Durham Review of Books #1 by Isaac Turner

Durham'Review'of'Books' '

''''''Issue'01'â&#x20AC;&#x201C;'September'1st'2014'

U' '

T' ' I'C' 'E ' ' '

Literature,'Politics'&'Culture'

EDITORIAL Welcome to the pilot issue of The Durham Review of Books, a new termly publication of insightful and original content, intended to inform and broaden the mind. The magazine predominantly focuses on the literary arts: this issue explores the works of Plato, John Clare and Timberlake Wertenbaker. However, we also embrace content beyond this, largely in keeping with the issue's particular theme. In this instance, justice is the cornerstone of many articles. These include a long-form piece on the death penalty, as well as arguments on prison architectures and the need for reform in immigration practice. If you think you'd be interested in writing for Issue 2, to be released at the end of Michaelmas Term, please join our Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/durhamreview. We are also looking for cover artists and a publicity officer. The issue's theme will be myth, but we wish to encourage a broad range of writing ideas. We hope you enjoy this first issue! You can also find it online at www.durhamreview.com. Isaac Turner, Nikki Motohashi and Ben Kirk Editors

CONTENTS Yarl's Wood: An Examination of AntiImmigration Culture and Modern British Misogyny Naoise Murphy Capital Punishment: The Last Resort [Long-form Essay] Ben Kirk Depression and Durham: A Retrospective Hannah Fitzpatrick

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Prisoners Acting Out Nikki Motohashi

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Considering the Reception of Plato’s Philosophy Harriet Walsh

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Irreconcilable Architectures for Crime and Punishment Isaac Turner

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Coping with the Limitations of Feminism: A Glorified Listicle in Four Parts Elizabeth Buckheit

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'Like a ruin of the past': John Clare as an Environmentalist Poet Verity Rimmer

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Yarl's Wood: An Examination of AntiImmigration Culture and Modern British Misogyny

with mental health problems and limited English skills were allegedly more frequently targeted. Women report that they felt coerced to become close with guards, often in a sexual way, in order to have any hope of ever leaving Yarl’s Wood. Some who have spoken out, either for themselves or in support of others, appear to have been swiftly deported.

BY NAOISE MURPHY Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is perhaps the most controversial immigration detention centre in Britain today, due to its alleged gross abuses of its primarily female population. The debate surrounding its continued existence is located at that strange intersection of racism and sexism which seems to define many of the most pressing issues in contemporary British society; our attitude to vulnerable minority groups, our respect for basic human rights and our sense of national identity and values. The mistreatment of the women housed there is a disturbing reflection of our contemporary mentality, one riddled with paranoia, misogyny and an overriding sense of cultural superiority.

It appears that Serco has failed to deal with these allegations of abuse adequately, at least from the perspective of outraged former residents. But while proper disciplinary action would go some way towards improving the situation, there are other, more serious problems to be considered, primarily, the overwhelming ‘culture of disbelief’ among the authorities towards the detainees. Uncomfortable as it is to contemplate, these women are being treated like animals. Their claims will not be taken seriously by a system and culture that reduces them to sex objects, criminals and a drain on government resources. Abuse of power by guards is a result of the dehumanisation of the women at Yarl’s Wood.

Yarl’s Wood, located in rural Bedfordshire, opened in 2001 and since 2007 it has been run by Serco, a private security company. It houses women and adult family groups awaiting immigration clearance. About 90% of people held at Yarl’s Wood are female; about half of the staff are male. Newsworthy incidents at the centre have included fires, hunger strikes, suicide and death following alleged denial of medical treatment.

It’s not just this centre: the entire detention process equates immigrants and asylum seekers with the worst of criminals, apparently declaring them undeserving of basic human rights for having the audacity to seek refuge in another country. This is their only discernible crime. Places like Yarl’s Wood criminalise attempts to improve one’s life, to escape poverty, war and oppression. This attitude runs contrary to the ‘British values’ that have been receiving so much coverage recently, values such as freedom, tolerance and equality. Unfortunately, this kind of national spirit can serve only to establish divisions, even if the values themselves teach otherwise. Nationalism has been on the rise recently, manifesting itself most worryingly in

But the centre’s foremost claim to infamy has been the numerous allegations of sexual abuse of female detainees by male guards. Former and current residents claim that they were targeted by male guards, who would ask detainees to perform sex acts with them in return for help with their asylum case or even to obtain basic services such as toiletries or fax privileges. Women

extremist statements such as those of the UK Independence Party. It is more subtly evident in celebrations such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics, the centenary of the First World War, and the approaching eight-hundredth anniversary of the Magna Carta. There is a fine line between the acceptable and the dangerously destructive when it comes to patriotism. It has begun encroaching further on education, with recent reforms of the GCSE English Literature syllabus and Cameron’s pledge to teach ‘British values’ in schools after the Birmingham ‘Trojan Horse’ controversy. I am not suggesting that support of these ‘British values’ is completely negative, but this drive towards ‘authentic Britishness’ seems to have paralleled not only the economic downturn, but also the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. All three developments are linked, leading to the demonisation of the immigrant and the asylum seeker, and from there, to the horror of places like Yarl’s Wood. Locking people away in removed corners of the countryside, instead of allowing them to live in the community while their case is reviewed, also contributes to the ‘othering’ of the immigrant. They are viewed as parasites, aliens, leeches of resources to which they are not entitled. A senior Serco official who blew the whistle on claims of sexual assault at the centre earlier this year has stated that anti-immigration culture is ‘endemic’ among the staff there, acting as yet another herald of the destructive socio-political climate we have been constructing.

