Wednesday, May 21, 2025
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The Art of Our Times

rachkevern
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The Art of Our Times

In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, artist Doug Aitken said that there is “a constant river of images from millions of iPhones. The question is: what has potency?” In a time when our lives are inundated with visual stimuli, whether in the form of an endless flow of Instagram posts, a perfectly-curated Pinterest board, or the inescapable phenomenon of advertising, art must fight for our attention. Studies have found that the average human attention span decreased by nearly a quarter between the years 2000 and 2015, with some scientists stating that we now have a shorter attention span than goldfish. And yet, despite this, certain images have the power to imprint themselves on our minds for years to come. Art can both challenge and encourage us, and its potential to confer a strong message is recognised and employed by campaigns around the world. From Black Lives Matter to the Women’s March and the People’s Climate March, social movements have recognised art’s ability to make an impact and to instantly create brand recognition.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Springing from decades of suffering and injustice, the #BlackLivesMatter movement has sparked visual responses at every stage of its growth. Artists, captured by the movement’s passion and urgency, have united in creating images of anger, hope, empowerment, fear, and solace. For some, it’s about showing solidarity with those who are fighting. For others, their art is an attempt to capture the mood and energy of protest, or to convey a message of defiance. The movement’s art has given a face and identity to those whose lives were destroyed as a result of racist police brutality.

After a grand jury declined to indict the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner, illustrator Carson Ellis delved into the numerous examples of police brutality against African Americans. Picking 20 victims, she illustrated their faces in a piece of art that quickly went viral. The image brings the viewer face-to-face with the magnitude of the problem and also personalises statistics that are often hard to comprehend. Reading that “at least 39 unarmed black men were killed in the US in 2016” (The Guardian) is shocking, but seeing their faces reminds us that these people were more than a number. They had identities, lives, and ambitions. They were different ages, different sexes, and came from different backgrounds. They had unique smiles and styles. The #BlackLivesMatter movement centers around providing identities to a demographic often disregarded, and here art has proved a powerful tool.

Conversely, Andrea Levy’s work focuses on anonymity. In her illustrated opinion piece entitled ‘Portrait of Michael Brown’, Levy told the Washington Post that she was “aiming to capture one sober observation: identity. Or, more accurately, lack of identity. With few accompanying words, the image is a silhouette. A portrait of a figure for whom we often don’t even both to define features, history or context: the young black man in America.” Continuing, she explained, that it’s “a crude outline that at quick glance looks intimidating, but upon closer observation is actually the depiction of one of our society’s most vulnerable. A figure facing overwhelming odds. It’s a black shadow immobilized in a white frame.” She highlights the frustration of the African American population at being invisible, portraying a powerful driving force of the movement.

PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH

The People’s Climate March takes the power of protest art so seriously that the movement has its own artistic wing: People’s Climate Art. In the group’s mission statement on the website, they state, “It takes vision to build a movement. It takes creativity to transform society, and ourselves.” The art is used to “help uplift the stories” of the communities that make up the annual climate marches, and to “clearly communicate the historic urgency of this movement.”

During the first People’s Climate March in New York, victims of Hurricane Sandy made signs in the shape of life rings and waves. These images made it clear why they were fighting; for them, the march was about survival and keeping an entire community afloat. Their art conveyed the movement’s message to everyone on the streets, on social media, and in the press.

For example, sunflowers have become an icon of the climate justice movement. Sunflowers are often used to leach heav y metals from toxic sites. Writer Desiree Kane notes that these flowers “show us that the front lines of the crisis are the forefront of change, because rehabilitating the soil creates beautiful flowers.”

Additionally, In the People’s Climate Mobilization Art Kit, which guides artists in how best to use images for the cause, creatives are advised to include common unifying visual elements in their work. For example, the shape of a circle was listed as the top element that every contingent was encouraged to use. This is because a circle symbolizes the earth, and represents “the cosmos, the cyclical nature of life, the fullness of being”. For this movement, art is a unifier, and the use of circles powerfully conveys this message.

Former Nuffield fellow Noah Carl expelled from Cambridge

Ben van der Merwe
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Former Nuffield fellow Noah Carl expelled from Cambridge

A Cambridge college has terminated the fellowship of Noah Carl, who left Oxford last summer in the wake of controversy over his associations with the far-right.

The decision is the outcome of a formal investigation launched by St. Edmund’s college at the end of November last year, after Cambridge students protested Carl’s appointment to the college’s prestigious Toby Jackman Newton Trust Fellowship.

Carl’s involvement with race science was revealed in January 2018, and brought to the attention of St. Edmund’s in November when hundreds of academics signed a letter denouncing Dr. Carl’s research as “ethically suspect and methodologically flawed.”

Much of the work for which Dr Carl has been criticised was conducted during his time at Nuffield, and was brought to the attention of Nuffield College in a number of student complaints.

