Lithuanian scientists are working on a formula for happiness. Their biometric measurements of feelings and emotional states propose to improve lives. But smart governance linking efficiency with happiness might have repercussions, says Skaidra Trilupaitytė. In a pandemic-tainted world, tracking and advanced lie detector tests could have questionable political uses.
Might traditional masculine traits make men more vulnerable to coronavirus? Bioethicist and molecular biologist Federico Germani questions masculinity’s role in higher COVID-19 male mortality, comparing emerging scientific evidence with recent trends in pandemic-related social behaviour.
We are in the midst of this century’s second housing crisis, on top of the existential threat of climate change. Social housing could trigger social change and play a key role in decarbonization. The former poster child of housing poverty, Brazil, offers unique lessons.
Warnings about resurgent fascism are not entirely unjustified. And yet they can still blind us to the political dangers we are now facing. It is Napoleon, not Hitler, who exemplifies an enduring threat to modern democracies, argues historian of modern France David A. Bell.
Russian refugees influenced Istanbul’s cultural life from the 1920s despite the Turkification policies of the new republic. The Sevastopol-born sculptor Iraida Barry’s life in exile and love for the city is a piece of this history. However, admiring the Russian diaspora shouldn’t have meant demeaning others – as ended up happening in US press. Ayşe Kadıoğlu revisits a life exiled to Istanbul, while longing for the heartbeat city herself.
Events in Belarus have departed radically from the script. Putin may have been gambling on a destabilized Lukashenka, but not on a full-blown national uprising, speculates writer and artist Artur Klinaŭ. Everything now depends on the strength of the Belarusian people.
Social media users can be forgiven for feeling dissatisfied. ‘Old media’ news, based on the perpetual celebrity comeback, has hit a conceptual impasse with new cancel culture. Geert Lovink calls for the renewal of social networking tools giving users a constructive voice.
Am 9. August finden in Belarus die Präsidentschaftswahlen statt. Wie bei allen früheren Gelegenheiten in den letzten zweieinhalb Jahrzehnten hat das Regime die demokratische Opposition disqualifiziert, verhindert und festgenommen. Diesmal sind die Proteste jedoch von einer noch nie dagewesenen Größe, Selbstbewusstsein und Popularität. Hat es im Land ein politisches Erwachen gegeben?
On 9 August, presidential elections will take place in Belarus. As on all previous occasions during the past two and a half decades, the regime has disabled the democratic opposition. This time, however, the protests are unprecedented in their size, confidence and breadth of appeal. Has there been a political awakening in the country?
Scrap metal collectors, working on the periphery of society, sustain the ground level operation of a lucrative global market. Facing exploitation and illegitimacy, their conditions have worsened since COVID-19.
Russia’s popular vote approving the ‘zeroing’ of Putin’s terms has been hailed by the regime as a triumphant demonstration of trust. Putin’s uncontested status as supreme authority has indeed been reinforced. But will the legitimacy bought by the vote be enough to stem growing uncertainty among elites and declining support among urban constituencies?
Conflict over Israeli territory is a historically sensitive issue. But should past injustices and fear legitimize recent crimes against humanity? Avraham Burg’s home truths on current Israeli societal division assess critical ideological, economic and constitutional issues.
Contact-tracing, legitimized by COVID-19 security risks, is already a dating app reality. The privacy of LGBTQ communities is particularly open to abuse. Jemimah Steinfeld calls for better protection of sexual identities, citing a new Index on Censorship global report.
In a rush to minimize the recession following COVID-19, some hold their economies dearer than the saving of lives. But prosperity isn’t the indefinite depletion of bodies and resources. It is through the satisfaction of basic needs that we will restore the dignity of all.
De senaste månaderna har vi läst många sensationslystna artiklar om folk som slåss om toapappersrullar, men de stora problemen är att den demokratiska insynen minskar och att det allmänna motståndet mot undantagstillstånden är så svagt. Den makt som medborgarna överlämnar till sina regeringar ger de själva upp, och när så en gång skett kan det bli svårt att återerövra den.
Koronaviruso pandemija nėra „natūralus“ reiškinys, ją sukūrė globalus kapitalizmas. Jos sutramdymo priemonės, socialinio atsiribojimo būdas primena visuotinį streiką. Tai gali tapti priverstiniu eksperimentu, kuris galbūt leis, kadvėl perimtume mūsų pačių laiko kontrolę.