- University of Birmingham BA International Relations with Political Science graduate 2014 Applying for Postgraduate... moreUniversity of Birmingham BA International Relations with Political Science graduate 2014
Applying for Postgraduate courses in Social and Political Theory
Current uploads span my undergraduate work from 2nd to 3rd year, and as such are not to be taken as authoritative works on anything! Hopefully you can see some development from earlier pieces (Marx & Hegel paper, Open Marxist analysis of Welfare state reform) and later workedit
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This paper looks at the welfare cuts pushed through by the British Con/Dem coalition government of 2013 in the Welfare Reform Bill. N.B. THIS PAPER WAS WRITTEN AS AN OPEN BOOK TAKE HOME TEST. AS SUCH IT IS INCOMPLETELY REFERENCED, AS... more
This paper looks at the welfare cuts pushed through by the British Con/Dem coalition government of 2013 in the Welfare Reform Bill.
N.B. THIS PAPER WAS WRITTEN AS AN OPEN BOOK TAKE HOME TEST. AS SUCH IT IS INCOMPLETELY REFERENCED, AS THIS WAS NOT A NECESSARY PART OF THE ASSIGNMENT
N.B. THIS PAPER WAS WRITTEN AS AN OPEN BOOK TAKE HOME TEST. AS SUCH IT IS INCOMPLETELY REFERENCED, AS THIS WAS NOT A NECESSARY PART OF THE ASSIGNMENT
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This essay looks at the development of Marx's work, primarily The 1844 Manuscripts and The Communist Manifesto, assessing the intellectual debt to which Marx owes Hegel and the Utopian Socialists. Originally composed as a response to the... more
This essay looks at the development of Marx's work, primarily The 1844 Manuscripts and The Communist Manifesto, assessing the intellectual debt to which Marx owes Hegel and the Utopian Socialists. Originally composed as a response to the question "To what extent does Marx owe an intellectual debt to Hegel and the Utopian Socialists?", the essay concludes that, alongside these two intellectual predecessors, Marx's work (unsurprisingly, considering his magnus opus "Capital"), Marx owes a debt to the British Classical Political Economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo.
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This paper approaches the Spanish Civil War, and in particular the collectivisation of the means of production in certain areas, to seek lessons for contemporary social movements. The paper analyses the communes and workers' collectives... more
This paper approaches the Spanish Civil War, and in particular the collectivisation of the means of production in certain areas, to seek lessons for contemporary social movements. The paper analyses the communes and workers' collectives of revolutionary Spain as autonomous spaces, drawing parallels between their successful autonomisation of space from the state, and the social centres movement in contemporary European countries. The essay also looks at lessons that can be learnt from the Spanish Revolution for movements such as Occupy.
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This paper charts the literature surrounding welfare state emergence and development, questioning why some welfare states are more generous than others. The paper adopts a power/resources approach, but one that must be supplemented by... more
This paper charts the literature surrounding welfare state emergence and development, questioning why some welfare states are more generous than others. The paper adopts a power/resources approach, but one that must be supplemented by attention to the social mores of a country and the values attached to certain facets and central tenets of their individual welfare state arrangements.
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This paper builds on Cammaerts' 2013 paper applying his concept of mediation opportunity structures to the British Student Movement that emerged prior to, and following, the trebling of tuition fees. The paper builds on Cammaerts' work... more
This paper builds on Cammaerts' 2013 paper applying his concept of mediation opportunity structures to the British Student Movement that emerged prior to, and following, the trebling of tuition fees. The paper builds on Cammaerts' work with contemporary developments in the student movement to show the benefits that an awareness of mediation opportunity structures can have on organising protest movements in Britain.
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This essay explores two prominent theorists and the centrality in their work of aesthetic considerations and the political implications of these.
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An outline of this edition, and acknowledgements of gratitude for the foundation of the journal.
Research Interests: Sociology, Social Theory, International Relations, International Relations Theory, Political Theory, and 16 moreDisability Studies, Welfare State, Open Access, Open Access Publishing, Virtue Ethics, International Security, Cybernetics, Political Science, Continental Philosophy, Transhumanism, Undergraduate Research, Open Source, Open Access Journals, Masters Research, Global health security, and Students As Researchers
This research approaches the question of ‘Othering’ within Hollywood cinema, and the impact that these processes might have on the perceived legitimacy of American foreign and domestic policy in the post-9/11 ‘War on Terror’ context.... more
This research approaches the question of ‘Othering’ within Hollywood cinema, and the impact that these processes might have on the perceived legitimacy of American foreign and domestic policy in the post-9/11 ‘War on Terror’ context. Following a discussion of the literature charting the history of ‘Othering’ from the Cold War to 2007,((outlining the negative stereotypes attached to Muslims and Arabs regarding a predisposition towards terrorism and fanaticism), the research analyses seven post-2008 Hollywood films using a hegemonic discourse analysis approach that gives significance to the social, political and cultural context in which they are viewed by an audience. The conclusions drawn from this analysis indicate a continued prevalence of negative stereotyping within Hollywood cinema towards Arabs and Muslims, but increasingly towards Koreans, Iranians and domestic terrorism in order to construct a perception of emerging geopolitical threats from these groups. Such portrayals of terrorism are found to seek to legitimise a particularly hawkish foreign policy, and repressive domestic policies in many cases, though there are films found to provide a critical engagement with such policies.