There are parallels to be found in the plight of the asylum seeker and the average British woman. Neither are afforded the respect and autonomy of choice they deserve by our current system. There is a sort of sickening irony in the fact that many of the women allegedly abused by guards at Yarl’s Wood have come to the U.K. to escape sexual assault, among other threats, in their home country. This place debunks the idea that sexual assault can only happen in backward, war-torn countries. It shows that the female body, and the autonomy of women, is not respected to the extent that we would like to think it is in modern, cosmopolitan Britain. The official reaction to the allegations disbelief and accusations of manipulation also reveals the prevalent culture of victimblaming in our society. The men in charge cannot be blamed; that would make no sense in our culture, where a sexually active woman is a ‘slut’, but her male counterpart is a ‘player’. Regardless of the outcomes of inquiries into the allegations, the present conditions in Yarl’s Wood are undeniably conducive to psychological and sexual abuse, in short, to deprivations of basic human dignity. The British public should be outraged by the continued existence of Yarl’s Wood. Any system that imprisons women who have committed no crime - detaining them in degrading and inhumane conditions, knowing that at any point they could be taken from their room, handcuffed, and forced on to a plane - is not upholding human rights. Zadie Smith summed up the centre perfectly as ‘’an offence to liberty, a shame to any civilised nation, and a personal tragedy for the women caught in its illogical grip’’.

The abusive system of immigration detention is evidence of this ‘antiimmigrant’ culture, but Yarl’s Wood specifically also serves as a comment on current treatment of women in the U.K.

Capital Punishment: The Last Resort

sociological points of view, however benighted some may seem. What I also wish to do is to assess the facts of the matter, to present an objective way of looking at a debate which is all too often lost in the blaze of vitriolic tennis which ensues between the two opposing camps of opinion. By approaching the subject empirically, I hope to show a clear progression of thought from the undeniable truths of the issue, to my personal standpoint, which is that capital punishment should only be seen as the final option; the Big Red Button to be pressed when there is no more hope for a person. For in my opinion, there are those who simply will never cease to be a serious threat to our welfare. However, this can only be concluded after a sincere effort to rehabilitate.

BY BEN KIRK [Long-form Essay] The death penalty has historically been seen as the realisation of one of two extremes: the ultimate tool of justice against the most unholy of offenders, and retribution for the victims of their crimes; or a barbaric and draconian way of disposing of those considered 'lost souls' by society, as well as the judicial system. Those who subscribe to the latter viewpoint tend to condemn the apparent 'laziness' that the practice reflects. Rather than try to rehabilitate one who has lost their way, the state is far more willing to reduce them to another statistic, to sweep their existence under the rug, to be uncovered in future years by students with a morbid curiosity for the macabre.

To attempt to pinpoint the provenance of capital punishment would seem like a futile endeavour, and in many ways irrelevant, as it has been a fixture of human society for essentially the whole of recorded history. However, in the interest of reporting the facts, it is important to ask why this has been the case. In the days of the unknown, where every other natural occurrence was thought to be caused by malevolent spirits, terminating the host of said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was seen as the only viable option. This line of thinking can be seen manifested in such archaic customs as witch burning, and even some modern practices, many of which can still be seen today in tribal regions of Africa, for example. It is upon reaching this realm of the supernatural that we encounter our first barrier against being totally objective. The realm of the supernatural, indeed, stands entirely opposed to the logical space of nature in which the known scientific laws are currently believed to exist, and so to attempt a purely objective analysis of supernatural reasons for execution would

Those who are more inclined to agree with the former perspective would obviously take issue with the points just raised. In their eyes, it is not a case of refusing to help those who could yet be enriching and valuable assets to society as well as other individuals, but rather a case of getting rid of a dangerous threat to those very people. From this stance, these criminals are fully deserving of their fate. Due to the fact that many of those that favour the death penalty - rather ironically, perhaps - are religious, their support for the practice is fuelled in most cases by the belief that the soul of the perpetrator is already doomed to spend eternity in Hell as a result of their actions. All that capital punishment does is to help them along their way. When tackling a subject as provocative as this, it is important to consider a wide range of arguments from all relevant moral and

prove to be tricky, at best. But, as with all concepts, the idea of the supernatural can be traced back to the human mind, and, as aforementioned, the mystery of the unknown. Traditional human reaction to the unknown has always been fear, and fear provokes us to behave recklessly and irrationally. Therefore it is hardly surprising that in ostensibly more primitive societies (at least from a Western point of view), reaction to the unknown has resulted in the murder of millions over the years.

many believe, can mainly be put down to the evolution of moral philosophy, and even the belated recognition of teachings by Plato and Aristotle, who spoke of social harmony and 'eudaimonia', which equates to human and societal flourishing. Philosophy was the leading school of thought for a time throughout the 15th to 17th centuries, and as a result the idea of moral progression took hold, an idea which implies that humans have a duty to strive for the ultimate moral good. This was supported by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant in the 18th century, and the repercussions of such a position contributed to a seismic shift in the way that the concepts of justice and humanity were viewed amongst the common people, as well as the ruling elite. Once this shift had seen effects take place in the justice system, predominantly in Europe - a move away from the death penalty being one - the ethos of moral progression ensured that it would be very unlikely that the countries which had made the change would go retrace their footsteps. After all, where is the progress in reverting to a practice that has since been labelled as largely immoral?

However, fear of supernatural forces is of course not the only reason for execution that societies have seen. Anything from serious crime to merely holding the wrong opinion or belief has proved to be tantamount to a death sentence in the past. The one aspect in all instances of execution that has seemed to stay consistent over the years has been a strong backing of religion, and this can be seen most prominently in the murder of Protestants under the reign of Queen Mary during the British Reformation. It wasn't even for their absence of faith that they were condemned, but merely the fact that they worshipped their god in a way that was seen as unacceptable by those in charge. In another ironic twist, these acts were most likely provoked by a need to appease a one true Deity, namely the God of the Bible, and more specifically the 'blood-and-thunder' God of the Old Testament. So, even though the direct reasons for the death of most were entirely to do with actions and decisions based on their own rational thoughts, the motivation for their murder has most often been linked to a higher being, one which strikes the fear of the unknown into human hearts.

