Martin Shaw
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martinshaw.bsky.social
Martin Shaw
@martinshaw.bsky.social

The New Age of Genocide now out from Agenda. Also: What is Genocide?; The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Political Racism: Brexit & Its Aftermath. Sociology/IR professor, IBEI Barcelona/U of Sussex. martinshaw.org, martinshawx.substack.com .. more

Martin Shaw is a British sociologist and academic. He is a research professor of international relations at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, and emeritus professor of international relations and politics at Sussex University. He is best known for his sociological work on war, genocide and global politics. .. more

Political science 52%
History 17%

It is indeed striking that the Labour government has made no attempt to rein in the Tory clique at the top of the BBC - on the contrary, they appear to be enabling it to wreak its damage. Obeisance to Trump and Israel seems to be a key driver of Labour’s collapsing integrity.
This kind of influence by a political appointee of the Johnson government, with a strong partisan record and reputation, appeared a Faustian pact imposed on the BBC by the government of the day. Its striking that this attempt continued after a change of government
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
‘Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses
The whirlwind that started when Deborah Turness came under attack at a board meeting is part of a wider political story, some say
www.theguardian.com

Unfortunately, the Telegraph’s lies are not laughable - they are proving very efficient in helping Farage’s Trump UK build momentum, in its drive to overthrow British democracy.
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.

Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com

Trump pardons his election conspirators even as he attacks the BBC for a documentary that exposed his conspiracy. But the BBC is run by Boris Johnson appointees and the Labour government is cowering in the face of Trump. The centre is not holding and they are helping Farage’s Trump UK come to power.

“Anyone who thinks this is about a 12-second clip on a Panorama more than a year ago that not a single viewer complained about is not reading the proper story,” said a source. “What’s going on here is much more about macro politics.”

www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
‘Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses
The whirlwind that started when Deborah Turness came under attack at a board meeting is part of a wider political story, some say
www.theguardian.com
This kind of influence by a political appointee of the Johnson government, with a strong partisan record and reputation, appeared a Faustian pact imposed on the BBC by the government of the day. Its striking that this attempt continued after a change of government
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
‘Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses
The whirlwind that started when Deborah Turness came under attack at a board meeting is part of a wider political story, some say
www.theguardian.com
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.

Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com

Reposted by Martin Shaw

The pardon covers 77 people, including members of the president’s former legal team, including John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell.
Trump Pardons Giuliani And Others Allegedly Involved In Bid To Overturn 2020 Elections
The pardon covers 77 people, including members of the president’s former legal team, including John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell.
www.forbes.com

BBC in retreat: this morning describing the 2 bits of Trump’s speech as ‘unrelated’ although of course they were both part of his pitch to his crowd to go harass Pence and legislators, to block Biden’s ratification. Trump’s actions further normalised through this confected row, Lisa Nandy assisting.

Reposted by Martin Shaw

Who’d have guessed it? The main BBC board member resisting a simple apology and reinforcing the right wing attack on the BBC from within, was a Tory government appointee and founder of GB TV. If you want impartiality, Gibb has to go. Nick Robinson on X:

Reposted by Martin Shaw

The prospect that the Brexit-pushing, Farage-promoting, Israeli-government-favouring BBC may now turn even more to the hard right is chilling.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack. With these resignations, it has given in | Jane Martinson
The corporation should have stood up to the Telegraph, Trump and the Tories. Now, its enemies know how little it takes for it to fold, says Jane Martinson, professor of financial journalism
www.theguardian.com

Author of book on Serbian genocidaire Biljana Plavsic: “I’ve been looking for paralllels; I can’t find them. In Germany, after the trials, there was denial. But you never had Nazis on TV, being celebrated, or celebrating the Holocaust.” - She should try Israel.

observer.co.uk/culture/book...
Inside the mind of Serbia’s ‘Madam War Criminal’ | The Observer
observer.co.uk

Oh, I see it’s £119 (£92 on Amazon), so perhaps not. Any chance of a review copy?!

You should link to the book!

Let’s not forget that the UK voted to leave the EU because of a racist campaign, that the Tory party went far-right after that, and now Farage is on course to become PM. Definitely no cause for complacency in Britain.
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ -- Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I wrote about the way forward for the Palestine movement in the face of the Starmer government’s twin attacks on the right to protest.

open.substack.com/pub/martinsh...
"Cumulative impact": block the bill, lift the ban
With fundamental rights at stake, the Palestine movement in Britain needs joined-up protest against Starmer's twin attempts to squash opposition to the genocide.
open.substack.com

The UK and EU need to legislate to stop this rigging of the public sphere.

