Oxford Political Review

21/08/2024

"Before any specific word or term is discussed, to speak either Irish or English is, to a large extent, already to take a stance", writes Roy Shinar Cohen. 🔊

Read the full article: https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/08/13/language-the-last-major-conflict-in-northern-ireland/

19/08/2024

Aaron Jerome speaks to Kenneth McCallion about the role of the legal process in redressing historical injustices and the complexity of seeking justice for international crimes in domestic rather than international court systems. ⚖️

Read the full interview here:

August 6, 2024 | In 2017, the descendants of two Namibian tribes sued Germany in the U.S. federal court. Kenneth McCallion was the lead attorney representing them.

17/08/2024

"Fujii’s work is undoubtedly a superb point of departure to guide future thinking about the performative power of violence and the performative potential to prevent it", writes Florian Brunner.

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/08/04/how-to-do-things-with-swords-or-the-performativity-of-violence/

16/08/2024

📣 The Oxford Political Review is thrilled to announce the release of our 13th issue, ‘Language’. Follow the link to read now: https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/issues/ 🔊👂

14/08/2024

"While China has been able to bolster its economic presence, the US faces domestic and strategic hurdles which compromise its competitiveness vis-à-vis Beijing in Southeast Asia", writes Anthony Toh Han Yang.

Check out the full article:

July 29, 2024 | Despite the calls for the US to adopt an all-out economic strategy amid China’s increasing influence in Southeast Asia, there are weak incentives for Washington to do so.

08/08/2024

"A silent war of narratives rages within the shadowed forests and contested borders of West Papua", writes Agustinus Allan Porajow. ⭐

Check out the full article here:

July 5, 2024 | A silent war of narratives and symbols rages within the shadowed forests and contested borders of West Papua.

31/07/2024

"In recent years, the strained political relationship between India and China has simmered beneath the facade of economic cooperation, manifesting in diplomatic jibes and military sabre-rattling" writes Tara Motihar. 🇮🇳🇨🇳

Read the full article here:

July 28, 2024 | The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is steadily developing into the next major theatre of military competition between the Asian monoliths.

11/07/2024

✍ CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Issue 14 – Fictions & Narratives

We are now inviting submissions to the Oxford Political Review’s 14th issue, under the theme of ‘Fictions & Narratives’.

From political framing to poetics of power, and from legal fictions to representation, we encourage you to explore the ways in which politics occurs through forms of fiction and narrative. 💬

For more details and guidance, click here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/07/07/call-for-submissions-issue-14-fictions-narratives

10/07/2024

"Until the electorate rejects divisive politics and prioritises our global interests, climate denialism will remain a potent political force." writes Satyajit Mohanan. 🌎🔥

Check out the full article here:

June 18, 2024 | During the 1980s, traditional conservatives, like Reagan and Thatcher, were keen on addressing environmental issues. What has changed?

06/07/2024

OPR sat down with Patrick Radden Keefe, award-winning investigative journalist and author of numerous books, to discuss the press coverage of pro-Palestine encampments, objectivity in journalism, and much more. 📰

Check out the interview here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/05/25/opr-speaks-with-new-yorker-investigative-journalist-patrick-radden-keefe/

May 25, 2024 | The award-winning journalist sits down with OPR to discuss the press coverage of pro-Palestine student encampments, the broader role of objectivity in journalism, and a host of other topics.

27/06/2024

Gaby Green and Minsoo Lee ask 'Why has China become an existential threat to American democracy? And most importantly, where did this ‘China threat’ narrative come from, and why is it so pervasive in the current political climate?'
🇨🇳🇺🇸

Read more here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/25/two-sides-of-the-same-coin-the-dualistic-origins-of-americas-china-threat-narrative/

April 25, 2024 | In a time where it seems popular and almost commonsensical to bash on China, we should step back and consider how we got to this point. Why has China become an existential threat to American democracy?