The investigation by St. Edmund’s found that “in the course of pursuing this problematic work, Dr Carl had collaborated with a number of individuals who were known to hold extremist views.

“There was a serious risk that Dr Carl’s appointment could lead, directly or indirectly, to the College being used as a platform to promote views that could incite racial or religious hatred, and bring the College into disrepute.

“In addition, the panel also noted that the way in which Dr Carl has conducted himself with regard to his publications and the ideas he has expressed have had a detrimental effect on the atmosphere within the College with feelings of hurt, betrayal, anger and disbelief that the College could be associated with such views.”

One St. Edmund’s student involved with the campaign against Carl’s appointment told Cherwell: “Students have persistently protested, in imaginative ways, at Friday formals, outside council meetings, in the lawns, in the Kings Parade. The credit should go to the resilient spirit of the student body at St Edmunds, and to various student groups across Cambridge who stood with them in solidarity.

A separate investigation found that the College had not acted improperly in appointing Dr Carl to the fellowship, as the recruitment process prevented the College from considering information apart from that submitted as part of the application. The investigation did, however, recommend unspecified changes to the recruitment procedure.

The student who spoke to Cherwell criticised the result of the second investigation: “I think the results of the investigation into the appointment procedure still defies belief. How can a ‘working’ system hire a ‘racist’?

“The fact that Noah Carl has published all these papers proves that his free speech is intact. Whether this garbage should be awarded with Fellowship and recognition is a different story.”

The investigations were launched in November, after students brought Noah Carl’s involvement with OpenPsych and the London Conference on Intelligence, both linked to the far-right, to the attention of the College.

Carl is the second most prolific contributor to OpenPsych, a non-peer reviewed online journal linked to the Conference that focuses on issues of race, criminality and intelligence, and has links to the far-right. Carl’s articles for OpenPsych include two on the connection between terrorism and Muslim population size using data from an Islamophobic conspiracy website.

Cherwell revealed in January that Carl had been the subject of numerous complaints while at Nuffield, although no formal action was taken.

Students reportedly complained about Dr. Carl’s involvement with the London Conference on Intelligence, a secretive conference on racial eugenics which is linked to American white nationalists. According to one student, the Warden of Nuffield dismissed their complaints on the grounds of free speech.

Students have since held regular protests at St. Edmund’s in an attempt to force the College to reconsider Carl’s appointment.

In response to the findings of the investigation, the Master of St. Edmund’s released a statement of apology: “In light of these findings, on behalf of the Governing Body and myself, I apologise unreservedly for the hurt and offence felt by all members of the Combination Room.

“Diversity and inclusivity are fundamental values of the College and we abhor racism and religious hatred. There are lessons we must learn about how we demonstrate the importance of these values and we will take action to repair the damage that has been caused to our College community.

“The priority now is for all members of College to address the harm caused by this matter and to work constructively together to heal the divisions and restore relationships.”

The statement stressed that the decision was taken without regard for public pressure, and in accordance with principles of “natural justice”. The statement explained: “Dr Carl was given full opportunity to answer the criticisms made of his work and he did so in two sets of written submissions and in meetings with both Sir Patrick Elias and with the Special Investigation Panel.”

The statement also stressed that the decision to expel Dr Carl did not amount to a limit on academic freedom: “The panel found that Dr Carl had put a body of work into the public domain that did not comply with established criteria for research ethics and integrity.

“In any event, it considered that the poor scholarship of this problematic body of Dr Carl’s work, among other things, meant that it fell outside any protection that might otherwise be claimed for academic freedom of speech.”

The statement continued: “The College supports research which may be controversial or sensitive provided the work conforms to accepted standards of research ethics and integrity and is undertaken with appropriately rigorous methodology.

“The outcome is that some aspects of Dr Carl’s work do not fulfil the criteria we expected for academic scholarship. Those findings made Dr Carl’s position as a Research Fellow at St Edmund’s untenable.

“We appointed Dr Carl based on his academic achievements at the University of Oxford, and on the commendations which supported his application. It is regrettable that such an appointment has been compromised by Dr Carl’s other activities of which we were completely unaware when electing him to the Fellowship.”

Cage the Elephant: Social Cues

Olivia Railton
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Cage the Elephant: Social Cues

Since forming in 2006, Cage the Elephant have managed to dance from one end of the rock spectrum to the other with little hesitation, and great success. Moving effortlessly between the neo-soul grit of their breakout hit ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’, the vaguely punk Thank You Happy Birthday, alt-pop Melophobia, and even the stripped-back cover album
Unpeeled, they’ve managed to acquire a diverse and dedicated fan base without ever confining themselves to a particular sub-genre. That said, despite a handful of standout tracks and their earlier music garnering them near-constant comparisons to The Pixies, it was clear that the band had yet to find their own sound.

