tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16212061329837719282011-09-16T04:17:28.984-07:00Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.comBlogger261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-44093531344097581382011-09-16T04:15:00.000-07:002011-09-16T04:15:57.498-07:00

Justice Committee (21st June 2011) Opening statement by the proposer of the Bill Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham. Expert witness statements and questioning involving Campbell Corrigan (Assistant Chief Constable), Les Gray (Scottish Police Federation Chairman), Dr David McArdle (Stirling Law School) and Bill McVicar and Alan McCreadie (Law Society of Scotland). http://

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-64123175616231341652011-09-13T13:46:00.000-07:002011-09-16T04:17:29.016-07:00

This page contains links to items from my blog that are relevant to the topic of sectarianism in Scotland. I will update it as new material is added to the site: Campaign against Offensive Behaviour at Football Bill: http://chrisgilligan.blogspot.com/2011/08/campaign-against-authoritarian-anti.html Reviews/comments on materials on sectarianism in Scotland: http://chrisgilligan.blogspot.com/2011

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-69337860563359754982011-09-13T03:50:00.000-07:002011-09-13T03:50:54.690-07:00

Bigotry, bombs and football made by the BBC in response to events in the 2010-11 football season. The programme examines the roots and extent of sectarianism surrounding Old Firm (Celtic/Rangers) matches. This is not in the tradition of investigative journalism, it is typical of the new campaigning journalism which commonly fill the slots in the schedule that used to be filled by serious

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-28479115348332964912011-08-19T09:04:00.000-07:002011-08-19T09:04:03.789-07:00

I am reluctant to call the recent outbreaks of violent disorder in the UK riots, because I associate riots with outbursts of frustration by the relatively powerless at some aspect of the way society is being governed. The recent looting and destruction, however, had no political content. The initial outburst of destructive anger at the killing of Mark Duggan by the police was a riot. The protest

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-54555918738014994312011-08-11T10:54:00.000-07:002011-08-11T12:24:09.890-07:00

In May 2011 the Scottish Government set out to criminalise sectarian banter with the Offensive Behaviour at Football Bill. The Bill proposes tough penalties, up to five years for offensive behaviour or offensive online blogging. There have been a number of objections to the Bill, which have led to its implementation being postponed until further consultation can take place. Many of the objections

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-18494808447418586062011-07-11T05:06:00.001-07:002011-07-11T05:14:54.842-07:00

Here is my essay on the lack of representation of people in contemporary documentary photography. The essay was inspired by Karen Downey's edited collection 'Where Are the People? Contemporary Photographs of Belfast, 2002-2010'.

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-29288732228666101672011-06-09T04:01:00.000-07:002011-06-09T04:04:20.837-07:00

I've just read a very useful article by Neil Davenport on Spiked. He suggests that the sexualisation of society is better characterised as the pornification of society because 'sex is portrayed only as heightened visual arousal or sniggering titillation which, divorced from actual intimacy, isn’t really sex at all'. The critics of raunchy pop videos, he suggests, are not usually prudes but people

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-74023396487491230382011-04-20T14:33:00.000-07:002011-04-23T08:31:43.052-07:00

Last week David Cameron launched the Conservative Party local election campaign with a speech in which he attacked immigrants. Alan Travis suggested, in the Guardian,that there was nothing new in the speech and that its purpose was to emphasise the differences between the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. It is true that there is nothing new in the speech. As this

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-49361614646874968502010-01-06T13:06:00.000-08:002010-01-06T13:16:23.299-08:00

My review of Liz Fekete's A Suitable Enemy has been published in the Spiked review of books.The racism that dare not speak its nameBy challenging the ‘xeno-racist’ immigration policy and practice of European states, Liz Fekete’s A Suitable Enemymakes a refreshing change from the sanctimony of official anti-racism and its tendency to bash the white working class.http://www.spiked-online.com/

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-63562287372293318622009-09-28T12:31:00.000-07:002009-09-28T13:52:40.095-07:00

When radical 'anti-capitalists' talk about neo-liberalism and argue against free markets they tend to accept the 'neo-liberal' claims of free markets at face value. But, as Ellen Meiskin Wood points out 'the distinctive and dominant characteristic of the capitalist market is not opportunity or choice but, on the contrary, compulsion' (2002: 7). Our anti-capitalist might agree and say 'yes,

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-55740627851219042822009-09-11T14:16:00.000-07:002009-09-11T14:53:17.878-07:00

Julia Svetlichnaja has written a poignant piece about taking the UK citizenship test. Her piece is laced with irony about growing up in the Soviet Union, 'where to be a "good citizen" meant toeing the party line, even if your toes got frostbite' and then moving to London, one of the capitals of the free West. She paints a picture of a dingy ritual presided over by rude staff, who administer

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-4140829149230885802009-08-25T14:59:00.000-07:002009-08-25T15:13:52.744-07:00

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is a very different organisation to its predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). In this day and age - of fears about terrorism, high levels of security at airports and other 'transport hubs', armed police raids on the homes of Muslims innocent of any crimes, shoot-to-kill on the London Underground (Jean Charles de Menezes) and other ways in

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-15046360087379385632009-08-16T14:01:00.000-07:002009-08-16T14:08:10.643-07:00

