Links 25/10/21

Politics: 

In a piece in the Guardian, Judith Butler analyses the "gender critical" movement. It showcases the links to neo-fascist movement and racism. It's also important to keep in mind that the UK version of the Guardian has, in the past, provided a platform for proponents of that movement. 

"As a fascist trend, the anti-gender movement supports ever strengthening forms of authoritarianism. Its tactics encourage state powers to intervene in university programs, to censor art and television programming, to forbid trans people their legal rights, to ban LGBTQI people from public spaces, to undermine reproductive freedom and the struggle against violence directed at women, children, and LGBTQI people. It threatens violence against those, including migrants, who have become cast as demonic forces and whose suppression or expulsion promises to restore a national order under duress.

That is why it makes no sense for “gender critical” feminists to ally with reactionary powers in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. Let’s all get truly critical now, for this is no time for any of the targets of this movement to be turning against one another. The time for anti-fascist solidarity is now."

Australia is currently governed by a coalition between the Liberals (a misnomer) and the Nationals, and has fallen behind the rest of the world in its policies on climate change and making firm commitments on emission reductions. There are still politicians in these parties (and in Labor as well) who deny the urgency of climate action or are hesitant to admit to the existence of human-caused climate change altogether. It looks like Morrison might take a commitment to a 2050 net-zero target to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow (which he only recently committed to attending, shortly after an ad on Time Square called him out on his lack of action), but only after giving his coalition partner, which claims to worry about the fate of the agricultural sector, unpublished concessions (farmers, meanwhile, are mostly eager for climate action, as they are already severely impacted by catastrophic weather events). The commitment will not be legislated, nor will there be firm targets for 2030. 

A backstory of AUKUS (and as an aside, it will never not be funny that the switch to nuclear-powered submarines coincided with the airing of Vigil, including massive ads on busses).

Meanwhile, the Gambia, Africa's smallest mainland country, is ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to effective climate action. 

Pop Culture: 

The adaptation of Y: The Last Man has a long history of production issues, including several changes to its cast and showrunners, and it looks like its second season is becoming increasingly unlikely after its current network decided not to renew the upcoming contracts. It could still find a new home, and should - considering how well it adapted a comic that started in 2002, and has not aged entirely well, and turned it into a relevant story about a radically changed world. 

New music by Grouper and a soundtrack for video game Sable by Japanese Breakfast. 

A new teaser for the fourth and final season of the Ozark (which includes break-out star Julia Garner), The Expanse is returning for its sixth and final season in early December, and a few films that I'm excited about - Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho, Lauren Hadaway's The Novice, Julia Ducournau's (Raw) Titane.