After their last album Tell Me I’m Pretty saw them taking home the Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2017, the ever watchful eyes of the music world were back on the band; hopeful in the belief that their next project would finally show us who Cage The Elephant were.

Well, they delivered. In a big way.

Produced by the inimitable John Hill (the man behind the magic of Portugal. The Man’s ‘Feel It Still’), Cage The Elephant’s Social Cues is their best and most cohesive album yet. A journey through the personal turmoil of frontman Matt Shultz, the construction of its track-order makes one feel as though they’re experiencing the pains of love, loss, and celebrity alongside him. As a result, Social Cues is brooding, surprising, and possesses every ingredient of a solid alt-rock album.

It kicks off with ‘Broken Boy’: a determined track with a Bowie-like, space-glam intro and a body that can’t help but remind one of Arcade Fire’s grittier work. It dives straight into the depths of Shultz’s frustration with the let downs of his life as a rockstar, where he laments about the fact he was “promised the keys to an empire” and yet feels cheated out of life and happiness, singing repeatedly: “Tell me why I’m forced to live in this skin”. Bowie continues to be a clear influence on the title track ‘Social Cues’, with guitarist Brad Shultz candidly channelling the late singer’s 1980 classic ‘Ashes to Ashes’ with synth-ridden licks that give the song a sense of drive that continues to carry through the album until its close.

Throughout the album, we hear some of the band’s earlier sounds and genre experimentation shine through in a rather nuanced way. ‘Social Cues’ features a wicked, reggae-influenced collaboration with Beck, who the band will be touring with this summer, on Night Running. The track calls to mind early Sticky Fingers, and is a breath of fresh air on the generally dark album. ‘Black Madonna’, ‘Ready To Let Go’, ‘Skin and Bones’, and ‘Dance Dance’ are incredibly easy to listen to alt-pop tracks; catchy choruses, just enough vocal distortion to maintain the edge factor of the rest of Social Cues, and chord progressions straightforward enough for you play along with the band in your room instead of revising for collections.

‘The War Is Over’ and ‘What I’m Becoming’ channel some of the more sophisticated moments on Melophobia and Tell Me I’m Pretty, and ‘House of Glass’ stands out as a real post-punk revival gem. On this track, we get the classic Cage The Elephant overload of guitar distortion, but the fantastic bass and keyboard performances by Daniel Tichenor, Nick Bockrath, and Matthan Minster easily take centre stage. Upon first listen, Tokyo Smoke is another ode to post-punk, but quickly brings to mind The Strokes mid-career (songs of First Impressions Of Earth) in the best way possible. The song is punchy, and Matt Shultz’s Cure-esque vocals give it stamina before it descends into a theatrical, wonderful electric fanfare; the band’s newfound love for spectacle also evident on ‘Love’s The Only Way’.

The album closes with the heart-wrenching ‘Goodbye’; a ballad Shultz wrote for his wife following their recent divorce. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the band recalled how he was only able to muster one take of the vocals, which he recorded lying down on the studio floor. He sings: “I want to scream / I want to laugh / I want to close my eyes / I want to hide somewhere that’s hard to find” and his repeated singing of “it’s all right” throughout the song sounds almost as though he’s attempting to reassure not his wife, but himself. It’s a wonderful track and a poignant ending to a wonderful fifth record.

Campaign launched urging Oxford students to register to vote

Amelia Horn
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Campaign launched urging Oxford students to register to vote

‘Vote For Your Future’ is cross-party campaign working in partnership with the Student Union urging students to register to vote ahead of the upcoming European Union elections on 23 May.

The campaign encourages students to post a photo of their voter registration confirmation in the group. The college with the most voters registered will win £250 for their JCR.

Versions of the campaign were also launched for the 2015 and 2017 general elections and the 2016 European Union election. The aim is to mobilize students to register and then vote in the EU elections.

Speaking in a press release exclusive to Cherwell, Dominic Brind, who is leading the initiative, said: “EU elections are coming at a crucial stage of Brexit: its vital that as many students at Oxford as possible register to vote.

“Currently, Oxford’s MEPs include Nigel Farage: students can have a say about who they want to represent them and whether they share their values. They need to vote for their futures.”

Students can take part in the competition at Oxford Vote for your Future’s Facebook page.

The SU has been contacted for comment.