Although this departure wasn't as prevalent in America as in Europe, the coming decades would see a gradual acceptance of and conversion to the new European method. The USA is now at a point where the death penalty is governed on a state-tostate basis. In Africa, the practice is still depressingly common, and often carried out in an anarchic, vigilante style, all too frequently as punishment for natural ways of being, such as homosexuality. It is fair to say that Africa never truly welcomed Western moral progression. Personally, this particular idea has always seemed rather misguided. It attempts to assign veridical, non-human value to an

Yet, as the years passed, the practice of capital punishment began to decline. This,

idea which was formulated by a human mind, or rather a collection of human minds. According to some philosophical theories of relativism, morality exists only within the human sphere (this is incidentally an idea which I fully endorse), and so to suggest that there is an objective moral good would be to suggest that we have, in effect, imagined something into tangible existence. The absurdity of this notion is compounded when we consider how morality could only ever be an abstract concept. Of course, if every human holds the same idea of what morality is, then some case could be made for claiming that the concept has achieved a sort of default objectivity by virtue of a worldwide harmony of definition, but this is not the case. The aforementioned example of intercontinental differences in the acceptability of capital punishment is testament to this. This is not to say that an albeit misguided ideal has not given rise to laudable action, which I believe the massive depletion in capital punishment is. What I don't necessarily promote is the reluctance to unearth elements of past ideals that have been condemned like so many ancient criminals, for some of these elements are ones that can still serve a useful and progressive purpose, even if they were considered to be outdated or in some cases barbaric.

everyday modern mentality – subconscious or not - this latest imbroglio has added further fuel to the flames of the 'anti-death' arguments (an incendiary moniker, and one of which the ‘pro-‘ form does no favours to the position of those in favour of capital punishment). However, an arguably more shocking example I believe exists which lends support for the opposite camp. In 2011, Anders Breivik carried out a series of bombings and shootings which resulted in the deaths of 77 people - the vast majority of whom were young members of a local political group - and at least 319 non-fatal injuries. The attacks took place in Oslo and Utøya, Norway. They were politically motivated, and for his actions, Breivik received 21 years preventative detention. After being given his sentence, he claimed that he did not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling court, and yet cannot appeal, as by doing this he would be tacitly recognising its legitimacy. These were muddled and belligerent objections from a remorseless mind. He was most recently in the news for complaining that the choice of video games available to him in jail was 'not interesting enough', and threatening to go on hunger strike. The death penalty does not exist as a method of punishment in Norway, and if it did, Breivik would surely no longer be on the earth and capable of insulting the families of his victims, and those whom he injured, by kicking up a fuss over such trivialities. Instead, he is able to live his life, unlike those whose lives he has permanently destroyed, in relative comfort. Here is a man who is so staunch in his beliefs and justifications for his actions, and whose lack of anything resembling a moral compass is so blindingly obvious, that it can be confidently assumed that no amount of rehabilitation would be sufficient to allow him to re-enter society as a harmless and productive citizen. And even if, somehow,

The botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on April 29th 2014 inevitably roused the dormant polemics from both sides, one point raised being the method of execution employed. In this case, a lethal injection was used. According to reports, Lockett 'writhed and groaned' for 43 minutes before he was declared dead. Even to the staunchest pro-death individual, this seems somewhat inhumane. Given that moral progression is very much a fixture of

incredibly, this was achieved, it would be a brave man who would bet against Breivik's life being taken by a vengeful individual seeking that ultimate tool of justice, one that in this case has been denied.

attempt to lure them back into a world where they will be forever hated and attacked. In this sense, I am almost tempted to agree with some religious believers, in that the best thing to do, is to help an already doomed soul on its way to death.

Many may take umbrage with my assumption that Breivik is beyond rehabilitation, would claim that it is impossible for me to know this, and that we would be committing a grave failure if we were to lay someone to waste without any attempt to rehabilitate them. Essentially, they would be correct when saying that it is impossible for me to know this, but if we wish to open a philosophical discussion on probability and knowledge, it would involve analysis of matters that would certainly drown out the issue currently in question. What it is important to realise is that through his actions and his subsequent reactions, Breivik has created an unbreakable barrier between him and the outside world. He has willingly alienated himself from any notions of morality and goodness, reaching a place whereby he could clinically perform those atrocities, not merely because he didn't think it was the wrong thing to do, but because he actively believed that it was the right thing to do. When someone has reached that state of complete amorality, and has clearly made a comfortable home for themselves in that state, it is almost certainly useless to

The presentation of only one concrete example to support my case may seem woefully insufficient at first, but it in fact reinforces my standpoint: capital punishment should only be used in the rarest of circumstances; reserved for those totally beyond the pale, and out of reach of any kind of positive human interference. Anders Breivik is one of these people, perhaps the only one who has existed and will exist for a long, long, time. But there undoubtedly have been and will be more, for whom the only fitting punishment is to be dealt with as coldly and mercilessly as they have behaved towards others. For when dealing with people who hold no sense of human goodness, it becomes no longer a question of morality or righteousness, but a question of fact and necessity. The fact is: they have committed acts that have ended or impoverished the lives of countless individuals, and are incapable of showing remorse for these acts. The necessity: they must be removed from living existence.

