John Kampfner is right to draw attention to the importance of the far-left starting point of Nick Cohen's political journey (Books, 12 February). Cohen rightly pinpointed the failure of the anti-war movement's leadership to see the Saddam regime - with its history of violence - as a problem that needed international action. Yet he himself… Continue reading On Nick Cohen, the left and violence – letter to New Statesman, 19 Feb. 2007
Lessons for the West from the Georgian War, Democratiya, Autumn 2008
from Democratiya, 14, 2008 - http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d14Shaw-1.pdf Martin Shaw The August war in Georgia underlines the fundamental deterioration in the global political situation in the 2000s and the increasingly sharp choices facing the democratic left. The easy bit is to condemn Russian aggression against Georgian cities and there has been no shortage of Western political figures… Continue reading Lessons for the West from the Georgian War, Democratiya, Autumn 2008
Globality, War, Revolution: An Interview with Martin Shaw, Democratiya, 2005
Martin Shaw is a sociologist of war and global politics and holds the Chair of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex. He studied Sociology at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1968. Martin has been a member of the International Socialists (1965-1976), the Labour Party (1979- ) and the European Nuclear… Continue reading Globality, War, Revolution: An Interview with Martin Shaw, Democratiya, 2005
Why I didn’t sign the Euston Manifesto, Democratiya, 2006
First published on Democratiya, http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d6Letters.pdf Letters page The Euston Manifesto has caused a stir beyond its modest origins and list of signatories, because for once the options for the left seem to transcend the choice between bankrupt Blairism, its prospective Brownite reincarnation and the predictable certitudes of the reactionary left. As one of the latter's… Continue reading Why I didn’t sign the Euston Manifesto, Democratiya, 2006
Antisemitism and the Boycott: An Exchange between Martin Shaw and David Hirsh, 2008
First published in Democratiya, 2008: go to http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d14ShawHirsh-1.pdf Democratiya Editor’s Note: Democratiya opposes the academic boycott of Israel and all forms of antisemitism. The relation between that boycott and antisemitism is debated here by two advisory editors of Democratiya, Martin Shaw and David Hirsh. It was initiated by Shaw, who sent us a short letter… Continue reading Antisemitism and the Boycott: An Exchange between Martin Shaw and David Hirsh, 2008
A viable two-state solution needs the idealism and utopianism of the one-state idea, March 2009
First published in Democratiya 19, spring-summer 2009, at http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d16Symposium.pdf Martin Shaw The Israeli assault on Gaza was an affront to humanity. 1338 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, thousands were wounded, and tens of thousands made homeless. The poor and crowded enclave, whose people were already suffering from restrictions on their movement and the entry… Continue reading A viable two-state solution needs the idealism and utopianism of the one-state idea, March 2009
Sussex’s racist professor: a debate on academic freedom, May 2002
The case of Geoffrey Sampson, the computing professor who has professed racist views, continues to make waves at Sussex University. A large open meeting on 23 May 2002 heard expressions of criticism, disdain and denunciation from many faculty and students. Gurminder Bhambra delivered the speech below, which drew a response from Martin Shaw in the… Continue reading Sussex’s racist professor: a debate on academic freedom, May 2002
Ten Challenges to Anti-War Politics, November 2001
from http://www.theglobalsite.ac.uk/justpeace/111shaw.htm Published in Radical Philosophy 111 (Jan/Feb 2002), pp. 11-19 It is said that generals always fight yesterday's war, but this is even truer of anti-war movements. Although the 'war against terrorism' is billed as a 'new kind of war', the anti-war rhetoric has seemed even more familiar than the military practice. In this… Continue reading Ten Challenges to Anti-War Politics, November 2001
A confession from the amoral Left: reply to Andrew Chitty, Dec. 2001
from http://www.theglobalsite.ac.uk/justpeace/112shaw.htm There is a small irony in the fact that Andrew Chitty, an academic philosopher (in his comment, Moralism, Terrorism and War) should accuse me, a social scientist, of 'moralism' in my Ten Challenges to the Anti-War Movement. In responding, I shall compound this irony by insisting on the importance of the moral ground… Continue reading A confession from the amoral Left: reply to Andrew Chitty, Dec. 2001
A regressive crystallization of global state power: theorising a response to the ‘war against terrorism’, 2001
from http://www.theglobalsite.ac.uk/press/109shaw.htm Martin Shaw International Relations and Politics, University of Sussex m.shaw@sussex.ac.uk Contents: Introduction; Theoretical foundations; The third Western war of the global era; Conclusions Introduction As the world lurches into what is called a new type of war, everyone inevitably falls back on old emotional, moral and intellectual resources for their sense of what… Continue reading A regressive crystallization of global state power: theorising a response to the ‘war against terrorism’, 2001
Martin Shaw 