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Who are we? Where are we?
National identity and mental geography
cultural politics Over the last thousand years, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have had multiple identities and been members of several empires. Now, writes the President of Estonia, "we should be looking to create identities that go beyond those that history has foisted upon us". [ more ]
The first man
On the North, literature and colonialism
literary criticism Nordic countries might not have a "classical" colonial past, writes Stefan Jonsson, yet a "northern colonialism" does exist. Any understanding of it must start with Nordic culture's view of nature and the myth of the "first man". [ more ]
European histories
Eurozine conference Vilnius 2009 Under the heading "European histories", the 22nd European Meeting of Cultural Journals explored the role of history and memory in forming new identities in a Europe in change. Read the first of the texts here, including the welcoming address and closing speech, the panel "Dilemma '89", and Timothy Snyder's remarkable keynote speech. [more]
Holocaust: The ignored reality
European histories Auschwitz and the Gulag are generally taken to be adequate or even final symbols of the evil of mass slaughter. But they are only the beginning of knowledge, a hint of the the true reckoning with the past still to come, writes historian Timothy Snyder.
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Still not free
Why post-'89 history must go beyond self-diagnosis
Dilemma '89 The dissident generation of the 1970s and 1980s produced a body of work unprecedented in Czech history. Yet its monumentality stands in the way of an uncompromised interpretation of the communist past, argues Martin Simecka. [Lithuanian version added] [ more ]
European histories, Romanian fairytales
The Securitate archives and the public debate that never was
Dilemma '89 In Romania, the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives has been rendered toothless, while former communist functionaries, in new democratic guise, still purport to be protecting "national interest". [ more ]
A look into the latest issues
So what's our problem?
Journals digest "Hungarian Quarterly" divines the future of the forint; "Index on Censorship" gives libel law a bad press; "Samtiden" doubts whether Norwegian police women are any freer with the hijab; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Berlin) applies the belt to Europe's cordon sanitaire; "Mittelweg 36" sees solidarity outgrow the nation; "Roots" says yes to Europe, but not at any cost; "Kulturos barai" does not dismiss the idea of a new Lithuanian Grand Duchy; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) calls the European elections a farce; "Rili" wants to keep the market out of universities; and "Fronesis" explains what 2°C means in an expertocracy. [ more ]
In God's name
free speech A new UN proposal condemning "defamation of religion" cements oppressive governments' control of free speech while still sounding compatible with the advanced multiculturalism of liberal democracies, writes Miklós Haraszti. [ more ]
Hungarian bubbles
Financial crisis Despite the horror-stories, Hungary's budget deficit at 3 per cent of GDP and its public debt at just above 70 per cent do not fare too badly in a global comparison. "So what's our problem?", asks Zoltán Farkas. [ more ]
From nation-building to market-building
European integration Georg Simmel's concept of "society as unity of the diversity of forms and degrees of sociality" opens up a non-national perspective on society. What is the structure of the sociality of the EU and what are the social forms that allow for a self-stabilization of this system? [ more ]
Myths of migration
Fortress Europe Although the EU cannot keep people from sticking to their West African traditions of mobility, EU member-states apply every possible means to achieve their aim: to prevent Africans from entering the EU, writes Charlotte Wiedemann. [ more ]
Ralf Dahrendorf 1 May 1929 - 17 June 2009
Lord Dahrendorf Ralf Dahrendorf, sociologist, philosopher and politician, was a pillar of liberalism throughout the second half of the twentieth century. On 17 June, Dahrendorf passed away in Cologne. Only in May, he published in Merkur an article calling for a return to a "responsible capitalism".
After the crisis, back to a Protestant ethic?
financial crisis "After the financial crisis, back to a Protestant ethic?" Rather not, says Ralf Dahrendorf, but still: the reduced circumstances in which developed countries are finding themselves call for a return to a responsible, parsimonious capitalism.