Depression and Durham: A Retrospective BY HANNAH FITZPATRICK I spent the first term of my second year in bed. Due to various unforeseen personal circumstances, I had moved back into college in late October and lost my house in the Viaduct. Hiding under my duvet, I lived in a fog of cigarettes, twice-daily antidepressants, potatoes and poor internet signal. At one point, I did not leave college for 21 days, apart from visiting the smoking area outside. The irony of this was not lost on me. The only thing keeping me in touch with the ‘real world’ was what most people would consider their most unhealthy vice. How hilarious! I stopped going to lectures, missed deadlines, dropped marks. Living with the freshers meant that I also lost touch with my own year group. Everything was very gloomy. It was not ideal. I grew very attached to the dark. I started cutting and vomiting and crying more frequently. My black friend of depression overtook my body and laughed at my recovery. Mental illness has been my constant bedfellow for nearly ten years. My eating disorder is easy to describe. I binge and purge and obsess. I have rules. My depression is harder to explain. It's that feeling of flatness, of the sheer uselessness of everything. The pointless grey circle of existence with just death and birth and death and birth and death. The sense that there is absolutely no point to anything. There is never any point. The heavy dragging swamp of fatigue and tears and bed and sweat and dirty hair and missed deadlines. The grimy feet twisting in the

unwashed sheet, soft belly, unused muscles, chicken-skin thighs. The ribs and the pallor and the cold. The monotony. The endless cycle that always ends in night, in bed, in silence. The same. It is not laziness. It is not ‘can't be arsed’. It is not self-pity. It is not simple misery. It cannot be cheered up or jollied along or comforted with food. It wants a warm cave of soft thoughts and light limbs and a blissfully empty mind. It wants invisibility and pause. To freeze the world and to take that simple cold, wonderful breath that lets out the emptiness. To be filled with the meaning that everyone else experiences. Or seems to. I think that we all pretend, really. There is a Housman poem where he talks about the 'ease that is granted so free' to the multitudes. That's it. The ease of hundreds of happy drunk people walking to Klute, night after night, week after week. I don't get it. As I have explained to people, it is very hard to think of a method of killing yourself that doesn't involve either: a) someone you care about finding your ruined body, or b) someone you do not know being traumatised by finding your body, or c) a minimal amount of pain. I've never been very good at cutting for that reason. You get to a point when the knife or the scissors reach a tough layer, and I always find it difficult to achieve that extra pressure. I can't quite reach the inner strength needed to rip through subcutaneous fat. So I just get angry bleeding lines that sting for a week. The nastiest feature of bulimia is that it is a form of self-harm that delivers an instant, enormous endorphin rush with minimal pain. Sticking my fingers down my throat, ruining my teeth and filling my gullet with acid, actually makes me feel good - that is, until the crushing fatigue, guilt and pain kicks in again.

After my record-breaking 21 days, I had a meeting with the senior tutor at my college and he casually asked if I had considered suicide. He did not take it very well when I calmly informed him that I would hang myself in my wardrobe - which seems obvious to me, because there is no ceiling light fitting and the shower rail is not strong enough. His face fell, and he told me, quite seriously, to let the porters know if I ever felt suicidal, because they are trained in first aid. I laughed. My anti-depressants were changed at the end of Michaelmas Term, after I managed, finally, to get a new appointment at North End House. As everyone with a mental illness in Durham will know, this is where psychiatrists and poor administrative systems go to die. It takes months and months to get an appointment with a disinterested doctor who dismisses you after five minutes. My psychiatrist gave me some pills called Mirtazapine, which almost immediately gave me psychosis. I lay on the lager-stained sofas in my college bar, watching Wes Anderson films and feeling utterly disconnected from my body. The numbness, hallucination, paranoia, buzzing, electric-shock head and insomnia were

soothed by Margot Tenenbaum, but unfortunately you can't watch forever. There is always the awful reality of normal life to face up to, something horrifically different from quirky narratives and warm seventies dĂŠcor. I got an emergency appointment and changed tablets. It helped. Registering with DUSSD helped too. I got concessions and extensions on all my essays, and spent the Christmas holidays doing Michaelmas term for the first time. I managed to find a new counsellor and we talked about things. I began to get better. Now, I am better than I was, but worse than I hope to be. Everything is less muggy, less draining, less cloaked in fatigue and hopelessness. I still have bad days, bad hours, bad minutes, but it does not last for weeks anymore. I leave college now, and know what it feels like to walk along the river without constantly considering throwing myself into the depths. I can look at the sky, the trees and the cathedral, and feel a semblance of that elusive calm. I asked for help, and it helped, which, I suppose, is a success.

Prisoners Acting Out

performance of 'The Recruiting Officer' by prisoners in Australia. Within the context of the beginnings of Australian colonisation it is especially vital that these fictional prisoners are prepared for life beyond imprisonment: they will inevitably be playing a key role in society. This motive for rehabilitation is therefore stressed: "I want to rule over a group of responsible human beings, not tyrannise over a group of animals". Wertenbaker's belief in the humanising force of theatre is clear: her characters learn the benefit of community, beginning to act selflessly, gaining a sense of self-worth and hope for the future. Particularly interesting is the way in which the rehearsals provide the character of Liz with a renewed thirst for life: previously too proud to contest the charges of theft levelled against her, she eventually resovles to plea her case in order to escape the hangman's noose.

BY NIKKI MOTOHASHI OUR COUNTRYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GOOD by Timberlake Wertenbaker (Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2009) The idea that drama can be a powerful tool for rehabilitation stems from the understanding that participation in theatre satisfies the inherently human needs to play and create. In ancient Greek civilisation, drama was a mass social phenomenon, as opposed to an elite practice: this universal appeal demonstrates the links between theatre and the essence of humanity. Acting can be considered a vital means of psychological development as it allows connections to the unconscious and emotional processes to be forged. Such an effect is especially applicable to prisoners given that the ability to recognise the importance of a positive self-image and attitude will be extremely valuable in the rehabilitative process. The dramatic experience, being ostensibly separate from reality, provides them with a chance to objectively explore their past and present behaviours, whilst also allowing them to exercise the voice and rhetoric they will use to rebuild their images upon release.

