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1968: The year of two springs
East and West Parallels between May '68 and the Prague Spring are largely the result of the simultaneity of the events; in important respects, the political goals of the two movements were antithetical. Nevertheless, central European dissent had a significant impact on the French Left after 1968, argues Jacques Rupnik. [ more ]
From '68 to '89
East and West What is the meaning of '68 almost twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall? In an East-West dialogue placing '68 in a European and global perspective, leading protagonists of events in eastern Europe converse with their western counterparts. [English version added]
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The end of illusions?
Czechoslovakia 1968 and after
1968 The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 caused the Soviet empire to lose its internal logic even for the communist faithful. Yet today, the naivety of the reform communists of the 1960s serves as a pretext for the dismissal of any vision of a better political system, writes Samuel Abrahám. [ more ]
Years of '68
Poland The Western revolutionaries of '68 were often hostile towards supporters of the Warsaw March revolt and indifferent towards the subsequent "anti-Zionist" purges. Yet the events were disastrous for Polish Jews at the time and are still relevant forty years later.
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1968 in Moscow
A beginning
Russia Aleksander Daniel locates the birth of the dissident movement in an appeal broadcasted by western radio on 11 January 1968, protesting against the trial of Aleksander Ginzburg and three other system-critical writers. "To appeal to world public opinion, to the 'enemies', was equivalent to treason, to betrayal of the homeland." [ more ]
How I became a Czech and a Slovak
Ukraine Mykola Riabchuk recalls how the politics of the Prague Spring filtered through to Ukraine until the crackdown on "bourgeois nationalism" five years later; and how, during perestroika, the roles were reversed and he brought banned literature to friends in Czechoslovakia. [ more ]
The misunderstanding of 1968
One of the last interviews with Rudi Dutschke
Prague not Paris Speaking a year before his death, Rudi Dutschke explained the reasons for the German Left's failure to understand what was at stake in Czechoslovakia in 1968. "In retrospect, the great event of '68 in Europe was not Paris, but Prague. But we were unable to see this at the time." [ more ]
Correspondence
The student movement The first-ever publication in "Mittelweg 36" of correspondence between Hannah Arendt and the theology student Hans-Jürgen Benedict, dating back to 1967-68, represents something of a sensation. It offers a precise insight into Arendt's evaluation of the student movement. [ more ]
Read also Wolfgang Kraushaar's informative introduction to the correspondence between Arendt and Benedict: Hannah Arendt and the student movement. (In German.) [ more ]
May '68: a contested history
France Despite the tendency of decennial commemorations to cement the "official version" of May '68, important questions remain unanswered. Chris Reynolds points out some blind spots in the increasingly stereotyped interpretation of the events in France forty years ago. [ more ]
From pacifism to violence and back again
Germany The failure of the German extra-parliamentary opposition to reflect upon its gradual slide towards violence led to the leftwing terrorism of the 1970s, argues Christian Semler. It was only with the ecological movement that pacifism returned to the agenda. [ more ]
Halfway to a half of heaven
Four decades of the new women's movement
Germany In 1968, feminists broke onto the male-dominated German Left with a well-aimed tomato and demands for anti-authoritarian day-care centres. Forty years on, Stefanie Ehmsen reviews German feminism's march through the institutions. [ more ]
Murder in Mexico
Chronicle of a massacre
mexico Sent to Mexico City in 1968 to cover the Olympics, sports journalist Brian Glanville instead found himself reporting on the anti-government demonstrations at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. He recalls how, despite the ensuing massacre, indifference reigned at the Olympic Village.
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The politics of the global movement
global justice In an extract from his new book "Social Movement", Swedish sociologist Magnus Wennerhag argues that the global justice movement differs from the '68 protests in being more political and aimed at international institutions and a globalized democracy. [ more ]
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More focal points
Olympic indifference
The Beijing Olympics 2008 are unusual insofar as not one country has boycotted them. This, despite the fact that the political dimension of the Games has seldom been more controversial. Are we seeing a new kind of "Olympic indifference"? With this in mind, Eurozine compiles articles on sport, politics, and protest. [ more ]
Shared space, divided society
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. [ more ]
Illiberal Europe?
