Scottish journalist and blogger based in Dublin. Writing on politics and society. Columnist for iScot Magazine and author of The Random Public Journal. randompublicjournal.com
The purpose of this work is to explore the evolution of Plan Colombia from an incipient peace ini... more The purpose of this work is to explore the evolution of Plan Colombia from an incipient peace initiative to a US-backed expansion of the War on Terror. By examining a number of leaked US documents and other critical material it will be seen how the US, eager to tap Colombia’s oil resources, used the opportunity presented by Plan Colombia and the global political climate after September 2001 to gain greater access to the country and, in the process, seriously aggravate a conflict that had been developing for almost half a century.
Public discussion and media emphasis since 9/11 (2001), switching racial discourse from diverse r... more Public discussion and media emphasis since 9/11 (2001), switching racial discourse from diverse racial signifiers to Islam, has been found to bear down heavily upon Muslim women. This essay will examine the use of women and the female body in Islamophobia as it is evidenced primarily in Ireland, critically analysing it through the framework of Said's Orientalism, the Racial State of Goldberg, and Yuval-Davis' thesis of women as the reproducers of the nation.
An increase across Europe since the late 1980s of right-wing sentiment and its political manifest... more An increase across Europe since the late 1980s of right-wing sentiment and its political manifestation in populist right-wing political parties has been evident. In a brief examination of the various discourses on this phenomenon this paper will explore the question of a catalyst for the demand for right-wing parties and the parties themselves. By examining a number of key works and theorists it will attempt to position the various proposed hypotheses to this question; racism, immigration, political neoliberalism and globalisation, and protest.
Rather than attempting to solve what is obviously a serious rift in Irish
society, this brief pap... more Rather than attempting to solve what is obviously a serious rift in Irish society, this brief paper will outline the present state of religious education in Ireland under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. It will explore the demand for alternatives for the children of parents of all religions and none, and the popular secularist position vis-à-vis the Catholic Church. In so doing it will frame education as a state system which, as such, is never neutral. None of the participants in the social debate on education comes to the table without agenda. In sum it stresses that education is not served by ideological hostility, and that the process must put children first.
This report aims to investigate the conditions faced by Polish migrant labourers in Ireland; thei... more This report aims to investigate the conditions faced by Polish migrant labourers in Ireland; their reasons for leaving Poland and why those who came to Ireland were attracted here, and the impact of Irish social policy on them. It shall explore the social and economic changes in Poland since that country's 2004 accession to the European
This brief review of the case for a right to access abortion, in light of the 2014 observations a... more This brief review of the case for a right to access abortion, in light of the 2014 observations and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee, will examine the wording and interpretation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and the challenge these present to the sovereignty of the Irish state, to assess what obligations Ireland has (if any) to the opinions of the monitoring body.
This short essay is a personal reflexive response of its author to the notion of a 'peace' cynica... more This short essay is a personal reflexive response of its author to the notion of a 'peace' cynically devised as a tool, like warfare, to maintain the conditions in which the powerful preserve their power. Peace, so conceived, the author denies by an appeal to the ontology of peace and by way of an exploration of alternative social conceptions of power. In part it is intended to be an intellectual deconstruction of the presumptive hegemony of the powerful in the capitalist state over language, and in part it is a personal reflexive 'journal' which makes no apology for the use of rhetoric.
This research will examine the ideas, motives, and actions of premillennial dispensationalist Chr... more This research will examine the ideas, motives, and actions of premillennial dispensationalist Christian Zionism; a literalist, futurist Christian fundamentalism that has aligned itself with “the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism.” By looking at this global movement as an example of a successful religio-political social movement, it will analyse – in part through a series of interviews with Christian Zionists – the apocalyptic narrative of the theology that underlies it and the consequences of that theology when it is fused with real-world political agendas. One part of this dissertation will identify commonalities between the ideas of this movement and what has been learned in other research about conspiracy theories. Another part will scrutinise dispensationalist Christian Zionism’s construct of Jewish people and will test this against various theories of antisemitism. Other racisms will also be examined.
