The earthquake that took place in Haiti in 2010 killing over 250,000 people (Ramachandran et al, 2013) opened the debate on how the preconditions of the country contributed to maximise the effects of the natural disaster. According to Dr. Matthias Garschagen (2016), the disaster potential was not only driven by the force of the natural...
Author: Insidewestminsterblog
Vietnam Reflection
Communism, eastern politics, socialism working with market liberalism, Asian culture, eastern education, respectful and inspirational students, a landscape beyond imagination; and so much more all put together to make a beautiful country and open a young western man’s eyes to reality and the world he is living in. This was my first time going to...
‘Blood Leaves its Trail’ – Afterthoughts by Khalil Sabawoon
Blood leaves its trail; a documentary that presents the struggle and hardships of the Kashmiris in dealing with the Indian state’s cruelty and heartlessness. Neither I nor any pen can do justice in describing the whole documentary or, more importantly, the struggle of Kashmiris in a small written piece. However, since scenes from the documentary...
STAR – UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER
We are a group of Westminster Students working in partnership with STAR. Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is a national student-run organisation that aims to raise awareness of refugee issues and promote integration of refugees and asylum seekers into society. STAR has attracted over 27,000 students around United Kingdom and it is amazing that we now have...
The Struggles of Stateless Nations
Nations are commonly described as a community of people with shared history, language, descent, culture and inhabiting a particular territory. However, a state, defined as the government that directs, rules the nations, is often seen as a legitimizing factor for recognition of nations. Hence, what we see today in global politics are not nations but...
Is politics a science?
“Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve, and amend the general rules under which they live” (Heywood, 2015). People learn many things from different experiences and ways, for example, people understand that at a 212 degrees water boils, a virus called HIV causes AIDs. Similarly, people claim to know...
QUEERING NATIONS, DECOLONISING STATES BY PROFESSOR DIBYESH ANAND
31st October 2017, 5 45 pm, Professor Dibyesh Anand who is about to deliver his inaugural lecture in less than 15 minutes can be spotted outside Regent Street Cinema, catching up with academicians, extending a warm welcome to his guests, breaking all conversations to greet his students. 6 pm, the cinema is jam packed with...
Refugees In The UK Documentary
There are several projects within the Democratic Education Network that have started recently, and one of those is called the Refugees in the UK Documentary Project. It has been presented by team member Nausheen Khan that the focus will be on refugees who fled their country of origin post-2001 to arrive in the UK and...
Are Human Rights Universal?
Since the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, human rights have become deeply embedded in the structural order of the international arena. It comes as no surprise then, that it has fallen under stark scrutiny since its beginning. The declaration states the right to life, freedom from discrimination and equality under...
A Diwali sans crackers but with a buzzing Seminar
Diwali, also called festival of lights, is a popular Hindu festival celebrated with much enthusiasm and, rather unfortunately for the environment, a lot of fireworks. An atmosphere of extravagant excitement, obnoxious amounts of sweets, loud and bright firecrackers is present at sites of celebration. Spending my first Diwali outside India, I might have missed...
Reflections on “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power”
The following is a faithful reproduction of Khalil Sabawoon’s reflections on his visit to the Tate Modern exhibition titled ” Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” – Excited to see what exactly might be presented in the exhibition? How would the heroes of the fight against the oppression of a superpower...
Words Heal the World
On the first session of the exciting series DEN meetings that would be held this year we were presented with a vibrant range of projects that would be a part of DEN. One such projects is called Words Heal the World. It was presented by a student of University of Westminster Beatriz Buarque ,who is studying...
