Pandaemonium

THE BEAUTY OF THE OUD

May 18, 2019 by Kenan Malik

The oud has over the years come to be one of my favourite instruments. I discovered it first through the music of Anouar Brahem and of Dhaffer Youssef, both North African, both jazz musicians, though very different in their approach. And through them I came to discover a whole new world of music, one that can be both joyous and sublimely beautiful. The oud is a fretless, pear-shaped, lute-like instrument whose origins go back several thousand years. (There is a […]

Categories: Culture & Books • Tags: adel shams el-din, anouar brahem, chafer youssef, driss el maloumi, hussein mohamed, jazz, munir bashir, music, naseer shamma, oud, rehab azar, said chraibi, tarek abdallah

DANNY BAKER, RACISM AND PUNISHMENT

May 13, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the debate around Danny Baker’s racist tweet, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on why we need poetry.) It was published on 12 May 2019, under the headline ‘We thrive on provocation. But are we too quick to punish those who stray?’. There was something shocking and absurd about Danny Baker’s tweet of a photograph of a posh couple with a costumed monkey in response to the arrival of the royal baby. You […]

Categories: Free Speech, Politics, Race & Immigration • Tags: bbc, danny baker, punishment, racism, social media

TALKING IDENTITY IN AUSTRALIA

May 10, 2019 by Kenan Malik

These are audios of two events from my recent trip to Australia in which I discuss the politics of identity. The first is a talk I gave at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. The second is a discussion on Melbourne’s community radio RRR. . What’s wrong with identity politics? A talk at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne . Talking identity on RRR

Categories: Justice & Liberties, Kenan Malik, Politics • Tags: australia, herder, identity politics, immigration, immigration controls, left, racism, universalism, white identity, working class

WHO IS A WOMAN IN SPORT?

May 6, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the related but separate debates over Caster Semenya and over transgender athletes, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on creating vaccines for low-income countries) It was published on 5 May 2019, under the headline ‘Caster Semenya is a victim of rules that are confusing and unfair’. Should women with naturally elevated levels of testosterone be able to compete in women’s events? That’s the question with which athletics has been grappling over […]

Categories: Sport, Women • Tags: cas, caster semenya, dsd, iaaf, international olympics committee, martina navratilova, paula radcliffe, rachel mckinnon, testosterone, transgender, transgender athletes

IN DEFENCE OF UNIVERSALISM

May 3, 2019 by Kenan Malik

. . This is an interview with Alex Hochuli, George Hoare and Ben Fogle for the podcast Aufhebunga Bunga, mainly on questions of immigration, identity, class and the left (though it opens with a discussion of the aftermath of the Notre Dame fire). . The image is Untitled by Hans Hartung.

Categories: Class, Kenan Malik, Politics, Race & Immigration • Tags: culture, europe, identity politics, immigration, left, notre dame, populism, white identity, white working class, working class

IMMIGRATION, INTEGRATION AND SOCIAL FRACTURE

April 29, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on whether the failure to integrate is responsible for social fracturing in European societies, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on the Roger Scruton debate.) It was published on 28 April 2019, under the headline ‘Talk of integration is a sideshow in a society where many feel unheard’. Uncontrolled migrant flows have made many in Europe more hostile to immigration. The failure of migrants to integrate has helped create more fractured societies and exacerbated […]

Categories: Politics, Race & Immigration • Tags: bene sagvari, britishness, distrust, europe, european social survey, fear, immigration, integration, migration crisis, populism, social fragmentation, tony blair, trust, vera messing

PLUCKED FROM THE WEB #56

April 27, 2019 by Kenan Malik

The latest (somewhat random) collection of recent essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . When Christians are under attack, Muslims and the left need to defend them Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept, 22 April 2019 From Christchurch, New Zealand, to Xinjiang, China, there is a war on Muslims. Many of us have spent years writing about it and condemning it. But let’s be clear: From the Middle East to parts of Asia […]

Categories: Pandaemonium

CIVILIZED DISCOURSE AND THE OUTRAGE MACHINE

April 22, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on how the demand for a more civilised discourse has itself become a weapon in a polarised debate, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 21 April 2019, under the headline ‘From David Lammy to Roger Scruton, we rush to damn our opponents’. ‘We can’t carry on like this, where disagreements over political issues become so visceral that those on the other side of a debate aren’t only mistaken but are evil, pernicious and wicked.’ So wrote Labour […]