23/06/2024

Remind yourself on the Turkish local election results from a couple months ago with Temmuz Yiğit Bezmez's article. 🇹🇷

Read it here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/20/turkish-political-scene-shaken-as-chps-red-wave-dominates-local-elections/

19/06/2024

"We see only what they carefully choose to show, blurring the lines between public and private, real and performative" writes Disha Trivedi. 📱

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/15/cultural-hegemony-and-social-media-why-we-need-to-keep-up-with-the-kardashians/

15/06/2024

"How we understand time matters. It matters for the world, for politics, and for the Anthropocene" writes Jessica Croteau. ⏰

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/13/time-in-the-anthropocene/

April 13, 2024 | The tempo of the Anthropocene is multiple, plural, and full of opportunities, both dangerous and salvific.

30/05/2024

"The point of studying Hegel, and by extension the purpose of contextualising historical thinkers, should concern itself less with relating his circumstances to our own and more with identifying the discrepancies and continuities between different historical eras." writes Adam Coleman.

Read the full article here: https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/13/hegel-and-history/

24/05/2024

"In the intricate dance between time, understanding, and action, the Doomsday Clock’s hands continue to tick, urging us to consider not just the spatial dimensions of international relations but also the profound dimension of time." writes Anna Bartlett. ⏲️

Read the full article here:

April 13, 2024 | In the intricate dance between time, understanding, and action, the Doomsday Clock's hands continue to tick, urging us to consider not just the spatial dimensions of international relations but also the profound dimension of time.

21/05/2024

"Time heals many wounds, but not those of displaced peoples." writes Jed Michael. 🕒

Read the full article here: https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/08/does-time-legitimate-territorial-claims-reflections-on-the-plights-of-the-palestinian-and-indigenous-american-peoples/

18/05/2024

"While technology may present itself as a double-edged sword, the human response to it is equally conflicting." writes Luiza Świerzawska reviewing Philip Seargeant's new book 'The Future of Language'. 🧑‍💻

Read the full article:

April 7, 2024 | In The Future of Language: How Technology, Politics and Utopianism are Transforming the Way we Communicate, linguist Phillip Seargeant attempts to unravel the intricacies of what lies ahead in human communication.

15/05/2024

"The Confucian vision of utopia remains valuable for prompting us to reflect on forms of power concentration and political hierarchy." writes Max Junbo Tao. 🇨🇳

Check out the full article: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/07/a-reflection-on-the-confucian-utopian-vision-of-society/

April 7, 2024 | According to Confucius, humans had already achieved a utopia in the ancient Chinese world, and he called for a revival of the angelic human nature to go back to the ‘Golden Age’ of humankind.

09/05/2024

"While Mathias Thaler has made a valuable contribution by offering us many of its ingredients, only the right mix of theory, fiction and practice can make utopia possible on our planet." writes Wallerand Bazin. 🌎

Read the full review here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/07/whats-missing/

07/05/2024

"If America wants to solve its leadership crisis, it will need as much competition for the top political jobs as possible. To restrict access to political office based on a characteristic as arbitrary as age would only accentuate this crisis" writes Martin Conmy. 🇺🇸

Read the full article: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/08/no-country-for-old-men-why-we-shouldnt-worry-about-biden-and-trumps-old-age/

April 8, 2024 | It is understandable that so many are keen to blame the malaise that afflicts American politics on the age of its leaders. But there is little reason to think that youth is a prerequisite for this kind of leadership.

04/05/2024

Do you want a free physical copy of OPR Issue 12: Utopia? 🕊️

Just fill out this form to get a copy delivered right to your college! Offer available for any University of Oxford student. ✉️

Please fill in this form to: Receive the most recent OPR issue (Issue 12: Utopia) delivered to your pidge free of charge. Purchase an OPR tote bag (comes with a free copies of select past issues: Issue 9 - Power & Perception, Issue 11 - Time). Currently, we normally deliver only to Oxford colleges.....

