Diagonal English

29/04/2014

Two different words mysteriously meet to become synonymous. The voyage abounds in meanders, ambiguities and hidden meanings, always bordering the narrow strip which separates a concept from its opposite. The words ‘work’ and ‘pleasure’ are symptomatic of this problematic journey to synonymy...

How do we live and how could we live was William Morris’s reaction to the industrialisation of his native Manchester in the 19th century.

25/03/2014

"Political party programmes are more like a list to Father Christmas: wishes, more wishes and debates about the wishes. But not much paperwork gets done any more. And I think what we need today are less debates about what we want and more about how to achieve what we want."

The expression “to do the paperwork” used to be common in government departments to describe the process by which an idea is put into practice. For example, if someone proposed opening lending libraries all night, the paperwork would explain how this would be done, the staff necessary and where they...

21/02/2014

“With what's happening in Spain this had to occur at some time or another, but I honestly thought the outbreak would have taken place in a big city such as Madrid or Barcelona. I had never believed Gamonal would be the beginning”, says F. a youngster from Burgos who prefers to remain anonymous...

“With what's happening in Spain this had to occur at some time or another, but I honestly thought the outbreak would have taken place in a big city such as Madrid or Barcelona. I had never believed Gamonal would be the beginning”, says F. a youngster from Burgos who prefers to remain anonymous.

02/12/2013

"They are dogs in the manger which neither eat nor let others eat and sometimes don’t even allow a dying tree to be watered. It is hunger that surrounds them, not a whim; hunger for a roof over one’s head, hunger to be part of a community, hunger for daily food..."

In a country full of abandoned buildings, empty flats and head offices in ruins due to lack of use, the authorities throw people out of their homes and collectives out of their projects. They are dogs in the manger which neither eat nor let others eat and sometimes don’t even allow a dying tree to b...

27/03/2013

Like in Europe, the megaphone is loud within U.S. elite circles to ram through austerity measures. The corporate-funded “Fix the Debt” maintains willing executioners of its agenda on both sides of the political aisle. President Barack Obama, the bulk of the Congressional members of the Democratic Party of which he is the de facto leader and the Republican Party are holding hands in agreement on cuts of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The strongest example of this is a corporate-funded front group by the name of “Fix the Debt”, run by hedge fund manager and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Republican President Ronald Reagan, Peter Peterson. It’s staffed by a bipartisan cadre of politically-connected flacks who, to quot...

21/03/2013

Interview with author Marin Ledun.

Marin Ledun was made redundant from his job as an investigator at France Telecom. He has written the book Perros de Porcelana (Porcelain Dogs) about his time at the company. We talk to him about the modern workplace and its connection to our lives.

Mari Otxandi Translated by Rob Dyas Marin Ledun was made redundant from his job as an investigator at France Telecom. He has written the book Perros de Porcelana (Porcelain Dogs) about his time at the company. We talk to him about the modern workplace and its connection to our lives.

21/03/2013

We´re back! Apologies for the break. We will now be publishing articles on the blog and this page regularly. Here´s one:

"Krisis? Germany at the centre of economic turbulence

The latest German unemployment figures, the lowest in 20 years, prompt us to consider the attributes of an accumulation model that has allowed the country to so far avoid the worst impact of the crisis."

17/01/2013

After the occupation of the Puerta del Sol during June 2011 and the initiatives of the 15M movement focused in the neighbourhoods, the occupation of abandoned buildings to be used as headquarters for social initiatives has soared in Madrid. Despite the continuous evictions, the number of “social buildings” has increased during this time from 10 to 18.

Jue, 01/17/2013 - 19:06 -- DIAGONAL EnglishBy Richard Crowbar / Translated by Rob Dyas and Susana MacíasThe recovery of abandoned buildings to be used as social centres soars in Madrid. We talk to some of the activists of these new “free centres”.Casablanca social centre / Photo: Olmo Calvo.After th...

13/12/2012

Well the new website is now live and it´s amazing! You can now find the English section here:

There’s a demo at six pm. It looks like rain, you’re cold, you already went to Thursday’s demo and the ones before that. And what if you don’t go? On the screens you see the world continues, different people talk about what they’re doing; they remind you of the demo but they too carry on with their ...

10/12/2012

As our website was a bit "vintage", we´re renovating it.... the new version will be published on Wednesday morning.

Como nuestra web era un poco 'vintage', estamos renovándola... publicamos la nueva versión el miércoles por la mañana.

03/12/2012

Democracy, debt and human rights were the central themes of the 99agora meeting in Madrid, which was conceived to unify answers and demands against the shock policy being imposed by the EU.

TER GARCÍA Y PABLO ELORDUY (EDITORIAL) / Translated by Esther Ortiz Vázquez, Susana Mathías & Rob Dyas

22/11/2012

The recent dismissal of several household names in Radio Televisión Española (RTVE, Spanish TV & Radio) lead to rumours about larger scale redundancies while standards slip.

Raúl F. Millares (Madrid) / Translation: Susana Macías