Barnaby Raine

{{Short description|English historian and writer (born 1995)}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Barnaby_Raine_on_Islam_Channel_interview_2024-01-19.png

| caption = Raine in 2024

| birth_name =

| birth_date = May 1995

| birth_place = Hammersmith, London, England

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

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| occupation =

| years_active = 2010–present

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Barnaby Raine (born May 1995) is an English historian and activist. He is known for his left-wing and anti-imperialist political commentary. In recent years he has become known for speaking out in favor of the Palestinian people. Raine was raised in London's Jewish community.{{cite news |last1=Mandhai |first1=Shafik |title=What Balfour means to Jewish critics of Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/2/what-balfour-means-to-jewish-critics-of-israel |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=2 November 2017 |language=en}}

Early life and education

Raine grew up in North London in a family described as 'committed Zionists'.{{cite news |last1=Mandhai |first1=Shafik |title=What Balfour means to Jewish critics of Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/2/what-balfour-means-to-jewish-critics-of-israel |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=2 November 2017 |language=en}} His mother is now an academic specialising in health care inequalities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/school-life-medical-sciences/rosalind-raine|title=Rosalind Raine - UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences|website=UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences|accessdate=4 June 2024}} His father was an executive for the payday lender Wonga.com.{{cite news |title=The Londoner: Jeremy Corbyn collects a curious clique |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/the-londoner-jeremy-corbyn-collects-a-curious-clique-a3907406.html |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=Evening Standard |date=9 August 2018 |language=en }}

Raine attended Westminster School in central London.{{Cite web|url=https://ericellis.com/the-global-mai/|title=LONDON: Starbucks, Star Pupils and Protest|website=Eric Ellis|date=5 February 2012|accessdate=24 December 2022}} He subsequently studied at Wadham College, Oxford and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics in 2016.{{Cite journal|url=https://oxfordleftreview.com/barnaby-raine-tolerance-and-liberalism-the-politics-of-permission/|title=Barnaby Raine: Tolerance and Liberalism: The Politics of Permission|journal=The Oxford Left Review|first=Barnaby|last=Raine|date=7 December 2013 |accessdate=26 October 2023}} In his final year at Oxford, Raine sat on the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Students (NUS).{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/right-offend|title=Should there be a right to offend on campus?|website=Times Higher Education|first=Matthew|last=Reisz|date=17 February 2016|accessdate=26 October 2023}}

After graduating from Oxford, Raine went on to complete a Master of Arts in History at Columbia University, New York, in 2018 and is currently writing his PhD at the same institution on "the decline of thinking about the end of capitalism". He was awarded a 2020 International Dissertation Research Fellowship by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC).{{Cite web|url=https://www.ssrc.org/fellows/c378695b-238b-ea11-a811-000d3a591fb8/|title=Fellows & Grantees: Barnaby Raine|website=Social Science Research Council|accessdate=26 October 2023}}

