Every day, and all over the world, tonnes of food are wasted by millions of homes, industries and companies. And it’s not always because the food is past its sell-by date or in some way unfit for human consumption; it’s thrown into the bin simply because it’s “not needed”. (The […]
The Prisma News
Why are we always buying stuff?
The author of “Pure excess: Capitalism and the commodity” does not go in for abstruseness. As with his earlier “Embracing alienation”, Todd McGowan unpacks and develops ideas from heavyweight thinkers, and explains them with a lightness of touch without sacrificing their depth. Sean Sheehan The commodity, something bought […]
A torturer sues his victim
The opening paragraph of “Searching for memory: Aluízio Palmar and the shadow of dictatorship in Brazil” brings the startling news that in 2019 Aluízio Palmar was sued by the retired army officer who had once tortured him. Sean Sheehan Aluízio was an armed militant opposed to Brazil’s dictatorship […]
The other struggle within the working-class: that of women
There are few people alive who have spent a lifetime as politically involved as she has. She is 91 years old, the founder of Wages for Housework Campaign, and has fought to end institutional racism and gender inequality. Her life is the epitome of a constant struggle for a new […]
A London family
“The boys” is about a small number of characters who live around northwest London and who, on the face of it, are not unduly troubled by the fractures and complexities of their world. Sean Sheehan There is little sense of crisis or despair and the novel itself reads […]
