This work is set within the wider framework of an argument defending the thesis that the image of... more This work is set within the wider framework of an argument defending the thesis that the image of the ark of gopher wood is to be understood as a mythological representation of the Jerusalem temple. The objective of the resent article therefore is to explore a single piece of literary evidence which shall, in an accumulative manner, assists in the substantiation of the whole. By a thorough examination of the translation of k'ni'm (Genesis 6:14b) it shall be shown that its somewhat anomalous rendering as ‘rooms’ or compartments’ betrays an ancient error in translation. Such an inaccuracy, is shall be argued, is most likely due to the gradual loss of the mythological presuppositions of the author. Consequently this work shall survey both the traditions of translation and the mythological background of the biblical flood narrative in order to demonstrate that the primordial reed hut temple of Mesopotamian tradition is preserved in the Genesis account. The presence of which shall be shown to be evinced in the k'ni'm vocabulary.
In order to achieve this end there shall follow a comprehensive look at the numerous parallels between the Genesis redaction and the earlier Mesopotamian accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and the myth of Atrahasis. Such, it is hoped, shall establish firmly the notion that the Genesis account follows the same method of ark construction as was already established in its Mesopotamian antecedents. In conclusion this article shall provide contemporary readers with evidence sufficient to reconstruct an allusion to the reed hut Urheiligtum at the heart of the Genesis redaction of the flood myth.
From the Euthanasia Programme to the wholesale and systematic murder of tens of thousands of Hung... more From the Euthanasia Programme to the wholesale and systematic murder of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews at KZ Auschwitz in 1944, this presentation aims to take a clinical look at the development and deployment of the mechanisms that made murder on such a colossal sale possible. Beginning with an overview of Auschwitz and its complex roles in the Nazi death economy it moves to the lived experience of Hungary's Jews as they fell under the shadow of Nazi German oppression.
The intention of this brief examination is to outline the task of genuine dialogue and examine on... more The intention of this brief examination is to outline the task of genuine dialogue and examine one of Judaism and Christianity’s shared resources which equip each individual dialogue-partner to cope with ‘being the Other.’ By looking at the infinitude of interfaith and intercultural dialogue this presentation will expose the ever apparent sense of the futility and frustration of discussion; a frustration which is paralleled with the ceaseless curiosity of people to understand the foreign. It shall be shown that each person, on encountering the Other between curiosity and frustration, becomes herself or himself another Other. In such dialogue one experiences a profound and internal sense of alienation, not only in the face of the foreigner, but before ones’ own community, ones’ own self and ones’ relationship with God. Ultimate resolution to this crisis is eschatological, yet something of a consolation is woven into the liminal space between the Traditions, personal engagement and the moment of encounter.
The purpose of this work is to explore the evolution of Plan Colombia from an incipient peace ini... more The purpose of this work is to explore the evolution of Plan Colombia from an incipient peace initiative to a US-backed expansion of the War on Terror. By examining a number of leaked US documents and other critical material it will be seen how the US, eager to tap Colombia’s oil resources, used the opportunity presented by Plan Colombia and the global political climate after September 2001 to gain greater access to the country and, in the process, seriously aggravate a conflict that had been developing for almost half a century.
Public discussion and media emphasis since 9/11 (2001), switching racial discourse from diverse r... more Public discussion and media emphasis since 9/11 (2001), switching racial discourse from diverse racial signifiers to Islam, has been found to bear down heavily upon Muslim women. This essay will examine the use of women and the female body in Islamophobia as it is evidenced primarily in Ireland, critically analysing it through the framework of Said's Orientalism, the Racial State of Goldberg, and Yuval-Davis' thesis of women as the reproducers of the nation.
