Homelessness? Housing unaffordability? Domestic violence epidemic? Growing income inequality? Climate change? Support for renewables? Nope. Apparently the main issue confronting the Victorian state election later in the year will be african youth gangs. Sat up to the very wee small hours of the morning writing up a piece on the federal government’s sleazy, vile … Continue reading
Have just finished a new EP, ‘Faustian Bargain Hunt.’ It features ‘Fuck the TSA (If You’re Molesting People, the Terrorists Have Already Won)’ inspired by my recent soujourn in the land of the fee and home of the slave. Tracklisting 1. Fuck the TSA (If You’re Molesting People, the Terrorists Have Already Won) 02:24 2. … Continue reading
If the past can be reduced to the failings of an individual, the complicity of an entire culture and its participation in that individual’s misdeeds need never come under scrutiny. – Sardar, Nandy and Davies, Barbaric Others The centenary of the Russian Revolution of October 1917 represents a unique moment for historical remembrance and celebrated, … Continue reading
Have an article on moral panics and national election cycles in the latest issue of Arena Journal, No 47/48: ‘The Scare Cycle.’ Order your copy and/or subscribe at the journal website: http://arena.org.au/arena-journal-contents-pages/ #neveradmitfailure #inventbogeymen #scapegoattheweak #keepthepeasantsterrified #historyrepeats #politicsasusual #auspolitics
Donald Trump began his first week in office by fulfilling his campaign pledge to declare a ban on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries he associates with terrorism—Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though he neglected to name a single country where he has business interests. The ban has since been blocked in the … Continue reading
Have a new academic piece in the latest edition of Capitalism Nature Socialism, a review essay built around Jason W. Moore’s excellent Capitalism in the Web of Life (Verso). Access it via Academia.edu here.
The recent decision to cut penalty rates in Australia is another step towards widening the gap between rich and poor, writes Ben Debney. https://newmatilda.com/2017/02/26/the-short-sell-penalty-rates-reaganomics-and-the-jobs-motive/
The Sleeper Must Awaken LP Hensley Stout Recordings 2017 hensleystout001 https://ites.bandcamp.com
This is the text of a paper I presented at the Australian History Association annual conference ‘Boom to Bust,’ organized in conjunction with Federation University, in Ballarat, Victoria, in July 2016. Abstract. This paper will look at moral panics over the presence of Chinese diggers on the Victorian goldfields and examine the commonalities between anti-Chinese … Continue reading
Have self-published a novel. ‘A moral panic erupts on Earth over immigrants from another planet, who begin arriving after humanity makes contact with aliens from outer space (or as I like to call them, ‘space terrorists’). The more things change, the more they stay the same. bendebney.info/theboogerperil
‘The Political Economy of Scapegoating’: New article by yours truly in the print version of Counterpunch. https://www.academia.edu/17643705/The_Political_Economy_of_Scapegoating