James Blake: Finding Himself In Someone Else

Darius Parvizi-Wayne
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James Blake: Finding Himself In Someone Else

James Blake’s Assume Form is undeniably a glittering success. Alongside almost universal critical acclaim, collaborations with the likes of Travis Scott and André 3000 shuffles Blake ever so slightly further into hip-hop’s all-embracing sphere, garnering him a new demographic of transatlantic fans. The theme of the project is clear enough, as Blake glides from track to track, joyously extolling the virtues of unbridled love. This marks a seismic shift in tone for the musician, who rose to fame through his frank but dark depictions of sombre loneliness. His third album, The Colour in Anything, seemed to be the manifestation of a creative rut, provoked by overwhelming emotional bleakness. No longer is this the case: Blake has since moved to California with girlfriend Jameela Jamil, and in the sun and splendour he has relinquished his former self in favour of one brimming with energy. It is not the case that Blake has turned to the decadence of Hollywood, sacrificing introspection in the meantime. Conversely, he has candidly burst from the shell of self-doubt, willing to share his emotions with us, the fans, and his love with his significant other.

Blake’s magic lies in his ability to load complex emotion into simple lyrics. Like a stanza of a hermetic poet, or the brushstroke of an esteemed painter, each of Blake’s lines offer an inroad into the artist’s psychology and state of being. What has become apparent is that the boundaries of self, that Blake delineated with such sombre precision in his earlier albums, have melted away. With guarded gates released, Blake’s psyche has been unreservedly opened, keen to partake in the union of pure love.

Take one of Blake’s earlier works: The Wilhelm Scream. In this track Blake repeats the refrain ‘I’m falling’ numerously, indicating a reticent yet unstable sense of self. Indeed, Blake’s voice soon becomes drowned under a sea of bubbling synths, a voice crying out for an understanding of itself and the life that surrounds it. Such confusion of self is symbolised too by the very title, a reference to the inhuman, canned wail that features widely across the history of television. 

Jump forward eight years and to the sixth track of this latest album, Can’t Believe The Way We Flow. Immediately, the title suggests a radical change in spirit. Rigid disorientation has been eschewed in favour of fluid, vivid passion, as Blake bellows out ‘I’m finding I’m a smaller piece than I once thought.’ As he puts it himself, “the more time I was spending thinking about myself, the worst I felt. And actually taking care of someone else, or taking care of something else can take you out of your head, and take you much further than you ever thought you could go, I think.” A similar theme can be found in the second track, Mile High, in which Blake sings, ‘don’t know where you stop, and where I begin.’ The bewilderment of The Wilhelm Scream is still there, but the confusion is positive, it is embraced. Almost paradoxically, by unshackling a heart contained in insecurity for almost a decade and allowing it to roam freely in the company of another, Blake has found that it now beats faster and harder than ever before.

The music has significantly altered too. Muddy synths, as on Klavierwerke or Postpone, have been all but lost, replaced by twinkling keys and angelic vocal samples. The earthy 808s, most pronounced in Limit To Your Love, are still there, but are tailored and restrained as to not submerge Blake’s triumphant voice. His choice of production further reflect this new found broad-mindedness. Consistency, of course, is vital to an artist’s success, but without proper guidance it can tend towards tedium and stagnation. Just think about Eminem’s joyless inability to shed his pop-rock skin on recent albums. So how refreshing it is to see Blake explore diverse contemporary sounds, from the sparking Spanish of Rosalia to the king of the zeitgeist, Metro Boomin. Not that such artists deprive Blake of centre stage; instead, they add sparkle and crispness to this already thematically coherent project.

The live shows supporting Assume Form are particularly telling too. Blake is still modestly shy – he blames his Englishness for such a fault – but the performance speaks for itself, as he effortlessly bounds from one track to another, faultless in both voice and instrumentation. He becomes overwhelmed by the adoration shown to him by the audience, seemingly shocked by their own happiness in seeing him happy. This is a common problem facing artists who have experienced a psychological revolution, and fear that their listenership will reject their new work, despite it being authentic and honest. For Blake, he has little to worry about. There is no nobility in sadness, and very little to gain in insecurity. His audience aren’t just happy for him, they are proud of him, of him having escaped the darkness that seemed so inescapable just a couple years ago.

Restaurant Review: Mowgli

Sunny Chen
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Restaurant Review: Mowgli

A few weeks ago, in the midst of vac under the typically unpredictable weather, I joined a certain St Peter’s finalist and former president of the PPE society for dinner at Mowgli on the Westgate terrace. Mowgli is an Indian restaurant: it specialises in tiffins: home or canteen-cooked meals and snacks in steel containers. It was quite heartening for me to learn about such a concept since these boxes, also commonly-used by students and labourers in China, rekindled my childhood memories; on the other hand, the structure of the typical Chinese and Indian meals are so different that I was very intrigued to see what was on offer here.

Walking into the restaurant, it was quite clear that it had a unique style. The light inside was neither fully bright nor as dim as those high-class establishments that emphasise on the candlelight. A hint of festivity could be detected with light strings dispersing around the room, and the swings provided a feeling of youth. The decor was certainly not very Indian: it would not feel out of place to serve pizza or steak in there. For me, although I could see the efforts made to make the restaurant stand out, the degree of uncertainty and confusion was a bit too high for me. And this was not helped by the high level of noises during the peak dinner hours.

