Kenan Malik
@kenanmalik.bsky.social
Writer & Observer columnist. Latest book: Not So Black and White (Hurst). “Unsettles the pieties of contemporary race-talk” - Paul Gilroy. “A work of immense scholarship” – Jon Bloomfield. Website: https://kenanmalik.com/
“Many who argue for revocation claim that it is necessary to preserve the integrity of citizenship. In fact... to allow the state to annul citizenship so easily is to take its meaning insufficiently seriously.“ My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Stripping citizenship with such ease tears at the moral f...
The clamour to revoke Abd el-Fattah's British identity over past repugnant tweets poses profound questions about state power and individual rights
observer.co.uk
January 4, 2026 at 11:31 AM
“Many who argue for revocation claim that it is necessary to preserve the integrity of citizenship. In fact... to allow the state to annul citizenship so easily is to take its meaning insufficiently seriously.“ My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Happy New Year, all
January 1, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Happy New Year, all
I see the “I hate identity politics except when it comes to white identity” mob have again stumbled across one of my articles where I don’t make any such exception and become enraged: “How can someone brown tells about *our* special identity?” (And inevitably Jews are to blame)
December 29, 2025 at 11:02 PM
I see the “I hate identity politics except when it comes to white identity” mob have again stumbled across one of my articles where I don’t make any such exception and become enraged: “How can someone brown tells about *our* special identity?” (And inevitably Jews are to blame)
Reposted by Kenan Malik
We’re ‘bowling alone’ politically when we should be rallying for change.
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy, writes @kenanmalik.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/4aw6pOo
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy, writes @kenanmalik.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/4aw6pOo
We’re ‘bowling alone’ politically when we should be rally...
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy
bit.ly
December 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM
We’re ‘bowling alone’ politically when we should be rallying for change.
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy, writes @kenanmalik.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/4aw6pOo
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy, writes @kenanmalik.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/4aw6pOo
“Ensnared as we are by a world in which anything can be politicised and yet political action appears to bring about little change.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
We’re ‘bowling alone’ politically when we should be rally...
Only collective action can bring about the positive vision needed for healthy democracy
observer.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 12:17 PM
“Ensnared as we are by a world in which anything can be politicised and yet political action appears to bring about little change.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
“In Axiang, I saw the 1970s. Or rather, I saw the remnants of the youthful ideals of that generation… They clung to their dreams even as they lived ramshackle lives in cramped, damp shacks.” Zheng Xiaoqiong’s oral history of life in Guangdong’s factories @Equatormag: www.equator.org/articles/the...
The Makers of Modern China • EQUATOR
For many years, Zheng Xiaoqiong has collected the stories of the workers whose migration to Guangdong powered China’s manufacturing revolution
www.equator.org
December 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
“In Axiang, I saw the 1970s. Or rather, I saw the remnants of the youthful ideals of that generation… They clung to their dreams even as they lived ramshackle lives in cramped, damp shacks.” Zheng Xiaoqiong’s oral history of life in Guangdong’s factories @Equatormag: www.equator.org/articles/the...
“If we hide in our separate silos, opposing only certain kinds of bigotry, or supporting liberty only for certain kinds of people, we will all lose.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
When free speech becomes weaponised and tribal, everybody...
Protecting expression for one’s own side, while censoring others, serves neither liberty nor safety
observer.co.uk
December 21, 2025 at 7:49 PM
“If we hide in our separate silos, opposing only certain kinds of bigotry, or supporting liberty only for certain kinds of people, we will all lose.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Looking forward to this
Submitted the last major edit of my book, An Injury To All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class.
I'm looking forward to An Injury To All being published in October 2026!
I'm looking forward to An Injury To All being published in October 2026!
December 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Looking forward to this
“Exposed here is a tribal world in which too many fail to take either antisemitism or Palestinian freedom seriously, and care about free speech only when it is speech they like.” Back with my @theobserveruk.bsky.social column, online today, in print tomorrow: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
When free speech becomes weaponised and tribal, everybody...
Protecting expression for one’s own side, while censoring others, serves neither liberty nor safety
observer.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 9:34 AM
“Exposed here is a tribal world in which too many fail to take either antisemitism or Palestinian freedom seriously, and care about free speech only when it is speech they like.” Back with my @theobserveruk.bsky.social column, online today, in print tomorrow: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
“In Nottingham women ‘went from one baker’s shop to another, set their own price on the stock therein, and putting down the money, took it away.’”
EP Thompson, in The Making of the English Working Class, on working class direct action in the late 18th century in response to soaring food prices.
EP Thompson, in The Making of the English Working Class, on working class direct action in the late 18th century in response to soaring food prices.
December 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM
“In Nottingham women ‘went from one baker’s shop to another, set their own price on the stock therein, and putting down the money, took it away.’”
EP Thompson, in The Making of the English Working Class, on working class direct action in the late 18th century in response to soaring food prices.
EP Thompson, in The Making of the English Working Class, on working class direct action in the late 18th century in response to soaring food prices.
“Lammy’s proposals lie at the end of this long process [of restricting access to jury trials] but constitute also a far graver threat to the jury system than seen before.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Defending trial by jury is crucial in a society where democracy is being eroded | The Observer
observer.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 8:19 PM
“Lammy’s proposals lie at the end of this long process [of restricting access to jury trials] but constitute also a far graver threat to the jury system than seen before.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
One of my great theatrical experiences was watching the three plays in The Coast of Utopia on a single day (all 9 hours) @nationaltheatre.org.uk. Many of the political/philosophical claims were questionable but the transformation of ideas into theatrical spectacle was astonishing. RIP Tom Stoppard.
