1-2/2008
Felande länkar [The missing links]

When high finance cripples the economy and corrodes democracy
The current financial crisis is not confined to economies, writes former Romanian finance minister Daniel Daianu. The erosion of the middle class, the spread of extremism and the threat to democracy are some of the more obvious social effects demanding attention. [Danish version added] [ more ]
"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.

Brought on by the global economic recession, the eurocrisis has been exacerbated by serious faults built into the monetary union. In a new Eurozine focal point, contributors discuss whether the EU is not only broke, but also broken -- and if so, whether Europe's leaders are up to the task of fixing it. [more]
Broadening the question of a common European narrative beyond the East-West divide. How are contested interpretations of historical and recent events activated in the present, uniting and dividing European societies? [more]
Media change is about more than just the "newspaper crisis" and the iPad: property law, privacy, free speech and the functioning of the public sphere are all affected. On a field experiencing profound and constant transformation. [more]
In Iran, official revolutionary dogma has obliged "post-Islamist" philosophers to provide profound justifications for Islam's compatibility with democracy. Katajun Amirpur puts contemporary Iranian thinking on religion and politics in the context of Khomeini-era anti-westernism. [more]
Too many Europeans have too long avoided the question of Europe, says Swedish writer Per Wirten. 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]
European member states are answerable to the European Commission regarding the integration of Roma. But what are the chances of national policies succeeding if structural anti-Roma racism exists within European institutions themselves? [more]
Nationalism in Belgium might be different from nationalism in Ukraine, but if we want to understand the current European crisis and how to overcome it we need to take both into account. The debate series "Europe talks to Europe" is an attempt to turn European intellectual debate into a two-way street. [more]
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]
Eurozine's series of essays aims to provide an overview of diverse literary landscapes in Europe. Covered so far: Croatia, Sweden, Austria, Estonia, Ukraine, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Hungary. [more]
The EU shouldn't be surprised by the Tymoshenko verdict: its support of anything nominally reformist has been perceived as acceptance of a range of repressions, argues Mykola Riabchuk. [more]
Multimedia section including videos of past Eurozine conferences in Vilnius (2009) and Sibiu (2007). [more]