join the spirited debate at a women’s hair salon before a pivotal election in Tunisia
19 minutes