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1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ITS LIMITS
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The main challenge to freedom of expression is not external censorship or controls, says Swedish writer and journalist Göran Rosenberg. Rather, it is "the lack of informal controls and agreements, a result of the rapid division of our societies into separate public spheres."

Without a truly common public sphere, freedom of expression is bound to intensify social and cultural conflicts. This is what happened in Denmark, where expressions of anti-Muslim prejudice and "Jyllands-Posten's" publication of the Mohammed cartoons produced conflict instead of dealing with it.

However, writes Rosenberg, the problem is not unique to Denmark:

"The general problem is that the informal adjustments and tacit agreements that are a prerequisite for making freedom of expression politically and socially sustainable have become ever harder to establish and maintain. This is in part because it is easier to produce, intentionally or not, misunderstanding and non-understanding in societies where the cultural, linguistic, and religious frames of reference have become numerous and estranged than in societies where they are few and familiar. But it is also because communications technology has made it possible for any expression, from any cave or cellar anywhere in the world, produced with any kind of intention, to instantly present itself in the public arena of any society in the world."

This increasing possibility to turn our backs to each other is here to stay, concludes Rosenberg. "The democratic necessity of a political vision that compels us not to do so has been instructively demonstrated by the Danish caricatures and their aftermath."

Göran Rosenberg
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ITS LIMITS

This article is available in English and Swedish at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-sv.html

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2. LETTER FROM A PRISON IN MINSK
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As Eurozine reported, Andrej Dynko, editor of the oppositional newspaper "Nasha Niva" and vice editor-in-chief of Eurozine's Belarusian partner "Arche", was arrested on 21 March, trying to bring food to demonstrators in October Square in the centre of Minsk. According to police, he was using "bad language". Like many others taking part in the protests surrounding the Belarusian presidential elections, he was issued with an on-the-spot ten-day prison sentence.

On Friday, 31 March, Dynko was released from the Minsk prison where he served his ten-day sentence. During his time in prison, he wrote a letter, trying to figure out -- for himself as much as for the outside world -- the impact of recent events in Belarus.

Eurozine News Item
EDITOR ANDREJ DYNKO RELEASED

This article is available in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-04-03-newsitem-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-04-03-newsitem-de.html
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3. NEW ARTICLES
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Edin Hajdarpasic
THE PHANTOM OF JUSTICE
What does the death of Slobodan Milosevic mean for the future role of the Hague Tribunal? Edin Hajdarpasic warns against narratives focusing too much on Milosevic the person. Much more was at stake while Milosevic was alive and on trial, and is still at stake after his death.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-04-03-hajdarpasic-en.html

Steven Schroeder
UNSPEAKABLE
"The only way to speak of the whole is to learn to say nothing." How literature and philosophy, from Kierkegaard to Woolf, have approached the unspeakable.

This article is available in English and Lithuanian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-31-schroeder-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-31-schroeder-lt.html

Kristiane Janeke
(CO-)OPERATION ROOMS OF ART. A RECOMMENDATION FOR A VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF LOOTED ART
With no end in sight for the full restitution of art pillaged during wartime, art historian and curator Kristiane Janeke finds the Internet the perfect location for a museum of looted art.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-30-janeke-de.html

Regine Dehnel
PERPETRATORS, VICTIMS, AND ART. LOOKING BACK AT THE NATIONAL SOCIALISTS' CAMPAIGN OF PILLAGE
The victims of Nazi pillaging included political opponents such as freemasons, priests, socialists, and union officials, but those most affected were the Jews. Regine Dehnel outlines the history of pillaging in Germany and Europe, and looks at the institutions formed especially for the purpose of stealing art.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-30-dehnel-de.html

Ronald Dworkin
A NEW MAP OF CENSORSHIP
Is freedom of speech a universal human right? Yes, says Ronald Dworkin. In an article published long before the current cartoon controversy, he defends a principle that should allow no compromises.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-29-dworkin-en.html

Jost Müller
"FROM THE STANDPOINT OF HTE MANY". BRECHT, THE COMMUNE, AND THE MULTITUDE
Fifty years after the death of Bertolt Brecht, his play about the Paris Commune can be read as a parable about the "multitude". Jost Müller points to the topicality of an author whose theatre theory and practice have been proclaimed dead many times during the last thirty years.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-28-muller-de.html

Piret Peiker
POST-COMMUNIST LITERATURES: A POSTCOLONIAL PERSPECTIVE
Post-Soviet narratives share the theme of arrested development found in postcolonial rewritings of the western European Bildungsroman, says Estonian literary critic Piret Peiker.