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Habermas at eighty
Cosmopolitanism and democracy
From Kant to Habermas
social philosophy Justice within and justice beyond borders is increasingly interconnected, writes Seyla Benhabib. In the cosmopolitanism of Jürgen Habermas, who turns eighty on 18 June, "the will to include the Other, regardless of national origin, has been present from the start". [ more ]
The dialectic of secularization
cultural diversity The opposition between "multiculturalism" and "Enlightenment fundamentalism" is misconceived, argues Jürgen Habermas. "The universalist claim of the political Enlightenment does not contradict the particularist sensibilities of a correctly understood multiculturalism." [ more ]
Eurozine news item: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik celebrates Jürgen Habermas' eightieth birthday on 18 June with an issue dedicated to the influential social philosopher. With contributions from Seyla Benhabib, Axel Honneth, Oskar Negt, Claus Offe, Albrecht Wellmer and others. [ more ]
behind the headlines: Iran
Ideas whose time has come
A conversation with Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo
from the archives "For me as an Iranian philosopher, thinking differently is a form of going beyond the challenges of my daily life in Iran. It's an opening up to the world which goes hand in hand with the act of being free." [ more ]
The Left treading on the Right
debate "The Left is impudent, cheeky," writes Romanian philosopher Andrei Plesu in "Dilema veche". "It hides the Gulag behind a veil of 'historical necessity'." A provocative statement that has prompted a response from the Hungarian political scientist G.M. Tamás.
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"I am not a woman writer"
About women, literature and feminist theory today
feminist theory In the 1970s and 1980s, many women found the female in literature inspiring; but then Nathalie Sarraute snarled in an interview: "When I write I am neither man nor woman nor dog nor cat." Toril Moi finds that since then the discussion has gone nowhere. [ more ]
Homecoming 2009
national myths "Whether you're a Scot, of Scottish descent, or simply love Scotland", Homecoming 2009 is for you. Yet scotophiles should make no mistake: the reinvented Highland culture that emerged in the 19th century was but a "tame accessory to British unionism".
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I always try to be an optimist
Interview with A. B. Yehoshua
interview "Host" talks to Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, a Zionist but also an uncompromising critic of Israeli policy who advocates the return of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians: "History has taught us that everything is possible." [ more ]
Neurocapitalism
science Neuroscience is the leading science of the twenty-first century, write Hennric Jokeit and Ewa Hess: "The basis of this claim is the maxim that all human behaviour is determined by the principles of the activities of neurons and the way they are organized in the brain." [ more ]
20 years Tiananmen
China through Zhuangzi's third eye
Twenty years after Tiananmen, the country is both different and same
20 years Tiananmen In the twenty years since Tiananmen, China has risen from the ashes by engaging with the West economically and by manufacturing domestic, "patriotic" consent. But as the economic crisis deepens, will the "rising dragon" continue to be immune to history? [ more ]
"The personality cult must be ended now!"
Paint-bombs at Tiananmen Square
20 years Tiananmen The outcome of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in June 1989 is well known. Less so is the fate of the three young men who threw paint bombs at the portrait of Mao Tse-tung adorning the gate to the Forbidden City. Wolfgang Kraushaar chronicles the events of twenty years ago. [ more ]
Read also: Martin Hala, "From 'big character posters' to blogs. Facets of independent self-expression in China"; He Quinglian, "Seeds of resistance"; Nick Holdstock, "The city at the empire's edge".
Background: European elections
Social Europe: A long march?
European elections If social redistribution at European level should stand a chance, politicians must see beyond the purely national interests of their voters. Yet it is pointless to try to impose a European system for social protection until European citizens feel that they form part of the same community. [ more ]
Who are the citizens of Europe?
European elections Current citizenship laws in the European Union vary dramatically. The tension between freedom of movement and national legislation on citizenship has the potential to create serious conflicts, writes Rainer Bauböck. [ more ]
Read also: Stig Saeterbakken, "My heart belongs to Europe, therefore it is broken" and Marco Pautasso, "Ich wäre gerne European"
The ends of censorship
Free speech As one type of censorship comes to an end, a new one is in the making, writes cultural theorist Dave Boothroyd. The power wielded by corporations such as Network Solutions or YouTube produces a new form of subjectivity characterized by self-censorship. [ more ]
Lucky that Silvio exists!
