They leave their homes and families in less developed countries on the promise of good pay and working conditions in the West. But that promise never materialises. Instead, they find themselves held as virtual prisoners, their passports taken from them; forced to obey the orders of those who have bought their services; degraded and dehumanised. [...]

Over on humanrights.ie ILR contributor Illan rua Wall has put up a very interesting and wide-ranging podcast interview with Wendy Brown; the Heller Professor of Political Science at University of California, Berkley.
About the interview, which was recorded earlier in September, Illan writes:
Prof. Brown engages initially with the question of critique, and its relation to [...]

Using evidence-based policy to build better and safer communities
Instead of throwing increasing amounts of taxpayers’ money at an ineffective prison system, we should be investing in communities by way of prevention and early intervention strategies, addressing the marginalization associated with offending behaviour, and thereby reducing crime.
This is the core message which the Irish Penal Reform [...]

The question of populism and radical change has re-emerged in American politics, first with Obama and now with the tea party movement. However, it was another story that recently caught my eye. The New York Times carried a story about Republican ‘agents’ (or ‘operatives’) encouraging homeless people to stand unopposed in the Green Party primaries. [...]

For legal purposes, the term capacity refers to a person´s ability to make an enforceable decision for themselves, one that has legal significance. In general terms, capacity is concerned with an individual´s competence to understand the potential consequences of a personal decision as well as being able to clearly express her or his intended course [...]

Irish society remains deeply unequal despite massive wealth creation during the Celtic tiger years.   It is estimated that a mere 5% of the population hold 40% of the wealth in Ireland.
Discrimination as experienced by women, Black and minority ethnic people  including Travellers, older people, young people, lesbian, gay and transgendered people, lone parents, carers, people [...]

Book Review: Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists by Daniel Dorling, Policy Press (2010)
Over the last two decades or so, scholars concerned with social justice have offered a number of different frameworks for helping us to analyse the problem. These have included the extensively discussed two-dimensional approach that classifies issues under the headings of redistribution [...]

Book Review:The Situationists and the City, edited by Tom McDonough, (2009) Verso.
It isn’t entirely clear why Verso thought now would be a good time to publish a book of extracts from the writings of the Situationists about the urban environment and experience. Editor Tom McDonough, whose excellent introductory essay renders much of the subsequent material [...]

Arguably one of the greatest surprises of the recent World Cup was the achievement of the German football team in securing third place. In the run up to the tournament, the German team had generally been regarded as one of the weakest in their history, lacking the necessary experience as well as the quality and [...]

Book Review: Living Dolls: The Return Of Sexism, Natasha Walter (Virago 2010)

When the facts changed, Natasha Walter changed her mind. Or so she says in Living Dolls: The Return Of Sexism, a book that describes how raunch culture has co-opted the language of choice and liberation and how the post-feminist cultural politics of celebrating doll-like [...]