This article is available in English and Estonian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-28-peiker-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-28-peiker-et.html

Valentin Groebner
BODIES ON THE MARKET. MERCENARIES, ORGAN TRADING, AND A HISTORY OF BODY HISTORY
An examination of the commodification of the body in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including slave trading and the use of mercenaries, provides a framework for a history of the body in the contemporary context of private military enterprise and organ trading.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-27-groebner-de.html

Éric Vigne
AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH HISTORIANS
Paul Ricoeur's debate with historians echoes in contemporary discussions about conflicting memories, minority issues, and the democratic struggle over past crimes in Europe.

This article is available in French at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-24-vigne-fr.html

Tatiana Zhurzhenko
WHAT IS LEFT OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION?
The weekend's elections saw a significant drop in public support for the leaders of the Orange Revolution after just one year in office. Tatiana Zhurzhenko looks at what went wrong.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-23-zhurzhenko-en.html

Eurozine News Item
"ARCHE" EDITOR ARRESTED IN MINSK
Publicist Andrej Dynko, vice editor-in-chief of Eurozine's Belarusian partner journal "Arche", was arrested in Minsk. Updated 27.03.2006

This article is available in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-27-rakusa-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-27-rakusa-de.html

Dorothy Driver
SOUTH AFRICA: UNDER A NEW DISPENSATION?
Dorothy Driver asks how contemporary South African literature can reflect the cultural formations of a new democracy whose antagonist is less the persisting discourse of apartheid than the cultural and economic imperialism of a globalized world.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-20-driver-en.html

Carolin Emcke, Margarita Zieda
LETTERS TO FRIENDS
"Spiegel" journalist Carolin Emcke thought that level-headed reporting made newspaper readers engage with the events of war. Until she realized that letters to friends elicited far stronger identification.

This article is available in English and Latvian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-17-emcke-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-17-emcke-lv.html

Eurozine News Item
WHAT CHANCES FOR A DENIM REVOLUTION?
With the results of the elections in Belarus indicating a landslide victory for Lukashenko, the opposition is crying foul. Read Eurozine articles published during the election build-up.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-17-newsitem-en.html

Stasys Katauskas
BELARUS: HOPES FOR DEMOCRACY AND DOUBTS ABOUT NATIONAL IDENTITY
Hopes for democracy in Belarus will remain unfulfilled until a clear national ideology acceptable to the whole of society arises as an alternative to the prevailing Russophilia, says Lithuanian commentator Stasys Katauskas.

This article is available in English and Lithuanian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-16-katauskas-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-16-katauskas-lt.html

Taras Wozniak
WHAT IS PUTIN TRYING TO ACHIEVE? THE GEOPOLITICS OF RUSSIA'S GAS COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
According to Taras Wozniak, behind Russia's aggressive oil and gas strategy lies the wish to keep Ukraine out of Nato.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-15-wozniak-en.html

Alexandre Billette, Jean-Arnault Derens
THE NATION AS SIDE EFFECT OF OPPOSITION. BELARUSIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THE LANGUAGE QUESTION
The Russophile Lukashenko regime could be an historical opportunity for Belarus to develop a national identity in opposition.

This article is available in German and Norwegian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-14-billette1-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-14-billette1-no.html

Alexandre Billette, Jean-Arnault Derens
HOW BELARUS ELECTS LUKASHENKO
Everyone knew that the presidential elections would be manipulated. However, many Belarusians hope that the last dictatorship in Europe will end soon.

This article is available in German and Norwegian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-14-billette-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-14-billette-no.html

Karl Schlögel
THE FUTILITY OF ONE PROFESSOR'S LIFE. OTTO HOETZSCH AND GERMAN RUSSIAN STUDIES
Otto Hoetzsch, eastern Europe scholar and founder of the journal "Osteuropa", was defamed during WWII as a "parlour Bolshevik". His pan-European perspective suffered its final defeat with the division of Europe.

This article is now available in Russian as well as in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-14-schloegel-ru.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-17-schloegel-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-17-schloegel-de.html

Etyen Mahçupyan
THE NEIGHBOUR AND THE STATE. UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF NEIGHBOURLY CONFLICT IN TURKEY
Any discussion of conflict between Turkey and its neighbours, including the so-called Armenian question, must take into account the social organization of the Ottoman period, says political columnist Etyen Mahçupyan.

This article is now available in Turkish as well as in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-13-mahcupyan-tr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-18-mahcupyan-en.html

Marc-Olivier Padis
THE DEMOCRATIC NEIGHBOUR. POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN AN ENLARGED EUROPE
The politics of human rights had its heyday in Europe in the 1990s; today, it is held responsible for a multitude of ills. The editor of Esprit defends democracy's radical commitment.

