Integrating cultures depends not only on diversity but on the ability to question and critically assess beliefs and values. Authoritarian or liberal rigidity can hinder creativity and limit the development of dynamic multicultural societies.     Nigel Pocock   Multiculturalism is about ‘integration’ and ‘tolerance’, both ill-defined. This envisages a […]

Materialism, physicalism, purposeless, as envisaged by Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, or Daniel Dennett, need not have the last word. It is not Social Darwinism of the violent superman, but the conscious voluntary taking on of empathy and connection that is crucial.   Nigel Pocock   There seems to […]

This is such a common myth amongst so many people, that it needs to be questioned. There are three main things to note. firstly, that all the world’s worst genocides, both in terms of absolute numbers, and, secondly, in terms of percentages, are the produce of, in Franz von Papen’s […]

Ticking boxes or labelling someone by race, gender, or age can affect their performance, self-esteem, and health. Negative stereotypes limit opportunities, while positive ones multiply benefits in education, social life, and physical and mental wellbeing. By ‘stereotyping’, we refer to labelling a person or culture with particular characteristics, whether ‘good’ or […]

For centuries, Afro-Caribbean people endured violence, dispossession and exploitation without ever receiving compensation. Today, the effects of slavery remain alive, and the debate over reparation sets fearful governments against communities demanding real justice. Psychologically, it is the ‘foot in the door’ for a bigger favour to follow, compensation.  Abolition Acts […]