Suspicion by default: how UK eVisas and share codes make the digital border a daily obstacle for migrant artists

On a wet Thursday night in late November 2025, a small venue in south London is trying to do what it always does: get the band on stage before the crowd cools. The merch table is half-built, the soundcheck has already overrun, and the promoter is triaging last-minute problems with the calm of someone who’s seen worse. Then, the email arrives – not from the artist, but from the venue’s…

MAPPING RESISTANCE, MEMORY, AND DESIRE ACROSS ART, POWER, AND SUBCULTURES

Culture Wars & Identity

Where culture becomes a battlefield - and identities refuse simplification

hijab punk in Denmark

Safety Pins and State Forms: Hijab Punk in Denmark’s Border Regime

Content warning: This article contains discussion of Islamophobia, racism and state discrimination. This piece examines border regimes, youth subcultures and the politics of…

Empathy and Monstrosity: Feminine Gaze, Theological Inversion, and the Ethics of Creation in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) has long stood as a warning against humanity’s desire to play God. Yet Guillermo del…

Freedom of expression: how can fan culture live despite Generative AI

The most loyal and passionate people can be found engaging in fandoms of their favourite celebrities, television shows, films, and fictional characters. According…

Power, Belonging & Collective Life

Structures of power, shared lives and the politics of being together.

Artistic black and white photo of a hand reaching for daisies, creating a serene mood. Spoken word, spoken word in London, Irish poetry night

Who gets to be loud in London? Irish and Caribbean spoken-word nights, borders, and the price of space

Content warning: This article contains mentions of racism, harassment and policing. On a Wednesday in late autumn, Brixton does its familiar double shift. The…

An underwater scene of a sea turtle swimming above a coral reef in Hawaii. Pasifika climate change art. Atolls. ocean heat

Pasifika climate change art: Pacific artists paint disappearance

Content warning: This article contains references to nuclear testing, radiation exposure, pregnancy loss, postpartum depression and displacement. In Greenwich, London, a maritime museum hosts…

Energetic crowd enjoying a lively street party in João Pessoa, captured in monochrome.

The body as “policy risk”: racialised nudity enforcement against Afro-Brazilian protest

Content warning: This piece discusses content moderation, non-sexual nudity, and references to sexually explicit advertising. Meta says it enforces one set of rules for…

Suspicion by default: how UK eVisas and share codes make the digital border a daily obstacle for migrant artists

On a wet Thursday night in late November 2025, a small venue in south London is trying to do what it always does: get…

HERstories: Women, Memory & Legacy

Women rewriting history, memory, and authority on their terms.

A History of Sapphic London: From Hidden Salons to Public Subcultures

London has always been a paradox for queer communities: a city of surveillance and persecution, but also of sanctuary and invention. The capital’s labyrinth of salons, pubs, and back rooms offered places where sapphic lives could quietly exist, even as…

suffragettes' legacy

The Suffragettes’ Legacy: Modern Reflections on Women’s Fight for Equality

The shadow of history falls long, shaping the ground upon which contemporary struggles for gender equality today are fought. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before, particularly the women…

Gloria Steinem: The Face of Modern Feminism

A dynamic figure in contemporary culture, Gloria Steinem remains a source of motivation for those who believe that gender equality and collective freedom are intertwined. Her early years unfolded in Toledo, Ohio, where she was born in 1934. Although she…

The Moshpit | Sound, Subcultures & Dissent

Noise, community and resistance forged in sound.

