Articles

Eurozine has been nominated for the European CIVIS Online Media Prize for integration and cultural diversity. The prize is awarded to Internet media outlets of “high journalistic quality” and is awarded on 14 April in Berlin. “Topical and pluralistic – here Europe talks with itself,” says the jury about Eurozine.

In the last decade, Flemish fiction has stepped out of the shadow of its Dutch “older sister”, writes Tom Van Imschoot. Despite authors’ individuality, trends can be discerned. The most prominent is the turn from metafiction towards various forms of realism, be it the regional, the semi-autobiographical or the “virtual”.

For the Bosnian Omer Hadziselimovic, being an immigrant in the US is to experience both regression and rejuvenation. Constantly translating between his old and new lives, he nevertheless finds that at some deeper level the differences start to disappear.

Blaming the American Way of Life for the ills of post-industrial European society is a poor excuse for Europeans’ own partiality to consumer pleasures, writes Petr Fischer. On a positive note, American individualism could teach Europe a thing or two about social solidarity.

Behind the recent attacks on multiculturalism is a false public memory of stable mutuality disrupted by the arrival of people of other cultures, writes Markha Valenta. A row over the absence of non-white characters in the English detective series “Midsomer Murders” says a lot about our fantasies of “home”.

Sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh was present at Tahrir Square throughout the Egyptian Revolution and was able to see the popular political will unfolding. Here he singles out key elements in the uprising and describes the social transformations they have brought about.

Russia’s authoritarian regime owes its tenacity to the reversal of two central communist precepts, writes Ivan Krastev. First, its abandonment of the ideology of public interest prevents it being measured against its own standards. Second, its policy of open borders diffuses protest potential from a dissatisfied middle class.

Lured by the promise of formal freedom, Lithuanian architects in the Soviet period colluded in the destruction of swathes of Vilnius’s historical centre. Once a rallying point of the independence movement, Vilnius’s Baroque and Gothic urban heritage is now subject to a new onslaught from local finance capital – and no one seems to care.

The crisis of the euro indicates not only a threat to European integration, but also a crisis of European democracy characterized by a surge in “anti-politics”. Many analysts have identified the media as the single most important factor in this development, as the marketization of the media combines with digital technology to create a political order determined by public opinion. In political decision-making, the question whether this opinion is right or wrong becomes secondary to its value as a form of feedback. British journalist Judith Vidal-Hall met Bulgarian cultural anthropologist Ivaylo Ditchev in Sofia to discuss what this means for citizens’ trust in the political system and for democracy as such. Moderated by Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief of Eurozine.

Across Europe, countries are clawing back the sovereignty they once willingly sacrificed in pursuit of a collective ideal. At the beginning of 2011, Belgium – a country apparently irreparably divided along national lines – handed over the EU presidency to Hungary, where hard-edged nationalism aimed not only at minorities, but also at the loss of autonomy that accompanies political union, has gained momentum. From the point of view of European integration, these and similar developments are deeply worrying. On the other hand, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, nationalism was seen as a liberating force: in Ukraine nationalism is associated not only with the aim to break Russian influence, but also with a strong urge to join the European Union. Does it make sense at all to talk in the same terms about contemporary nationalism in East and West? Ukrainian journalist and politician Andriy Shevchenko met Belgian author David Van Reybrouck in Lviv to discuss the re-nationalization of political life in Europe. Moderated by Sofia Dyak of the Foundation Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv.

In many European countries, post-war nationhood has been built on myths of general resistance against fascism, often combined with a nationally framed approach to history that clashes with those of neighbouring states. Politics of memory play a role in conflicts between fellow EU states and former enemies such as Poland and Germany, but also countries like Sweden and Switzerland have yet to come to terms with their recent past. What is the role of intellectuals in disputes over contested history and can cross-border journalism build an element of real universality into the European project? Shouldn’t a European citizenship worthy of its name include the right and duty of everyone, regardless of nationality and background, to treat issues of historical guilt and suffering on a transnational basis? Swedish journalist Arne Ruth met Polish cultural theorist Danuta Glondys in Warsaw to discuss Memory and European citizenship. Moderated by Wojciech Przybylski, editor of Res Publica Nowa.

When the financial crisis made clear the extent of western banks’ involvement in eastern Europe, concerns surfaced about the effects on western economies, re-awakening perceptions of the East as unruly and unpredictable. In the East, meanwhile, suspicions were reinforced that the West was interested in the new EU member states only insofar as they provided an opportunity to expand existing markets. What are the ethical and political implications of a globalized economy in general, and of western companies’ expansion in eastern Europe in particular? What does the European integration project really mean, not only economically but also at a social and cultural level? Romanian economist Daniel Daianu met Austrian author Robert Misik in Bucharest to discuss whether the failure of existing political and economic structures has opened up a new-old East-West divide. Moderated by Mircea Vasilescu, editor of Dilema veche and Carl Henrik Fredriksson of Eurozine.

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.

The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman finds unstable families and relationships a threat to society at large. Anthony Giddens opens for negotiation and change to keep both parties satisfied. Dalia Leinarte finds Giddens more in keeping with the times and uses the correspondence between two Lithuanian intellectuals to illustrate her point.

Surreal rearguard state or foretaste of problems yet to come? David Van Reybrouck predicts that the underlying causes of Belgium’s political crisis will repeat themselves throughout Europe as the new media call into question established democratic practices.