A recet article in the New York Times reports that African-Americans are being harder hit by the recession than whites. "While unemployment rose steadily for white New Yorkers from the first quarter of 2008 through the first three months of this year, the number of unemployed blacks in the city rose four times as fast, according to a report to be released on Monday by the city comptroller’s

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-38125887803388426222009-07-05T08:29:00.001-07:002009-07-05T08:47:43.001-07:00

The New York Times informs us that militant Islamist groups are gaining popularity amongst refugees [internally displaced people] in the Swat region of Pakistan, because of the aid work which these groups are providing. There are similarities between this and the popularity which Hamas was able to gain amongst Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, through their aid work. The amount of aid which

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-88292701356439187442009-07-01T14:00:00.000-07:002009-07-01T14:05:47.377-07:00

Great article on the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) website on the plight of the Romanians attacked in Belfast. It's written by Anna Morven from Belfast Law Centre. Her knowledge of immigration legislation shines through the article. She helps to explain the complexity of the position of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania in the UK. They can freely travel, there are no visa restrictions,

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-12510783193638883032009-06-22T10:59:00.000-07:002009-06-22T11:39:11.146-07:00

In my article on spiked last week I mentioned the police's role in the evacuation of the Romanians who were under attack. I said:'The focus on thugs allows state bodies to pose as the anti-racists today. There have been some criticisms of the police’s handling of the situation in south Belfast; they have been accused of not responding quickly enough, which may well be true. Yet no one has

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-65037819841240145792009-06-22T10:48:00.001-07:002009-06-22T10:59:03.996-07:00

Belfast is in the media spotlight again – this time for attacks on Romanian migrant workers rather than for sectarian violence or fringe paramilitary activity...My article on Spiked in response to the media discussion around the attacks on Romanians in Belfast last week:http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7043/

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-21344580933970101072009-06-16T01:56:00.000-07:002009-06-16T02:47:33.712-07:00

In the nineteenth century Britain was the preeminent global power. The British Navy commanded the seas. The majority of the vessels which made up this navy were built in the mighty shipyards of the Clyde (Glasgow), the Lagan (Belfast) and the Mersey (Liverpool). This navy helped to maintain an Empire which stretched around the globe. This navy carried primary goods from the colonies and finished

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-70878827874889491232009-06-12T06:56:00.000-07:002009-06-12T07:46:14.162-07:00

On Tuesday this week I wrote:The one feature of the BNP's policy agenda which is genuinely distinctive, its 'whites only' membership policy, is one which is completely irrelevant - both because it only applies to the Party, and thus has no consequences beyond the membership of the BNP, and because non-whites would not want to join theBNP anyway. This feature of the BNP is convenient, however,

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-38125374350803462202009-06-09T05:46:00.000-07:002009-06-09T07:42:23.309-07:00

The election of two candidates standing for the racist and anti-immigrant British National Party (BNP) has attracted a lot of attention in the media in the UK. Politicans have reacted with a mix of horror and resigned acceptance that many of the BNP votes may have come from disgruntled Labour voters. Harriet Harman's horror seems to be based on concern that Britain's image abroad will be damaged.

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-23875778711783810102009-04-03T03:38:00.000-07:002009-04-03T03:40:58.438-07:00

You have probably heard of countries where people are taken away by shadowy figures, men who appear to be state officials, but who do not wear uniforms. Countries where attempts to find out who has taken them, and where they are being held, meet with blank responses. You perhaps think that these kinds of things do not happen any more, but they do. And they happen in a country called the United

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-68906812887284572282008-11-19T03:07:00.000-08:002008-11-19T03:19:02.053-08:00

There is an interesting article on Sharia courts in the United Kingdom, in today's New York Times. The article demonstrates the contemporary nature of the courts.These courts are not a hark back to tradition:Islamic courts, for example, promote therapy culture: 'Critics also point to cases of domestic violence in which Islamic scholars have tried to keep marriages together by ordering husbands to

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-87938725368149906422008-11-04T16:18:00.000-08:002008-11-04T16:31:48.800-08:00

I am surprised at the number of people I know, and who I think of as political, who are getting excited at the prospect of the election of the first black Presidet of the USA. I can't help thinking that the idea that this would be an historic victory involves a very shallow idea of history. I keep thinking 'what did Margaret Thatcher's premiership do for women?', 'what did Nelson Mandela's do for

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-31999489939394840752008-09-25T03:41:00.000-07:002008-09-25T03:48:33.249-07:00

Switching trains at Glasgow Central station during the rush hour this morning I was struck by the sea of black attire. Virtually everyone was wearing black, or very dark, clothing. Is this a Glasgow phenomenon? Is this a seasonal fashion phenomenon? Or is this the current dress code for Glasgow office workers?People who were wearing bright colours stood out, quirky, but also part of the croud.

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-65089890164854823622008-08-20T03:04:00.001-07:002008-08-20T03:05:38.318-07:00

I am in the process of setting up the links on this site and hope to be up and running properly soon.Chris

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1621206132983771928.post-50510284382880977182008-08-19T02:24:00.001-07:002008-08-19T02:24:27.914-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Chris Gilliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07731743520456098504noreply@blogger.com0