Beyond the Moshpit: Heavy Metal as a Cultural, Philosophical and Resistant Phenomenon

Heavy metal has too often been reduced to caricature: noise, chaos, aggression without purpose. This dismissal is a political act in itself, one that erases the deep social and philosophical roots of a cultural form that has given voice to…

history of heavy metal, working class and heavy metal, rebellion in heavy metal, feminism in heavy metal

The Complete History of Heavy Metal: From the 70s to the Modern Day

The history of heavy metal begins not in glamorous arenas but in the smoke-stained streets of Birmingham. Factories defined the…

5 Kick Ass Documentaries of Heavy Metal That Will Blow Your Mind

The Birth and Evolution of Heavy Metal Heavy metal, a genre that has both enthralled and shocked music enthusiasts since…

Napalm Death: A Four-Decade Journey of Music and Activism in the Fight Against Oppression

Napalm Death: A Four-Decade Journey of Music and Activism in the Fight Against Oppression

In the world of heavy metal and punk rock, few bands have made as much of an impact as Napalm…

When Punk Got Heavier and Metal Got Faster: The Evolution of Crust Punk.

When Punk Got Heavier and Metal Got Faster: The Evolution of Crust Punk.

The music world has been revolutionised by two genres of music – punk rock and heavy metal – and their…

Kinky Culture: Desire, Consent and Counter-Norms

Desire as disruption. Pleasure as a form of knowledge.

Access intimacy in London

Access intimacy in London: disabled queer pleasure circles and the politics of care

It is a cold London evening – the kind that makes pavements shine and timetables feel like suggestions. Someone checks the lift status on their phone before leaving the flat. Another person plans the afternoon around pain, rest breaks and the price of a taxi if things go wrong. A group chat moves slowly, with clear questions instead of performative cheeriness. The first act of intimacy is logistics. The room itself is deliberately unremarkable because the point is not spectacle.…

patriarchy, feminist analysis of desire, patriarchy and sexual identity, heteronormativity, decolonising sexuality

Deconstructing the Patriarchy: How Cultural Norms Shape Modern Sexual Identity

Desire is often presented as instinctive, untouched by politics or culture. Yet in reality, it is scripted by systems of power that tell us what is natural, respectable, and acceptable. Patriarchal cultural norms in the UK shape who we are encouraged to love and how we are expected to show…

collective healing, beyond self-care feminism, feminist healing justice, collective care, healing justice activism.

Beyond Self-Care: Why Collective Healing Is a Feminist Issue

The term “self-care” has become a pervasive cultural touchstone, often presented as a solution to the anxieties of modern life. It suggests that the remedy for burnout, exhaustion, and despair lies in individual acts of consumption, ranging from scented candles to expensive skincare routines. This highly individualistic framing of well-being…

language, language of identity, non-binary terminology, gender identity terms, inclusive language guide

The Language of Identity: A Guide to Terminology Beyond the Binary

Language is far more than a simple tool for communication; it is the very architecture of our reality. The words we use shape our perceptions, construct our social categories, and…

autonomy, bodily autonomy, neoliberalism and body politics, personal identity politics

A Guide to the Self: The Politics of Identity, Bodily Autonomy, and Well-being

In my grandmother’s house in Brixton, there was a small, lacquered box filled with yellowed photographs and dog-eared letters from Lagos. She used to say that every crease in the…

activism intersectionality, activism toolkit UK, diversity and justice movements, how activists can apply intersectional theory in the UK, inclusive organising UK, intersectional theory UK, intersectionality for activists, intersectionality to combat hate speech UK, overlapping oppression

An Activist’s Guide to Intersectional Theory

Asha stands in the cold drizzle of a central London square, her gloved hands gripping a cardboard sign that reads, “AUSTERITY KILLS, HOUSING IS A RIGHT.” The ink is starting…

trans, trans autonomy, self-determination in transition, trans community support, trans journeys, trans community support

How UK Trans Communities Are Rewriting Gender Against the Odds

This article discusses trans identity, state and institutional violence, medical gatekeeping, and systemic marginalisation. It contains references to lived experiences (composite narratives) and touches on emotionally charged issues such as…

Seen at Last: Designing Inclusive Healthcare for Non-Binary Patients

The architecture of a system reveals its deepest-held assumptions and, in turn, its most profound blind spots. Within the National Health Service, this architecture is foundationally binary, creating a pervasive…

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