Thousands are accused of witchcraft and killed each year across the globe. The social and political roots of sorcery accusation-related violence are complex; those who survive are often shamed into silence. How can the violence be halted in places such as Papua New Guinea, African countries, India and the UK?
Articles
A virus and its impact described in closed terms: when under pressure, socio-political narratives often become divisive; perceptions can become negatively transfixed. To understand what has gone wrong right now, we need look at how the problem is framed.
An effervescent wave
Romanian protests and political change
Standing up for your country’s social and ecological wellbeing can be a desperately meaningful undertaking when deep-seated corruption lies behind the struggle: the exodus of many Romanian protesters attests to the high personal risks that have compounded solidarity both at home and abroad over decades of action.
In Poland, a weak democratic culture collides with unfamiliarity with the historical values of the European Union. Rebuilding the rule of law means explaining to citizens that the constitution is there to protect them. The alternative may be Polexit.
Recommended topics
Petr Fiala’s replacement of Andrej Babiš as head of the Czech government is being seen as a refutation of the last four years of corruption, anti-Europeanism and populist instability. But this Manichean narrative, encouraged by the opposition during the campaign, ignores deeper tendencies within Czech politics.
From one gap to another
Tailoring education to labour market needs
Strategies for addressing unemployment rates often involve reforms in higher education. Yet bridging the perceived gap creates its own deprivations. Analysing discourse and policy in the European context points to a strong neoliberal agenda behind labour market-oriented changes at universities.
An epidemic of fatigue
COVID-19 and mental health
With infection rates on the rise, restrictions are newly coming into force. Experience suggests that lockdowns have a harsher impact on certain sectors of society: young adults, especially those who are already vulnerable, face some of the pandemic’s worst consequences. Yet their needs often go unmet. A Franco-Canadian study suggests a revised approach.
The migrant crisis at the Polish–Belarusian border is being used by Lukashenka to divert international attention from the repression of the democratic opposition. But it also suits PiS, which by staging the crisis as a battle for Polish sovereignty is shoring up support among its own electorate. Still, the rest of Europe cannot simply point the finger.
Eurozine review
Ukraine at 30: A ‘glass half-full’
Krytyka 7–8/2021
In an issue of ‘Krytyka’ on Ukrainian independence: a catalogue of errors from Kuchma to Zelensky; a personal history of freedom formed; and seismic shifts in the Kremlin’s symbolic geography.
Between art and vandalism
Ord&Bild 3/2021
‘Ord&Bild’ features urban art: with articles on the aesthetic boundaries pushed by graffiti pioneer Zevs; the sanitization of the underground in Swedish cities; and transgender cultural organizing in São Paulo.
Witch-hunting and cuddly animal rights
New Humanist 4/2021
In ‘New Humanist’: the social and political roots of sorcery accusation-related violence and how to stop it; and why recognizing animal sentience means respecting animals, not treating them like furry versions of ourselves.
Focal points
With new variants mutating around the globe, COVID-19 is no longer a novelty. The pathogen is seemingly here to stay, inducing social, political and economic turmoil. This is not a crisis to emerge from quickly. It is a prelude to further emergencies linked to climate change-related transformations and environmental destruction. How will societies deal with its tangible effects? And which issues might be perilously left by the wayside? In this new focal point, supported by the European Cultural Foundation's Culture of Solidarity programme, Eurozine and partners take stock of this public health crisis and its accompanying crises of values and meaning.
Traditionally, a young woman used to be presented with a bundle of goods to send her off with to adult life. Today’s bottom drawers aren’t necessarily tied to marriages, nor are they strictly material. Yet, the bundle one leaves the house with is as important as ever. In this focal point, we take stock of the notions our foremothers presented us with: women’s ideas and achievements that define our understanding of power, gender and violence, bodies, connection and agency.
The focal point presents the findings of the project ‘Eurasia in Global Dialogue’ being carried out at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna (IWM). The focal point is an extension of the earlier focal point, ‘Russia in Global Dialogue’ that ran in Eurozine and at the IWM from 2012–2018.
Post-revolutionary Ukrainian society displays a unique mix of hope, enthusiasm, social creativity, collective trauma of war, radicalism and disillusionment. With the Maidan becoming history, the focal point ‘Ukraine in European Dialogue’ explores the new challenges facing the young democracy, its place in Europe, and the lessons it might offer for the future of the European project.
Eurozine Network
Eurozine monitors upcoming funding opportunities on the international level relevant to cultural journalists, such as translation funds, mobility grants and project funding.