We sat down and opened the menu. It was definitely impressive, with very creative dish names and a comprehensive cocktail menu as well. While I am not normally a fan of fusion cuisines (whatever is an Indian chip butty), I was more than willing to give it a try.

I decided to go for the butter chicken. According to the menu:
For me, butter chicken is my go-to dish when I am discovering a new Indian restaurant because it encompasses every aspect of the beauty of Indian food: the aroma, the richness and the colliding flavours oscillating around your tongue.

The waiting time for our food passed quickly as Ed and I updated each other with our lives and were overcome with nostalgia about our days in Kosovo. The actual food itself, however, was disappointing. This ‘tiffin’ that is so hyped about is not even close enough to feed a hungry soul, in Delhi or Oxford. My first bite gave me the feeling of a slight blandness, which is really not common for Indian food. Fair enough that it has almost no spices at all-the dish was advertised to be mild in the menu, but I could not really taste any other flavours either. The chicken was kind of dry, and the worst thing about the dish was that it was not even hot. A tiny, lukewarm dish with uninspiring tastes just added to the confusion the restaurant’s decor brought me. The poori I ordered with the butter chicken was normal but nothing special as well.

I chose the rose and cardamom lassi to accompany my meal. I quite liked the inventive combination and it certainly gave me more flavours to appreciate compared to my food. It was also not very sweet which made it more elegant and attractive. Having said this, the lassi was slightly watery and could have been thicker. It might sound harsh, but I have had some lassis that I can drink for the rest of my life and this was not one of them.

And then there came the bill. For two meat tiffins, two portions of pooris, a lassi and a beer, it came to £35, and neither of us was full. It is certainly not the most economical option for students, and pretty expensive even among the more upscale restaurants around the city. To give you an idea, I ate a whole wasabi sushi box just half an hour later. Tiffins cost from £7 to £9, and you probably need two of these and some rice or bread to have a fulfilling meal.

So all in all, I was fairly disappointed with the experience and what Mowgli had to offer. It is definitely not my Indian place of choice in Oxford, and I would not recommend going there unless your purse is full. I would not, however, write off the restaurant completely just yet: the fierier Goan fish curry received better feedback from Ed and the menu has many other exciting items. If you have money and enjoy dining on the rooftop of Westgate, see for yourself.

Make your voices heard in the European elections

Cherwell
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Make your voices heard in the European elections

For almost all first and second years, European elections in May will be the first time we have ever, even indirectly, been consulted on Brexit. Every side claim ‘the will of the people’ supports them, and these elections offer a chance to break that deadlock. With MPs rejecting every single option in recent ‘indicative votes’ to find a way forward, there is no doubt that any conclusion drawn from these elections will shape the trajectory of negotiations until the 31st October, our extended deadline for negotiations with the EU.

As the presidents of Oxford’s EU country societies, we recognise how high the stakes are in these elections. Crucially, EU students here can vote, unlike in general elections: we too can give our verdict on the way Brexit has gone.

But this vote is about more than Brexit. Given that we are at least going to be part of the European Union until next Commission is chosen, the principles of British MEPs is set to look more crucial than ever before. According to polls for the Financial Times, the centre-right and centre-left pro-European groupings are set to lose their overall majority. Meanwhile, the far-right looks likely to achieve over a third of the seats, and so for the first time get a chance to “disrupt the way the EU works.” Just earlier this month, the far-right leader of Italy, Matteo Salvini, convened a meeting to form a new alliance in the European Parliament, bringing together allies including Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) alongside Germany’s AfD and the Danish People’s Party. How Britain votes could have a crucial effect on the balance of power in Brussels, and how the mood of Europe’s electorate has shifted.

Oxford is represented by 10 MEPs allocated for the South East Region. In 2014, three were elected from UKIP, and three from the Conservative Party. They include the prominent Eurosceptics Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage. The rest include the UK’s single Lib Dem, 2 Labour, and 1 Green. This is not representative of the region’s political alignment: in the case of Labour, their share of the vote (just 14.7% compared to UKIP’s 32.1%) in the 2014 European elections for the South East region was significantly less than their share in the immediately preceding general election. We must choose who represents us on a European stage: however you’re intending to vote, no one can doubt the importance of these elections.

This is entirely due to who is voting, and who is being represented. According to the Electoral Commission, one in three 18-24 year-olds are not even registered to vote in comparison to 96% of over-55s. At the moment, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is riding high in the polls: but only based on voting trends from previous European elections. We can change that. Students have until the 7th May to register to vote online. If you an EU student here intending to vote in the UK rather than your home country, you also need to fill out a European Parliament voter form and send to your local authority also by the 7th May.