Parliament or the soapbox? Populist politics are enjoying renewed success in Europe, above all in the former socialist countries. Ivan Krastev, G.M.Tamás, Ralf Dahrendorf, Jacques Rupnik and others investigate the rise of "democratic illiberalism". [ more ]
Cultural citizenship
The concept of cultural citizenship responds to the multicultural context of contemporary societies, in which the concern with equality is increasingly being complemented with a concern with difference. Contributors include Gerard Delanty, Axel Honneth, Rainer Bauböck, Ivaylo Ditchev, Charles Taylor, Rada Ivekovic, António Sousa Ribeiro. [ more ]
Decentring Europe
Any reinvention of the concept of Europe that takes into account the complexities inherent in Europe's place in a globalized world must contain a critique of Eurocentrism. Learning from the South, i.e. absorbing the full critical impact of alternative approaches may be a key element in the rethinking and unthinking of "Europe".
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The future of war
Are wars that are fought between nations a thing of the past, and are the future challenges more a case of ethnic strife, break-up of failed states, secession and civil wars? In a special focal point, Eurozine analyzes the changing face of warfare in the twenty-first century, in which terrorism and new security threats have profoundly transformed the way wars are conducted. [ more ]
The city as stage for social upheaval
From the western European city to the Third World megacity, one is able to observe how a single principle asserts itself in the social structure of the urban space. That principle privatization is geared towards the concentration of wealth and assets on an increasingly global scale, a manoeuvre its beneficiaries seek to naturalize. [ more ]
Big brother goes global
Post 9/11, governments are increasingly tailoring "international standards" to ratify domestic policies that intrude on civil liberties. Welcome to the phenomenon of "policy laundering". [ more ]
Changing Europe
As political Europe turns 50, the questions about its future are as open as ever. A special focus featuring some of Eurozine's most outstanding contributions on the European project: From analyses of the current crisis to a hilarious parody of Brussels' literary ambitions. [ more ]
Post-secular Europe?
Is religion a public or a private matter? Can there be such a thing as a European Islam? If so, what characterizes it? What role can religion – or religions – play when it comes to the emergence of a European solidarity? [ more ]
European histories: Towards a grand narrative?
In order for there to be solidarity within the enlarged EU, it will be necessary to develop a broader historical consciousness that includes both western and eastern experiences. [ more ]
Europe talks to Europe: Towards a European public sphere?
The European integration project has made the discussion about transnational spaces for cultural and political debate acute. Can there at all be a common Europe without a pan-European public sphere? [ more ]
Politics of border making and (cross-)border identities
Have borders become irrelevant with the project of a united Europe? No, just the opposite. On the dilemmas of border building and cross-border cooperation in the EU and its neighbourhood. [ more ]
Documenta 12 magazines
Eurozine is participating in the Documenta 12 magazines project, which links over 90 print and on-line periodicals worldwide. Read Eurozine's contributions to the documenta leitmotifs "Modernity" and "Bare Life" here.[ more ]
Freedom of speech and the Danish cartoon controversy
Free speech is a fundamental human right and a central tenet of democracy. Or is it? Reactions to the Danish cartoon controversy show that liberals are re-evaluating what the right to free speech entails. [ more ]
Politics of translation
Translation today is as much about the translation of cultural, political, and historical contexts and concepts as it is about language. [ more ]
Conferences
Changing places (What's normal anyway?)
The 20th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Sibiu, 21-24 October 2007
Under the heading "Changing places (What's normal anyway?)", the Eurozine network conference 2007 in Sibiu, Romania, addressed the challenges facing societies, literature, and the media as the need for change meets the urge for normality. Read the conference texts here. [ more ]
Friend and foe. Shared space, divided society
The 19th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
London, 27-30 October 2006
Speakers at the 19th European Meeting of Cultural Journals opened up the discussion on cultural diversity in two directions: first, as it is experienced in the physical urban space, and second, as it is reflected in the mirror of the media. [ more ]
Neighbourhoods
The 18th European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Istanbul, 4-7 November 2005
Contributions on the notion of neighbourhood and the Turkey-Europe question from a range of intellectual and geographic perspectives. [ more ]