Features
By exploring the roots and impact of the Gothic novel, Paul O’Brien illustrates how vampires and monsters are expressions of changing class relations – and fears – during the 18th and 19th century. I first came across the phrase ‘Gothic Marxism’ in a report of a talk by the writer China
Covid-19
As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, Maeve McGrath takes a look at how artists have depicted plagues and epidemics in times gone past. To contextualise the COVID-19 pandemic, many commentators turn to comparisons with the 1918 “Spanish” Flu or the Black Death (1347 – 1351). While much
Features
As part of the Revolutionaries Reviewed series, Bill Mullen argues the works of Trinidadian socialist and revolutionary C.L.R. James help us grapple with the key debates in the Black Lives Matter movement, and argues the need for anti-racist organising to be at the centre of the struggle
Covid-19
Recent months have seen intense debate about the future of the Leaving Cert. Post-primary teacher Mark Walshe argues that while the process is seriously flawed, it is but one aspect of wider educational inequality in Irish society and of the deeper class inequality which causes it. The COVID-19
Features
In Part 2 of his Ireland and Slavery series, Brian Kelly assesses Ireland’s involvement in the international slave trade, arguing that the country’s colonial subjection has too often been omitted from the analysis. Part 1, ‘Irish Slaves’: Debunking the Myth, can be read here. The first instalment in
Features
In this first installment of a two-part series, historian Brian Kelly looks at the origins of the myth of Irish slavery, arguing that how we approach this period of history has revelance for the movements of today. Recently, social media has been saturated with claims and counterclaims about ‘Irish