Categories: Politics • Tags: david lammy, george eaton, new statesman, public discourse, roger scruton

WHEN THE RIGHT KIND OF MIGRANT IS STILL WRONG

April 15, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the reality of Australia’s points-based immigration system, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on cultural appropriation and cultural gatekeeping.) It was published on 14 April 2019, under the headline ‘A points-based system doesn’t end naked prejudice against migrants’. ‘How long have you been living in Australia?’ I asked the cabbie in Melbourne. Three years, he said. He’d come from India. ‘Do you like it here?’ I asked. No, he said. Why […]

Categories: International, Race & Immigration • Tags: australia, immigration, immigration policy, points based immigration system, racism

THE GREAT OCEAN DRIVE VS THE GREAT NORTH ROAD

April 13, 2019 by Kenan Malik

While in Australia, I spent a couple of days on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It’s a beautiful coastline, with some spectacular geological features. The first part up to Apollo Bay hugs the coastline and makes for an exhilarating drive. But beyond Apollo Bay, you can barely see the ocean from the Great Ocean Road. This is where many of the geological features are – The Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge, etc – and you nip off […]

Categories: Photos • Tags: australia, great ocean drive, photography, scotland

THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY, LEFT AND RIGHT

April 8, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the relationship between white nationalism and the politics of identity, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on ‘offshoring’ migration policies in Europe and Australia.) It was published on 7 April 2019, under the headline ‘If identity politics is a force for good, how does white nationalism fit in?’ ‘You turned the issue on its head’, someone said to me after I gave a talk on identity politics in Melbourne last week. […]

Categories: Justice & Liberties, Politics • Tags: brenton tarrant, christchurch, counter enlightenment, enlightenment, far right, identity politics, left, racism, right, white identity, white nationalism

INTO THE SUNSET DOWN UNDER

April 7, 2019 by Kenan Malik

I’m in Australia at the moment, giving a series of talks in Brisbane, Melbourne and Bendigo. The events have been terrific, with outstanding audiences and discussions. My Observer column this week (published on Sunday, and on Pandaemonium next week) will reflect some of the discussion. So, this week these is no usual Friday/Saturday post. Instead, a couple of photos taken on a flight between Brisbane and Melbourne at sunset. Back to normal (I hope) next week.

Categories: Photos

HOW NOT TO REGULATE BIG TECH

April 1, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the regulation of tech companies, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece reflecting on the debate about ‘cultural Marxism’.) It was published on 24 March 2019, under the headline ‘Europe’s efforts to curb the internet giants only make them stronger’. While all eyes were on Westminster, and on the inability of MPs to pass even a poop, the European parliament got on with its job and passed some new legislation. Soon, most […]

Categories: Politics, Science • Tags: article 11, article 13, big tech, copyright, dcms report, eu copyright directive, european union, facebook, google, link tax, online regulation, technology, twitter

PLUCKED FROM THE WEB #55

March 30, 2019 by Kenan Malik

The latest (somewhat random) collection of recent essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . How the UK lost Brexit battle Tom McTague, Politico, 27 March 2019 Nowhere was the imbalance of power more important than on the Irish border. By February, 2017 — before Britain had even triggered Article 50 — Brussels had taken ownership of the problem and come up with the beginnings of a […]

Categories: Pandaemonium

ANTI-MUSLIM BIGOTRY AND FAR-RIGHT TERROR

March 25, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the relationship between anti-Muslim bigotry and far-right terror, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 24 March 2019, under the headline ‘Silencing Islamophobes is as futile a response as banning the Qur’an’. What drove Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch gunman, to commit his heinous acts? It’s a question that has, understandably, occupied much media space . A key debate has been over the role of anti-Muslim hatred and its entrenchment in mainstream society. In an open […]

Categories: Free Speech, International, Politics • Tags: anti-muslim hatred, brenton tarrant, christchurch, douglas murray, far right, far-right terror, free speech, hate speech, immigration, islamism, jihadism, melanie phillips, muslims, terrorism, white nationalism