Identifying Miscarriages of Justice: Why Innocence in the UK is Not the Answer

This article examines two contrasting proposals for the reform of criminal appeals: the government's recent proposal that the guilty should no longer have their convictions quashed on 'technicalities'; and calls by campaigners for the Court of Appeal to consider innocence rather than the 'safety of the conviction,' together with their associated attempts to establish Innocence Projects in the UK. Despite the rhetorical power of 'innocence' as a campaigning tool, it is contended that to import such a standard into the legal system would be retrogressive and counter-productive, both as a safeguard against wrongful convictions and in protecting the integrity of the system. In order to be meaningful, due process protections must apply to all. The government's proposals attack this principle directly; innocence campaigners risk unwittingly assisting their endeavours.     

Insurgency theory and the conflict in Algeria: A theoretical analysis

In the early nineties it was widely feared that Algeria was on the verge of an Islamic revolution. These fears proved to be unfounded. This article seeks to explain the failure of the insurgency to topple the current government through the use of three models of successful insurgency movements: urban insurrection, peasant‐based guerrilla warfare and focoism. Analysis shows that the first two of these models cannot be applied to the situation in Algeria because of the nature of the Algerian topography, the lack of foreign sanctuaries for the insurgents and the authoritarian nature of the Algerian regime. The single success of the third model is a historical anomaly, unlikely to lead to the overthrow of the current Algerian government, but leading to a fourth and final model; urban terror. It is the clandestine nature of this fourth model which provides for the longevity of the current insurgency, yet because of its inability to meaningfully challenge the state, gain recruits, and maintain centralized control over the movement, the insurgency degenerates, perpetrating the seemingly senseless acts of violence currently occurring in Algeria today, the natural aftermath of a failed insurgency.     

Anti‐Communism,Communism, and Anti‐Interventionism in Narratives Surrounding the Student Massacre on Tlatelolco Square (Mexico, 1968)

Shortly before the Mexico Olympics, on 2 October 1968, student demonstrators were shot by the military on Tlatelolco Square in Mexico City, thus ending the local student movement and its mass protests. This paper explores the government's use of anti‐communism to ideologically justify this massacre in the context of the Cold War. The student movement was presented as a foreign, communist intervention that threatened Mexico's sovereignty. The paper analyses the weaknesses and contradictions of this official narrative by contrasting public and confidential reports. Finally, the marginal role of communism in the movement and its internal divisions are also outlined.     

Forms of Difference in Sorcières

Abstract

Art practice and organizing occupied a significant but precarious place in the groups and networks that made up the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) in France during the 1970s. This was reflected in the relatively small amount of space allocated to analyzing the relationships between visual production and feminist politics in the art press and activist publications alike. There was, however, one significant exception to this general rule: the journal Sorcières (1975–1982) which, although a predominantly literary initiative, regularly featured original contributions by contemporary women artists working in the context of the MLF, as well as reviews of exhibitions and statements by practitioners. Sorcières was particularly invested in exploring notions of women’s difference and alternative expression, notably through écriture féminine. Yet the publication did not adopt an exclusively essentialist position, or focus on embodiment to the outright dismissal of materialist concerns. This openness is especially apparent in the journal’s engagement with visual art, resulting partly from the key contribution made by members of the Collectif Femmes/Art. Visual production, this article contends, thus played a key role in the exploration of various forms of difference across the pages of Sorcières.