Hollywood action movies present pumped-up models of masculinity. Narrative arcs devoid of rest or recovery depict the body as an inexhaustible machine. Pushing for mastery over one’s own body can be similarly unrelenting, especially when the determination for self-optimization, despite burnout, keeps driving us on like neoliberal heroes.
Articles
Being born male awards immense societal privileges. And yet many men and boys are remonstrating, dissatisfied with their lot. Could pressures of embodying hyper-masculinity be at fault? And might accepting difference and diversity be the answer?
The psychological toll of living in a warzone is causing children in Gaza to lose their ability to communicate. But the immediate focus on survival means that children are not receiving the therapy they urgently need.
Outrage and moral panic have become driving forces in global politics – but what role should emotions play in democratic governance? On the new episode of Standard Time, researchers examine the influence of moral emotions and their implications for political life.
Recommended topics
From Helsinki to full-scale invasion
Russia, European security and the OSCE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its denial of rights at home, are precisely the kind of development that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe was set up to prevent. So why has the OSCE failed to fulfil its purpose?
Growing reluctance to engage with books is endangering democracy and science. Deep reading boosts the human capacity for abstract and analytical thinking, protecting us from the corrosive effects of bias, prejudice and conspiracy theories.
Despite the prevalent interest in inequality, sociologists and historians often avoid talking about elites. One reason are the negative connotations and a preference for the category of class. But the looseness of the term also plays a role.
“Come Together” is founded on the principles of partnership and peer-to-peer learning among individuals within community media organizations situated in six different countries. Instead of generating entirely new knowledge, the initiative aims to unearth and leverage the existing wisdom residing within these organizations to foster innovative approaches.
Eurozine review
Popular culture in flux
Varlık 5/2025
In Varlık: how northern cultural hegemony is being challenged by Bollywood, Korean television dramas, K-pop and Nollywood; also, post-emotional human relationships and the aesthetics of uncertainty.
Fragmented Middle East
La Revue nouvelle 1/2025
In La Revue nouvelle: Why peace in Lebanon requires understanding Hezbollah; which way the Iranian regime will turn; and whether more international law means greater lawfulness.
Hard-bodied heroes
rekto:verso 105 (2025)
In rekto:verso: what the body of the action hero says about relations of power; why yoga’s discourse of accessibility rings hollow; and whether fitness practitioners should really be reading Mishima.
Focal points
The European Parliament elections on 9 June are a referendum on EU policy since 2019. Will voters give Europe the green light for further progress, or pull the brakes? A new Eurozine series measures the political atmosphere in the EU and its neighbourhoods at this crucial moment.
Food and water systems under pressure: as the end of abundance becomes an everyday experience in Europe, we are thinking more closely about how our food reaches the table.
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.
Some observers, recalling the disasters of the 1920s and 30s, are suggesting that an anti-democratic counterrevolution on a global scale has begun. But is the writing really on the wall? Or does declinism prevent us from recognizing moments of democratic renewal?
Eurozine Network
Eurozine monitors upcoming funding opportunities on the international level relevant to cultural journalists, such as translation funds, mobility grants and project funding.