I woke up this very late morning in that thick, grey space between sleep and being properly awake, and I couldn’t move. Not physically—well, not only physically—but in the way your mind is still half in another country and the real one has not quite let you in yet. I lay there for a long…… Continue reading The Trap Door That Doesn’t Exist
Author: prof.t.abbas
The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Today marks exactly twenty-five years since 9/11. It remains, quite rightly, a day of mourning for the nearly 3,000 people killed in those attacks, and for the families and communities whose lives were altered forever. Any serious reflection on the last quarter of a century must begin there: with grief, with loss, and with the…… Continue reading The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Debates over academic freedom become especially charged when controversial claims intersect with histories of racism, exclusion, and scientific misuse. Nathan Cofnas, an American postdoctoral researcher formerly affiliated with the University of Cambridge and Emmanuel College, and more recently with Ghent University, specialises in the philosophy of science. He has become a highly controversial figure because…… Continue reading Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
Imagine standing in a crowded town square, watching a mob chant about “taking our country back”, while a young man of South Asian descent clutches his dark blue passport — a document that legally declares “British Citizen” but is treated by the rioters as a worthless piece of paper. I am keen to explore the…… Continue reading Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation
There seems to be quite a distinction in current commentary concerning the view that British Muslims are at a particular juncture in their history. One view suggests that they are at a precipice, about to fall into an oblivion from which there may be no way back. There is also the concern, however, that Muslims…… Continue reading British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation
The Cost of Racist Media Harassment: Jason Arday, Racism and the Violence of the British Press
It is the morning after the day before, and I am still numb. The death of Jason Arday will be remembered as one of the worst episodes of racism in the British press. He was found at his home in south London on Friday afternoon. He was forty-one. The police have said only that the…… Continue reading The Cost of Racist Media Harassment: Jason Arday, Racism and the Violence of the British Press
The uses of Jason Arday
Essay · Race, universities and the public sphere The uses of Jason Arday A national press campaign about scholarly rigour is resting on a self-published, machine-generated blog post. The campaign defending him is resting on a claim the evidence will not carry. Both have made one man stand in for an argument he never agreed…… Continue reading The uses of Jason Arday
The Pen and the Poison
Satire, Cynicism, and the Lasting Legacy of Rod Liddle’s Islamophobia Rod Liddle has died at 66. The tributes call him brilliant, provocative, inimitable. They are silent on the twenty years he spent making British Muslims the punchline — and on the industry that decided this was a style, not a record. Rod Liddle died on…… Continue reading The Pen and the Poison
Mosque Security in Britain Must Be About Trust, Not Just Protection
At a time when mosques in Britain are reportedly attacked, vandalised, or physically damaged every few days, the question of mosque safety is no longer peripheral. It sits at the centre of British Muslim life, shaping how people worship, travel, organise, and imagine their place in society. This essay reflects on the National Emergency Conference…… Continue reading Mosque Security in Britain Must Be About Trust, Not Just Protection
The Algorithm of Apocalypse
The Algorithm of Apocalypse Essay · Geopolitics & History The Long View The comfortable myth & the harder reading The Algorithm of Apocalypse Why the viral “planetary renewal” trend is a comforting fantasy laid over a brutal geopolitical reality — and why genuine civilisational renewal has never once arrived quietly. Long read · 9 min…… Continue reading The Algorithm of Apocalypse