Wertenbaker's fictionalised reactions to the staging of a play appear remarkably similar to that of modern-day prisoners who put on productions of her work. Published correspondence from participants describes the effect that performing in 'Our Country's Good' had on their quality of life both in terms of their current situation and in giving them aspirations for the future. That of 28-year-old Joe White is particularly striking: his enthusiasm for theatre shines through despite the fifteen year sentence for murder under the influence of drugs that he is yet to endure. For him, this awakened passion is the key to his social well-being: "Drama, and selfexpression in general, is a refuge and one of the only real weapons against the hopelessness of prisons". In this way, such budding thespians not only benefit from the pleasures and challenges of making a piece of theatre, but also begin to see themselves in a way that is not defined

There are a number of groups who have put these ideas into practice, organising productions across the country - the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Playing For Timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; theatre project, for instance, produces an average of two plays a year. A particular favourite for the company is Timberlake Wertenbaker's 'Our Country's Good', a play that explicitly endorses the positive and powerful effect that drama can produce. Like its inspiration, Keneally's 'The Playmaker', it recounts an historical event - the

solely by the institution in which they currently live.

ideas prompted by the text. This literary enhancement will prove an exceedingly valuable tool when released prisoners are faced with the task of ensuring a better quality of life for themselves post-sentence.

There are certain advantages to the use of theatre in prisons over such other rehabilitative techniques as reading. This is mainly due to the low standards of literacy found in prisons - 25% of young offenders are said to have reading skills below those of the average seven-year-old but even amongst those who can read, there is often a negative stigma attached to this pursuit. Comparatively, drama can be considered as something separate from the world of structured education, whilst still instilling the same level of enthusiasm for the literary world. This idea is expressed by Captain Arthur Philip in 'Our Country's Good': "The convicts will be speaking a refined, literate language and expressing sentiments of a delicacy they are not used to." In the process of familiarising themselves with their roles, the actors may even find themselves considering the implication of the playwright's message and choice of words - this was certainly true of Joe White, for whom analysing the character of Ralph Clark proved "a challenging and an enjoyable" experience. Such an examination can improve the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; articulation and control over language as they attempt to convey the

With such persuasive examples of success, surely the increasing prevalence of groups offering prisoners the chance to turn their minds to the dramatic arts can only be a good thing. As a tool for rehabilitation, such productions contribute to the prevention of re-offences; however, it is the effect that the experience has on the participants' social well being that is, perhaps, the most profound result. The playfulness at the heart of drama is an antidote to the often remorseless prison environment, while the confidence boost and improved communication skills that an engagement with the theatre can provide will help pave the way to a better quality of life, especially after release. It would be foolish to argue that drama is universally attractive - in some instances, such as that of the reformed sculptor, Jimmy Boyle, other art forms are equally beneficial. However, for those who find a connection with the theatre - as in the case of Joe White and so many others - their experience therein has the potential to be life-changing.

engagement with the theatre can provide will help pave the way to a better quality of life, especially after release. It would be foolish to argue that drama is universally attractive - in some instances, such as that of the reformed sculptor, Jimmy Boyle, other art forms are equally beneficial. However, for those who find a connection with the theatre - as in the case of Joe White and so many others - their experience therein has the potential to be

Considering the Reception of Plato’s Philosophy BY HARRIET WALSH Aristocles, son of Ariston, a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle, is most commonly known as Plato. His dialogues are not only one of our richest ancient sources of Hellenistic philosophy, but a basis for modern debate and discussion. However, before we examine the reception of his philosophy, it is interesting to examine the original Greek. The word ‘philosophy’ is an anglicised version of ‘philosophia’, a compound of‘ philo’ meaning ‘love’, and ‘sophia’, meaning ‘wisdom’. Philosophy literally means the ‘love of wisdom’. This held true for Plato; philosophy was his vocation. It is not my purpose to give a comprehensive account of Plato’s reception, rather to illustrate some main points and issues. With this in mind, the reception of Plato can be examined through the microcosm of the slave-boy illustration in Meno. Essentially, a slave-boy is shown to be capable of knowing mathematical truths simply through diagrams and logical questioning, despite no mathematical training prior to the event. Plato concludes that this implies that he possessed this knowledge innately, and that all knowledge is therefore simply recollecting something we already know. This illustration can be used to demonstrate various aspects of the reception of Plato. Firstly, both individual illustrations and more general theories are still examined. This illustration has been disputed widely, with some scholars suggesting that the answers were achieved through leading questions, not through innate knowledge. Also there is scholarly debate surrounding other theories and

theses in Meno, such as the more general thesis of all learning being recollecting. It is undeniable, therefore, that Plato has left behind much more that has not been answered yet, despite over two thousand years passing; he outlined valid philosophical problems and theories, which are still considered today. Secondly, despite greatly influencing the field of epistemology, that is, the study of the origin, nature, and achievement of knowledge, Plato’s actual position on knowledge is somewhat unclear. According to the slave-boy illustration, knowledge is innate and that all learning is simply recollecting, but other works imply that knowledge requires gentle nursing to be attained (i.e. psychic pregnancy in Symposium), whilst others state that rigorous rational reasoning is the only way to achieve it (i.e. the Forms in Republic). Even if all of these theories seem to be variations on a theme of knowledge being somewhat rational rather than empirical, the fact remains that the analysis and reconsideration of Plato began in the Hellenistic Period by Plato himself. Therefore, the more general thesis of all learning being recollecting was questioned, examined, and re-evaluated by Plato in his other works through other theses. Thirdly, ‘reception’ seems to imply some form of acceptance, which is not necessarily applicable, as the above point highlights. This can be demonstrated through the example of Aristotle; one of the most notorious critics of Platonic works. Aristotle systematically undermined the recollection thesis which the slave-boy illustration supports, despite him thinking and living within the same time period. This shows how the reception of philosophy is not always acceptance or approval of a theorem, but also the continual questioning of it. This fact also

illustrates the dynamic time within which Plato was writing, which may account for the differing theories which Plato presents; analysis began with Plato himself, and his contemporaries.

