What the Sanders and Corbyn movements say about Australia

My column in the Guardian: Charisma and persuasion matter in politics. Though neither trait guarantees fair policies or outlook – think Tony Blair… backing the catastrophic war… against Iraq, or Malcolm Turnbull hailing himself as a free speech champion before… pressuring the ABC… over its robust journalism – image is apparently more captivating than ever in the 21st century.…

Private immigration facilities making money from misery

My debut article in the New York Times: Berlin — Immigration and Customs Enforcement calls the detention site in Dilley, Tex., a “family residential center.” But to the 2,000 migrant children and mothers who live there, it’s something else: “People who say this is not a prison are lying,” Yancy Maricela Mejia Guerra, a detainee…

How Australia is inspiring Europe's immigration policies

My column in the Guardian: Australia first… introduced… onshore detention facilities in 1991 at Villawood in Sydney and Port Hedland in Western Australia. Mandatory detention came in 1992. Bob Hawke’s government announced it was because “Australia could be on the threshold of a major wave of unauthorised boat arrivals from south-east Asia, which will severely test both…

Guardian book review of Disaster Capitalism

This book review by Owen Hatherley, of Disaster Capitalism,… was published in the Guardian Review last Saturday: At one telling moment in this unnerving and convincing book, Antony Loewenstein quotes the managing director of one of the many private military companies (“PMCs”) working in Afghanistan. The United States, says “Jack”, “is not capable of running empires”.…

New York's The New School Disaster Capitalism book and film event

During my recent New York book tour for Disaster Capitalism, there was a book event in October at The New School hosted by The Schools of Public Engagement and New School for Social Research. I was in conversation with… Nitin Sawhney, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, co-director of the great film on Gaza, Flying Paper, and…

Boycotting companies making money from immigration detention

My column in the Guardian: The Australian maintenance, construction and detention centre company Transfield Services officially… changed… its name last month, to Broadspectrum. The firm claimed it was “a better representation of the company’s business”. Clearly there was an element of necessity too: the corporation’s founding members… withdrew permission… to use the Transfield name and logo over ongoing allegations…

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