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How to defend the Enlightenment
philosophy "To say that reason is only desiccating and too dry is a dangerous caricature. No less dangerous is to eliminate the place for arts, for myth, which is a different kind of knowledge of the world." Tzvetan Todorov in conversation with AC Grayling about his new book, "In Defence of the Enlightenment". [ more ]
The structure and silence of the cognitariat
universities Only a small "creative class" achieves the freedom stereotypically attributed to knowledge workers, writes Christopher Newfield. Increasingly, recipients of higher education are prepared for working life in a knowledge economy where independence has been eroded. [ more ]
Banking regulation? Malfunction!
financial crisis The few regulatory measures introduced since the financial collapse are being supervised by the same banking sector that caused it in the first place, writes Lucas Zeise. Governments' delegation of regulatory responsibilities has deeply negative implications for democracy. [ more ]
The defender of contingency
An interview with Ernesto Laclau
political science Ernesto Laclau talks to the Greek journal "Intellectum" about the uses of populism, why radical democracy has nothing to do with liberalism, and how lack of political competition benefits the far-Right. [ more ]
Lessons learned and open questions
Welfare state building in post-communist EU member states
welfare states The dissatisfaction expressed by the many not to have benefited from transition suggests post-commmunist welfare states have a long way to go before they attain western levels of credibility. Their democracies depend on that gap being bridged, argues Claus Offe. [ more ]
The ecological imperative
climate Reductions in greenhouse gases demand major economic and political changes. Dominique Bourg writes that we must abandon our obsessively humanist ideology if we wish to preserve humanity itself. This is an ecological imperative in its true, moral sense. [ more ]
Anger as the ship goes down
financial crisis Obama's proposed banking reforms are likely to face insurmountable opposition from Congress, where lobby interests have become all-powerful. Worse still, writes George Blecher, the proposals themselves don't go far enough. [ more ]
a look into the latest issues
Erring on the side of secrecy
Journals digest "Index on Censorship" covers another chapter of the fruitless cartoon debate; "Glänta" pays attention to nature; "RiLi" picks over the debris of aviation's dreams; "Multitudes" calls on cognitarians of all lands; "L'Homme" misses women's lib in the 68 anniversary; "Edinburgh Review" takes Kafka's Prague down from the top shelf; "NZ" says Russian readers never had it so good as during Glasnost; "Osteuropa" doubts there's anything left in the pan-Slavic idea; "Mehr Licht" appeals to philosophy's transformative potential; and "Vikerkaar" uncovers the ancient origins of the telenovela. [ more ]
See no evil
cartoon controversy "They have turned my book into another chapter of this fruitless debate." Jytte Klausen talks to "Index on Censorship" about the controversial decision of Yale University Press to publish her book on the Danish cartoon crisis without reproductions of the cartoons themselves. [ more ]
Repression's capital, Europe's canary
literary history Kafka's home city has a lot to hide, writes James Hawes. The Czech capital's architectural debt to greater Germany; its authoritarian past and history of anti-Semitism; even its most famous son's penchant for pornography – these unwelcome truths are bad for business. [ more ]
Swiss self-defeatism
Islam in Europe The Swiss vote to ban minarets has less to do with a "populist factor" inherent in referenda than with resentment at high-level corruption and the fear of social declassification. Celebrated by rightwing parties across Europe, the vote augurs more Islam-baiting to come. [ more ]
The meaning of network culture
media theory As digital computing meshes with mobile networking technology, society is undergoing a cultural shift.
Whereas in postmodernism, being was left in a fabric of emotional intensities, today the self is affirmed through the net. What does this mean for the democratic public sphere? [ more ]
Kigali's ambassador-at-large
How Philip Gourevitch wrote the victors' history book
rwanda With his book about the Rwandan genocide, Philip Gourevitch has perhaps more than anyone influenced the way the conflict is viewed in the US and Europe. But his view is clouded by over-simplifications and a glorified view of the Kagame government, writes Felix Holmgren. [ more ]
The forgotten slaughter
An interview with Marie Béatrice Umutesi
rwanda Two years after the Rwandan genocide, refugees living in camps in Zaire were systematically slaughtered – an event the rest of the world has chosen to forget. The international community first betrayed the Tutsis, then the Hutus, says former refugee Marie Béatrice Umutesi. [ more ]
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Literary perspectives: Lithuania
Almost normal
literature The literary field in Lithuania has established itself since independence, despite vastly smaller print runs. Today, a range of literary approaches can be made out, from the social criticism of the middle generation to the more private narratives of the post-Soviet writers. [ more ]
Read also: Andreas Harbsmeier's account of The contemporary literary reservation in Denmark.
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Climate of change? Debating the politics of global warming
focal point The failure of the Copenhagen climate summit has deepened doubts about the effectiveness of the multilateral approach towards reducing C02 emissions. More than ever, the declaration of commitment to sustainability appears an exercise in societal self-delusion. A Eurozine focal point debates the politics of global warming. [ more ]
The media and climate change
climate The entry of climate change into the media mainstream, welcome as it is, nevertheless brings new problems. Journalists, campaigners and scientists discuss the implications of demand-led reporting and the dangers of focusing on "charismatic megafauna". [ more ]
The climate of history: Four theses
climate Freedom has been the most important motif of accounts of human history since the Enlightenment. Yet, as the climate reaches "tipping point", an awareness is only now emerging of the geological agency human beings gained through processes linked to their acquisition of freedom. [ more ]
Locked into the politics of unsustainability
climate Dominant discourses of sustainability remain firmly within the growth paradigm, reflecting the exhaustion of the critique of consumer capitalism. Any genuine turn towards sustainability requires the redefinition of rights and freedoms widely held to be sacrosanct. [ more ]
Read also: All articles in the focal point Climate of change? Debating the politics of global warming.
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Dilemma 89
focal point Twenty years after 1989, most former communist states in central and eastern Europe are members of the EU. Yet the transition from closed to open societies is far from "complete". Fierce debates rage over lustration and information surfacing from secret police archives, over corruption inherited from communist power structures, and over dominant representations of the communist past. Clearly, 1989 is not only an historic moment of liberation, but also a political and social dilemma for the present day. [ more ]
Places and strata of memory
Approaches to eastern Europe
Dilemma '89 The idea of 1989 as an annus mirabilis is too crude; rather, it was the result of a long incubation period that took a different course in each Eastern Bloc country. Karl Schlögel asks whether it is too soon to start talking of a "common European history". [ more ]
A reluctant and fearful West
1989 and its international context
Dilemma 89 Documents recently released from the Hungarian archives reveal how western leaders, without exception, deferred to the Soviet Union in 1989. The threat of regional chaos meant overwhelming support for preserving the status quo as events unfolded. [ more ]
Gorbachev's go-ahead
András Schweitzer in conversation with Mark Kramer
dilemma '89 With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to accuse the West of reluctance in '89. Yet concerns about a violent crackdown by Moscow were understandable, if ultimately unfounded. [ more ]
Read also: All articles in the focal point Dilemma 89.
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Events
Europe talks to Europe
debate series From Autumn 2009 to Spring 2011, Eurozine organizes a series of high-profile debates in different central and eastern European cities, including Budapest, Bratislava, Brno, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Sofia, Warsaw and Vienna. [ more ]
Read also: Summaries of the first two debates in the Eurozine series "Europe talks to Europe": Dilemma '89. My father was a communist with Martin M. Simecka and László Rajk, and "Breaking the bonds of national mythology" with Danuta Glondys and Arne Ruth.
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