Plato’s reception goes beyond simply the discussion of his philosophy and encompasses the historical philosophical tradition itself, as he helped to establish it. Of course, there are plenty of other topics which are equally valid of discussing concerning Plato’s reception, the evasive Theory of Forms being the most obvious, but the purpose of this article is to demonstrate the following. The fact that Plato is still being examined to this day, with some of the problems he established still unanswerable and discussed, is testament to the strength of his philosophy, and to his role in the establishment of the philosophical tradition itself. It would be illogical to conclude that Plato did not have a huge influence on Western philosophy. Perhaps there never was a truer truism than Whitehead’s claim that all European philosophy quite simply consists of footnotes to Plato.

However, the reception of Plato did not end with him and his contemporaries. As the discussion of Plato’s philosophy has evolved, so has the culture that surrounds philosophy more generally. Plato was thinking over two thousand years ago, in a political and cultural climate which had condemned Socrates, his teacher and friend, to death; a culture damaged by the Peloponnesian War and the Athenian plague. Plato had no access to the modern philosophical tradition as it simply didn’t exist. The modern scholar of Western philosophy has access to thousands of articles online, and multiple schools of academic thought to reference, where Plato only had the pre-Socratics and Socrates. As Plato did not have access to this tradition,

Irreconcilable Architectures for Crime and Punishment BY ISAAC TURNER Within public consciousness, prisons can be viewed as soulless locations, in which criminals are punished for illegal deeds committed. Indeed, this definition has hardly changed at all, at its very foundational level, since the 18th century. During this period the reformist John Howard, later aided by Jeremy Bentham, brought about a systemic renaissance in the way that prisoners were handled and then later discharged from penitentiary, placing the focus on health, safety and wellbeing. However, in more recent centuries an oscillating debate has snowballed as to how prison spaces should be viewed, and how they should be architecturally designed. It can be argued through practical examples, and the philosophy of Foucault, that the fundamental clash between muscular conservatives, who argue for hardline retribution, and liberal reformists, who prize strategies of societal reintegration, is irreconcilable when viewing prisons from an architectural standpoint. The pro-punishment lobby can be symbolically represented in the ADX Florence, a supermax-ranked prison in Colorado, US. Tellingly upon visiting for a tour, a representative of the Bush administration suggested that when inside, ‘you can’t really tell where you are’. Windows are built to only show sky and roof, to prevent any prisoner planning an escape. Immovable poured concrete furniture adorns each inmate’s cell. Tightly controlled exercise takes place in an ashen pit resembling an empty swimming pool. Combined, this prison design contributes

to a style of aesthetic brutalism that does not champion innovation and integration. Security and punishment are paramount. They are seen as the only solution remaining for those such as Thomas Silverstein, a man serving a 90-year sentence for bank robbery and the murder of a correction officer at his previous institution. In distinct contrast to the ADX is Woodhill, a new-build British prison with modernist elements such as a communal triangular central space. The design of Woodhill provides three tiers of cells leading onto walkways, rather than the ‘radial’ and ‘hotel’ form architectures commonly found in Victorian and post-war jails. As a result, there is provision for prisoners and staff to meet more regularly. Although it is one of the most high-security prisons in England, a more progressive emphasis was placed on construction. In such establishments, welfare and the innate human condition are more readily acknowledged. The potential for personal reform is encouraged, and actively fostered with a range of external buildings designed to harness the interests and goals of inmates. Mellor’s 2006 Seven Pathways Prison plan, a document which institutions such as Woodhill are based upon, includes centres for vocational training, health care and reorientation, with statistical evidence suggesting that in the long run they will be beneficial to society. At this point we can draw clear comparisons between architectures, based on the two irreconcilable examples given thus far. The ADX design is intended for the benefit of non-criminal society. Keeping ‘them’ out of public integration is penance for irredeemable lawlessness. Hardline conservatives suggest that prison should almost be a living hell, with no hope or kindness, and barely maintained human

rights. This is reflected in the design of bare-basics cells and floorplans for minimal human contact. Such a blueprint is created to encourage prisoners to know their place, and know that it is not with the rest of humanity. The Woodhill design, on the other hand, has a more socially holistic theming. Rather than being for the benefit of non-criminal populations, it is hoped that a progressive jail campus can re-unite lawbreakers with the society they have damaged, once more welding individuals to normalcy and compliance.

factory for better citizens. The input is atrisk individuals, various tinkerings occur, and then the (optimistic) output is state subjects. An ADX-style design, boasting edge-of-law subhuman conditions and sallow faced ex-cons, is ironically a more public humiliation. Rather than allowing criminals to engage, it further isolates them, and when they are drip-fed back into civilisation they are often less ‘human’ than when they entered. Some would propose that for those with life sentences, hardline prisons are a moral necessity. However, for the rest of the criminal population, it has been demonstrated that the two distinct prison design approaches of conservatives and liberals offer polarised interpretations of crime and punishment. The ethical issues at stake are, in their very nature, personal and inflammatory. As such, the pulsating debate will rage on: tarnished by feeling, ignorant of evidence and only occasionally accommodating to the human condition. The two lobbies for prison architecture are largely irreconcilable, and this will continue to be the status quo.