An increase across Europe since the late 1980s of right-wing sentiment and its political manifest... more An increase across Europe since the late 1980s of right-wing sentiment and its political manifestation in populist right-wing political parties has been evident. In a brief examination of the various discourses on this phenomenon this paper will explore the question of a catalyst for the demand for right-wing parties and the parties themselves. By examining a number of key works and theorists it will attempt to position the various proposed hypotheses to this question; racism, immigration, political neoliberalism and globalisation, and protest.
Rather than attempting to solve what is obviously a serious rift in Irish
society, this brief pap... more Rather than attempting to solve what is obviously a serious rift in Irish society, this brief paper will outline the present state of religious education in Ireland under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. It will explore the demand for alternatives for the children of parents of all religions and none, and the popular secularist position vis-à-vis the Catholic Church. In so doing it will frame education as a state system which, as such, is never neutral. None of the participants in the social debate on education comes to the table without agenda. In sum it stresses that education is not served by ideological hostility, and that the process must put children first.
This report aims to investigate the conditions faced by Polish migrant labourers in Ireland; thei... more This report aims to investigate the conditions faced by Polish migrant labourers in Ireland; their reasons for leaving Poland and why those who came to Ireland were attracted here, and the impact of Irish social policy on them. It shall explore the social and economic changes in Poland since that country's 2004 accession to the European
This brief review of the case for a right to access abortion, in light of the 2014 observations a... more This brief review of the case for a right to access abortion, in light of the 2014 observations and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee, will examine the wording and interpretation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and the challenge these present to the sovereignty of the Irish state, to assess what obligations Ireland has (if any) to the opinions of the monitoring body.
This short essay is a personal reflexive response of its author to the notion of a 'peace' cynica... more This short essay is a personal reflexive response of its author to the notion of a 'peace' cynically devised as a tool, like warfare, to maintain the conditions in which the powerful preserve their power. Peace, so conceived, the author denies by an appeal to the ontology of peace and by way of an exploration of alternative social conceptions of power. In part it is intended to be an intellectual deconstruction of the presumptive hegemony of the powerful in the capitalist state over language, and in part it is a personal reflexive 'journal' which makes no apology for the use of rhetoric.
This research will examine the ideas, motives, and actions of premillennial dispensationalist Chr... more This research will examine the ideas, motives, and actions of premillennial dispensationalist Christian Zionism; a literalist, futurist Christian fundamentalism that has aligned itself with “the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism.” By looking at this global movement as an example of a successful religio-political social movement, it will analyse – in part through a series of interviews with Christian Zionists – the apocalyptic narrative of the theology that underlies it and the consequences of that theology when it is fused with real-world political agendas. One part of this dissertation will identify commonalities between the ideas of this movement and what has been learned in other research about conspiracy theories. Another part will scrutinise dispensationalist Christian Zionism’s construct of Jewish people and will test this against various theories of antisemitism. Other racisms will also be examined.
This work is set within the wider framework of an argument defending the thesis that the image of... more This work is set within the wider framework of an argument defending the thesis that the image of the ark of gopher wood is to be understood as a mythological representation of the Jerusalem temple. The objective of the resent article therefore is to explore a single piece of literary evidence which shall, in an accumulative manner, assists in the substantiation of the whole. By a thorough examination of the translation of k'ni'm (Genesis 6:14b) it shall be shown that its somewhat anomalous rendering as ‘rooms’ or compartments’ betrays an ancient error in translation. Such an inaccuracy, is shall be argued, is most likely due to the gradual loss of the mythological presuppositions of the author. Consequently this work shall survey both the traditions of translation and the mythological background of the biblical flood narrative in order to demonstrate that the primordial reed hut temple of Mesopotamian tradition is preserved in the Genesis account. The presence of which shall be shown to be evinced in the k'ni'm vocabulary.
