Society Matters
The scandal of the millions not paid enough to live on
Do you get a living wage? Would you pay one? John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, wants to hear your views. Millions of people across the country will get up today, leave their families and travel to work to carry out jobs that we all depend on. They will care for people, serve us food, clean the spaces that we all use and share. They will do more than a fair day's work, but they won't get a fair day's pay. The scale of low pay in Britain is a national scandal. Come pay day, nearly five...
The inevitability of treating partners as things?
In the first of three posts, Meg Barker examines how romance is explored in the movie Ruby Sparks. Recently I got round to watching last year's movie Ruby Sparks on DVD. I'd been looking forward to watching this film for some time because it is a meditation on what would happen if we could create our perfect partner. The film was everything I'd hoped for. However, when I gushed about it on Facebook, several people said they had felt let down by the ending. Here I want to present my...
Recovery catches the austerity critics off-balance
This week's reduction in unemployment was hailed as a sure sign of the green shoots of recovery. But to grow them, households have to keep spending, writes Alan Shipman. After the longest convalescence since (recorded) recessions began, the UK economy is showing clear recovery signs. Year-on-year national output (GDP) growth doubled to 0.6% in the second quarter, according to estimates by the widely respected National Institute of Economic and Social Research...
Stranger than fiction: the town with a war memorial but no war dead
A war memorial is to be erected in a town which has not lost any military personnel in conflict, writes Dick Skellington Bradley Stoke in South Gloucestershire is a new small town close to a major Ministry of Defence base (Abbey Wood) and many service families are taking up residence there. Plaques inscribed with the words 'we will remember them' will be empty of names when they are placed on the two pillars at the entrance to the Willow Brook Shopping...
The hero some academics would prefer to forget
The ghost of an Armenian captain threatens Turkey's attempt to subvert the forthcoming 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, writes journalist and honorary OU graduate Robert Fisk. Confronted by the chilling hundredth anniversary of the genocide of one and a half million Armenian men, women and children at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915, Turkey's Government is planning to swamp memories of the Armenian massacres with ceremonies commemorating the Turkish...
Vote for tyranny!
Steven Primrose-Smith calls himself The UniCyclist as he pedals 31,000 kilometres around 50 European cities while studying for two OU degrees with little more than a solar-powered laptop and a tent. From Belarus he sent Society Matters this exclusive post on dictatorship and democracy. It's taken for granted that democracy is the most desirable political option available. Although Britain pretends otherwise, it doesn't actually have a democracy. It has representative democracy...
Sharks in sheep's clothing
Cute and cuddly characters can't disguise outrageous loan repayment interest rates, says Pete Cashmore. If you live in the UK and own a TV you are no doubt familiar with Betty, Joyce and Earl. You will know how they are all adorably dotty and work in the same office; that Betty and Joyce usually have something to say, most often making disparaging remarks about Earl's harebrained ideas; and that they like to watch films together, during which naughty Earl lets his...
Good news for animal lovers
Dick Skellington reports on one piece of Government legislation that is definitely worthwhile Good news has been hard to find in 2013. Even harder to find has been universal acclaim for a piece of Government draft legislation. But the news that the Coalition is to ban the use of wild and exotic animals in circuses from 2015 is good news for animals and animal lovers across the land. You can download details of the draft bill here. The publicity given to...
Austerity is bad for our health
The cost of government spending cuts can be measured in human lives, reports Dick Skellington. The Coalition Government is sticking to Plan A –A for Austerity – and carrying on regardless of any argument that insists other strategies may be more productive for delivering growth and economic stability. The next two years promise more cuts to welfare and local services as austerity bites. We have already witnessed a suicide by a woman so desperate about a bedroom tax designed to boost...
All white on the night
A Dalek has a better chance of appearing on the cover of the Radio Times than a black TV star does, writes David Herman, so who is representing non-white Britain on our screens? What do Doctor Who, Sherlock and the team captains of Have I Got News for You have in common? Here’s a clue: they have the same thing in common with the ITV FA Cup Final panel, all the presenters on Newsnight and the commentators on Test Match Special. They...
About Society Matters
Provocative, relevant, current: for the last decade Society Matters magazine has been informing, engaging and annoying social sciences students in equal measure. Now, its move online has given us the chance to bring its lively mix of analysis and opinion to a wider audience.
Society Matters online started in October 2010 and has, so far, covered a wide range of issues and topics ranging from inequality and the big society to arms sales and foreign policy. All can be seen by scrolling down from the top of the Society Matters front page.
We have also illustrated many of these posts with the work of our two illustrators (see below). Serious analyses have been interspersed with posts on a less weighty issues which show both human folly and innovation.
Society Matters continues to be edited by its original creator, Dick Skellington. Dick, pictured above, was previously a programme manager in the social sciences faculty, walks the talk through an active involvement in the affairs of his home town of Stony Stratford, Bucks, and finds light relief through writing poetry and the occasional stage appearance in local productions.
Since many years at the coalface of journalism have taught us all that sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words Dick is aided and abetted by resident illustrators, Gary Edwards and Catherine Pain – both former OU students.
Catherine has drawn and painted all her life, and when she is not pillorying public figures for Society Matters paints animal portraits, works in stained glass and produces alphabet teaching posters for children. Her work is in several galleries in and around her current home in Cambridgeshire and her publications include an illustrated cookbook sold on behalf of the National Trust, a colouring book for small children, Alphabet for Colouring, and The Lost Children, a story for older children. Her website is at catherinepain.co.uk
Gary has written two best-selling books about his travels all over the world watching Leeds United FC, Paint it White and Leeds United - The Second Coat. His third title No Glossing Over will be published by Mainstream in September 2011. He has not missed a Leeds game anywhere in the world since February 1968 and married his wife Lesley at Elland Road.
Specialising in wall murals, Gary also holds diplomas from the London Art College, The Morris College of Journalism, has a Diploma in Freelance Cartooning and Illustration and is a contributing cartoonist for Speakeasy, an English-speaking magazine in Paris. During the 1970's and 1980's he collected hearses and is a long time member of the Official Flat Earth Society as well as the Clay Pigeon Preservation Society.
Please note: The opinions expressed in Society Matters posts are those of the individual authors, and do not represent the views of The Open University.