The debate can be said to ultimately rest on Foucault’s notion of self-discipline. He argues that we used to publicly punish those who challenged state power or social norms, and that relatively speaking there was a large conceptual gap between the state and its population. Nowadays, states aim to encourage the act of disciplining oneself, therefore in turn reproducing its power within one’s own social sphere. This creates citizen-subjects, and potentially reduces the need for prisons. Arguably, the liberal integrationist architectural model as purported by progressive criminologists aligns more with the self-disciplinary line of thinking; prison is not punishment but a

Coping with the Limitations of Feminism: A Glorified Listicle in Four Parts BY ELIZABETH BUCKHEIT Recently, Buzzfeed published an article that provoked a vehement indictment of a Tumblr called ‘Women Against Feminism’. The Tumblr shows pictures of women holding up handwritten signs stating why they feel they don’t need feminism and refuse to define themselves as feminists. As often occurs with easily-sharable issue pieces, a media maelstrom followed. More radical feminists were appalled, condemning these ignorant, ungrateful, and traitorous women for their denials and assumptions about feminist doctrine. Others, notably The Journal’s Sally Pugh, suggested that the radical fringes of the ideology had pushed these women to this point. Instead of excommunicating them from the sisterhood, Pugh argues that feminists should strive to educate and include. Yet amid this intrafeminist handwaving, virtually no one suggested that the Tumbling anti-feminists might be right. Choosing not to identify as a feminist is not instantly damning, nor does it signal ignorance. I have never identified myself as a feminist, but not because I deny gender issues exist, because I feel personally untouched by discrimination, or because I view feminists as group of misandristic banshees. I believe deeply in ending discrimination, achieving equality, and working to solve societal issues. However, I do not believe that feminism, as it currently stands, is the most effective route to achieve this. Using the Buzzfeed listicle

format, here are ‘4 REASONS FOR A NEW FEMINISM’: 1) Feminists do not embrace what they have. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that each citizen, regardless of demographic difference, is equal in the eyes of the law. Though the British constitution is uncodified, the same provision of equal protection still exists. This means in advanced industrial democracies, women have as much legal power as any other citizen to express their opinions through suffrage, judicial action, or legislative partnership. Governments of these democracies no longer intentionally discriminate based on gender - most problems are historical and in the process of being improved or stem from obliviousness. Women have attained the legal equality necessary to go about lobbying for the issue-specific reforms now needed to ensure true equality. Feminism does not yet step up and fully utilize this legal toolbox, both to achieve reform or inspire personal security. 2) Feminism is an unhelpful word. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the United States Supreme Court case that struck down school segregation, argued that ‘separate is inherently unequal’. The ‘fem’ in ‘feminism’ automatically creates a division between genders, reinforcing the separatism that inhibits gender equality. However, no matter how much rhetoric is dispensed about feminism being about equality between the sexes, the name itself creates an ocean that cannot be fully forded by intention alone, branding the ideology as one of ‘only women dealing with only women’s issues’. The separatism implied by the word ‘feminism’ also unconsciously excludes all the issues that go hand in hand with gender

such as race, income level, and education. Productively, feminists are starting to use the more inclusive term ‘intersectionality’ to describe comorbid issues. Our discussion will be more fruitful if we embrace this language that focuses on commonality rather than segregation. 3) Feminists forget about men. Feminist exclusion of men is not always intentional - indeed, it’s mostly benign but persistent. No matter how much rhetoric is dispensed about men being allies and about working for equality, these goals can’t be achieved until men are included and the men’s issues are recognized. Too often, feminists forget to talk to men because, understandably, it’s easier to talk to like-minded people who can immediately sympathize. In actual attempts to explain feminism, many inadvertently adopt a ‘smarter-than-you, holier-than-thou’ voice which seems belittling and increases resistance to productive discussion. Genuine engagement can be further undermined by asides and jests about ‘the patriarchy’ that, while usually innocently intended, come across as misandrist at worst and alienating at best. Unless feminists collectively and consciously start having productive conversations and relationships with men, it’s unlikely that we’ll ideologically progress much beyond 1975. Even if men can be included, feminists need to stop equating women’s issues with all gender issues. Realizing that advocacy of the same calibre is needed against issues that affect predominantly men, such as machismo gang culture, is just as vital to ensuring a progressive and egalitarian society. 4) Feminists judge other women harshly. Overwhelmingly, I feel I’ve received greater criticism from other women than from any

other group, men included. To bastardize popular jargon, I have been persistently fem-shamed. Feminists, those individuals who preach the virtues of female individuality, continuously criticize women, myself included, for holding incorrect notions about gender, wrong conceptions of what a woman is, faulty judgements about the nature of female empowerment, and improper relationships with men. In short, it is almost impossible not be a Bad Woman - unreceptive and undeserving of ideas of femininity and feminism. od

While mainstreaming of feminist ideas has softened some of the most radical criticism - Roxanne Gay’s imperfect view of empowerment laid out in her new book Bad Feminist is becoming more normal- one is still ultimately unable to define her own gender views. The supposed inclusivity and equality of feminism is undermined by their desire to apply or publicly repeal their label to the feelings of individuals. If I say that I believe in gender equality, I am told that I am a feminist and am thus associated with the entire movement - I am not given the opportunity to determine my own label and scope. *** With these thoughts about the virtues of non-feminism, feminists and the wider public must consider that our opinions about gender and sexuality, like the concepts themselves, should no longer be binary. It should no longer be feminist and misogynist, truth and ignorance. It is possible and acceptable to be supportive of gender equality and female empowerment without embracing feminism, to do this with varying levels of understanding and commitment - to disagree with the status quo against the status quo. It is of course also possible and acceptable to be a feminist.

