Pandaemonium

THE ART OF CONDESCENSION

January 21, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on art and snobbery in the context of ‘Museum Selfie Day’, was my Observer column this week. It was published in the Observer, 13 January 2019, under the (odd) headline ‘Here’s me and the Mona Lisa. Who says that art and selfies can’t mix?’. So, there you are, having worked your way through a crowd denser than a Brexit negotiation, standing in front of your prize. The Mona Lisa in the Louvre. What do you do? Look more closely at that enigmatic […]

Categories: Culture & Books • Tags: art, mona lisa, museum selfie day, museums, selfie, yayoi kusama

TRACKS DISCOVERED IN 2018

January 19, 2019 by Kenan Malik

Not a compilation of my favourite music from 2018, but ten tracks from bands, singers and music that I discovered for the first time last year. Many I should have known about already, but I’m glad I’ve discovered now. And I might make this an annual post… . Driss El Maloumi, Imtidad (from the album Makan) Possibly my favourite discovery from last year. Driss El Maloumi is a Moroccan oud player, his style lyrical and haunting, melding classical Arabic and […]

Categories: Culture & Books • Tags: blues, music, oud

SOCIALLY POLARISED, POLITICALLY PARALYSED

January 14, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the peculiar character of contemporary social polarisation, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on the calls for the sacking of reactionary lecturer John Finnis.) It was published in the Observer, 13 January 2019, under the headline ‘A divided Britain is not new. So why do today’s schisms seem intractable?’ A few years ago, we stayed in a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. One night, we went for a drink in the […]

Categories: Britain, Politics • Tags: anna soubry, brexit, british politics, left, polarisation, semiotics, social movements, symbols, tribalism

PLUCKED FROM THE WEB #51

January 11, 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. . Citizenship v the surveillance state Matthew Longo, Boston Review, 6 December 2018 As a society, we have accepted as self-evident that a secure border protects our national sovereignty (and, by extension, citizens). But in fact, the opposite is increasingly true. New forms of bordering rely extensively on data and information sharing at […]

Categories: Pandaemonium

THE POLITICS OF THE SPACE RACE

January 7, 2019 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the politics of the space race from Sputnik to Chang’e-4, was the main article in my Observer column this week. It was published in the Observer, 6 January 2019, under the headline ‘Power politics always drives space conquest. China’s coup is no different’. Nasa had rejected it as too difficult and costly an undertaking. Last week, China declared ‘mission accomplished’ after landing a spacecraft, Chang’e-4, on the far side of the moon. It was a remarkable endeavour. As the […]

Categories: International, Philosophy & Ethics, Politics, Science • Tags: chang'e-4, china, cold war, john f kennedy, moon landing, nasa, soviet union, space exploration, space race, sputnik, usa, yuri gagarin

A BOOKISH DOZEN FOR THE NEW YEAR

January 4, 2019 by Kenan Malik

A dozen books due in 2019, both fiction and non-fiction, that I’m looking forward to. Not books I have read, so not (yet, anyway) recommendations, but books I would like to read. There are a dozen more I might have included, and many more that I have missed, but this is a start. . John Lanchester, The Wall Faber, January Where Lanchester’s Capital took on the financial crisis, his latest novel tackles another big issue: migration and the fear of the […]

Categories: Culture & Books • Tags: angela saini, books, john lanchester, jonathan ree, margaret atwood, marlon james, michel houellebecq, peter gatrell, richard evans, samanth schweblin, toby green, william darlymple, zadie smith

POSH MAY BE PASSÉ BUT CONTEMPT IS NOT

December 31, 2018 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on changing attitudes to class, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on cookery books.) It was published in the Observer, 30 December 2018, under the headline ‘Posh is so passé – today’s elite prefers the myth of the meritocracy’. I’m not posh,’ an irate David Dimbleby told the Today presenter John Humphrys. ‘I come from Wales, as you do.’ Dimbleby, who this month stepped down as host of BBC’s Question Time, was being interviewed by Humphrys, […]

Categories: Britain, Class • Tags: brexit, Class, david dimbleby, david runciman, democracy, donald trump, education, elite, elitism, meritocracy, michael young, populism, poshness, privilege, richard dawkins, technocracy, upper class, working class

A YEAR OF PANDAEMONIUM 2018

December 29, 2018 by Kenan Malik

As another year draws to a close, here are some of the highlights of a year of Pandaemonium in 2018. . Politics British politics was, of course, dominated by Brexit. I wrote little directly on the issue (though my original pieces still, I think, hold up well), but much around the issue of populism, including analyses of the Lega/M5S victory in Italy and of the standoff between Italy and the EU over the new government’s budget, and an article on the gilets jaunes […]

