Wire is 1! Your Top 10 #NovaraWire Articles from the Past Year.

Novara Wire turns one year old today! Since February 2014 we’ve published 140 articles with the help of 70 contributors, and throughout 2015 we plan to keep growing the platform with an expanding pool of editors and an increasingly diverse range of short-form articles. To celebrate Wire’s anniversary, let’s take a look back at the top articles from the last year as ‘voted’ by your hits, likes and shares:

10. 5 Reasons Not to Be a Woman in the UK in 2014.

Against the backdrop of the disproportionate negative impact experienced by women in austerity Britain, Tabitha Bast explored how from the rise of Ukip and attack on reproductive rights to the decline in rape convictions, 2014 was an especially bad year to be a woman.

9. How Madrid’s Fascist Ultras Are Getting Away With Murder (Literally).

On Madrid’s football terraces battles between fascist and antifascist ultras are raging. In November, the murder of an antifascist fan was used by the police and media to criminalize all ultras groups and to deny the political nature of the violence.

8. 9 Visions of Utopia from Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.

“What do you want the world to be like in the future?” was the question Judy Thorne asked Nottingham shoppers back in June. Touching and occasionally humorous, the responses outlined a future a lot more like ‘fully automated luxury communism’ than you might expect from the stranger in the street.

7. An Open Letter to the Everyday Sexist.

Drawing upon a personal account of everyday street harassment, Alia Al Ghussain replies to her harasser in this open letter. Written in September, the letter stands as an honest and incisive act of defiance against an all-too-familiar aggressor.

6. 4 Things David Harvey Thinks Anti-Capitalists Should Know.

Last April, Novara had the chance to catch up with the eminent Marxian geographer David Harvey, who took time to appear on Novara FM and TV in between public appearances promoting his latest book (with a suspiciously Wire-esque title) Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. For the ease of digestion, this article attempted to translate some of the central claims of the book into plain English.

5. 12 Books White People Should Read in Preparation for Becoming a Minority in Britain.

Last spring it was reported that by 2066 white people will be a numerical minority within the British population. While this was pounced on with panic by the right wing tabloids, Adam Elliott-Cooper and Ashok Kumar took the opportunity to suggest 12 titles white people – in particular the white left – should begin with to become more educated on the experience of black and brown people in the west.

4. 5 Reasons the Strike in China is Terrifying! (to Transnational Capitalism).

In April 48,000 workers at Yue Yuen – the shoe supplier to Adidas and Nike – took part in the largest strike in modern China. This article explained that the sheer scale of the operation on the supply side meant that it’s become too big for buyers such as Adidas to cut-and-run, with major implications for global capitalism – especially as there is no ‘next’ China.

3. Do They Owe Us a Living? 7 Reasons the Universal Basic Income is Worth Fighting For.

Novara Wire isn’t a stranger to the debates surrounding the Universal Basic Income, with a variety of perspectives articulated on the site over the past year. However the most popular UBI article was also the first, published in Wire’s first month. Discussing the crisis of the wage and UBI’s relationship to work, Andrew Dolan’s piece remains a must-read. Indeed it held the Wire #1 spot until…

2. 9 Things You Might Not Expect From the Greens’ EU Manifesto.

Ahead of last May’s EU elections a lot of conversations on the left turned to the Greens at some point or another. Enjoying fresh interest due to their activity within the Scottish Independence campaign and their renewed efforts to define themselves as the ‘anti-austerity’ party, the Greens’ membership doubled in 2014 and they won another seat in the European parliament. Exploring lesser-known Green policies such as free education and giving workers the right to buy their company, this article enjoyed a ‘surge’ in its own right in the early summer.

1. An ‘Unmitigated Disaster’: 8 Reasons It’s Kicking Off in Ireland.

Published in November, Ian Maleney’s piece on the ongoing Irish Water scandal went viral and became Novara Wire’s top-ranking article within a week. While civil disobedience and mass resistance to the bailout-driven water charges have spread across Ireland, press coverage of the opposition to Irish Water has been even more dire than the company’s communication with the public regarding the charges. With the mainstream media coverage of the scandal (and associated cronyism) tightly-controlled, the real news has been drawn from alternative outlets and spread through social media.

As always, if you are interested in writing for Novara Wire please feel free to email editor Craig McVegas at [email protected] with your article ideas.