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1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: THE ASSAULT ON SCIENCE
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Article of the month: Intelligent design and the assault on science

Creationism is enjoying a new lease of life. On the back of the slogan "teach the controversy", its latest incarnation -- "the theory of intelligent design" -- has found its way onto school syllabi in the US and worldwide. This first became evident in a 2004 court case against a school in Pennsylvania whose biology teachers had refused to read a disclaimer stating that evolution is "only" a theory. The decisive evidence against the school was a demonstration that the term "creationism" had been systematically replaced by "intelligent design" in a school textbook, despite the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal in 1987 that declared it illegal to teach creationism in public schools.

In an article contributed to Eurozine by Catalan journal L'Espill, biochemist Juli Peretó delivers a rebuke to the fallacies and dishonesties of the theory of intelligent design, whose most prominent advocate in Europe is Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna. Critics of creationism who wish to defend the stance of the Church on biblical literalism often refer to a speech given by John Paul II in 1996, in which he acknowledged that evolution was "more than a hypothesis". However, in 2005 Schönborn (who is editor of the Universal Catechism, the central document of Catholic doctrine) published an article in The New York Times in which he describes the former pope's speech as "vague and unimportant".

According to Peretó, Schönborn "has recognised that he has the support of the present pontiff and has continued to work on his arguments in writings and lectures. It is revealing that the subject he has chosen for his catechism teaching at Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna in 2006 should be creation. It is well-known that certain radical Catholic groups in the United States -- who are involved, for example, in anti-abortion campaigning -- lend their support to the neo-creationist movement of intelligent design. However, the entry onto the scene of high-up members of the Church hierarchy is an unexpected and disturbing development."

But Peretó's strongest criticism is reserved for the pockets of the scientific community in which creationism has gained a foothold: intelligent design, he writes, "is based on an absence of explanation and at best is the product of scientific impatience, if not of ignorance. Perhaps it is the proposal of idle scientists who wish to introduce supernatural, untenable, and unnecessary explanations into the description of nature, which is to say it is an assault on science by religious fundamentalism. In this regard, the disturbing fervour with which the idea of intelligent design has spread beyond the United States, where it receives considerable government support, is indicative."

Juli Peretó
"INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND THE ASSAULT ON SCIENCE"
This article is available in English and in Catalan:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-13-pereto-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-13-pereto-ca.html

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2. NEW ARTICLES
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André Gattolin
PRELUDE TO THE THEORY OF THE HOAX AND ITS SUBVERSIVE USE
In an introduction to a focus on "activist hoaxes" published by French journal Multitudes, André Gattolin shows how simple tricks can upturn the codes of dominant cultures. The contemporary hoax goes beyond the field of traditional media activism and marks a regeneration of the culture of opposition.
31.07.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-gattolin-fr.html

Luther Blissett
THE MERRY DECEPTION OF LUTHER BLISSET
Don't hate the media, deceive it. A defence of the Luther Blissett collective.
31.07.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-blissett-fr.html

Erwan Lecoeur, Alexandre Pessar
THE YES MEN: THE USE OF THE "CORRECTION OF IDENTITY" FOR BHOPAL
The Yes Men combine happenings with takeover strategies. This time, Dow Chemical takes a hit.
31.07.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-lecoeur-fr.html

Andrea Natella
THE ORIGINS OF THE SUBVERSIVE USE OF THE HOAX IN ITALY
"The true is a moment of the false." An overview of the hoax in Italy, from Censor (1975) to Luther Blissett.
31.07.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-natella-fr.html

André Gattolin
SERPICA NARO: THE HOAX OF THE PRECARIAT UPON THE FASHION SYSTEM
The young designer Serpica Naro was the fiction of a collective who wanted to have the last laugh at an industry in which three-quarters of employees under thirty-five work on temporary contracts.
31.07.2006

This article is available in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-gattolin1-fr.html

Francis Mizio
THE TEXTUAL PROPAGATION BRIGADE
An account of the sabotage of ilovemycompany.com
31.07.2006

This article is available in Frenchn:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-31-mizio-fr.html

