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Articles published in Eurozine
In God they trust
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]
The last crusade
The claim that Christianity embodies the bedrock of European cultural values simplifies both the history of Christianity and the roots of modern democracy, argues Kenan Malik. Ironically, the defenders of "Christendom" draw on the same politics of identity as Islamists and multiculturalists. [more]
Aftershock
A decade after the destruction of the Twin Towers, we need to resolve that "Islam", as a singular noun, or "Muslims" as a collectivity are simply not good things to think with or about, let alone for or against. Stephen Howe tracks the tremors after 9/11. [more]
Undiscovered
Neurological and Darwinistic strands in the philosophy of consciousness see human beings as no more than our evolved brains. Raymond Tallis argues for more expansive approaches to explaining human beings' fundamental difference from other animals. [more]
Test-tube truths
Prominent American atheist Sam Harris argues that science can replace theology as the ultimate moral authority. Kenan Malik is sceptical: "The desire to look either to God or to science to define moral values is a desire to set moral values in ethical concrete." [more]
Kitchen sink drama
In the UK, women are being disproportionately affected by cuts in public spending. Sally Feldman asks whether the fiscal crisis is a cover for a return to a more traditional view of women's roles and discusses an attack on gender quotas from an unexpected quarter. [more]
Tibet's small exercise in democracy
The Dalai Lama as political institution is both powerful and vulnerable: powerful because political authority is supported by religious devotion; vulnerable because it is at odds with political realities. The Dalai Lama himself has suggested the institution may have outlived its usefulness. [more]
Playing God
Discussions of scientific innovation are haunted by images of Frankenstein's monster or Faust's diabolic pact, says Philip Ball. We will never have an honest and open debate about in vitro fertilization or cloning until we can distinguish mythical fears from real and present dangers. [more]
Against humanism
We are quite right to love, honour and cherish our species and to concern ourselves deeply about its future, says British moral philosopher Mary Midgley. But should we have to worship it too? And why should that particular form of concern be called humanism? [more]
Great pretender
Feminist icon, anti-Catholic fabrication – or just a woman battling in a man's world? The German film "Die Päpstin" has already been written off by the Italian Bishops' Conference as a hoax. Sally Feldman explores reasons for the power and tenacity of the myth of Pope Joan. [more]
Aid wars
Humanitarian activists' refusal of politics, combined with their willingness to identify with politics, elicits doubt and even scorn from human-rights critics. Susie Linfield evaluates the controversial debate on the future of humanitarianism. [more]
The listeners
Primo Levi, radioman Studs Terkel and literary traveller Flemming Røgilds animate an alternative way to live, achieved through two people hearing each other, writes Les Back. Active listening can create another set of social relations and ultimately a new kind of society. [more]
Unreasonable doubt
Those who debunk the deniers of scientific consensus tend either to be old-fashioned rationalists or committed activists. Neither group are particularly well suited to looking at the deeper reasons behind denialism, warns Keith Kahn-Harris. [more]
Going to the ladies
For women, the lack of decent public lavatories is an emergency. Public conveniences are the final battleground in the sex wars, the ultimate declaration of discrimination. From latrine to loo, pissoir to powder room, Sally Feldman explores the sexual politics of toilets. [more]
How to defend the Enlightenment
"To say that reason is only desiccating and too dry is a dangerous caricature. No less dangerous is to eliminate the place for arts, for myth, which is a different kind of knowledge of the world." Tzvetan Todorov talks to AC Grayling about his new book, "In Defence of the Enlightenment". [more]
Fair game
Video gaming offers levels of complexity and human interaction beyond any other art form. Cultural commentators who sideline gaming have no more reason on their side than the Victorians who declared that novel-reading led to vitiation of the brain, says Michael Bywater. [more]
Beyond belief
The "new believers" have been on the counter-attack in the God Debate. "While we need to take seriously the claim that scientific explanations are incomplete," rallies Richard Norman, "alternatives must still meet the same standards for what counts as a good explanation". [more]
Think again
Postmodern theory can be pretentious and overblown. But a new series of reissues calls for a response that goes beyond the glib rejection characterizing much of the contemporary Anglo-American humanities, writes Nina Power. [more]
Truth, hope and light
The language of morality has been hijacked by the religious Right; yet however shabbily its partisans may behave, argues Susan Neiman, they offer a public conception of goodness the Left forgot how to defend. [more]
Free market faith
Globalization is leading to more belief, not less. "New Humanist" editor Caspar Melville talks to John Micklethwait, the editor of "The Economist", about his new book tracing the rise and rise of religion. [more]
On the trail of the red pilgrims
The militant atheism of the Bolsheviks, far from rendering religion obsolete, created a new faith. Michail Ryklin talks about the religiosity inherent in western European intellectuals' admiration for the Soviet Union, including Russell, Koestler, Benjamin and Brecht. [more]
Dinner with Darwin
On the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of "The Origin of Species", "New Humanist" editor Caspar Melville asks a selection of scientific commentators what they'd like to say to Darwin around the supper table. [more]
Power struggle
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]
Zero confidence
Banks collapsing, homes repossessed, jobs disappearing... no wonder the world is in despair. Steven Lukes turns to Emile Durkheim to make sense of the real depression. Is there a remedy for "the malady of infinite aspiration"? [more]
Something to declare
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been criticized from all sides since its inception sixty years ago. Conor Gearty calls for a fresh definition of this most humanist value. [more]
Sex appeal
America's religious Right has discovered sex as a recruitment strategy, writes Dagmar Herzog. At the same time, the language of repression has returned via the secular notion of self-esteem -- to the detriment of women in particular. [more]
Mistaken identity
Multiculturalist advocacy of collective rights opens the door for religious law to take precedence over civil law, argues Kenan Malik. Partly responsible is the idea that people are bearers of a particular culture as opposed to social and transformative beings. [more]
Torch bearers
George Orwell called sport "war without the shooting". Yet sport's democratic aspect inevitably means politics is involved, argues Paul Sims. Indeed, sport has become so big, so popular, that it has taken on the characteristics of a modern secular religion. [more]
Western front
The Council of Europe recently issued a resolution warning against the rise of creationism, based on a report that documented not only the existence of a strong Christian creationist lobby in Europe, but also the rise of Muslim creationism. Peter C. Kjærgaard reports. [more]
Rush hour of the gods
Today's generation of middle class Indians are discarding the secular-humanist version of Hinduism that appealed to an earlier generation and opting for a more overt religiosity. Meera Nanda asks what lies behind the Hinduization of the Indian public sphere. [more]
Acting up
When "stand-up philosopher" Slavoj Zizek calls for "repeating Lenin" or praises Robespierre's defence of terror, some observers might be tempted to ask whether his entire intellectual oeuvre is not just some kind of act. No, says John Clark. "It's not just a pose; it's a position." [more]
Watching David Attenborough
David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries have attracted massive audiences around the world, but have sometimes failed to endear themselves to academics. Laurie Taylor turns the microscope on to the man who's brought us life on earth, under the oceans, and in the undergrowth. [more]
Holy Communion
It's not been a good year for God. Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have been riding high in the international bestseller lists. The new wave atheism is aggressively antagonistic to religion. But, argues Richard Norman, it's more fruitful to find common ground. [more]
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