02/05/2024

Thank you to everyone who came to our launch event on Monday, and of course, a special thanks to Prof. Duncan Bell for an incredible lecture: 'That Now Devastated Terrain? Utopianism in the Twentieth Century and Beyond.'

23/04/2024

"In conceiving of utopia, one should embrace finality and the inherent fragility of relationships, rather than imagining a world without temporal limits and the possibility of pain." writes Morien Robertson. 🌊

Check out the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/07/the-utopia-of-democratic-socialism-an-alternative-to-capitalism/

April 7, 2024 | Without a positive vision of utopia, capitalism seems insurmountable, and the Left will remain unable to present a coherent counterpoint to the current market system. In fact, it might be said that the lived reality of oppression is what necessitates utopian theory: to offer respite....

20/04/2024

"[L]iberalism is hard, if done properly. It requires empathy, solidarity, thought, and action, independent from the great power structures of the modern world." writes Ábris Béndek.

Check out the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/04/against-postliberalism/

April 4, 2024 | In contrast with the postliberal mind and its Romantic obsession with self-deceptive ideas about the ‘recovery’ of past ages, liberalism must ask itself such complicated questions. It requires empathy, solidarity, thought, and action, independent from the great power structures o...

16/04/2024

We are delighted to announce that Issue 12 of the Oxford Political Review is now available online: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/issues ! 🕊️

Also, for those based in Oxford, we are holding a launch party for the issue on the 29th April, with copies of the print copies available for you to take home and a keynote lecture delivered by Professor Duncan Bell (details here: talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/07c575c8-03bf-45a6-a848-0ff5b9bdb993/ )!

14/04/2024

"Politics is increasingly performed as though it is a social-media platform, in which leaders push content that will get the most clicks, views, or reshares." writes Sarah Kuszynski. 🖱️

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/04/the-real-life-casualties-of-the-attention-wars/

April 4, 2024 | World leaders are forced to view international politics as a zero-sum attention game, in which they are engaged in a Sisyphean struggle to keep their country’s plights relevant. For Ukraine this means fighting on two fronts: a battle of attrition against Russia and a battle for int...

12/04/2024

"In examining instances of everyday resistance against algorithmic power and addressing the inherent issues within algorithm-driven systems – such as their opaque nature, the risk of exacerbating inequalities, and the looming threat to democratic values – a crucial question emerges: do day-to-day acts of resistance truly have an impact?" asks Labëri Leci. ⚙️🤖

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/02/resistance-in-the-black-box-society/

April 2, 2024 | The role that algorithms have increasingly taken on as intermediaries between humankind and the world not only highlights their transformative potential, but also brings to the forefront the social, political and ethical implications of these systems.

10/04/2024

"Brain computer interface (BCI) devices seemingly continue to become more sophisticated with the passage of time, hurtling both man and machine to the point of futurist-predicted technological singularity. However, there are many unanswered questions regarding the feasibility of such technology – particularly in the areas of consumer and personal rights." writes Dorkina Myrick 🧠💻

Check out the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/02/cognitive-utopia-or-dystopia-brain-computer-interface-enhancement-and-the-technological-singularity/

April 2, 2024 | Futurists anticipate that technological advances in brain computer interface devices (BCIs) could revolutionize human cognitive enhancement. However, the more likely reality is that of BCIs as contributors to a dystopian rather than utopian near-technological singularity.

08/04/2024

"Protopian ambition is hope made humble, harnessing what we know we can do better without limiting us to a particular version of a ‘desirable’ future. Protopian thinking avoids the danger of oversimplification, a true pitfall of grandiose utopian narratives." writes Matthew Chiu.

Read the full article here: oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/04/01/towards-humane-utopias/

April 1, 2024 | Protopian thinking represents a careful and reasoned approach to changing the world: it focuses on tomorrow and looks into the far future without prescribing what the future is.