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Avi Shlaim
This article examines the concept of ‘scholasticide’, the deliberate destruction of an educational system and its institutions, in the context of Gaza. Tracing its historical roots to the Nakba of 1948, the article situates scholasticide within the broader context of Zionist settler-colonialism and its policies of de-development, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing. The analysis pays special attention to the annihilation of Gaza’s schools, universities, and academic infrastructure throughout the most recent war in Gaza, whilst exploring the intertwined phenomena of cultural genocide, domicide, and ecocide. Contrary to prevailing beliefs about the nature and legitimacy of Israeli attacks on Gaza’s educational system and broader infrastructure, the article invokes international law to argue that Israeli actions were disproportionate, unjustified, and importantly, unlawful.
10 March 2025
David Olusoga, Ritula Shah
Emerging from the British Academy’s Summer Showcase of 2024, this Conversation between two distinguished commentators explores the history of movement, of immigration and of emigration. It addresses the matrix of assumptions around race, identity, public policy, immigration, imagination and myth-making which feed into the understandings, and misunderstandings, of the history of Britain and of Empire. A particular focus is on the ways in which both immigration and emigration were subject to the differential and shifting application of values, hierarchies, rights and historical myopia in a complex of racial identity, politics and legal definition. While these processes can be historically defined, in Windrush, in Enoch Powell and in Second World War commemorations for instance, their challenging presence still resonates in contemporary Britain. This article arises from an ‘In Conversation’ event which occurred on 12 July 2024, as part of the British Academy’s annual Summer Showcase.
25 February 2025
Rachel Matthews
The value of local journalism is a pressing question for society because of the challenge posed to established business models by digital platforms. However, while local journalism is understood to be of benefit to people, discussion of the nature of those benefits and the ways in which they are accrued is dominated by a comparatively narrow focus on its outputs. Using the case of the legacy commercial local newspaper, this paper argues that local journalism as a process, practice and presence can be considered part of the accidental social infrastructure—part of the fabric which underpins strong communities, even if its intended purpose is something else. Data drawn from interviews with people working with local newspaper archives demonstrates how local journalism facilitates the development of social capital and processes of sociality. It demonstrates an expanded conceptual lens to articulate its benefits.
25 February 2025
David Olusoga, Ritula Shah
Emerging from the British Academy’s Summer Showcase of 2024, this Conversation between two distinguished commentators explores the history of movement, of immigration and of emigration. It addresses the matrix of assumptions around race, identity, public policy, immigration, imagination and myth-making which feed into the understandings, and misunderstandings, of the history of Britain and of Empire. A particular focus is on the ways in which both immigration and emigration were subject to the differential and shifting application of values, hierarchies, rights and historical myopia in a complex of racial identity, politics and legal definition. While these processes can be historically defined, in Windrush, in Enoch Powell and in Second World War commemorations for instance, their challenging presence still resonates in contemporary Britain. This article arises from an ‘In Conversation’ event which occurred on 12 July 2024, as part of the British Academy’s annual Summer Showcase.
25 February 2025
Rachel Matthews
The value of local journalism is a pressing question for society because of the challenge posed to established business models by digital platforms. However, while local journalism is understood to be of benefit to people, discussion of the nature of those benefits and the ways in which they are accrued is dominated by a comparatively narrow focus on its outputs. Using the case of the legacy commercial local newspaper, this paper argues that local journalism as a process, practice and presence can be considered part of the accidental social infrastructure—part of the fabric which underpins strong communities, even if its intended purpose is something else. Data drawn from interviews with people working with local newspaper archives demonstrates how local journalism facilitates the development of social capital and processes of sociality. It demonstrates an expanded conceptual lens to articulate its benefits.
25 February 2025
Erica McAlpine
This article tests the notion that a literary critic might judge one poem to be demonstrably better than another. It does so by staging a contest between Matthew Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach’ and Anthony Hecht’s parody ‘The Dover Bitch’. Pitting Arnold versus Hecht raises several questions: how subjective, or prescriptive, can a critic be in defining standards for poetry? What values necessarily factor into a reader’s aesthetic criteria, and how do these values work with, or against, the formal, thematic, and ethical freedoms poets require? Can a parody ever outshine the original? By closely comparing the details of each poem, the article ultimately demonstrates parody’s desire to become what it mocks while also arguing for the importance of evaluation to literary studies. The article concludes by declaring who did Dover best—suggesting what ‘best’ might mean in the context of these two particular poems. This article arises from a British Academy Lecture delivered on 21 March 2024.
13 December 2024
Fiona Williams, Elizabeth Edwards, Andrew Hadfield, Angela McRobbie
The Editors introduce the fourth issue of Volume 12 of the Journal of the British Academy. This Introduction includes an overview of the content of the issue.
13 December 2024
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Suggestions for a thematic collection of articles are welcome from those who have been supported through any of the British Academy's programmes and activities and from Fellows of the British Academy. See Information for Guest Editors for more information.