Categories: Pandaemonium • Tags: 2018, pandaemonium

THE INCOHERENCE OF IMMIGRATION POLICY

December 24, 2018 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on Sajid Javid’s new White Paper on immigration, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on José Mourniho.) It was published in the Observer, 23 December 2018, under the headline ‘The new immigration proposals are economic and political nonsense’. ‘We have become illiberal and lowered quotas at a time when we have an acute shortage of labour.’ So observed the cabinet minister Richard Crossman in his diaries in 1966, after the Labour government, […]

Categories: Britain, Politics, Race & Immigration • Tags: british politics, conservative party, immigration, immigration policy, iwgb, sajid javid, solidarity, working class

THANK YOU!

December 22, 2018 by Kenan Malik

Just a short post to say thank you to all Pandaemonium readers. It’s been another tumultuous year, from Brexit to Brazil, from Myanmar to MeToo. Another year posing new questions, challenging old analyses, generating fractious debates. Hopefully Pandaemonium has played a role in navigating through this and in the rethinking necessary for our time. I want especially to thank my Patrons. Patreon, for those who don’t know, is a crowdfunding platform for funding the work of writers, artists and musicians, allowing […]

Categories: Pandaemonium • Tags: pandaemonium, patreon

THE EU AND THE ITALIAN JOB

December 17, 2018 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the confrontation between the EU and Italy over the Italian budget, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on the nature of public debate.) It was published in the Observer, 16 December 2018, under the headline ‘Europe’s merciless treatment of Italy only hardens popular resentment’. A standoff with EU officials. Ministers flying to Brussels to negotiate last-minute deals. Cries of betrayal at home. Dark warnings of economic calamity and social unrest. No, […]

Categories: International, Politics • Tags: austerity, democracy, european union, far right, five star movement, italy, lega, matteo salvini, ms5, populism

PLUCKED FROM THE WEB #50

December 14, 2018 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. . Can the yellow vests speak? Édouard Louis, Jacobin, 8 December 2018 Right from the start of this movement we have seen ‘experts’ and ‘politicians’ in the media belittling, condemning, and mocking the gilets jaunes and the revolt that they embody. I saw the words ‘barbarians,’ ‘idiots,’ ‘yokels,’ ‘irresponsible’ spread across social networks. The media […]

Categories: Pandaemonium

WHO WILL GIVE SHAPE TO DISAFFECTION?

December 10, 2018 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the gilets jaunes protests, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on MSF being forced to end its rescue operations in the Mediterranean). It was published in the Observer, 9 December 2018, under the headline ‘A fear of cultural loss is fuelling anger with elites across Europe’. ‘Can we borrow him?’ Gary Lineker asked in April of the ‘charismatic, smart and ballsy’ Emmanuel Macron. The BBC presenter was far from alone in being […]

Categories: International, Justice & Liberties, Philosophy & Ethics, Politics • Tags: austerity, centrism, disaffection, emmanuel macron, far right, france, gilets jaunes, left, protests

A PLAYLIST FOR PETE SHELLEY

December 7, 2018 by Kenan Malik

What is it that links Big Mama Thornton’s ‘Hound dog’ to Sam Cooke’s ‘(What a) wonderful world’ to the Kinks’ ‘You really got me’ to the Supremes’ ‘You can’t hurry love’ to Toots and Maytal’s ‘Pressure drop’ to the Undertones’ ‘Teenage kicks’ to Prince’s ‘When doves cry’ to the Buzzcocks’ ‘Ever fallen in love (with someone you shouldn’t have)?’? It’s one of those strange questions that popped into my head this week after the death of Pete Shelley. Shelley was […]

Categories: Culture & Books, Philosophy & Ethics • Tags: buzzcocks, music, pete shelley, pop songs, punk

WHERE DOES THIS BULLY GET HIS IDEAS FROM?

December 3, 2018 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on an assault on a Syrian refugee schoolboy, was my Observer column this week. (The column included also a short piece on the CRISPR baby). It was published in the Observer, 2 December 2018, under the headline ‘I know all about being bullied by racists. That’s the Britain I grew up in’. I cannot recall ever being ‘waterboarded’. But nor can I recall many days when, as a schoolboy, I did not return home without a bruised lip […]

Categories: Britain, Philosophy & Ethics, Race & Immigration • Tags: british politics, hostile environment, immigration, racism, racist attacks, refugees, social media, theresa may, tobias ellwood