We may not be in the EU for much longer. This is not a general election. But the outcome of these European elections will have wide-reaching effects on both domestic and international politics. The outcome of this vote will be seen as an indicator of the country’s position not just on a second referendum or a customs union, but on climate change and immigration. Young people can’t afford to be ignored on these issues. 2014 had the lowest turnout in the history of European elections. Let’s vote for our future and make 2019 different.

Signed,

Rosa Boîtel-Gill, President of the Oxford University Irish Society

Cyprien Denolle, President of the Oxford French Society

Theresa Feicht and Leo Maedje, Co-Presidents of the Oxford German Society

Francesco Galvanetto, President of the Oxford Italian Society

Kryštof Jirků, President of the Oxford Czech and Slovak Society

Benedicte Wulff, President of the Oxford University Scandinavian Society

Michał Tarnowski and Dorota Kolarska, Co-Presidents of the Oxford Polish Society

Register to vote at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Visit https://www.vfyf.co.uk for more information about registration for the EU elections.

Oxford to hold citizens’ assembly on climate change

Charlotte Moberly
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Oxford to hold citizens’ assembly on climate change

Oxford City Council has announced it will establish a citizens’ assembly to consider the climate emergency, the first of its kind in the UK.

The assembly, which will meet for the first time in September, will involve a randomly-selected representative sample of Oxford citizens. It will help consider new carbon targets and additional measures to reduce emissions.

Its recommendations will help the council decide their policies on the adoption of carbon targets. The assembly will look at the results of research the Council will commission on developing options and timescales for carbon reduction across the city, including ways to improve housing and transport sustainability.

The move is part of a broader effort by the Council to improve sustainability in Oxford. Since voting to declare a climate emergency in January, it has announced over £80 million in initiatives to help reduce carbon emissions in the city.

The money will go towards projects such as improving electric vehicle charging facilities and upgrading public transport, as well as supporting bringing zero-emission taxis to Oxford.

The council is collaborating with many other organisations, including Oxford University. It is also a member of Low Carbon Oxford, a network of 40 organisations which is seeking to reduce citywide emissions by 40% of 2005 levels by 2020.

Gordon Mitchell, Oxford City Council’s Chief Executive, said: “The urgency in the need to act on Oxford’s carbon emissions was underlined by the City Council’s unanimous vote this year which declared a climate emergency and called for the setting up of a citizens’ assembly to help us consider additional measures and make recommendations for our city. Taking this forward is one of the Council’s key priorities for 2019.”

Writing in the Oxford Mail, Labour Councillor Tom Hayes, Board Member for Safer, Greener, Environment, explained why he believes the assembly is so important. He said: “Some may ask why Oxford needs a Citizens Assembly. We already have one in the form of the council itself. But, for the city and your council to become Zero Carbon while struggling under austerity and cuts, councillors will have to make hard and divisive choices, so I want to ensure a real representation of viewpoints gets heard, not just the usual green viewpoint.

“I want to ensure we don’t create greater inequality or poverty in Oxford. Left in the hands of others who won’t factor in such risks because they don’t listen to a broad range of viewpoints, environmental policies, done badly, may worsen inequality.”

Hayes, who proposed the citizens’ assembly, continued: “The city council is responsible for just one per cent of Oxford’s carbon emissions. That’s why it’s crucial that the Citizens’ Assembly makes proposals for the whole city. Our partners are taking action with us and under their own steam, and Oxford’s Citizens Assembly will galvanise them to do even more even faster.

“Throughout all of this, we will continue to loudly voice concerns to Government. We need more funding and, like other cities and councils, Oxford can only truly become Zero Carbon if and when the Government ensures the electricity in the grid is 100 per cent clean, and we will go on making that case.

“Anyone looking at politics now can see new thinking is needed. We need deep constitutional reform nationally, but, in the interim, our country’s well-run cities can try out new forms of engagement. Setting up a Citizens’ Assembly could be the path to consensus on climate change here and, crucially, a much-needed model for doing politics better everywhere else.”

A spokesperson for Oxford Climate Society said: “We’re very pleased to hear the council has decided to take further its commitment to climate change action and hope councils across the country will follow their lead. Whilst the announcement gives us reason to be optimistic, we hope it only represents the first step towards a similar approach on a national scale.”

A step in this direction was taken when Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, raised the citizens’ assembly in Parliament on Tuesday. She asked that Claire Perry, Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, visit Oxford to see the city’s approach to environmental issues.

Julia Peck, from the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, said: “OCJC heartily welcomes this move by the Oxford City Council to establish the first Citizens’ Assembly in the UK on climate and a just transition, with the hope that it will result in a radical Green New Deal for our city – and pressure for the Oxfordshire County Council to finally divest the county pension fund from fossil fuels.

“The City Council has spoken truth to power on the issue of climate justice before, voting in a landslide to support the divestment of the county’s pension fund in October and declaring climate emergency in January.

“Yet again, Oxford city has established itself as leagues ahead of University of Oxford, which won’t even budge its oily, gassy endowment from climate-destructive industries.