Career

Raine became a teacher at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/people/barnaby-raine/|title=Barnaby Raine|website=Brooklyn Institute for Social Research|accessdate=26 October 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.musingmind.org/podcasts/barnaby-raine|title=Capitalism and the Self with Barnaby Raine|website=Music Mind|author=Oshan Jarrow|date=7 December 2020|accessdate=26 October 2023}} In 2023, Raine became a member of the editorial team of Salvage, a subscription-based journal of 'revolutionary arts and letters'{{Cite web|url=https://salvage.zone/about-2/|title=About|website=Salvage|accessdate=26 October 2023}} and had previously contributed to publications such as The Guardian,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/12/ilhan-omar-us-israel-policy-lobbying|title=Ilhan Omar should be more radical about Israel, not less|work=The Guardian|first=Barnaby|last=Raine|date=2019-02-12|access-date=2024-02-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Jacobin,{{Cite web|url=https://jacobin.com/2021/03/lenin-imperialism-anti-colonialism-empire|title=The Anti-Colonial Revolt Was Key to Lenin's Vision of Revolution|website=Jacobin|first=Barnaby|last=Raine|access-date=2024-02-05|language=en-US}} n+1, Vashti Media, Red Pepper, New Internationalist, RealClearPolitics, Socialist Worker, and Politics/Letters.{{Cite web|url=https://muckrack.com/barnaby-raine/articles|title=Barnaby Raine|website=MuckRack|date=18 November 2021 |accessdate=24 December 2022}}{{Cite journal|url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/04/78-war-and-inter-imperialism-w-barnaby-raine|title=A World to Win 78. War and Inter-Imperialism w/ Barnaby Raine|journal=Tribune|first=Grace|last=Blakeley|date=27 April 2022|accessdate=26 October 2023}} He often makes appearances on Novara Media's news livestreams on YouTube, and has occasionally guest-hosted the content.{{Cite web|url=https://anticapitalistresistance.org/the-patel-police-state/|title=The Patel Police State|website=ACR|first=Rowan|last=Fortune|date=30 November 2021|accessdate=26 October 2023}} In 2023, Raine participated in The World Transformed{{Cite web|url=https://theworldtransformed.org/twt23/programme/anti-imperialism-in-the-21st-century/|title=Anti-imperialism in the 21st century|website=TWT23|date=10 August 2023|accessdate=26 October 2023}} as well as a Symposium on the Frankfurt School at the Goethe Institut.{{Cite web|url=https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/blog/100-years-later-the-frankfurt-school-and-the-now-symposium-schedule-and-participants/|title=100 Years Later: the Frankfurt School and the Now — Symposium Schedule and Participants|website=The Brooklyn Institute|date=22 June 2023|accessdate=26 October 2023}}

Activism

Raine became interested in politics and activism at a young age. He gained media attention following a 2011 speech protesting the planned increase in university tuition fees.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/class-action-the-new-faces-of-student-protest-2216720.html|title=Class action: The new faces of student protest|journal=The Independent|first=Matthew|last=Bell|date=20 February 2011|accessdate=26 October 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.anorak.co.uk/267965/politicians/barnaby-raine-makes-sense-of-the-police-media-and-the-student-fees-protest.html|title=Barnaby Raine Makes Sense Of The Police, Media, And The Student Fees Protest|website=Anorak|date=12 December 2010|accessdate=26 October 2023}} He also took part in the Coalition of Resistance, Occupy London and anti-war in Afghanistan protests, and volunteered with Stop the War Coalition and Liberty.{{cite web |title=Jewish Historian Barnaby Raine on Zionism, Gaza and Liberation (interview, podcast) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCdBQQIS3GY |website=YouTube | date=19 January 2024 |publisher=Islam Channel |access-date=25 January 2024 |language=en}} In a 2011 interview with DeWereldMorgen, he acknowledged his privileged background, and said he wanted to use his privilege to speak on behalf of those in society who "have no voice".{{Cite journal|url=https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2011/04/12/barnaby-raine-de-mozart-van-de-speech/|title=Barnaby Raine, de Mozart van de speech|journal=DeWereldMorgen|date=12 April 2011|lang=nl}}

In 2014, while at Oxford, Raine led a boycott of the Oxford Union in light of allegations made against its then president Ben Sullivan.{{Cite journal|url=https://thetab.com/uk/oxford/2014/05/28/rival-union-organised-by-boycottting-students-17039|title='Rival Union' organised by boycotting students|journal=The Tab|first=Siobhan|last=Fenton|date=28 May 2014|accessdate=26 October 2023}} He also protested against Marine Le Pen's visit in 2015.{{Cite journal|url=https://theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/05/marine-le-pen-front-national-oxford-union-university-speech-delayed-protesters|title=Marine Le Pen's Oxford university speech delayed by protesters|journal=The Guardian|first1=Jon|last1=Henley|first2=Areeb|last2=Ullah|date=5 February 2015|accessdate=26 October 2023}}

In a 2017 interview with Al Jazeera, Raine described himself as a "firm anti-Zionist", and called Israel "instilling [oppression] with gruesome violence" a "betrayal" of Jewish values, which he believed to be "mending the world" and standing "at the forefront of struggles against oppression and exploitation".{{Cite journal|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/2/what-balfour-means-to-jewish-critics-of-israel|title=What Balfour means to Jewish critics of Israel|journal=Al Jazeera|first=Shafik|last=Mandhai|date=2 November 2017|accessdate=26 October 2023}}

References