LINDA PENTZ GUNTER reports from the one of 2,700 protests against the Trump government’s power grabs, on a day when seven million people defied fear-mongering in a outpouring of joy and hope in what might be the biggest protest in US history
Prospect Archaeology: digging up the past and fighting for a better future
From its roots as a gentleman's imperial pursuit, to being treated as a hobby in the recent past, full-time archaelogy workers today number in the many thousands and are now successfully organising their industry, reports SEAN MELEADY
ALEX HALL interviews PAUL HOLDEN, whose bombshell book uses leaked documents to expose how the Starmer faction used systematic dishonesty to seize power and reopen the door to the corrupting ecosystem of corporate lobbying and sleaze
Our trust makes 3,200 home visits caring for 227 patients despite 198 Israeli checkpoints around Bethlehem; this compassion which transcends boundaries has lessons for the debate on end-of-life care in Britain too, writes FATHER GEOFF BOTTOMS
There is no chance of defending and renewing an NHS which is still savagely undermined by having to pay mark-ups of up to 23,000 per cent to Big Pharma — let’s take control of pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution, writes DREW GILCHRIST
The polling is looking good for the left’s choice, writes ERNEST WALKER, but there are farcical electoral oddities that are throwing up dangers to the campaign
Lewisham People’s Assembly organiser BEN WOODWARD reports on uproar in south London as campaigners condemn an ‘undemocratic stitch-up’ after the council waved through redevelopment of a vibrant shopping centre into ‘luxury flats’
TRADE unionists are often accused in living in the past by sections of the hostile right-wing press, but in the tough working conditions of the 2020s even those who dig up the past are unionising — and threatening to down trowels. Far from living an Indiana Jones style high life, archaeologists are facing multiple pressures including low pay, poor site safety, bullying and forced overtime.
Archaeology has, in some quarters at least, a reputation for elitism due to the legacy of the 19th and 20th-century archaeologists who spent months if not years, travelling abroad, particularly in the Middle East, partaking in what today we might consider graverobbing. There was also a class snobbery against self-taught archaeologists such as the working-class Basil Brown and women such as Peggy Piggott who both worked on the Sutton Hoo excavation from the British Museum.
There is also a stereotype of archaeology being full of enthusiastic amateurs — almost a kind of hobby. This therefore justifies low wages — or indeed no wages at all — as many digs rely on volunteers who it is believed should just be grateful to be there, even if the dig is thousands of miles away from home in southern Europe or the Middle East.
Similar stories
Almost half of universities face deficits, merger mania is taking hold, and massive fee hikes that will lock out working-class students are on the horizon, write RUBEN BRETT, PAUL WHITEHOUSE and DAN GRACE
By sticking together, working collectively and building the union, we can weather any uncertainty ahead, writes general secretary of Usdaw PADDY LILLIS
DAVID CONWAY writes how recognising trade unions for non-playing staff could help the club rediscover success both on and off the football pitch