Thomas Hettche
IN THE ICEY COLD OF A PRECIOUS MOMENT
"What is it that people find here, 1856 metres above sea level? Proximity to the heavens? The snow, the cold, the silence, the clarity of the air? Or is it the intuition of the disappearance of the self?" Thomas Hettche on the Swiss village of Sils Maria. 29.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-29-hettche-de.html

Julia O'Connell Davidson
MEN, MIDDLEMEN, AND MIGRANTS. THE DEMAND SIDE OF "SEX TRAFFICKING"
The debate about prostitution is conducted between abolitionists, who would like to see pimps and customers prosecuted, and liberals, who call for the official regulation of prostitution. Both positions are simplifications.
27.07.2006

This article is available in German and in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-27-davidson-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-27-davidson-en.html

Elmar Holenstein
THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD
"What does he know of Europe who only Europe knows?" said Rudyard Kipling. A plea for looking beyond the borders of fatherland and mother tongue.
26.07.2006

This article is available in German and in Hungarian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-22-holenstein-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-26-holenstein-hu.html

Peter Loizos
LONDON IS NOT PARIS. THE BRITISH MODEL: PRACTICAL, DURABLE, BUT BY FAR NOT IDEAL
The British multicultural model could lead French republicanism out of its impasse, demonstrated by the rioting in November 2005.
26.07.2006

This article is available in English, German, and in Hungarian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-24-loizos-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-04-01-loizos-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-26-loizos-hu.html

Eurozine Review
WHEN A LIE BECOMES A FACT
Belgrade Circle Journal pleads for a community of memory; Osteuropa sees a clash of worldviews in the prostitution debate; Esprit sounds out the strengths and weaknesses of political participation; Springerin seeks alternatives to a "welfare art"; Revista Critica re-interprets modernism(s); Magyar Lettre Internationale reads migrant Europe; Lettre Internationale (Denmark) asks "which multiculturalism?"; Ord & Bild searches for hidden things; and Kulturos Barai celebrates 500 issues.
25.07.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-25-eurozinerev-en.html

Caroline Moorehead
NECESSARY LIES
Fabricated identities have become a valuable commodity for asylum seekers for whom credibility is the bottom line. Meanwhile, the media adds to the climate of disinformation.
26.07.2006

This article is available in English, Swedish, Norwegian, and Hungarian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-05-03-moorehead-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-05-18-moorehead-sv.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-08-29-moorehead-no.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-07-26-moorehead-hu.html

Vytautas Kavolis
CIVILIZATION THEORY AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN THE POSTMODERN-GLOBALIZED ERA
In a prescient essay from 1988, the late Lithuanian sociologist Vytautas Kavolis argues for the centrality of the concept of "civilization" in debates on postmodern global conditions.
24.07.2006

This article is available in English and in Lithuanian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-24-kavolis-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-24-kavolis-lt.html

Jean-Arnault Dérens, Laurent Geslin
SERBIAN PHANTOM PAINS
Macedonian independence will not be the last time the former Yugoslavia is re-ordered. Decisions on Kosovo and the Republika Srpska are still to come. If it is not to descend into crude nationalism, Serbia needs a European perspective.
20.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-20-derens-de.html

Amos Elon
ISRAEL'S UGLY LITTLE EMPIRE
The recent Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip could be the first indications of a plan to annex the large Jewish settlements in Palestine territory. That would prolong the war yet further, says Amos Elon.
20.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-20-elon-de.html

Azi Lev-On, Bernard Manin
HAPPY ACCIDENTS. DELIBERATION AND ONLINE EXPOSURE TO OPPOSING VIEWS
Beyond information and opinion sharing, does the Internet facilitate exposure to views we do not share? Does it meet this minimal condition for genuine democratic deliberation and participation?
19.07.2006

This article is available in English and in French:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-19-manin-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-19-manin-fr.html

Pierre Bourdieu, Franz Schultheis
IN ALGERIA: APPRENTICESHIP IN A SOCIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. PIERRE BOURDIEU IN CONVERSATION WITH FRANK SCHULTHEIS
"I was lucky enough to witness problems of metaphysical consequence pose themselves in concrete life." Pierre Bourdieu describes how his period in Algeria informed his understanding of concepts such as work, leisure, and career.
18.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-18-schultheis-de.html

