Alex Hochuli is a masters student in European studies at King’s College London and editor of the Battle of Ideas and Institute of Ideas websites. He co-produced the Institute’s 2008 Secularism Series, where he chaired a debate on religion and radicalism, Religion: still the opium of the masses?. Alex is currently researching romantic anti-capitalism, and has an interest in questions of nationalism.

Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx

Whether one subscribes to the now-deceased Althusser’s now-deceased project or not, his attempt to identify what makes a thinker radical deserves serious consideration; and the book is indeed ultimately worthy of inclusion in this Verso series.

In Praise of Ideology

It seems Lord Saatchi either doesn’t understand irony or he doesn’t understand conservatism: of course Marx championed self-realisation; but upholding self-realisation seems a strikingly progressive ideal for a ‘conservative’.

What has happened to investigative journalism?

In a time of political conformism, Mayes is rightly pushing for a more ‘critical’ journalism - one which seeks to expose contradictions in a system. Exposing the breaking of a rule should serve as the ‘political moment’ - an opportunity to explore the fundamental political dynamics at work.