In order to achieve this end there shall follow a comprehensive look at the numerous parallels between the Genesis redaction and the earlier Mesopotamian accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and the myth of Atrahasis. Such, it is hoped, shall establish firmly the notion that the Genesis account follows the same method of ark construction as was already established in its Mesopotamian antecedents. In conclusion this article shall provide contemporary readers with evidence sufficient to reconstruct an allusion to the reed hut Urheiligtum at the heart of the Genesis redaction of the flood myth.
From the Euthanasia Programme to the wholesale and systematic murder of tens of thousands of Hung... more From the Euthanasia Programme to the wholesale and systematic murder of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews at KZ Auschwitz in 1944, this presentation aims to take a clinical look at the development and deployment of the mechanisms that made murder on such a colossal sale possible. Beginning with an overview of Auschwitz and its complex roles in the Nazi death economy it moves to the lived experience of Hungary's Jews as they fell under the shadow of Nazi German oppression.
The intention of this brief examination is to outline the task of genuine dialogue and examine on... more The intention of this brief examination is to outline the task of genuine dialogue and examine one of Judaism and Christianity’s shared resources which equip each individual dialogue-partner to cope with ‘being the Other.’ By looking at the infinitude of interfaith and intercultural dialogue this presentation will expose the ever apparent sense of the futility and frustration of discussion; a frustration which is paralleled with the ceaseless curiosity of people to understand the foreign. It shall be shown that each person, on encountering the Other between curiosity and frustration, becomes herself or himself another Other. In such dialogue one experiences a profound and internal sense of alienation, not only in the face of the foreigner, but before ones’ own community, ones’ own self and ones’ relationship with God. Ultimate resolution to this crisis is eschatological, yet something of a consolation is woven into the liminal space between the Traditions, personal engagement and the moment of encounter.
Uploads
Papers by Jason Michael McCann
society, this brief paper will outline the present state of religious education in Ireland under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. It will explore the demand for alternatives for the children of parents of all religions and none, and the popular secularist position vis-à-vis the Catholic Church. In so doing it will frame education as a state system which, as such, is never neutral. None of the participants in the social debate on education comes to the table without agenda. In sum it stresses that education is not served by ideological hostility, and that the process must put children first.
traditions of translation and the mythological background of the biblical flood narrative in order to demonstrate that the primordial reed hut temple of Mesopotamian tradition is preserved in the Genesis account. The presence of which shall be shown to be evinced in the k'ni'm vocabulary.
In order to achieve this end there shall follow a comprehensive look at the numerous parallels between the Genesis redaction and the earlier Mesopotamian accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and the myth of Atrahasis. Such, it is hoped, shall establish firmly the notion that the Genesis account follows the same method of ark construction as was already established in its
Mesopotamian antecedents. In conclusion this article shall provide contemporary readers with evidence sufficient to reconstruct an allusion to the reed hut Urheiligtum at the heart of the Genesis redaction of the flood myth.
society, this brief paper will outline the present state of religious education in Ireland under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. It will explore the demand for alternatives for the children of parents of all religions and none, and the popular secularist position vis-à-vis the Catholic Church. In so doing it will frame education as a state system which, as such, is never neutral. None of the participants in the social debate on education comes to the table without agenda. In sum it stresses that education is not served by ideological hostility, and that the process must put children first.
traditions of translation and the mythological background of the biblical flood narrative in order to demonstrate that the primordial reed hut temple of Mesopotamian tradition is preserved in the Genesis account. The presence of which shall be shown to be evinced in the k'ni'm vocabulary.
In order to achieve this end there shall follow a comprehensive look at the numerous parallels between the Genesis redaction and the earlier Mesopotamian accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and the myth of Atrahasis. Such, it is hoped, shall establish firmly the notion that the Genesis account follows the same method of ark construction as was already established in its
Mesopotamian antecedents. In conclusion this article shall provide contemporary readers with evidence sufficient to reconstruct an allusion to the reed hut Urheiligtum at the heart of the Genesis redaction of the flood myth.