A voice to victims
As a co-owner and supporter of NI, I’m writing to congratulate you on the best-ever edition of New Internationalist (NI 558) (and I’m a 35-year subscriber). You’ve truly given a voice to the victims of genocide, and I’ve never been more pleased than today to support your media co-operative.
The far right’s way in
Trying to keep tabs on the various trajectories taken by the far right today can be a bewildering experience; and NI 557 therefore provided a useful and informative edition in terms of untangling this ‘spider’s web’ of reaction.
Also highly recommended is a book by Enzo Traverso The New Faces of Fascism, which I think might have been reviewed in your magazine at some point? [You’re right Kevin; it was reviewed in by Vanessa Baird – Ed).
In this, Traverso defines terminology and traces its various historical phases – ‘classical’, ‘neo’ and ‘post’ – fascist. He describes the latter as being a potent, hybrid mix of political priorities loosely grouped around the issues of security, scarcity and identity; but which also retains many of the characteristics of the older types of fascism.
More importantly, Traverso makes the point that fascism, in all its various forms, emerges from democracy and that ‘once de-historicized democracies become amnesiac and fragile’ they become vulnerable to its influence. You can see this happening in Italy today, with the revisionism surrounding the role of the resistance during World War Two for example.
More nuance needed
Your editorial on shared values (NI 558) draws a distinction between ‘authoritarian regimes’ and ‘liberal democracies’. Arguably, however, this is an over simplification. A more nuanced approach might identify a number of different groups. One large group of states consists of those who have colonized other countries and/or continue to exercise control or significant influence over them. These states include more or less democratic regimes, and countries that are not necessarily ‘liberal’ but have free elections and political parties. Another group consists of military regimes, such as Myanmar and Egypt. A third group is absolute monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Jordan and Morocco. A fourth, small group consists of communist states, namely China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Cuba. A fifth distinct group is that of post-Soviet, effectively one-party states such as Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. A sixth important group consists of those who have liberated themselves from colonial rule and remain more or less democratic such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Finally, there is a group of failed states, which currently includes Somalia, Libya and Sudan.
Obviously, this is not an exact science and could well be questioned, but hopefully is sufficient to show that an authoritarian/liberal dichotomy misrepresents the complexity of global political regimes.
‘Your podcast gave me more language’
Re: The World Unspun, Gaza, Genocide and Resistance with Ramzy Baroud
Thank you for this episode. I not only listened to it in full, I listened to it a second time, and shared it with a friend. Your podcast gave me so much more understanding to what I’ve been seeing and gave me more language. I continue to stand at the foot of the mountain that is Gaza in awe, weeping at the beauty of – and I dare say perhaps because of – its incessant suffering. I’ve listened to so many more of your interviews and I thank you so much for your wisdom and work. May I be so honoured as to walk in the shadow of the paths you have lit up towards a free Palestine and never leave it, for Palestine truly is in me and I am in it.
Why I...
...created a community darkroom.
We started Firestation Darkroom at the Old Firestation in Stoke Newington in 2025 as a way to create an inclusive, supportive space for people to learn, experiment and connect through analogue photography. Although I’m part of the digital generation, I learned photography the old way, and it had a big impact on me. I also care deeply about championing underrepresented female voices. Aziz, who I run the darkroom with, came to photography in the early 1990s and also has a background in social work. So community has always been a central part of what we do. Together, we’ve seen how traditional photography environments can feel competitive, exclusive and lacking diversity. Firestation Darkroom offers an alternative – an intergenerational, welcoming space where creativity, curiosity and collaboration matter more than credentials.
