Red Nostalgia
During the week I attended a lecture at my old university on the meaning of the…
Fragile identities, fragile memories
It is justice which extracts from traumatizing remembrances their exemplary value, turns memory into a project, and it…
Republics in distress
As I look around the world at the state of politics, I conclude that our democratic…
Poem: Nouriel’s Shoes
The following poem is from my Burning Archive collection. It had its origins in a strategic…
From flashbacks to testimony – reflections on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Childhood Sexual Abuse
In September last year I delivered a paper to a conference sponsored by a major research…
On tyranny or terror?
The American historian of the holocaust in Eastern Europe, Timothy Snyder has delivered in On Tyranny:…
The hope of none
In reading Austerlitz last night, I stumbled on the passage in which the relayed memories of…
Massacres in history
As the violence and brewing disorder of our times disturbs us, we can readily fall into…
The unravelling of empires
US and western leaders have to find better ways to satisfy their people’s demands. It looks,…
The Tiger’s Eye closes for the last time
The great Australian historian or writer, Inga Clendinnen has died. Image Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/people/warrior-of-the-mind-20140810-3dha8.html There is a moving…