November 30, 2025 at 12:29 PM
One of my great theatrical experiences was watching the three plays in The Coast of Utopia on a single day (all 9 hours) @nationaltheatre.org.uk. Many of the political/philosophical claims were questionable but the transformation of ideas into theatrical spectacle was astonishing. RIP Tom Stoppard.
“Cutting ordinary people out of the judicial system, weakening the scope of jury trials, and leaning even more upon magistrates and judges, will reinforce a more technocratic system and only deepen public mistrust.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Defending trial by jury is crucial in a society where democracy is being eroded | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
“Cutting ordinary people out of the judicial system, weakening the scope of jury trials, and leaning even more upon magistrates and judges, will reinforce a more technocratic system and only deepen public mistrust.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
“The reason trial by jury is so important is also the reason the authorities seek to restrict them.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column, online today, in print tomorrow: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Defending trial by jury is crucial in a society where democracy is being eroded | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 10:59 AM
“The reason trial by jury is so important is also the reason the authorities seek to restrict them.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column, online today, in print tomorrow: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
"Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea." Wonder who said that?
x.com/DavidLammy/s...
x.com/DavidLammy/s...
November 26, 2025 at 8:55 AM
"Criminal trials without juries are a bad idea." Wonder who said that?
x.com/DavidLammy/s...
x.com/DavidLammy/s...
Reposted by Kenan Malik
1000%
This is the essay every Labour Party official and activist, home office bureaucrat, editor and media opinion-giver and average person in the UK should read. It's a no brainer, really, but kudos to @kenanmalik.bsky.social for making things so compellingly clear.
observer.co.uk/news/columni...
This is the essay every Labour Party official and activist, home office bureaucrat, editor and media opinion-giver and average person in the UK should read. It's a no brainer, really, but kudos to @kenanmalik.bsky.social for making things so compellingly clear.
observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Britain‘s problem isn’t immigration. It’s a profound breakdown in trust | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
1000%
This is the essay every Labour Party official and activist, home office bureaucrat, editor and media opinion-giver and average person in the UK should read. It's a no brainer, really, but kudos to @kenanmalik.bsky.social for making things so compellingly clear.
observer.co.uk/news/columni...
This is the essay every Labour Party official and activist, home office bureaucrat, editor and media opinion-giver and average person in the UK should read. It's a no brainer, really, but kudos to @kenanmalik.bsky.social for making things so compellingly clear.
observer.co.uk/news/columni...
“So besotted are conservatives with Mahmood, many even praise her use of the “race card”. Experience of racism, though, is no guarantee of wisdom in combating it.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Britain's problem isn’t immigration. It’s a profound breakdown in trust | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 9:45 AM
“So besotted are conservatives with Mahmood, many even praise her use of the “race card”. Experience of racism, though, is no guarantee of wisdom in combating it.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Well, I am someone at risk of being called a “fucking Paki” and often have been (and worse). And I disagree with Shabana Mahmood. Funny how those who are normally against “playing the race card” are happy to do so when it suits their political needs.
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Well, I am someone at risk of being called a “fucking Paki” and often have been (and worse). And I disagree with Shabana Mahmood. Funny how those who are normally against “playing the race card” are happy to do so when it suits their political needs.
Tomorrow I’m giving a talk at the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism (@bisa-bkk.bsky.social) on “How racism reclaimed its identity”. Do come along bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/how-ra...
How racism reclaimed its identity | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
bisa.bbk.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Tomorrow I’m giving a talk at the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism (@bisa-bkk.bsky.social) on “How racism reclaimed its identity”. Do come along bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/how-ra...
“To label this as “woke right”, however, and to view it as a mirror of the “woke left”, is to misunderstand the shift and to allow mainstream conservatism to evade responsibility for helping nurture it.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
The real threat isn’t a ‘woke right’ – it’s conservatism’s old demons | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
“To label this as “woke right”, however, and to view it as a mirror of the “woke left”, is to misunderstand the shift and to allow mainstream conservatism to evade responsibility for helping nurture it.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Tributes to Rachel Cooke, who sadly died last week, from TimAdams observer.co.uk/news/nationa... and many others observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Tributes to Rachel Cooke, who sadly died last week, from TimAdams observer.co.uk/news/nationa... and many others observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
“Before we can challenge such reactionary ideas, we first have to recognise them for what they really are.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
The real threat isn’t a ‘woke right’ – it’s conservatism’s old demons | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 2:43 PM
“Before we can challenge such reactionary ideas, we first have to recognise them for what they really are.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
“Immigration status becomes significant when you’re a monster but not when you’re a hero.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Violent crime is at a low, yet people’s experiences tell a different story | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
“Immigration status becomes significant when you’re a monster but not when you’re a hero.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
I had not realised the roots of “I Say a Little Prayer for You” in the Vietnam War: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Soul Music - I Say a Little Prayer for You - BBC Sounds
Stories about the Burt Bacharach classic.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I had not realised the roots of “I Say a Little Prayer for You” in the Vietnam War: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
“The debate about crime… has become a lightning rod that, like the immigration debate, captures a wider set of anxieties about a wider set of failures of policymaking and statecraft.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Violent crime is at a low, yet people’s experiences tell a different story | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 10:37 AM
“The debate about crime… has become a lightning rod that, like the immigration debate, captures a wider set of anxieties about a wider set of failures of policymaking and statecraft.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...