Even to engage in debate over the existence of monuments in their current form is to acknowledge a connection between the colonial past and present-day inequality. For many, defence of heritage serves as a pretext for preservation of the memorial status quo.
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Why data won’t redeem us
Introducing Gagarin, the Eurozine podcast
What does the worship of big data have to do with positivism, and how does friction help create resistance? Philosopher Miriam Rasch talks about her essay in the inaugural episode of Gagarin, the new Eurozine podcast.
The chains of the past
Black mental health in Britain
Trauma may be inheritable, even genetically, recent scholarship suggests. Could the devastating impact of slavery and oppression explain why Black people are overrepresented in the psychiatric system?
Everybody needs a home
How Finland deals with homelessness
Instead of temporary solutions like shelters and hostels, Finland concentrates on providing permanent social housing to those in need. Although it requires significant investment, it’s always more cost-effective to end homelessness rather than trying to manage it. Also, it’s the right thing to do.
Between tolerance and prohibition
Roma scrap metal collectors toiling outside Paris
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.
Cancelling 21st century fossils
Roman Polanski's slow fall from grace
It took the film industry over four decades to oust Roman Polanski after he drugged and raped a child. The case, as well as other allegations, has long been known to the public, but a cultural shift was necessary for the director to face professional consequences.
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?
The house of Israel
A divided society
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.
Safer social scenes
Global lockdowns expose dangers of LGBTQ dating apps
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.
The weight of life
On the economy of human lives
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.
We speak about the differences between North and South as though they explain everything. In the process, age-old prejudices again penetrate the European consciousness and shape how we think about the world.
Housing as investment
The critique of financialized rental investment in Vienna
Speculation is based on the belief that housing prices will keep increasing and there will always be a bigger fool willing to pay a higher price. Anita Aigner looks into the culture of responsibilization and the policies that turned real estate ownership into pure, abstract investment.
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.
Campaigns to remove monuments commemorating racism, slavery and empire are criticized for attempting to erase history. But anti-racists protesting the public prominence of these statues are challenging what history is remembered, in order to make way for a fresh lens on the past.
MES SUKŪRĖME ŠĮ ŽVĖRĮ
Politinė COVID-19 ekologija
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.