Blog

In this article, Sharon Hartles explores the Supreme Court of India's decision to dismiss the long-standing legal battle over the Bhopal disaster settlement, marking a crucial moment in the pursuit of justice. As the 40th anniversary fast approaches, this preventable tragedy serves as a reminder of the importance of human lives over profit. Sharon Hartles is a member of the Open University’s Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative and is a member of the British Society of Criminology.

A Scottish pilot will see rape trials conducted without juries in what could set a dangerous precedent. In this article Dr Lee John Curley and Dr James Munro (both lecturers in Psychology at the Open University) discuss rape myths and judge only trials.  This article was initially published in the Conversation here: https://theconversation.com/jurors-who-believe-rape-myths-contribute-to-dismal-conviction-rates-but-judge-only-trials-wont-solve-the-problem-205066

In this article, Sharon Hartles presents evidence that supports the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests (ACDHPT) in their legal action against the British government and Bayer, a multinational pharmaceutical company. Despite the obstacles faced by the Primodos-affected families, they continue to fight for justice. Sharon Hartles is affiliated with the Risky Hormones research project, which is an international collaboration in partnership with patient groups. Additionally, she is a member of the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative at the Open University.

“Fast fashion isn’t free. Someone, somewhere is paying.” Lucy Siegle, British journalist. The harms of fast fashion came into the public spotlight in 2013, when a ready-made garment (RMG) factory in Bangladesh collapsed. Next month marks the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse that occurred on the 24th of April 2013.

In this short article Dr David Scott questions, from a penal abolitionist perspective, whether the criminal law can be effectively deployed to prevent climate catastrophe.  In so doing he questions the goals of influential pressure group Stop Ecocide International and highlights the importance of the recent book Ecocide by Professor David Whyte, which calls for ordinary people all around the world to directly challenge corporate power.

 The FIFA World Cup 2022 is almost upon us and the eyes of the world will be on Qatar during the unusually scheduled event to be played between 20th November and 18th December. For one sportswear company, adidas, the starting gun for the tournament sounded back in March 2022 with the launch of their Qatar World Cup ball called Al Rihla. This piece is written by dr Peter Kennedy and dr David Kennedy.

In the final of four short articles, David Scott focuses on ethics and the interpretation of history, working towards the uncovering of evidence of social murder and why naming is such an important part of remembrance.

In the third of four short articles, David Scott reflects upon the inaugural remembrance walk and its dual goals of raising awareness and challenging the dominant narrative of the 1826 weavers uprising.

Between 24-28th April 2022, Dr David Scott initiated and led the inaugural ‘Weavers Uprising Remembrance Walk’, a 45 mile walk following in the footsteps of starving handloom weavers in east Lancashire 196 years ago. During this uprising handloom weavers and other working class people attempted to send a symbolic message to government about their precarious living conditions through the destruction of more than 1,100 powerlooms in the local mills. In the second of four short articles, David Scott describes the deadly events at Chatterton on the 26th of April 1826, why this tragedy has for so long been either misinterpreted or forgotten and why it is now essential that these state killings are remembered as a massacre.

Between 24-28th April 2022, Dr David Scott initiated and led the inaugural ‘Weavers Uprising Remembrance Walk’, a 45 mile walk following in the footsteps of starving handloom weavers in east Lancashire 196 years ago. During this uprising handloom weavers and other working class people attempted to send a symbolic message to government about their precarious living conditions through the destruction of more than 1,100 powerlooms in the local mills. In the first of four short articles, David Scott explains the socio-economic and political context to the 1826 weavers uprising in east Lancashire.