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1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: BLASPHEMY. ON THE STRUCTURE OF MASS INSULT
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Mockery of religion, historically an instrument of rationalism, turns to triumphalism when it ceases to be directed at power and becomes power's medium, writes Christoph Türcke. He argues that while Muslims throughout the world understood the Mohammed cartoons as the West's victorious mockery, violent demonstrations took place only in countries whose governments have a vested interest in diverting resentment created by their regimes towards foreign caricaturists and the governments that protect them:

"But it would be hasty to conclude that the caricatures were merely religious lightening rods for local political tensions [...] On the contrary, one feels genuinely offended as a Muslim -- but by something much more serious than a caricature, namely the victory of the West's top export: the capitalist economy and its democratic framework. The more one participates in this Western export, the more one practices Western ways of life and ignores the challenge they pose to the Koran, the Sharia, and the Islamic pretence of supremacy, the less one can admit to this victory."
Examining more broadly the history of blasphemy (the word originally meant "slander"), Türcke points out that while not exclusively a modern phenomenon, "in modernity [...] a new aspect has entered in to the mockery of other religions: the mockery of religion as such". In contemporary liberal societies, it is religious feeling itself that is thought worth safeguarding: blasphemy as offence is determined by whether someone feels insulted in their faith.

This modern view "conceals under the cloak of religious neutrality fundamental respect for an undefined sacred entity" and is close to the Christian Church's demonization of the rationalist critics of the eighteenth century as nihilists "for whom nothing is sacred". Blasphemy laws do not distinguish between moderate and fundamentalist religion and can protect those least deserving of protection. But to sanction all forms of mockery would be equally undiscriminating:

"It makes a crucial difference who caricatures the prophet -- whether it is a Muslim or a non-Muslim Westerner. That is not to employ double standards. Criticism of the spuriousness and rigidity of the Christian faith that has proven to be correct will not be wrong if applied to Islam. Rationalism that wants more than simply to be right must learn to judge where its mockery begins to take on a triumphalist tone, one that insults the humiliated rather than unmasking pretensions."

Christoph Türcke
BLASPHEMY. ON THE STRUCTURE OF MASS INSULT

This article is available in English and German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-16-turcke-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-16-turcke-de.html

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2. NEW PARTNERS: ESPILL AND REVOLVER REVUE
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In June, two new partner journals joined Eurozine. L'Espill, a Catalan journal published in Valencia since 1999, seeks to enliven intellectual debate by creating an original perspective and dialogue with contemporary culture. Its pages are filled with the work of Catalan authors and translations.

Czech journal Revolver Revue began as a samizdat publication in 1985 and became legal in December 1990. Since then, it has continued to offer space to artists who, despite their quality, are for one reason or another ignored by the general public and official institutions.

Read more about L'Espill and Revolver Revue including their current issues:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/journals/lespill.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/journals/revolver.html

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3. NEW ARTICLES
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Volker Gerhardt
ON THE SECULAR SPIRIT OF POLITICS
It is not merely political freedom that leads to political independence from religion, but the freedom of faith that makes religion necessary.
03.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-gerhardt-de.html

François Dosse
HISTORICIZING THE TRACES OF MEMORY
François Dosse warns of the dangers of exaggerated commemorative events, contrasting them with the patient "work of memory". The ideas of Paul Ricoeur serve as a reminder of the historian's duties in the wider context of practical human activity.
03.07.2006

This article is available in French and Estonian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-dosse-fr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-dosse-et.html

Jean-Pierre Minaudier
INCOMPATIBLE MEMORIES? THE COMMEMORATION OF WWII IN FRANCE AND ESTONIA
Jean-Pierre Minaudier argues that it is Estonia's commmunist past that distinguishes its commemoration of the Second World War from the French. Reconciliation of conflicting outlooks is possible among historians but remains wishful thinking in the wider public opinion.
03.07.2006

This article is available in French and Estonian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-minaudier-fr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-minaudier-et.html

Patrick Garcia
POLITICS OF MEMORY
The commemoration of the Franco-Prussian War, the Second World War, and the Algerian War are examples of how the nationalist construal of the past has given way to an internationalized model known as "presentism".
03.07.2006

This article is available in French and Estonian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-garcia-fr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-03-garcia-et.html

Markus Miessen
MADE IN WASHINGTON. SPATIAL PRACTICES AS A BLUEPRINT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Will the US Supreme Court's ruling that the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay violate both US military law and the Geneva Conventions prevent governments from creating a legal "meta-level" where spatial and physical humiliation becomes everyday practice?
30.06.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-30-miessen-en.html

Heinrich August Winkler
FORCED DEMOCRATIZATION? SOME LESSONS FROM POSTWAR GERMANY
If postwar developments in Germany are instructive at all, they are in showing that those who want to help other countries can at most help them to help themselves.
29.06.2006

This article is available in English and German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-29-winkler-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-29-winkler-de.html

Michelle Provoost
NEW TOWNS ON THE COLD WAR FRONTIER. HOW MODERN URBAN PLANNING WAS EXPORTED AS AN INSTRUMENT IN THE BATTLE FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD
The new towns built during the 1950s and 1960s throughout the Middle East and Africa by Constantinos Doxiadis provide a warning and an example for democratization in Iraq.
28.06.2006

This article is available in English and Danish:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-28-provoost-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-28-provoost-da.html

Tatiana Zhurzhenko
ROSES, ORANGES... AND COCA. WHAT REMAINS OF REVOLUTIONS IN THE GLOBALIZED WORLD?
Unlike the Orange revolutionaries, Bolivian president Evo Morales challenges the global hierarchy -- hence his lukewarm reception in the West.
27.06.2006