“The University implemented a symbolic blacklist on direct investments in coal and tar sands in 2015, moving £0 and ignoring the rest, and washed its hands of the is- sue. This is an ugly separation of town and University, where an elite institution clings to profit while the residents around it are doing the work to imagine a new, fossil-free world.”

Oxford University has been contacted for comment.

Women’s football at its peak ahead of World Cup

Cerys Baines
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Women’s football at its peak ahead of World Cup

Any fan of women’s football has a lot to look forward to this summer, as the Women’s World Cup kicks off in France in June and July. The recent growth of the women’s game means that for those competing, the stakes are arguably higher than ever, and the increased publicity around the event suggests there will be record-breaking numbers of viewers, both at the stadiums and watching from home – the BBC, for example, will be airing every single match that takes place.

While it’s been growing steadily over the years, in the past six months or so the popularity of women’s football around the world seems to have steamrolled. On the 17th of March 2019, a game between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Primera División attracted a crowd of 60,789 which broke the world record for attendance of a women’s football club match. A week later, a Juventus side which included the English striker Eniola Aluko beat Fiorentina 1-0 in front of a crowd of 39,000, smashing the previous Italian record of 14,000 for a women’s football match. Speaking to the BBC, Aluko said, “When women’s football has been put on a huge platform…and has been marketed properly, people come out and watch as they would do in the men’s game.”

It is clear that sponsors have cottoned onto the fact that women’s football can be popular if it receives enough promotion, with Nike recently unveiling bespoke home and away kits for 14 national teams in the Women’s World Cup, marking the first time that each kit has been designed specifically for the women’s game. Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football, has suggested that having unique kits is “a real marker of progress and an indicator of how much the profile of the women’s game has grown in [England].”

Another sign that women’s football is growing rapidly in England is the recent announcement of a three year partnership with Barclays to make them the first ever title sponsor of the Women’s Super League, which is worth in excess of £10 million. The sponsorship, which is likely to have come off the back of the England team’s success in winning the 2019 SheBelieves Cup for the first time ever, also sees the introduction of a prize-money pot of £500,000 for the Super League Champions. It also bodes well for the grassroots game, with Barclays having a large role in the FA Girls’ Football School Partnerships, a nationwide scheme to help develop girls’ access to football at school.

Despite these recent advances in women’s football, there is still a huge pay gap between the genders in football, both on an individual level and in regards to prize money. The fact that the winners of the 2019 Women’s World Cup will receive $4 million in prize money and the overall prize fund is being doubled to $30 million seems like a step in the right direction for the game. However, this is minimal in comparison to the amounts that are involved in the equivalent men’s competition. In 2022, the winners of the men’s World Cup in Qatar are set to receive £40 million, with the overall prize fund standing at $440 million.

There is also a huge discrepancy in terms of players’ wages. According to a Sporting Intelligence report, in the top leagues in Australia, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, and the USA in 2017, 1,693 female players earned a total of £32.8 million between them. Despite this, in the men’s game, Brazilian forward Neymar Jr. was paid a whopping £32.9 million by Paris Saint-Germain for the 2017/2018 season. Looking closer to home, players in the English Women’s Super League receive an average of £26,752 a year, while the average Premier League pay packet is £2.6 million.

If this gender pay gap is allowed to continue, it could be detrimental to the further growth of women’s football. In December 2017, a FifPro survey of female footballers in the Super League revealed that 58% had considered giving up their careers in football due to financial reasons. The relatively low salaries earned by female players means many have to work a second job in order to make ends meet, which can be tiring in itself, but this also means that they have less time to train. This already puts them at a disadvantage in comparison to their male counterparts whose generous salaries allow them to be fully committed to their footballing career.

Furthermore, the wealth of top male footballers makes it much easier for them to reach their peak, as they have more money to spend on personal trainers and chefs who are able to develop special programmes for them. Newcastle United’s Jonjo Shelvey advertised for a full-time personal chef back in 2015 with an annual salary of £65,000, which in itself is 2.4 times the average salary of top-flight female footballers.

Evidently, there is still a long way to go for women’s football before it can be on par with the men’s game and one of the biggest factors stunting the game’s growth is the comparative lack of funding. However, there is still hope, and success for the England team in this summer’s World Cup would go a long way in promoting the sport in this country and eradicating some of the stereotypes that have been in place since the FA banned women’s football in 1920.

Best of luck to England’s Lionesses in the upcoming World Cup. It’s coming home.

The Enduring British Tradition

Oliver Donaldson
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The Enduring British Tradition

The Boat Race is a funny anachronism: a “private match” which is at once an adjunct to the competitive academic rivalry between two prestigious universities and an event which continues to attract a huge amount of public interest, be that as part of the nation’s sporting heritage or as an out-dated joke.

