Long Read

Long Read: How Grime’s Origins Show a Path to Cultural Resistance
by Charlotte Watson
Forged in the shadow of London's financial district, criminalised by the state and locked out of the mainstream music establishment, Charlotte Watson reflects on the lessons we can learn from grime's early years.
Long Read: Literally Just Vibing: How Music Streaming Platforms Manipulate History, Legacy and Emotion
by Fred M-G
In this long read, music-maker Fred M-G takes a closer look at how the "sonic wallpaper" curated by the music streaming services upon which we now rely flattens and sanitises music's history and potency.
Long Read: Bernie 2020 and the Challenges of Big Organising
by Calum Jacobs
The tactics used in Bernie Sanders' 2020 election campaign have yielded some big wins and a string of losses. In this week's long read, Calum Jacobs looks at Sanders' use of so-called big organising and how it has helped - and hurt - his chances at the Democratic win.
Long Read: What’s the Deal With the Green New Deal?
by Alex Wood
In this long read, sociologist Alex Wood explores the limitations of current discussions around the green new deal, and asks what it would take to make the programme reflect workers' everyday experiences of capitalism.
Long Read: Labour’s Economic Plans: What Went Wrong?
by James Meadway

In this post-election long read, James Meadway explains how Labour’s 2019 plans got caught up in policy at the expense of politics.
Long Read: The Centrist Delusion: ‘Middle Ground’ Politics Aren’t Moderate, They’re Dangerous
by Raoul Martinez
In every civilisation, the centre ground of political opinion has been home to dangerous, inaccurate and oppressive ideas. The toxic centrism currently pervading Britain and rest of the world requires a rapid, bold, ambitious change of direction, writes Raoul Martinez. 
Long Read: In the North’s Leave-Voting Seats, Disillusionment Is Labour’s Biggest Enemy
by Craig Gent
With Labour engaged in a last minute battle to shore up northern support, Craig Gent reports on the party's struggle with disillusionment - and what can be done about it.
Long Read: How Hostile Environment Confusion Is Continuing to Damage Asylum Seekers’ Health
by Will Neal

Despite the formal suspension of data-sharing practices between NHS Digital and the Home Office in the wake of the Windrush scandal, the policy has left behind a legacy which continues to create confusion among medical practitioners while putting up barriers for people fleeing danger.
Long Read: Under a Blue Moon: Reflections on the Last UK General Election
by Alex Niven
"You began to sense that something had been let out of the bag." For a brief moment, the 2017 election result seemed to puncture a hole in a nationwide malaise. In a touching memoir, Alex Niven recalls the emotional journey of the last election and how it signalled new possibilities.
Long Read: Catalonia, Alone? Lessons From the Contradictions of the Independence Movement
by Bue Rübner Hansen
Between a Draconian Spanish state, an ambivalent left and an institutional impasse, it’s not clear where the Catalan independence movement goes next. Bue Rübner Hansen argues the challenges facing independentists reflect a far wider cycle of struggle.
Long Read: The Red Locomotive in Brussels? Interview with the Workers’ Party of Belgium
by Denis Rogatyuk
Bucking the apparent trends of the European elections, last month the Workers' Party of Belgium enjoyed breakthroughs at regional, federal and European levels. Denis Rogatyuk spoke to new MEP Marc Botenga about the party's recent successes, euroscepticism, and wrestling narratives back from the far right.
Long Read: Child Sexual Exploitation, ‘Asian Grooming Gangs’ and the Left
by an anonymous social worker
While the far right is shameless in making political hay out of young people's suffering, it is sometimes contended that the left does not have an adequate response to child sexual exploitation. What does CSE mean, how does is it perpetrated, and how the left can show solidarity with its victims?
Long Read: 5 Things You Should Know About the Australian Election
by Robbie Fordyce
This weekend Australia will elect its newest administration. In recent years, Australian leadership spills have happened at a breakneck speed, with most prime ministers barely cracking two years, and none seeing out a full term.
Long Read: A Design for Life: How Platforms Are Weaving Their Way Into the Fabric of Capitalism
by James Meadway
With platform companies such as Apple and Facebook running up against the limits of their business models, they are turning to new ways to leverage your data for profit. In this week's column, James Meadway examines the measures platforms are taking and asks what it means for the future of capitalism.
Long Read: Latin American Community ‘Betrayed’ by Council Plans to Let Private Developers Demolish Tottenham Market
by Camille Mijola
Pueblito Paisa Latin market has been fighting demolition for more than a decade. Now the community has just six weeks to push forward with a pioneering, community-orientated redevelopment plan, before Haringey Council acts on a compulsory purchase order.
Long Read: Can Football Fans Resist the Far Right Surge?
by Kieron Monks
From Tommy Robinson to the National Front to the Football Lads' Alliance, far-right organisers have long been trying to take over the beautiful game. Kieron Monks reports on football fans trying to stop the fascists once and for all.
Long Read: The Troubled History of the Two-State Solution
by Ben White
We need to think about an end to the Israel/Palestine conflict which means self-determination without colonial domination.
Long Read: How Labour’s Dreadful Antisemitism Debate Has to Change
by Barnaby Raine
The standard of debate around Labour’s antisemitism saga has been dire from the start, and both Corbyn's critics and his supporters on the left have been to blame, argues Barnaby Raine in this Sunday’s Long Read.

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