So BBC Radio 4 asks why Britain feels more divided - and asks Michael Gove, the co-leader of Brexit, the longest-serving minister in the austerity Tory government, along as a commentator to discuss. I had to turn it off.

Reposted by Martin Shaw

‘To be held without charge and questioned under threat of criminal prosecution without a lawyer is otherwise unheard of in British law. At a port of entry or exit, this cornerstone of British justice no longer applies.’

Asim Qureshi on misuses of the Terrorism Act:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Asim Qureshi · Short Cuts: Misuses of the Terrorism Act
Thousands of people each year are detained and questioned under Schedule 7, the majority of them from ethnic minority...
www.lrb.co.uk
Dear GOD if you want to save money in the asylum system

1. LET ASYLUM SEEKERS WORK

2. FAST TRACK STATUS FOR EVERYONE FROM CLEARLY UNDAFE COUNTRIES like Sudan, Syria, etc

3. Run an asylum accommodation system that is NOT FOR PROFIT #r4today
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ -- Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com

This is the Dominic Cummings who masterminded the racist Vote Leave campaign, so not really very surprising.
If someone had told me a year ago, that this could happen in the UK I wouldn't have believed it.

Now it's all happening very fast. Even if you consider Cummings as the 'career psychopath' he always was, this is a dangerous new level.
Dominic Cummings has this racialised take on David Lammy

There is an increasingly prevalent kneejerk online rightwing trait to call the presence of any black or Asian person a diversity hire
If someone had told me a year ago, that this could happen in the UK I wouldn't have believed it.

Now it's all happening very fast. Even if you consider Cummings as the 'career psychopath' he always was, this is a dangerous new level.
Dominic Cummings has this racialised take on David Lammy

There is an increasingly prevalent kneejerk online rightwing trait to call the presence of any black or Asian person a diversity hire

Reposted by Martin Shaw

Reposted by Martin Shaw

Please join us for a hybrid symposium entitled "Freedom in a Time of Genocide" next Wednesday 12th November 17:00-19:30 CET.

Speakers include: Sindre Bangstad, Raz Segal, Zoé Samudzi, Maha Abdallah and Martin Shaw (@martinshaw.bsky.social).

networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Despite the Michael Ben-Gad case, it isn’t only a few pro-Palestinian students who have attempted to stop academic activities going ahead. Will the ‘academic freedom’ campaigners condemn pro-Israelis who’ve done the same? My experience:

open.substack.com/pub/martinsh...
Jewish students tried to cancel and disrupt my lecture
Despite the Michael Ben-Gad case, it isn't only a few pro-Palestinians who've tried to block academic freedom
open.substack.com

Reposted by Martin Shaw

Highlights from yesterday’s #IBEIresearchSeminar !📚

🔎The New Age of Genocide | Intellectual and Political Challenges After Gaza (Book Launch)

🎙 @martinshaw.bsky.social (University of Sussex & IBEI). Chair: Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués, IBEI

Click here 👉 t.ly/BNl3o and check our next events!
“Martin Shaw was one of the first to recognise genocide in Gaza... His book charts new pathways for understanding genocide – an endeavour urgent now more than ever.”

Francesca Albanese on 'The New Age of Genocide' by @martinshaw.bsky.social - out this week.

www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

I gave a lecture on 'Gaza in a Historical Perspective on Modern Genocide' at Georgetown University in Washington DC, with
@naderalihashemi chairing.

Netanyahu was with Trump in the White House as I spoke. Watch the full lecture and discussion here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=panu...
Gaza in a Historical Perspective on Modern Genocide with Martin Shaw
YouTube video by ACMCU (ACMCU)
www.youtube.com

Copies of *The New Age of Genocide: Intellectual and Political Challenges after Gaza* have arrived!
Full details, with 30 per cent discount offer, here: tinyurl.com/mry8864j.
Many thanks to @franceskalbs.bsky.social and @dirkmoses.bsky.social for their generous comments (see linked page).
The New Age of Genocide
With recent events in Gaza, Martin Shaw seeks to restore the idea of genocide to its central place in thinking about mass atrocities, to apply it to neglected cases, and ultimately to settle the quest...
tinyurl.com
After clashing with Maurice Glasman recently, I've come to realise just how pernicious he and his Blue Labour movement are. We could discuss his chumminess with Steve Bannon and JD Vance, endless pandering to the far right and evident hatred of the Labour left. But there's something even worse. 🧵