Either way, annually drawing crowds of around 250,000 people and, in 2016, a TV audience of 6.2 million people, the Boat Race is arguably the most high-profile rowing event in the British sporting calendar outside of the Olympics.

Almost two centuries of races between Oxford and Cambridge have generated a weight of history that adds a thrill of mystique to proceedings. But tradition alone does not fully explain the enduring allure of this annual event.

First, the Boat Race is rarely, if ever, boring, with enough broken and clashing oars, pain and passion, fortune and misfortune, triumph and tragedy, and occasional sinkings to satisfy even the most ardent of Titanic film fans.

In 1912, exceptionally poor weather led to both men’s boats disappearing below the surface and the race being abandoned. In 1978, Cambridge were on their way to victory when their boat started taking in water, sinking before the finish line and allowing Oxford the title. In 1980, Oxford’s bowman blacked out and collapsed during the race but the dark blues still beat Cambridge by a canvas. In 1984, the Cambridge men’s boat collided with a barge before the race had begun and sank, so the event was rescheduled to the following day. In 2012, a protestor swam in front of the boats as they headed into the final bend, and narrowly avoided being struck. The race was restarted. In 2016, the Cambridge women’s boat began to sink on rough water and Oxford stormed to victory by 24 lengths.

The list of these thrills and spills could go on as it is a quirk of the Boat Race that, unlike many other regattas, the event goes ahead whatever the weather. There have also been a number of surprises over the years, ranging from a variety of Oxford boat mutinies to the discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb in the Thames in the lead up to the 2017 Boat Race. However, it is the races that are most tightly contested which typify the dramatic excitement of this race.

No Boat Race was more controversial than the 1877 event: staged in shocking weather conditions, both crews were said to have finished in 24 minutes and eight seconds, with race judge John Phelps adamant that both boats had nosed across the finish at exactly the same time. Finishing posts were introduced the following year to avoid a repeat of such a result. There is also the small matter of the 2003 Boat Race, the closest in history, which Oxford’s men’s team won by 30 centimetres.

Alongside its many controversial and enthralling moments, the history of the Boat Race has a number of quirks which in part explain its enduring position as part of our national sporting fabric and heritage. The Boat Race first started in 1829 when Cambridge student Charles Merivale challenged his Oxford friend Charles Wordsworth to a river race involving crews of eight from their respective seats of learning. Oxford won the race in Henley-on-Thames and it would be another 27 years before the Boat Race became an annual fixture.

Not only is it amusing that the Boat Race was created by two students with the same name, but also it is this spirit of amateurism with no financial reward, which the Boat Race retains, that makes it such an iconic British sporting event. Indeed, the Boat Race is so deeply entrenched in the national furniture that it has entered Cockney rhyming slang (Boat Race meaning ‘face’).

Moreover, the event continues to draw interest since, over the race’s history, there have been some famous names wielding those oars. Actor Hugh Laurie was in the 1980 Cambridge crew, and historian Dan Snow was in the Oxford boat from 1999 to 2001. Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent rowed for the winning Oxford crew in 1990 and 1991. More recently of course, 46-year-old former Olympian James Cracknell became the oldest ever member of a Boat Race crew.

This is an example of how the Boat Race has moved on in so many respects from its portrayal by some as an irrelevant and defunct tradition. Seven of the GB rowers who returned from Beijing with Olympic medals in 2008 were Boat Race competitors. And as any bookmaker will attest after the weigh-in, the event draws interest and allegiances for Oxford or Cambridge from vast numbers of the public irrespective of whether they went to the universities or have any connections with them or the sport.

The Boat Race is also a great British tradition that deserves respect. Not only because it was established 43 years before the first FA Cup final and more than half a century before English and Australian cricket teams disputed the Ashes, but also because it is one of the more progressively conscious sporting events in the British sporting calendar. In terms of media coverage, the Boat Race offers complete gender parity unlike many sports on television. There is still a lot of work to do, however, in order to make the race and indeed the sport less elitist.

Finally, we must take a look at the perspective of a participant of the Boat Race to understand the event’s significance. It might seem to be about 17 minutes on the river, but for the participants, the Boat Race is a way of life for six months – and that does not even begin to cover the amount of time and effort dedicated to getting into the squad in the first place.  

The Boat Race is an extraordinary gamble as crewmembers give up virtually everything for six months to gain a winning Blue. Participants train like professional athletes for five hours a day, six days a week in wind and rain and hail and cold.

And all of this dedication hinges on winning and losing. The enduring allure of this event is that it is driven by the fact that everything is put on the line. Crewmembers often do not get the opportunity that professional athletes do – despite training like them – to make amends for defeats and mistakes. Victory or defeat, however fractional, decides how a crew is remembered. Victory might mean mission accomplished, but defeat might make one crew look as if they did not deserve to be there.

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