----------------------------------------------------------- EUROZINE NEWSLETTER 06.2007 ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article of the month: The geopolitics of memory 2. Focal Point: The city as stage for social upheaval 3. New partner: A Prior Magazine 4. New articles
----------------------------------------------------------- 1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: THE GEOPOLITICS OF MEMORY ----------------------------------------------------------- Communist memory is hotting up in eastern Europe. As the furore over the Soviet war memorial in Tallinn demonstrated, Russia remains a factor in the national narratives of the post-Soviet space. But memory politics is less about the communist past than about political and economic strategy on the European continent, writes Tatiana Zhurzhenko.
In the new EU member states, a political vacuum has opened up in which old tensions re-emerge. The rhetoric of nationalists relates the corruption of the post-communist Left to its ideological and structural ties with the former communist regime. The need to "reckon with the past" is thus politically instrumentalized.
EU neighbour countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, meanwhile, are reinventing themselves as European nations. They distance themselves from the former empire by externalizing the communist past. Overcoming painful historical memories enables alliances, such as that between Ukraine and Poland, which are mutually beneficial in strategic terms.
But the decisive factor is Russia's return to the geopolitical stage. To restore national self-belief, Putin has rehabilitated the Soviet past as an integral part of Russian imperial glory. This feeds the traditional Russophobia of the former Soviet satellites, an attitude partially sanctioned by the myth of the "kidnapped West" (Kundera) -- as if western Europe never had anything to do with communism.
"Almost everywhere in eastern Europe, post-communist elites have difficulties integrating Soviet war memorials into their new national landscapes of memory", writes Zhurzhenko. "On the one hand, [...] the successful externalization of communism turns these memorials into disturbing symbols for counter-memories and alternative narratives. [...] On the other hand, Soviet war memorials continue to serve as markers of Russian geopolitical influence and ambition. Internal conflicts can easily be fuelled from outside."
Tatiana Zhurzhenko THE GEOPOLITICS OF MEMORY
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-10-zhurzhenko-en.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 2. FOCAL POINT: THE CITY AS STAGE FOR SOCIAL UPHEAVAL ----------------------------------------------------------- From the western European city, through the Second World city, to Asian and African megacities, one principle more than any other asserts itself in the contemporary urban social space. In a new focal point, articles reveal the logic behind the privatization of urban space.
Where and when did it begin? Anette Baldauf and Michelle Provoost show how progressive urban planning in the US was inextricable from the ideology of consumerism that underlay Cold War society. Today, market interests are all-powerful in the Western city, as Mark Saunders (London), François Ruffin (Marseille), and Benedict Seymour (New Orleans) demonstrate.
In the Second World city, three factors have overriding significance for the urban experience: ownership (Ivaylo Ditchev on Sofia); expropriation (Philippe Pataud Célérier on Shanghai); and survival (Hannah Rutishauser on Istanbul). The hyper-privatization of cities in transition societies takes visual form in the photos of Luchezar Boyadjiev.
In the Third World megacity, globalization finds its perfect storm. In Kinshasa, infrastructure has broken down entirely (Filip De Boeck); in Calcutta, "sanitation" is an attempt to stave off imminent ruin (Swapan Chakravorty); and in Bombay, the word slum becomes synonomous with "encroachment" (Ilija Trojanow).
Counter-strategies are needed -- though not of the kind recommended by Hernando de Soto (Staffan Granér explains why not). Henrik Lebuhn reports on a Latino farming project in L.A., and Olivier Mongin discusses two architects who anticipate the shift from class struggle to place struggle.
Read more: http://www.eurozine.com/comp/focalpoints/cityasstage.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 3. NEW PARTNER: A PRIOR MAGAZINE ----------------------------------------------------------- "A Prior Magazine" is a Belgium-based series of publications on contemporary art. In its two regular issues a year, it discusses the body of work of an artist at length through visual and textual contributions. It is compiled in a manner similar to that of an exhibition: a multi-faceted collection including different viewpoints, but with an eye for some degree of affinity.
In addition to its regular issues, "A Prior Magazine" collaborates occasionally with organizations or initiatives within the larger field of visual culture to publish EXTRA issues.
