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Free speech Salman Rushdie had to back out of attending the 2012 Jaipur Literature Festival because of an assassination threat against him. The lack of support for Rushdie shows that the defense of free speech is no longer seen as an irrevocable duty, writes Kena Malik. [ more ]
Europe's narrative bias
European narratives Democracy, humanism and diversity have little to do with a "European inheritance". Yet EU cultural policy instrumentalizes cultural heritage to promote common identity. This narrative bias needs to be challenged, says Erik Hammar.
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a look into the latest issues
The organized upperworld
Journals digest "Osteuropa" analyses Hungarian politics in upheaval; the "Dublin Review of Books" says together, small EU-states are strong; "Reset" asks Napolitano what Einaudi would have done; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) goes deep into debt; "dérive" inspects the foundations of Red Vienna; "Esprit" says home-owning is not the solution to the French housing crisis; and "Studija" urges western art critics to get past Cold War clichés. [ more ]
Towards an illiberal democracy
Hungary's new constitution
Hungary Hungary's new constitution contradicts European standards on numerous counts: it sets in stone government policy; it is biased towards "ethnic" Hungarians; and it undermines the independence of regulatory institutions including the constitutional court and media. [ more ]
The decline of democracy -- the rise of dictatorship
An appeal
Hungary In a "New Year's appeal", thirteen intellectuals and public figures who opposed Hungary's communist regime in the 1970s outline their concerns about Hungary's new constitution and call on Europe to help halt a slide towards a new dictatorship. [ more ]
Get smart
Ireland and the euro crisis
Ireland Ireland, like other small EU member-states, must be especially smart in responding to the euro crisis, since it does not command the resources that better enable larger states to protect their interests. How coherent has the Irish approach been so far and are the alternatives more convincing? [ more ]
New Eurozine Associate: Dublin Review of Books
network news The "Dublin Review of Books" has joined the Eurozine network. A free online journal of ideas, the DRB publishes review-essays on Irish questions as well as issues of Europe's literary and cultural heritage and the future of its institutions and forms of government. [ more ]
Drawing borders within borders
Sexual politics Abortion is still illegal in a number of EU countries and LGBT people are publicly harassed. The conservatives of Europe favour policies that limit sexual and reproductive freedom. What are progressives doing about this? asks Anna Hellgren. [ more ]
In God they trust
US primaries Religion isn't the most important factor in the Republican primaries, but it's always there. Abby Ohlheiser explains the religious calculus in Republican politics and why the "Mormon question" might turn out to be Mitt Romney's undoing. [ more ]
Plucked strings
"Söndörgö" and the lost music of the Balkans
Music Hungarian South Slav folk band Söndörgö's "delicate, transparent" sound derives from the tambura, a mandolin-like instrument that is plucked and strummed, and is very different to the elegiac music of Transylvanian folk, writes Simon Broughton. [ more ]
Repercussions
Historical perspectives on the Arab revolutions
arab revolutions The discontent fuelling the Arab revolutions has its roots in a western politics of divide and rule, argues Gérard Khoury. Will democratically elected Arab leaders break with the past, or will new repressive regimes emerge sustained by western complicity? [ more ]
But the foundations stand firm
Norway After the massacre on Utřya on 22 July 2011, Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg assumed the role as "comforter of the nation". He describes the thinking behind the wording of his statements and sees in their positive reception a "renaissance of the public address". [ more ]
Broken Europe?
More justice through more Europe
An interview with Ulrich Beck
Cosmopolitan Europe While discrepancies between EU member states can be overlooked during win-win periods of growth, recession triggers xenophobic and anti-European reactions in both rich and poor countries. In interview, Ulrich Beck explains how inequality leaves the Union susceptible to decay. Building on the sense of a common European destiny engendered by the crisis, how can Europe be communicated as an opportunity for more power rather than a threat to national sovereignty? [ more ]
Where were you when Europe fell apart?
Broken Europe Too many Europeans have too long avoided the question of Europe, says Swedish writer Per Wirtén. To prevent the EU from turning into a "post-democratic regime of bureaucrats", intellectuals need to stop mumbling and take the fear of Europe seriously. [ more ]
Whose Europe?
broken Europe? The euro will be brought down by a European Tea Party-type movement, predicts Björn Elmbrant. But the EU has a role to play beyond the euro. Instead of a neoliberal politics of austerity we need a Marshall plan for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. [ more ]
Structural funds and crocodile tears
Why the EU must share the blame for the Greek crisis
Greece Misdirected EU aid in Greece has fostered political clientelism, writes Iannis Carras. Instead of learning from mistakes, current EU/IMF policy favours construction and privatization of state land. Quite apart from the environmental risks, this is counterproductive in economic terms. [ more ]
Greece: The history behind the collapse
Greece Greece's economic crisis has its roots in a political pact dating back to the foundation of the modern state, writes Georges Prévélakis. The threat posed to Europe by the Greek breakdown is less contagion than a wave of anti-western feeling that could exacerbate geopolitical instabilities. [ more ]
Responsibility for Europe: A relative concept
On French-German tensions during the euro crisis
political culture French-German leadership during the crisis has been fraught with tension. It's not so much that Germany is abandoning its responsibilities, more a case of differences in political culture. While Germany may seem dilatory, French resolve forfeits democratic deliberation. [ more ]
Stable instabilities
Capitalism in historical perspective
euro crisis It's not capitalism that has come to an end but a mode of politics that seeks to guarantee market stability, argues Werner Plumpe. The crisis must be allowed to serve its cyclical function, the state limiting itself to compensating for the social consequences of economic transformation. [ more ]
Read also "Managed" v "market capitalism" by Stewart Lansley
Read also All articles in the focal point The EU: Broken or just broke?
Publicity
Democracy
The de-politicization of politics
Democracy The challenge for a liberal democracy is to remain as such, argues Charles Taylor in conversation with Slawomir Sierakowski. Western democracies suffer two types of deterioration: a misperception of really existing problems and a lack of vital tension between the demos and the government. [ more ]
A thousand people for democracy
democracy The G1000 was a citizens' summit held in Brussels on 11 November 2011, based on the idea that Belgium's recent political crisis was not only a national crisis, but a wider crisis for democracy. A participant describes the proceedings and evaluates the results. [ more ]
G1000 Manifesto
democracy If the politicians can't find a solution, let the citizens. On 11 November 2011, one thousand Belgian citizens will be brought together to discuss the future of their country. Eurozine publishes the manifesto of a pathbreaking experiment in deliberative democracy. [ more ]
Sea and sun for Europe
A new project for the next generation
democracy Democratic upsurge in North Africa can combine with the energy revolution to revive the European project. Two-way developmental traffic across the Mediterranean would leave new generations in both North and South with fair chances of a good life. [English version added] [ more ]
Publicity
Literature
Even nameless horrors must be named
Essay It is high time to lift the aesthetic state of emergency that has surrounded witness literature for so long, writes Steve Sem-Sandberg. It is not important who writes, nor even what their motives are. What counts is the "literary efficiency". [ more ]
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