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Podcast notes:The state of masculinity through the channel of the rise of feminism has been an underlying feature of movements in politics and civil disobedience. The gains that women have made in all areas that means employment and racial disparity have improved the situations for women all over the world, but for men this has been seen to be to the detriment of male growth. In this particular example, we consider the western/American model of masculinity which is more often than not based on labour and finance. It is the right to dominance in the private sphere in employment and other circles, patriarchal dominance over the home and family as well as control over finances. As some of these inequalities in the western world wane, there has now been an even more robust conversation about sexual misconduct, abuse and women’s influence in the workplace and in the public eye increases. Men’s understanding of their place becomes more psychologically damaging to their understanding of themselves, behaviour becomes more self-destructive. Many of these structures are largely American traditions too, how many of this understandings apply to those who are recent British migrants, (those with less than 4 complete generations born in Britain). How well do they apply to the British tradition or as a black male in Britain. Notes: There is an impression on how black males can access services pertaining  to mental health and how they are treated by medical professionals and the criminal justice system. If the assumption is that black males are more culpable for their actions than any other offender. One statistic which has received a lot of attention today is the fact that BAME offenders convicted of a drug offence are around 240% more likely to get a prison sentence than a white offender. It may be a case of comparing apples and oranges, but it is clear where mental health services are concerned the BAME community are less likely to visit clinics or get adequate mental health access. This might be due to the fact that there is less access to mental health services specifically for BAME communities provided by them and the types of help are less funded and recognised by the wider community. Bell Hooks: Masculinity of black males  • Sexuality for black males Sexuality for black males is heterosexual - there is an anti-homosexual character that dominates conversations of sexuality. In fact it is more often that being heterosexual and showcasing this with trying to attract or having access to large amounts of female attention, is a strong indicator of male virility. “Black males, deemed hypersexual in a negative way in the eyes of whites, were in the sub-culture of blackness deemed sexually healthy. The black male body, deemed demonic in the eyes of white racist sexist stereotypes, was in the world of segregated black culture deemed erotic, sensual, capable of giving and receiving pleasure. Embracing patriarchal notions of manhood, black males thought of sex as informed first and foremost by male desire. In his essay “Patriarchal Sex” Robert Jensen explains: “Sex is fucking. In patriarchy, there is an imperative to fuck—in rape and in ‘normal’ sex, with strangers and girlfriends and wives and estranged wives and child. What matters in patriarchal sex is the male need to fuck. When that need presents itself, sex occurs.• Parenthood Difference between being an emotional valuable parent and a parent that provides for their family financially.  In many cases patriarchy that in itself has a racial character, defines the Father as the provider of a household, and this is done with no domestic labour, and all labo

Populism is forever, could populism be the modern political salvation?Intro: Welcome to the politics of opinion podcast, the podcast that asks what effect our opinions have a political life? For many people the idea of considering Populism as a force for positive change in a modern political environment is unthinkable. If we take into consideration the fact that most populist movements can be regarded as demonstrably racist, xenophobic, short-sighted, anti-woman, anti-democratic, protectionist and don’t altogether take into consideration factual evidence, then populism is actually essentially reactionary. And most importantly, excludes much of the nation, community or society in its assessment of the health of a polity. Populism as a reactionary force, pandering to the few, favouring might and strength are often factors of populism, and also excluding women, minorities, indigenous and immigrants. The reason that populism has the capacity to be the salvation of modern-day politics, is because essentially modern politics are ideological and segmental. To the extent that it is possible for political parties to support measures and ideas as ideological animals whether it is a viable solution to the problem. Populism seeks to take what it considers to be ideas from various ideological provisions. If we use Paul Taggart and Cas Mudde’s concept of populism, we find what are essentially the building blocks of populism and a checklist for determining the quality of the movement or organisations:Paul Taggart & Cas Mudde1. Hostility to representative democracy: This type of hostility is often characterised by an open dislike for paradigms and structures of liberal democracy in both a national and an international sense. It is not however to say that populist movements will not use democratic structures to gain political expediency but rather they will have an open disgust for the way these actions aid mainstream politics. For example, Nigel Farage openly disliked and campaigned for the UK to exit the European Union but drew a very generous salary from the European Parliament as an MEP.Populists hold the politics of the anti. Populists are reformist not revolutionary, they do not oppose political parties per se, rather it is the politics of the anti, that leads them to consistently want to be seen as outside of the established political mode. 2. Lack of core or centralised values: Unlike specifically ideological mainstream parties who’s policies will have a specific ideological bent - such as Conservatives favour austerity or cuts to taxes and Socialist parties favour workers rights and unionisation. Populists are likely to cherry pick from political positions - be economically Keynsian coupled with conservative or nativist policies on immigration or employment. Cas Mudde sees populism as a ‘thin-centred’ ideology exhibiting ‘a restricted core attached to a narrower range of political concepts. As a thin-centred ideology, populism can be easily combined with very different (thin and full) other ideologies, including communism, Ecologism, nationalism or socialism.3. The “people” as the mystical heartland: The consistent reference to “the people” is often problematic as this group tends be an incredibly exclusive group that is passed off as representing the whole. Sometimes connected to a physical place, for example the Danish People’s Party refers to the traditional hills and windmills associated with true Danish culture and sees ‘real’ Danish culture in a rural setting rather than in the globalised cities. Here Cas Mudde go