Read more about "A Prior Magazine", Eurozine's newest partner journal, including its current issue: http://www.eurozine.com/journals/aprior.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 4. NEW ARTICLES ----------------------------------------------------------- Vicenç Villatoro DISTORTED VISION. THE IMPERVIOUSNESS OF THE CASTILIAN MARKET TO CULTURAL OUTPUT IN CATALAN Catalan cultural products are seen as a political instrument rather than a response to genuine demand. As a result, it is easier for a Catalan author to get published in German or Dutch than in Castilian Spanish. 31.05.2007
This article is available in English and Catalan: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-31-villatoro-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-31-villatoro-ca.html
Maria S. Rerrich GLOBAL WITH MOP AND BROOM. WHY OUR DEMAND FOR COSMOBILE HOUSEHOLD HELP IS A POLITICAL MATTER Domestic workers have become globally networked and are in transit worldwide. So should we have a guilty conscience if we employ a cleaning lady? Personal guilt is not the point, says Maria S. Rerrich. 30.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-30-rerrich-de.html
Sasha Roseneil LIVING AND LOVING BEYOND THE HETERONORM. A QUEER ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY The organization of personal life and "the family" has transformed significantly over the past thirty years. Sociologists must take these changes into account and start to decentre the family and the heterosexual couple in our intellectual imaginations. 29.05.2007
This article is available in English and Portuguese: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-29-roseneil-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-29-roseneil-pt.html
Mark Saunders FISH 'N' FREEDOM FRIES. ON REGENERATION AND OTHER LONDON OLYMPIC MYTHS In July 2006, London rejoiced at winning the bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012. But who is really doing the rejoicing? Urban planners, certainly, who have been handed carte blanche to carry through a programme of urban reconstruction otherwise beyond their wildest hopes and dreams. 25.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-saunders-en.html
Anette Baldauf SHOPPING TOWN USA. VICTOR GRUEN, THE COLD WAR, AND THE SHOPPING MALL Victor Gruen's "shopping towns" of the 1950s were supposed to strengthen civic life, structure the suburban sprawl, and make women's lives easier. But these hermetic spaces perfectly mirrored the Cold War "policy of containment". Within a decade, Gruen's designs had become the architectural extension of the policies of racial and gender segregation underlying the US postwar consumer utopia. 25.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-baldauf-de.html
François Ruffin MARSEILLE: UPGRADES AND DEGRADATION Gentrification has charmed its way into European cities for the past 35 years and more, promising rehabilitation of buildings and cityscapes, new cultural venues, shops and restaurants, and of course big profits for developers. But what happened to the real citizens? 25.05.2007
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-ruffin-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-ruffin-de.html
Benedict Seymour DROWNING BY NUMBERS. THE NON-REPRODUCTION OF NEW ORLEANS After the actual hurricane that hit New Orleans in late August 2005 came the second hurricane of neo-liberal looting. The vacuum left by the evacuation of the working-class population and the storm’s destruction of infrastructure produced the dream conditions for economic "restructuring". 25.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-seymour-en.html
Ivaylo Ditchev SOFIA, FLUID CITY New social inequalities brought by the transition to a free-market economy are taking shape in the traditionally privileged Sofia. In a privatized city, affluence levels are all too easily read in the urban fabric. But appropriations at the neighbourhood level are mere irritations compared to larger incursions into the city space. 25.05.2007
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-ditchev-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-ditchev-de.html
Swapan Chakravorty IMMINENT RUIN AND DESPERATE REMEDY. CALCUTTA AND ITS FRAGMENTS Calcutta's longstanding communist government is ingratiating the city to Western investors. By evicting squatters and street vendors from public spaces in the name of sanitation and Western norms, it is robbing Calcutta of its vital tradition of urban commons. 25.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-chakravorty-en.html
Filip De Boeck THE CITY OF KINSHASA AS VERBAL ARCHITECTURE Kinshasa, with its nine million inhabitants the second largest city in sub-Saharan Africa, epitomizes contemporary urban chaos. Given that Kinshasa's infrastructure is either non-existent or doomed to disappear, how can one grasp what holds the city together? Filip De Boeck approaches an understanding of Kinshasa through the body, sexuality, religion, money, madness, and death. 25.05.2007
This article is available in French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-deboeck-fr.html
Ilija Trojanow THE ABOLITION OF POVERTY. REPORT FROM BOMBAY Whoever serves in Bombay's city administration and uses the word "slum" simultaneously means "encroachment". The laager mentality of Bombay's rich has led to a social apartheid where slums are cleared to make way -- quite literally -- for golf courses. 25.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-trojanow-de.html
