A long hard look - January 2024 Issue
Welcome to the January 2024 Issue of The Norwich Radical! This year marks a major milestone for us - in May it will be ten years since the Radical was founded.
We have some plans in the works to mark this auspicious anniversary in the spring. In the meantime, we're looking for new voices to join our team this year. As Co-Editor Rowan Gavin puts it in the editorial feature that opens this issue, "2023 was a real rollercoaster for those of us who work in or adjacent to online media". But our small team of volunteers continue creating a space to publish the things we want - and need - to write and read. If you relate to our values and are looking to find a new outlet for your writing, or to start writing publicly for the first time, we'd love to have you on board!
Elsewhere in this issue, new contributor Mary Munford explores the acts of intense observation that Chantal Akerman's pivotal 1975 film Jeanne Dielman requires of its viewer. The value of taking a long hard look, uncomfortable as that may be, is a theme that runs throughout the rest of the issue. Medical student Tom Martin scrutinises the state of healthcare provision for trans people in the UK. Local activist Sophie Ciurlik-Rittenbaum encourages us to see the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and the COVID-19 crisis as a unified issue. Jonathan Lee explores how a vision of unity for Roma people loses sight of its single strengths, when attempts are made to formalise it.
WRITE FOR THE NORWICH RADICAL IN OUR 10TH YEAR
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SEEING IS BELIEVING: CHANTAL AKERMAN'S JEANNE DIELMAN (1975)
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GENDER CLINICS AREN'T DOING ENOUGH FOR TRANS PEOPLE
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FROM THE RIVER YARE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, YOU CAN'T STOP SOLIDARITY
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THERE IS NO ROMA NATION
by Rowan Gavin
A lot has changed since The Norwich Radical was founded in the spring of 2014 - almost ten years ago.
To be more specific, a lot has changed in the world of written online media. The branching blogosphere that commanded such attention in the ‘00s is long-dead, consumed by the platform ecosystem that dominates the modern internet. Independent left-wing online media outlets have had their ups and downs - the likes of The Canary and Novara Media rose to particular prominence in the early Corbyn years, before having the rug pulled out from under them by big tech and consolidating establishment interests.
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by Mary Munford
On a course I once took, we were asked to sit in pairs and hold each other’s gaze for several minutes. Once the awkwardness subsided, the process became strangely absorbing, hypnotic even. Afterwards, we spoke of how rarely we look at someone – at anything – with such concentration.
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by Tom Martin
Content warning: references to self-harm, suicide
The NHS is failing to provide timely health care for trans people - and it is doing so by design.
The current system for accessing gender affirming care requires those wishing to transition to get an appointment with their GP, who then will refer them to a gender identity clinic (GIC). In most cases, this process takes years to complete. The shortest waiting time to get the first appointment at a GIC in this country is 31 months, with the majority ranging from 37 – 60 months. For many trans people that’s years of not being able to live the way they want to - years of not feeling comfortable in their own bodies.
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by Sophie Ciurlik-Rittenbaum
While the big marches and actions for Palestine in England, with the most repression from the state, take place in London, Norwich has its fair share of activism for Palestine. We've had a number of rallies in front of City Hall, a vigil, and packed the November 2023 City Council meeting.
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by Jonathan Lee
Ever heard of Romanistan, the country where the Roma come from? Yeah no one has – because it doesn’t exist.
Instead, there exists a loosely defined spectre of a country – a Roma Nation – which purports to be transnational, politically unified, and without any claim to a physical territory. Efforts to manifest this notion of a nation are rooted in Roma Nationalism, an ideology that not only homogenises the multitude of Romani communities into one political culture, but also provides a dangerous ideological justification for the alienation of Romani people in Europe.
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For ten years, the Radical has focused on the value of an unflinching look, of taking time to formulate our observations into words, of exploring old and new ways of seeing our world. We are proud to start this landmark year with an issue that continues that focus. Thanks, as always, for giving us a look.
In Solidarity,The Norwich Radical Team
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