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Jan 3, 2025 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
Everybody is to blame for the declining standards in universities Since the eradication of technical colleges, and the introduction of increased tuition fees, the expansion of the tertiary sector has continued unabated, with eyes set on further expansion. The swelling of the sector has largely been welcomed, with its supporters arguing that it invigorates the and culture of towns and cities across the nation.
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Nov 16, 2024 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
The rise of the mental health memoir is a symptom of our increasing interest not only in mental ill-health but in first person experiences of it. The spread of standpoint theory — i.e. the idea that we can only analyse issues from our individual perspective — lends credence to the false notion that we are inextricably connected to social mores and identities. Taking this into account when I picked up Committed, I was somewhat sceptical.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
fusionaier.org | Samuel Peter Mace
October 15, 2024By Samuel Mace The House of Lords is one of the largest legislative chambers in the world, with over 800 members. Composed partly of hereditary peers but mostly of appointed legislators, Britain’s upper chamber of government is seen by many as an anachronism out of place in modern government. Yet it remains stubbornly resistant to abolition.
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Aug 23, 2024 | 
theneweuropean.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
On Monday, president Putin signed a decree creating a new “humanitarian” scheme. Not known for his humanitarianism, Putin’s decree is obviously nakedly political, and an attempt to paint Russia as the defender of so-called “traditional” values. The decree grants foreign citizens the right to seek residency by applying for temporary residency in Russia.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
Sectarianism is as powerful a political word as you can conjure up. Evoking images of violence, anger, and inimical hatred many of us associate sectarianism as an orientalist image where we see the Middle East as a medieval picture of religious division. However, increasingly we are using sectarianism to define what we see in our politics and on our streets. For some, sectarianism is all around us rather than far away.
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Aug 3, 2024 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
Professional insecurity is harming workers and institutions alike Precarity is a part of life. It cannot be escaped from, even if modernity has attempted to minimise its most animalistic forms. More of us live longer than previously, we are generally richer and have access to more material things. On the surface at least, it looks like precarity at its most fundamental level has been assuaged. Yet professional, social and psychological precarity still haunts us.
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Apr 23, 2024 | 
fusionaier.org | Samuel Peter Mace
By Samuel Mace There is a long history of American-British relations, but it hasn’t always been plain sailing. Of course, there has been collaboration—most significantly during the Second World War. Yet there have also been serious tensions and even outright conflicts from War of Independence to the War of 1812, to the Suez crisis, and beyond. We talk of the ‘special relationship’. Especially in recent years, though, this has involved overt American influence on the now junior partner.
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Apr 17, 2024 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
Very little substance lurks within the obscure prose Almost uniquely among academics, Judith Butler is a household name — regularly publishing articles, and giving significant addresses on a host of issues outside her specialism of gender. Butler provokes intensely different reactions depending upon your worldview. For gender scholars, she is held in renown as a leading theorist who has helped pilot a new way of thinking about the subject.
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Apr 10, 2024 | 
lawliberty.org | Samuel Peter Mace |Stephen Presley |Mark Pulliam |Daniel Miller
Liberalism has faced strong intellectual headwinds since 2008. The collapse of the financial system did not just rock consumer confidence but the political system on which it was founded. Ever since, we have witnessed rising concern about the state of liberalism in America, creating a genuine fear of backsliding. Could a political order again emerge that sees inequality between peoples as natural and ongoing? Will political movements fearful of globalisation and its fruits gain the upper hand?
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Feb 25, 2024 | 
thecritic.co.uk | Samuel Peter Mace
A serious accusation should be treated with appropriate seriousness The “F-word” is a political atom bomb — or at least it should be. In countries which practise liberal democracy, being a fascist should be inherently delegitimizing. Fascism cannot co-exist with the hard won rights, toleration of difference, and openness in politics that characterise, or should characterise, the dominant governmental structure in the West.