This article is now available in Turkish as well as in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-13-padis-tr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-09-padis-en.html

Tomislav Longinovic
THE POST-ORIENTAL CONDITION. SERBS AND TURKS REVISITED
The Balkans and Turkey are a space on the borders of Europe marking a cultural encounter with the Oriental. Constituted as an undeclared enemy, this object of anxiety acts as a catalyst for collective cohesion, eliciting mythic narratives that call for exclusion from the symbolic realm of the European community.

This article is now available in Turkish as well as in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-13-longinovic-tr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-12-30-longinovic-en.html

Hans-Ulrich Gumbrecht
YOU OK? A LETTER TO RIGA FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY
For a European academic in California, the ubiquitous question "You OK?" typifies a self-help culture in which everybody becomes a therapist searching for a patient.

This article is available in English and Latvian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-10-gumbrecht-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-10-gumbrecht-lv.html

Ursula Owen
GETTING USED TO OFFENCE
Should people in a multi-cultural society be protected from offence and insult simply because they demand it in the name of religion? A commentary on the British debate.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-10-owen-en.html

Erland Kiøsterud
THE ONGOING ENCOUNTER
As immigration shapes modern European cities, we must open ourselves to encounters with people of other cultures, encounters that are real rather than virtual, concrete rather than notional.

This article is available in English and Norwegian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-09-kiosterud-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-09-kiosterud-no.html

Truls Lie
POLITICS AND COSMOPOLITICS
If opinions cannot be freely expressed, the political space disintegrates. At the same time, being political involves seeing and listening to those who are "disregarded".

This article is available in English and Norwegian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-09-lie-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-09-lie-no.html

Krystian Woznicki
ISLANDS IN THE NET. FROM NON-PLACES TO RECONQUERED ANCHORAGES OF THE AVANT-
With the spread of the Internet, utopia was given a location in cyberspace. It was just a question of exploring, surveying, and settling this new continent.

This article is now available in Norwegian as well as in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-08-woznicki-no.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-09-09-woznicki-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-09-09-woznicki-de.html

Philipp Ther
DIVISION ON THE INSIDE, PRESSURE FROM THE OUTSIDE. UKRAINE ONE YEAR AFTER THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
The outcome of the Ukrainian election on 26 March was decisive not only for the orientation of Ukraine, but also for Europe as a whole, says Philipp Ther.

This article is available in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-08-ther-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-08-ther-de.html

George Blecher
POLITICS DRESSED UP AS PRINCIPLE. WHY THE "JYLLANDS-POSTEN AFFAIR DID NOT COME OUT OF THE BLUE
When the Danish prime minister defended the "Jyllands-Posten" cartoons on the grounds of freedom of expression, he failed to acknowledge his political loyalties.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-06-blecher-en.html

Pierre Hassner, Bruno Tertrais
NEW POWERS, NEW MENACES. A DISCUSSION
Europe has been sidelined by Asia's ascendance on the international scene and new responses by the US to terrorism. Moreover, Europe has failed to recognize the hierarchy of the terrorist menace and to respond effectively.

This article is available in French at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-hassner-fr.html

Göran Rosenberg
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ITS LIMITS
The principle of absolute freedom of expression is always qualified by tacit agreements within societies on what can and cannot be said. The latest controversy over the Mohammed cartoons shows that common agreements on freedom of expression are as necessary as they are hard to obtain.

This article is available in English and Swedish at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-sv.html

Natasha Distiller, Meg Samuelson
"DENYING THE COLOURED MOTHER": GENDER AND RACE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Krotoa-Eva, the first indigenous woman to marry into South African colonial settler society, has been the subject of a resurgence of interest in post-apartheid South Africa. However, discourses of "racial difference" and "racial mixing" in the formation of "the nation" must be seen in an historical perspective that takes account of gender as an axis of experience with relation to "race".

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-02-distiller-en.html

Vital Silitski
AN ELECTION TURNED INSIDE OUT. LOOKING BEHIND BELARUSIAN ELECTION DRAMATURGY
In the game of bluff leading up to the Belarusian elections, one thing is for sure: despite its apparent superiority, the Lukashenko regime is worried.

This article is available in English and Belarusian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-01-silitski-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-01-silitski-be.html

Eurozine News Item
"ARCHE" CONFISCATED AT BELARUSIAN-LITHUANIAN BORDER
Civil liberties violations in the run up to the 19 March elections.

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-01-newsitem-en.html