Victor Tsilonis
The identity of the virtual rebel
In the Facebook era, a new class of people is emerging and multiplies rapidly: the virtual rebels. The virtual rebel is 20-40 years old, overeducated in relation to his intelligence (i.e. his qualifications are more or greater that his IQ) and has at least one PC. However, while the virtual revolution continues, in the real world nothing really changes. Why is this happening?

Pantelis Radisis, Giorgos Grollios, Grigoris Gerotziafas
Freedom and justice now
Radisis, Grollios and Gerotziafas present in a particularly militant way the economic situation of the state and warns of the coming dangers of the Memorandum. They perceive the current predicament in terms of economic occupation and transition of sovereignty to the Troika. They suggest a "default" and a series of other radical measures which implementation is likely to prevent the consequences of a harsh bankruptcy.

Athina Avgitidou
Strategies of verbal administration of the economic crisis
The social dissatisfaction and political impasses generated by economic crisis provide a compelling motivation for the scientific consideration of the latter. Athina Avgitidou focuses on the analysis of the discourse that has been generated in view of the economic crisis of 2008. Through the construction of four distinct research categories of the verbal administration and conceptualization of the crisis, Avgitidou concludes that while the ideology of the free market is weakened, it ultimately emerges as the sole possible alternative economic order.

Alexis Kazantzidis
Health as a stock market lottery
Alexis Kazantzidis delivers a critical comment on the issue of the smoking ban. He sees it as a contrast between smokers and non-smokers in a sociological sense, perceiving it as a separate aspect of the dipole "civilized vs. uncivilized". Accepting the assumption that characterizations and partition walls captivate people in immutable identities, Kazantzidis claims that the new anti-smoking campaign is self-refutable because it creates its own antibodies against it.

Eleni Laloumi
The crisis of crises
Eleni Laloumi's story describes in imaginary terms the circumstances under which the economic crisis was born and its characteristics. She attributes the responsibilities for the crisis-crises to greed and excessive ambition of certain people and characterizes the rest as "convenient bears", obedient and with no trace of revolutionary consciousness.

Irit Ballas
The lack of investigation and punishment of torture in Israel
Irit Ballas examines the torture of Palestinians in Israel over the past few years, presenting the findings of the research conducted by the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI). Hundreds of complaints have been submitted during the last five years against Israel's General Security Service, widely known as Shin Bet, emphasizing the lack of punishment of those accused of torture. Finally, Ballas demonstrates the consensus – if not encouragement – of Israel law enforcement authorities in torture used in the interrogation rooms of Shin Bet. (Translated to Greek by Athena Avgitidou and Nancy Rapti)

William Schabas, Victor Tsilonis
International protection of human rights and politics: an inescapable reality (an interview with William Schabas by Victor Tsilonis)
The renowned professor of international criminal law and director of the Irish Centre of Human Rights at the National University of Ireland (Galway), William Schabas, discusses inter alia about the invasion of the Israel forces in the Gaza strip, racism in Europe, death penalty, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and international criminal law in general, as well as the inescapable relation of human rights and international politics. (Translated to Greek by Nancy Rapti)

Vasiliki Tsakiri
The importance of envy and resentment in the thoughts of Kierkegaard
Vasiliki Tsakiri explores the importance of envy and resentment in the development of Kierkegaard's critique of modernity and the kind of man it reared. Specifically, in the context of Kierkegaard's thought, envy and resentment are demonstrated as dominant – albeit latent – features of modern moral systems and institutions, and rationality itself as a cognitive theoretical system. Kierkegaard's critique of the public sphere and modern subject, which foreshadows some of Heidegger's best known views (on "dictatorship of publicity", "unoriginality" etc), and the demonstration of similarities and differences with Nietzsche's considerations and specifically with the latter's theory of "herd morality" are particularly emphasized. It is particularly important to demonstrate the inability to subsume the primordial moral experience under universal regulative contexts, a view which also has its problems. Kierkegaard's elaboration of the so called "second ethics" is examined under the light of its opposition to Kantian ethics and the philosopher's attempt to combine the original moral sphere with the original or "internal" development of the subject. Therefore it is argued that, despite a certain degree of one-sidedness in Kierkegaard's views – and Nietzsche's secondly – his critique of the logical foundations of moral systems can also be creative in that, highlighting the limits of regulative moral ventures, it leads to the reconfiguration of our views on morality and the subject itself.

Sotiris Gakos
Utopia
Sotiris Gakos introduces the concept of utopia through the works of thinkers such as Thomas More, Lewis Mumford and Karl Mannheim. He raises the question whether utopia is necessary nowadays and responds positively: "since subversion, which is utopia's main feature, is what is missing from society; a mood subversion, a subversion of crisis and peoples' unpleasant psychology".

Elisavet Grigoriadou
Woman outside a window
Elisavet Grigoriadou's short story describes the role that loss and love play in the life of a seemingly coherent man.

Aggeliki Kitrini
Strike
Aggeliki Kitrini's short story outlines a day in the life of a girl from the morning when she gets on a bus until the evening when she returns back home. It raises concerns about the psychology of people around us, youth, city image and our procrastinations.

Chantel L. Tattoli
The anthropology of the little mermaid
From the standpoint of anthropology Chantel L. Tattoli examines the continuous phenomenon of vandalism against the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen over the last forty years. Particular reference is made to more recent acts of vandalism which aimed to highlight the issue of the "Islamization of Europe" according to certain people. (Translated to Greek by Athena Avgitidou)

Dionysis Granas
Banning the burqa: brutal elimination of a person or a violation of fundamental rights?
With the ban on the use of the burqa in France as his starting point, Dionysis Granas examines whether laws such as this respect religious freedom and freedom of expression, which indeed constitute undeniable achievements of the western culture of enlightenment and rights.

Haris Peitsinis
Blowing up the silence with a keyboard: the case of Julian Assange
Julian Assange of Wikileaks caused alarm to governments worldwide when revealing a seemingly endless series of classified documents and records of American government agencies. Moreover, his name features on Interpol's list of wanted criminals next to the names of serial killers, terrorists and kidnappers: Assange was wanted as a suspect of rape and recently arrested, but the British courts released him on bail of two hundred thousand pounds (£ 200 000) until his extradition (or not) to Sweden.

Published 2011-10-18