Articles

Σε πολλές χώρες η πανδημία του κορονοϊού COVID–19 ανέδειξε με τον πιο χειροπιαστό τρόπο προβλήματα χρόνων. Χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα αποτελεί η Ελλάδα, όπου οι συνέπειες των διαστρωματικού χαρακτήρα εσωτερικών ανισοτήτων, σε συνδυασμό με την εύθραυστη ισορροπία δυνάμεων της περιοχής και μια σειρά από αποτυχημένες και ατελέσφορες πολιτικές του παρελθόντος, γίνονται όλο και πιο αισθητές σήμερα. Στις προσφυγικές δομές εκτυλίσσεται σήμερα μια ανθρωπιστική κρίση, ως επακόλουθο χρόνιων ανεπαρκειών του δημόσιου συστήματος υγείας και αναποτελεσματικών εθνικών και ευρωπαϊκών πολιτικών διαχείρισης της μετανάστευσης, ενώ η πανδημική κρίση του κορονοϊού αναμένεται μόνο να επιδεινώσει την κατάσταση.

When crisis hits, vulnerable groups suffer. And sex workers, already enduring precarity, have become the scapegoats of COVID-19’s health focus, facing heavy fines, police abuse and deportation threats. Boglárka Fedorkó investigates the lessons that can be learnt from the solidarity and organization of those facing adversity.

Rents are usually considered affordable when below around a third of a household’s income. But this rule of thumb is tailored to middle-class homes, ignoring the financial realities of low earners who struggle to cover necessities.

Australia’s recent bushfires are the country’s ‘most serious environmental disaster since colonization’. John Keane considers this megadisaster the product of democracy failure, rather than natural forces, which raises questions about political culpability, economic impacts, deep environmental damage and cultural accountability.

The ruling of the European Court of Justice on the controversial reform of the Supreme Court of Poland was a victory for liberal opponents of PiS. Then came the judgment of the German Constitutional Court, and the prospects for the independence of the Polish judiciary have again worsened. On the latest escalation of a longstanding conflict.

Sedan 1700- och 1800-talen finns en föreställning om att Indien i andlig mening har mycket att erbjuda Europa, men föga när det gäller politiska impulser. Girish Shahane argumenterar för att 1500-talshärskaren Akbars förhållningssätt till religion och samexistens har mycket att bidra med, till såväl europeisk som indisk politik idag.

Housing is part of the foundation upon which all other human social relations are built. Like sustenance and sex, society can’t be reproduced without shelter. Vikerkaar editor Aro Velmet announces the new Eurozine focal point ‘Room temperature: Housing in crisis’.

The notion that India has much to offer Europe spiritually but little politically has been prevalent for centuries. However, a history of multiculturalism is incomplete that does not include the Mughal emperor Akbar’s enlightened and inclusive view of society and religion, revived in the Indian constitution of 1950.

Етосът на независимата журналистика, процъфтяващ в СССР по време на гласността, през последвалите десетилетия дегенерира и се сведе до политическа партизанщина и меркантилен опортюнизъм. В днешна Русия автоцензурата и тактичността се считат за умения, необходими за оцеляването в един все по-свиващ се медиен сектор.

Can street protests communicate justice for all? Political theorist Nikita Dhawan criticizes global movements where only ‘certain individuals are well positioned to express their aspirations’.

Some musicians choose not to perform in support of others. Others do so to highlight their own plight. But their silence needs an audience: ‘For disruption to work, there must be witnesses with thwarted expectations.’

Instead of uniformity, commoning urban spaces offers an inclusive life, open to differences. Through self-managed initiatives, the ‘right to the city’ becomes the right to collectively produce it through creative cooperation.