Italian society's soft spot for Berlusconi
Italy "If I've been interested in political life of late, it's in order to go on working as a businessman," said Silvio Berlusconi in 1993. Since then, his motivations haven't changed, writes Jan Koneffke. Why don't the majority of Italians take offence at a politician who disregards democratic rules? [ more ]
New eurozine focal point
Media landscapes: Central and eastern Europe
In focus Those in central and eastern Europe who in 1989 saw the media as the handmaiden of democracy have today become targets for new and subtler forms of censorship. A Eurozine focal point guest-edited by Judith Vidal-Hall illustrates how media autonomy in Europe's "newer democracies" is being inhibited by market forces, continuing political intervention and, in some countries, the influence of organized crime. [ more ]
A shifting media landscape
An interview with Miklós Haraszti
interview On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Miklós Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, speaks to Judith Vidal-Hall about the shifting media landscape in the post-communist countries of central and eastern Europe. [ more ]
Read also: All articles in the focal point Media landscapes: Central and eastern Europe
Correspondence
Correspondence 1966-1971
Correspondence "The entire population will next year have to put up with much 'sacrifice', in other words greater exploitation. 'Unfortunately', it is unlikely that a 'revolution' in the 'vulgar materialist' sense will be the result, but rather a protracted process of crisis". Rudi Dutschke to Gábor Révai, 1966. [ more ]
Dutschke's Hungarian friend
Gábor Révai in interview
Interview "I don't think that Dutschke would have become a politician. I can't imagine him as diplomat with a suit and tie, like Joschka Fischer". Gábor Révai, in the 1960s a young socialist in Hungary, on his former friend and father figure Rudi Dutschke. [ more ]
debate
Debating denial
Controversy The publication of Slavenka Drakulic's Eurozine essay "Why I have not returned to Belgrade" in the Serbian newspaper "Politika" has triggered a debate on Serbia's responsibility for the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Eurozine has translated several of the comments to Drakulic's article by Serbian intellectuals and artists, including Ljuba Popovic, Uros Djuric, Milena Bogavac, Danica Vucenic, Natasha Markovic and Mirjana Miocinovic. In a concluding summary of the debate, Drakulic notes that opening up the topic of accountability for the the war crimes committed in former Yugoslavia is important for Serbian society. "Many citizens of both Serbia and Croatia seem to believe that if they all just shut up for long enough, the problem will disappear. But it won't." [ more ]
behind the headlines
Legal nihilism in action
The Yukos-Khodorkovsky trial in Moscow
Khodorkovsky trial The new trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky will be an indicator of the seriousness of Dmitri Medvedev's stated intentions to clamp down on legal nihilism in Russia. Otto Luchterhandt provides a step-by-step account of the farce that led up to Khodorkovsky's conviction.
[ more ]
Read also: Boris Dubin, Lev Gudkov, The oligarch as public enemy (de)
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Darwin at 200
Dinner with Darwin
Darwin at 200 On the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of "The Origin of Species", "New Humanist" editor Caspar Melville asks a selection of scientific commentators what they'd like to say to Darwin around the supper table. [Romanian version added] [ more ]
Western front
creationism The Council of Europe recently issued a resolution warning against the rise of creationism, based on a report that documented not only the existence of a strong Christian creationist lobby in Europe, but also the rise of Muslim creationism. Peter C. Kjćrgaard reports. [ more ]
Intelligent design and the assault on science
intelligent design Biochemist Juli Peretó delivers a rebuke to the fallacies and dishonesties of the theory of intelligent design and examines the ambiguous attitude of the Catholic Church towards creationism. [ more ]
Read also: David Attenborough, the great popularizer of evolutionary biology, in conversation with Laurie Taylor.
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Gallery for Cultural Journals at the Alte Schmiede, Vienna
news item Cultural journals have always been a central part of the programme at the Alte Schmiede (Old Smithy) in Vienna. Now, a broad selection of Austrian and European cultural journals, among them numerous Eurozine partner journals, can be read in their Gallery for Cultural Journals that opened on 11 February at Schönlaterngasse 7 in Vienna. [ more ]
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In Focus
Shared space, divided society
Focal point: Cultural diversity Migration is part of modern society, meaning more and more people of different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds live together in Europe. The multitude of perspectives and experiences represents an enormous resource, but as cultural conflicts inherent in today's urban societies become visible, doubts are also raised about the value of diversity. In cooperation with the European Cultural Foundation, Eurozine presents a broad take on the issue that goes beyond the common dichotomy between multicultural segregation and the forceful assimilation of the "melting pot".
[ more ]
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