Issue 141
December 2007
Contents
Aboriginal surprise
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
In June, the Australian government tore up 30 years of social and welfare policy towards Aborigines in the Northern Territory. The reaction exposed big divisions in Australian society—and among Aborigines themselves
Do we need a literary canon?
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Jonathan Sacks is right that we need a common culture, but wrong to think it should be based on a canon. Forcing young people to read the Bible won't foster a sense of belonging. Shared references must evolve more organically
Cooler cities
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The world's cities are responsible for 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, but are also likely to produce many of the solutions to climate change. Many cities have far more ambitious environmental aims than do national governments. But how are they to be met?
Taking sport seriously
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Sport has never been more important, but its meaning and appeal are still not taken seriously, at least in Britain. It is time for sport to enjoy the same cultural weight as the performing arts, and to be judged by the normal standards of public life
Is global finance out of control?
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Have global deregulation and the ascendancy of finance been good or bad for the world economy?
The Silicon Valley of China
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
On my 3,000-mile journey east to west along China's Route 312, I stumble across the giant city of Hefei. It is almost unknown outside China, but it aspires to be the country's Silicon Valley by 2020, and its aspirations are emblematic of China's future
Joseph Schumpeter
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The theorist of "creative destruction," one of the greatest economists of the 20th century, was no stranger to violent disruption in his personal life, as a new biography reveals
Yvette Cooper
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
At the start of Britain's most ambitious housebuilding programme for a generation, housing minister Yvette Cooper talks about the balance between quantity and ecological quality, eco-towns—and magic wallpaper
Making it in Tollywood
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
I went to India to work on rural poverty. I got to see a more glamorous side of the country when the band I played for made it to the final of south India's "Pop Idol"
Rethinking agriculture
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The main danger of genetic modification is the control over agriculture it grants to transnational companies. We need to get back to first principles on farming
Genetic escapism
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Dick Taverne's GM fantasies are emblematic of his failure to recognise the unsustainability of modern agriculture
Revolution on ice
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The promises made for GM crops are the same as those made 20 years ago—and they remain unfulfilled
The hidden costs
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
It is not at all clear how the GM products that have come to market are supposed to benefit the consumer
Taking liberties
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Liberty's recent report taking issue with Britain's 28-day pre-charge detention limit was mere campaigning zeal
Downplaying Annapolis
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The Annapolis middle east summit will not live up to its original, over-ambitious goals. But might there be signs of progress nonetheless?
United against WorkChoices
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The Australian Labor party used the Howard government's unpopular workplace reforms to reunite its electoral coalition
Who is Kevin Rudd?
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Australia's newly elected prime minister concentrated on policy rather than vision while campaigning. But in office he may yet usher in a new Australia
A justified campaign
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
If Liberty's report comparing pre-charge detention periods across countries was "campaigning zeal," I make no apology for it
End of the secret garden
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The French used to see a person's private life as sacred. But now Anglo-Saxon "transparency" is taking over
Congo's coltan rush
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The discovery of the mineral coltan—essential for mobile phones—in a remote region of Congo has been a mixed blessing
Fatuous leftism
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Some of the hostile responses to Andrew Anthony's book exemplified the very attitudes the author aimed to expose
New thinking on nukes
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Cold warriors like Henry Kissinger are now pushing for a nuclear weapons-free world. Shouldn't Gordon Brown?
The bias against boys
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The feminisation of society is partly to blame for the problem of boys doing badly at school
Marxist populism
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Perry Anderson, Britain's most respected Marxist intellectual, has embraced Eurosceptic populism
The genre divide
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Despite the latest efforts of John Banville, the gulf between genre and literary fiction remains wide
Pakistan's military tycoons
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The Pakistani military clings to power partly in order to safeguard its vast economic empire
The advanced liberal
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
John Stuart Mill believed in liberty but he valued it less for its own sake than for its contribution to human advancement. It was "man as a progressive being" that most interested him. If we want to resurrect his liberalism, we may have to revive his draconian idea of progress too
Ground truths
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
This is a timely book about earth science which considers both orthodoxy and Gaia theory. The book manages to be fair to both sides while painting vivid pictures of the main personalities
Broadcasting the arts
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
John Wyver's superb book charts the rise and fall of arts broadcasting in Britain. Although serious arts coverage has largely disappeared from our screens, there are reasons to be hopeful about the future
Private view
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
The Hayward Gallery's show proves that figurative painting never really died. These artists have adopted the tactics of photographers to surpass them
Widescreen
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Like David Cronenberg's other films, Eastern Promises is about the form of evil, not its content. His films are sensory screeches rather than intellectual sermons
Performance notes
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Much of our national musical life takes place in church—yet most music critics simply ignore it. Plus, what on earth did they do to Carmen?
Smallscreen
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
To justify receiving any public money, Channel 4 needs to persuade the government that it is an important hub in Britain's creative industries
The third Mr Glasgow
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Drunk, spurned and locked out of his flat, Mr MacBleaney consoles himself by remembering former glories
These islands
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Dublin's Parnell Street was derelict before the Africans began to move in, in the mid-1990s. Now the Asians have replaced them and we have a minister for integration
Washington watch
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Hillary Clinton worries over Iran and Iowa. The Bushes can't agree on a candidate for the Republican nomination. And top spook Cofer Black turns Mitt Romney macho
France profonde
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Michel Onfray is a typically French philosopher: rebellious yet conventional, political but not parti pris, half shaman, half fool. He also promotes lesser known vegetables
Rivers of Babylon
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
An eagle-eyed businessman spots a commercial opportunity amid the increasing segregation of Iraq's Sunnis and Shias—a customised Shia mobile phone
Lab Report
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
China's space programme aims ultimately to establish a manned lunar base—but what for? The dust settles on the Watson affair. Plus, we'll never make artificial life at this rate
Confessions
22nd December 2007 — Issue 141
Ten years ago, in a feat of bravado designed to impress a girl, I vandalised a restaurant where I'd worked. Was this act inspired by animus against the restaurant, or something else?