This article is now available in Swedish as well as in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-27-zhurzhenko-sv.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-23-zhurzhenko-en.html

Yann Moulier Boutang
THE OLD "NEW CLOTHES" OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
IN DEFENCE OF THE "INSIGNIFICANT" RIOTERS
It is possible that the "apolitical" youths of the banlieue have done more to set things in motion in France than thirty years of political posturing, says the director of French journal Multitudes.
01.02.2006

This article is now available in German as well as in English and French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-26-boutang-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-01-boutang-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-01-boutang-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.
26.06.2006

This article is now available in German as well as in English, Slovenian, and Swedish:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-26-rosenberg-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-05-24-rosenberg-sl.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-03-03-rosenberg-sv.html

Eve-Marie Kallen, László Krasznahorkai
THE SPACE OF NATURE, THE SPACE OF CULTURE. AN INTERVIEW WITH LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI
Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai talks about his most recent novel and the Zen Buddhist tradition that informs it.
23.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-23-kallen-de.html

Uldis Tirons
I COME TO YOU FROM MY SOLITUDE
Uldis Tirons on the legendary Georgian philosopher Merab Mamardashvili, whom the Cheka once called "the freest man in the country".
22.06.2006

This article is available in English and Latvian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-22-tirons-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-22-tirons-lv.html

Delphine Lecoutre, Admore Mupoki Kambudzi
AFRICA SAYS A QUIET ADIEU TO FRANCE
Africa is increasingly turning away from France, say Delphine Lecoutre and Admore Mupoki Kambudzi. Why? The young, internationally educated African elite is interested in establishing a clear-cut relationship rather than seeing France hide its economic interests behind paternalist rhetoric.
21.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-21-lecoutre-de.html

Maria A. Kalbazyk
VISA FOR A JOURNEY TO PARADISE
A Syrian Mujahid talks to journalist Maria A. Kalbazyk about his government-backed journey to Iraq to defend Arab soil against US invasion. And how he returned as the only survivor.
20.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-20-kalbazyk-de.html

Truls Lie
SURVEILLANCE: A SIGN OF THE TIMES
A look at the new EU directive on telephone and Internet surveillance through the lens of Michel Foucault's theory of the Panopticon.
20.06.2006

This article is available in English and Norwegian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-20-lie-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-20-lie-no.html

Natalka Sniadanko
JOURNEY THROUGH GERMANY
In her journey through Germany, Ukrainian author Natalka Sniadanko discovers traces of her home country everywhere, as well as stereotypes about it.
19.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-19-sniadanko-de.html

Jenny Erpenbeck
VISITATION
Part of a house stands on appropriated Jewish land. When the systems changed so did the owners. But who does the house really belong to?
19.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-19-erpenbeck-de.html

Tim Ochser
I DON'T LOVE HOCKEY AND HOCKEY DOESN'T LOVE ME
"Sport's primitive allure provides a rare and necessary outlet for people desperate to rally behind a cause other than making a living", writes Tim Ochser, unimpressed by the spectacle of the Ice Hockey World Championships in Riga.
14.06.2006

This article is available in English and Latvian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-14-ochser-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-14-ochser-lv.html

Eva-Clarita Onken
LATVIAN HISTORY IN THE PROCESS OF DEMOCRATIZATION
The Latvian example shows that the existence of competing interpretations of the past and debates about how these should be institutionalized are core parts of a society's transformation to democracy.
13.06.2006

This article is available in German and Estonian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-13-onken-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-13-onken-et.html

Ulrich Schmid
NASI: THE PUTIN YOUTH. SOVIET TRADITION AND POLITICAL CONCEPTUAL ART
The pro-Putin youth movement Nasi (Ours) is a hierarchical organization that combines structures of the Komsomol with activities inspired by the dissident conceptual art of the 1970s and 1980s.
12.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-12-schmidu-de.html

Uta Andrea Balbier
"ZU GAST BEI FREUNDEN"
How the Federal Republic of Germany learned to take sport seriously
The ideologically motivated sporting policy of the GDR during the Cold War period prompted the FRG to begin using sport as an opportunity for national self-representation.
09.06.2006

This article is available in English and German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-09-balbier-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-09-balbier-de.html

Stefan Wellgraf
GIFTS OF MILLIONS. OLIGARCHS AND FOOTBALL IN UKRAINE
By investing heavily in football clubs at home and abroad, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs hope to accumulate social capital, thereby stabilizing their precarious legal positions.
08.06.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-08-wellgraf-de.html

Bernard Benhamou
FRAMING AN INTERNET NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
Political interference, online criminality, hacking, and economic security provide arguments in favour of increased supervision of the Internet. Are the insights that originally made the Internet so dynamic still valid when it becomes a basic infrastructure for the enrichment and sovereignty of nations?
06.06.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-06-benhamou-fr.html

Suzana Milevska
PARTICIPATORY ART
A paradigm shift from objects to subjects
The new tendency towards participatory art is a response to philosophical redefinitions of community and to demands to make visible marginalized groups.
02.06.2006

This article is available in English and German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-02-milevska-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-02-milevska-de.html

Jason Potter
BORN INTO "WHITE AIR AND WAITING". Charles "Hank" Bukowski 1920-1994
Philosopher Jason Potter is surprised to discover something like admiration for poetry's most (in)famous hardman.
02.06.2006

This article is available in English and Latvian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-02-potter-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-02-potter-lv.html

Claus Leggewie
EQUALLY CRIMINAL? TOTALITARIAN EXPERIENCE AND EUROPEAN MEMORY
Anyone who wishes to give a European society a political identity will rate the discussion and recognition of disputed memories as highly as treaties, a common currency, and open borders, writes Claus Leggewie. The question is not whether to commemorate, but how.
01.06.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-01-leggewie-en.html