---
title: "Best of 2017: long reads"
date: "2017-12-19T14:26:05+00:00"
modified: "2017-12-19T14:26:05+00:00"
url: "https://newhumanist.org.uk/2017/12/19/best-of-2017-long-reads/"
post_id: 6718
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# Best of 2017: long reads

![empire](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/empire-map1.jpg)

[How a history of conquest shapes the present](/articles/5204/how-a-history-of-conquest-shapes-the-present)

A century ago, European empires dominated much of the planet. Gurminder K Bhambra and Charlotte L Riley ask what we can learn from the past.

[Disestablish and be damned](/articles/5240/disestablish-and-be-damned)

The Church of England continues to hold incredible constitutional power, to the detriment of the UK. Can this be challenged, asks Richard Scorer?

[  
Apocalyptic populism](/articles/5256/apocalyptic-populism)

From Donald Trump to Brexit, the establishment is under fierce attack. But, writes Wendy Brown, political populism is not simply a challenge to the neoliberal order – it is a product of it.

[The Rojava experiment](/articles/5160/the-rojava-experiment)

Behind the frontlines in Syria, a self-governing Kurdish region is making a radical attempt at gender equality. Rahila Gupta reports.

[  
In search of whiteness](/articles/5176/in-search-of-whiteness)

Identity politics is back with a vengeance in 2017 – but one particular kind of identity is often left unexplored. Lola Okolosie and Vron Ware ask why.

[Becoming British](/articles/5180/becoming-british)

As a teenager, Ismail Einashe fought hard to feel like he belonged. Now, that right is being undermined – for him and millions of others.

[Making a killing: examining the arms trade](/articles/5234/making-a-killing-examining-the-arms-trade)

An examination of Britain’s arms trade tells us who we are as a country and what our role in the world really is, writes David Wearing.

[  
Exit strategies](/articles/5229/exit-strategies)

After a spate of terrorist attacks on European soil, getting deradicalisation programmes to work has become more important than ever. Samira Shackle reports.

[  
Why physics isn’t dead](/articles/5168/why-physics-isnt-dead)

Relativity and quantum theory help us make sense of the universe – but, says Marcus Chown, physics still has huge mysteries left to unravel.

[  
If women ruled the world](/articles/5261/if-women-ruled-the-world)

The Mosuo, a culturally isolated community in south-western China, are as close as we can get to a matriarchal society. Angela Saini explores.

*[  
Read our top 10 culture pieces](/articles/5270/best-of-2017-culture)*

*[Read our top 10 interviews and columns](/articles/5271/best-of-2017-interviews-and-columns)*