'Like a ruin of the past': John Clare as an Environmentalist Poet BY VERITY RIMMER In the humble village of Helpston, Northamptonshire, a cottage is now open to the public. It is the birthplace of the 'Peasant Poet', John Clare (1793-1864). Unlike the other Romantics, Clare has never quite become a household name. Yet this lesser-known genius makes for fascinating study; his life, a compelling tale of remarkable creativity in the face of adversity, and his work, an astonishing collection totalling over three and a half thousand poems - poems with a darker, more pressing relevance to their modernday readership than such charming but antiquated rusticity might initially suggest. Clare's poetry immortalises a bygone era. It is shadowed by a sense of endangerment and ensuing loss. References to traditional rural practices evoke a time of pastoral tranquillity, and the poet makes use of a now obsolete local dialect. Yet Clare's work also traces change of a different sort. It identifies something that was a source of tension even then - and has been since the beginning of civilisation - but is more so today than ever before: man's relationship with the environment. Clare had great respect for the natural world. He found solace in his local countryside, and was greatly distressed by the Enclosure Acts imposed between 1809 and 1820. Under the new laws, common land, such as that around Helpston, became private territory, to be managed for maximum economic gain. Enclosure meant imprisonment, for the land and for its people. As the land was flattened, cleared, and stripped of its character, Clare witnessed destruction

which, in time, would take its toll on his own mental landscape. Enclosure was one part of the process of industrial expansion that maximised production, but also permitted the development of a society such as we have today, in which the earth's resources are exploited ruthlessly for profit. Losing his habitat as he had known it, Clare began to lose his sense of self. This is painfully echoed in his poetry. 'The Moors' is a reflection upon the lost land, that had previously 'never felt the rage of blundering plough', and upon a lost part of the poet himself, whose 'sweet vision of my boyish hours...Is faded all'. The tone is mournful; 'a hope that blossomed free...no more shall ever be.' Previously, Clare recalls, 'Unbounded freedom ruled the wandering scene/Nor fence of ownership crept in between'. His words are laced with bitterness, full of contempt at the greed which resulted in privatisation of the commons. Imagery of slavery pervades, as Clare compares the present with a time when the land's 'only bondage was the circling sky'. The contrast between 'Unbounded freedom' and 'bondage' is scathing, and Clare goes on more explicitly still, deploring that enclosure â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;trampled on the grave/ Of labour's rights and left the poor a slave'. Far from being naively romantic in its portrayal of country life, Clare's poetry is here burning with indignation. And it is this that makes Clare so convincing as a poet. He does not gloss over the hardships of peasant life; he himself was all too aware of those, having endured poverty and starvation. He focuses on the simple human joys experienced despite these, but largely lost to the villagers following enclosure. Now, 'On paths to freedom and to childhood dear/ A board sticks up to notice 'no road here''. As the land itself is forbidden to common

trespassers, so are all the joys associated with it. In 'The Fallen Elm', Clare considers that when enclosure came, 'ruin was its guide'. In this vein 'comfort's cottage soon was thrust aside/ And workhouse prisons raised upon the site'. For Clare, enclosure confiscated the country-dwellers' few pleasures and paved the way for total desolation.

Clare draws upon the human tendency to abuse nature. Swordy Well was only ever 'kind to all', but that bears little weight with man: 'Where profit gets his clutches in/There's little he will leave'. The outlook Clare offers us is not entirely bleak, however. It might even allow for the possibility of hope. In 'Remembrances', hindsight enables the speaker to value what was, now that it is gone. What is left is but 'a ruin of the past'. On one hand, the mood of the poem is melancholy. Enclosure is ‘like a Bonaparte', which in a process of military obliteration 'levelled every bush and tree and levelled every hill'. Meanwhile the stream runs ‘cold and chill', as bleak as the future of the countryside. Yet the overarching point is that Clare would have better treasured his joy - 'wooed' it 'like a lover’ - had he appreciated beforehand its ephemerality. Clare’s verse reaches us in a haunting voice of warning. We are reminded to value and protect what is left of our natural world - before we find that it, too, goes 'the common road with decay'.

'The Fallen Elm' has acquired greater significance than Clare could have foreseen. In an era in which rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, to devastating effect for countless species, we would do well to read this poem, which acknowledges the hypocrisy of tree-felling. Clare mourns in direct address to the elm: 'Thou'st sheltered hypocrites in many a shower/That when in power would never shelter thee'. His words ring terribly true. The human fault at issue is that we fail to recognise how much we actually depend upon those aspects of the world that we exploit. Because of this oversight, humanity continues on its path of destruction. The rabbit of 'The Fallen Elm' 'had not where to make his den'; in 'Emmonsales Heath', similarly, the 'poor hare' must ‘hide from savage men'. The same is true today on a much greater scale; thousands of species are officially endangered as a result of human activity.

A prose poem, ‘Pleasant Sounds’, narrates a walk through the woods. It describes simple, apparently insignificant details: the ‘rustling of leaves’; the ‘whizzing of birds’ overhead - even ‘the fall of an acorn on the ground’. Each is a comforting confirmation of biodiversity and life. The poem forces us to ask ourselves a disturbing question: as more and more of our natural world is threatened by human negligence, how many more of these 'pleasant sounds' might soon be lost to us forever?

Strikingly, Clare writes one poem in the voice of the oppressed land itself - an area named Swordy Well. The speaker bemoans its maltreatment at the hands of men, 'Who worked me till I couldn't stand/ And crush me now I'm down.' The land has been robbed, cruelly, of its natural population: ‘My only tree they've left a stump'. War imagery extends this sense of devastation when the land professes itself to be 'the last of all the field that fell’ - a courageous soldier, boldly resisting the enemy but ultimately helpless to such brutality. Again,

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VACANCIES Writers: We are looking for a huge quantity of writers for future issues, so please get in touch if you have an original essay idea. The theme for our next issue is ‘myth’ but we welcome any ideas, as they may be queued for later editions. To apply: i.j.turner@durham.ac.uk with your article idea and a sample of writing

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