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Climate politics: Always only good on paper?
Introduction
editorial Social agreement about the necessity of radical ecological change may be unprecedented, yet rhetoric and reality go their separate ways. Are multilateral climate deals inherently ineffective? Is the cap-and-trade approach being pursued at the expense of fairer alternatives? Is the declaration of commitment to sustainability an exercise in societal self-delusion? A Eurozine focal point debates the politics of global warming. [ more ]
The climate of history: Four theses
Theory 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 ]
Ecofeminism
Towards a fruitful dialogue between feminism and ecology
Theory A survey of the epistemological, moral and social forms of the ecofeminist critique, drawing conclusions about the association between reductionist science and paternalist capitalism. Suggestions for a relationship with the natural world beyond the anthropocentric. [ more ]
Ecological materialism
How nature beomes political
theory The ecological reform of the global economy must bring on board those with no interest in preserving nature per se. The more "nature-oriented" a demand is, the less likely it is to be realized and the more catastrophic the consequences will be. [English version added] [ more ]
The ecological imperative
theory 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 ]
Every day is Copenhagen
A breakthrough in international climate policy is still possible
politics Neither the industrialized nor the emerging countries are able to solve the climate problem by "going it alone". In Copenhagen, the EU needs to table a set of exacting reduction targets, without conditioning them on the willingness of others to follow suit. [ more ]
Plan B on climate: National deals
politics There is near universal consensus that a multilateral treaty is the only way to reduce global carbon emissions. Yet experience shows that deals focused on top-down mechanics fail. Unilateral action based on national self-interest is the only hope [ more ]
Locked into the politics of unsustainability
politics 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 ]
Why is there no US climate policy?
politics Climate policy in the US is negotiated exclusively in terms of domestic interests. Rick Piltz explains how the combination of political parochialism and the effects of Bush-era climate change denial are stalling the necessary decision-making. [German version added]
[ more ]
Green turnaround or businesss as usual?
EU climate policy in the new member-states
politics The economies of central eastern Europe have remained unchanged in at least one respect: their high level of energy wastage. Add to that the explosion of car-use in the region, and eastern central Europe becomes the EU's major obstacle to reaching its emissions targets for 2020. [ more ]
Going nowhere, fast
The simulated revolution of sustainability
politics The plea for sustainability and change is followed by insufficient action, and indicators such as the "ecological footprint" point in the wrong direction. Our political systems are not yet able to meet the greatest challenge of the present: the shift from fossil to post-fossil fuel. [ more ]
From carbon insolvency to climate dividends
systems An emmissions trading system based on a national per-capita budget and tied to historical responsibility could offer enormous opportunities to developing countries and provide the key to a "new low-carbon global order", writes Claus Leggewie.
[ more ]
Environmental injustice
systems Environmental justice halts at national boundaries, ignoring the correlation between environmental harm and other social factors. A cosmopolitan approach is required that considers the situation of individuals in cross-border contexts, argues Jonas Ebbesson. [ more ]
Inexact science
Climate policy between experts and politicians
systems Climate policy is heavily dependent on expert opinion. Yet uncertainty surrounds the science of climate change, and in particular the 2°C target. Does politics' reliance on inexact science disqualify its decisions? Not necessarily, writes Åsa Knaggård. [ more ]
Climate change CO2onialism: What impacts for the South?
systems Cap-and-trade is a system that interferes with development patterns in the South to offset carbon emissions resulting from "business as usual" in the North. Politics should be seeking alternatives to the trading model, such as legally binding targets on renewable energy. [ more ]
Can democracies deal with climate change?
democracy Trust in the ability of political elites to deal with the eco-social consequences of climate change is evaporating. Reaching eco-political targets calls for more participation of citizens as active architects of their society, write Claus Leggewie and Harald Welzer. [ more ]
Strategic consumption or sustainable policy?
green consumerism The power of the "environmentally aware consumer" is overrated. A fundamental change in "material flow management" can only be achieved via blanket regulation, writes Oliver Geden. The new EU law on energy-saving bulbs lights the way. [ more ]
Climate Change: Threatening security, undermining development
security Global warming, if left unchecked, will undermine development, overtax social capacities and endanger international stability. Progressive policy must focus on "managing the unavoidable" and "avoiding the unmanageable". [ more ]
Capital climes
climate Today, an Indian child consumes one ninetieth of the energy of her American counterpart. Such comparisons discredit the consensus that it is simply the mass activity of "man" which is responsible for global warming. [German version added] [ more ]
Manufactured scarcity
energy "Manufacturing scarcity" is the new watchword in "Green capitalism". James Heartfield explains how for the energy sector, it has become a license to print money. Pioneered by Enron in the 1990s, the model of restricted supply is now promoted worldwide. [ more ]
Power struggle
energy Faced with the reality that renewables will be unable to replace conventional energy sources in the foreseeable future, arguments for nuclear power - that it is the cleanest and least expensive option - are causing environmentalists to reconsider, writes Angela Saini.
[ more ]
Image credit: US Global Change Research Program www.globalchange.gov
More focal points
Media landscapes: Central and eastern Europe
Those in central and eastern Europe who, after 1989, saw the media as the handmaiden of democracy and the conventional watchdog on power, today have become targets for new and subtler forms of censorship. How media autonomy in Europe's newer democracies is being inhibited by market forces and continuing political intervention. [ more ]
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".
[ more ]
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
European histories
The 22nd European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Vilnius, 8-11 May 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. [ more ]
crosswords X mots croisés
21st European Meeting of Cultural Journals
Paris, 26-29 September 2008
The 21st European Meeting of Cultural Journals 2008 in Paris explored the theme of multilingualism in Europe in terms of language policies, migration, translation and the European public sphere. Read the conference texts here. [ more ]
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 ]
Focal points
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