Berthold Vogel
THE RHYTHM OF SOCIETY. THE ALGERIAN EXPERIENCE AS BASIS FOR PIERRE BOURDIEU'S SOCIOLOGY
"The modern economy lives solely with an eye to the future. The past is something to be overcome and destroyed, the present is interesting only as the starting point of the future."
18.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-18-vogel-de.html

Krystian Woznicki
IN DIGITAL DEATH VALLEY. NET/LANGUAGE - B@BEL, AYMARA.ORG, AND THE INTERNET AS LANGUAGE GRAVEYARD
Campaigns for online multilingualism fail to see the Internet as an environment for the development of critical net-languages and so pre-empt the death of small languages.
17.07.2006

This article is available in English and in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-17-woznicki-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-05-16-woznicki-de.html

Cédric Gouverneur
DUSTBINS EMPTIED ACCORDING TO CONFESSION
The social divides in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants are becoming increasingly entrenched. This doesn't bode well for the new joint government due to be elected soon.
14.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-14-gouverneur-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.
14.07.2006

This article is available in German and in Croatian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-06-20-kalbazyk-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-14-kalbazyk-hr.html

Heinz Bude, Tom Lampert, Thomas Medicus
CONSIDER THE FORM!
Political scientist Tom Lampert in conversation with Heinz Bude and Thomas Medicus
Tom Lampert on his book One Life, eight biographies based on archive material from Nazi Germany that resist clear-cut moral and formal distinction-making.
12.07.2006

This article is available in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-12-lampert-de.html

Ismail Kadare
DON QUIXOTE IN THE BALKANS
Ismail Kadare on why Don Quixote belongs to Balkan folklore, how Cervantes first came to be translated into Albanian, and why today's politicians should be banned from using the knight errant's name as a term of abuse.
11.07.2006

This article is available in English, Albanian, and in Macedonian:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-05-31-kadare-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-05-31-kadare-sq.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-11-kadare-mk.html

Eurozine Review
"SOMETHING WILL SNAP IN OUR HEADS"
L'Espill calls for the "Third Culture"; Merkur finds an answer to why poor countires are poor on a bumpy road; Revolver Revue seeks Europe in the Roman alphabet; Le Monde diplomatique (Berlin) prescribes a remedy for Serbia's phantom pain; Mittelweg 36 sees Algeria through Bourdieu's lens; Akadeemia brings back Althusser; NZ discusses security politics in Russia; Cogito delves into esoteric thought; Dialogi laments the power of public libraries; du reveals the myths of St. Moritz.
11.07.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-11-eurozinerev-en.html

Breyten Breytenbach
IMAGINE AFRICA
"At the dark heart of global insecurity we will find poverty, endemic and grinding and growing worse." Breyten Breytenbach on global inequality and the predicament of Africa.
10.07.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-10-breytenbach-en.html

Klaus Eder
EUROPEAN SECULARIZATION: A SPECIAL ROUTE TO POST-SECULAR SOCIETY? A THEORETICAL NOTE
Post-secular society is the contradictory and uncontrollable counterpart of the secular state. Both are accelerated and regulated by a third actor: a public sphere formed by the mass media.
07.07.2006

This article is available in English and in Catalan:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-13-pereto-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-13-pereto-ca.html

Hussain Al-Mozany
DEMOCRACY DICTATED
Iraq's experiences with democratization
If Saddam's legacy is to be overcome, Iraq must draw on its own experience of democracy during British occupation as well as receive massive support from Western democracies.
06.07.2006
This article is available in English and in German:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-06-almozany-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-06-almozany-de.html

Nenad Dimitrijevic
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COLLECTIVE CRIME. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
The success of the process of transition in the former Yugoslavia depends on adequately responding to the question of responsibility for crimes committed in the name of a people.
05.07.2006

This article is available in English:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-05-dimitrijevic-en.html

Wendy Kristianasen
PALESTINE: HAMAS BESIEGED
The current crisis in the West Bank and Gaza shows that Israel, the United States, and elements within Fatah mean to provoke the collapse of the Hamas government.
04.07.2006

This article is available in English, Norwegian, and in Danish:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-04-kristianasen-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-04-kristianasen-no.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-04-kristianasen-da.html