Olivier Mongin FROM CLASS STRUGGLE TO PLACE STRUGGLE. THE LOCAL PROJECTS OF ALBERTO MAGNAGHI AND THE URBAN RENOVATION OF BERNARDO SECCHI The term "place struggle" serves to highlight the fact that, in post-industrial societies, conflicts are more and more related to the recovery of democratic space and polities. In a world where global technical flows devour conventional urban space, globalization must be tackled "bottom up". Magnaghi's and Secchi's Italian experiments anticipate this need. 25.05.2007
This article is available in French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-mongin-fr.html
Siegfried Beer THE SOVIET OCCUPATION OF AUSTRIA, 1945-1955. RECENT RESEARCH AND PERSPECTIVES While Austria did not fall within the direct sphere of Soviet influence during the postwar period, it was earmarked for heavy economic exploitation. Siegfried Beer summarizes new perspectives gained after the opening up of the Russian state archives. 24.05.2007
This article is available in English and Estonian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-24-beer-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-24-beer-et.html
Ursula März FROM RAGS TO RICHES Madonna, like millions of other girls, dreamt from early childhood of becoming a star. Her dream came true because she was convinced that it was possible in America, through sheer willpower and the willingness to be brutal with herself. 23.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-23-marz-de.html
Truls Lie WHAT MAKES A "FILM PLEDGE" VISIONARY? Unimpeded by Norwegian language, culture, or social conditions, Norway should be capable of creating and expanding a visionary arena for critically independent, international documentary film. 22.05.2007
This article is available in English and Norwegian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-22-lie-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-22-lie-no.html
George Blecher DIRTY SECRETS OF A TRANSLATOR "No translator can translate every author equally well. The problem is that you don't know whom you can and can't translate until you try, and by then it's too late." George Blecher divulges the translator's dirty secrets... 21.05.2007
This article is available in English and Slovak: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-21-blecher-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-21-blecher-sk.html
András Forgách ZEHUZE A Hungarian-Israeli mother addresses her daughter in Europe in a letter she never sends. In a fictional monologue, András Forgách explores the private suffering and political ambivalence of a life in postwar Israel. One of Hungary's most interesting authors for the first time in English translation. 18.05.2007
This article is available in English and Hungarian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-18-forgach-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-18-forgach-hu.html
Lilia Shevtsova RUSSIA'S WILL TO WORLD POWER. AUTOCRACY, ENERGY, IDEOLOGY Until now, Russia and the West have been imitating "strategic partnership". To create a genuinely stable partnership, however, the US must reverse its drive towards military hegemony. For its part, Russia must make the transition to fully democratic standards. 16.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-16-shevtsova-de.html
Irena Maryniak THE EDGE OF THE VOLCANO Forced labour is widespread in Europe. But until policy makers recognize the need to manage the demand for migrant workers, there will continue to be a market for those prepared to risk exploitation. 15.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-15-maryniak-en.html
Klaus Laermann THOUGHTS ON THE NEW FUNCTION OF WRITING Nowadays, an empty surface not covered with advertising text induces horror vacui. Commerce and new media are changing the way we use and understand script, writes Claus Laermann. 14.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-14-laermann-de.html
Charles Hirschman THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION ON AMERICAN SOCIETY. LOOKING BACKWARD TO THE FUTURE In a survey of the history of American immigration, Charles Hirschman points out that almost all popular fears about immigration and even the negative judgements of "experts" have been proven false by history. 11.05.2007
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-11-hirschman-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-11-hirschman-de.html
Jan-Werner Müller A "PAUSE FOR THOUGHT" WITHOUT THE THOUGHT? POSSIBLE WAYS TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE EU TODAY The one-year "pause for thought" launched by Europe's elites after the rejection of the EU constitution in 2005 was extended in June 2006. This time could be used to discuss the pros and cons of competing Euro-visions, writes Jan-Werner Müller. 11.05.2007
This article is now available in French, German, and English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-11-jwmuller-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-03-23-jwmuller-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-03-23-jwmuller-en.html
Artur Klinau, Katharina Narbutovic NEWS FROM THE PARTISAN FORESTS Artur Klinau on subversive culture and the culture of subversives "It probably won't be possible to make Minsk as popular as Venice. But if it can reach even 10 or 15 per cent of Venice's popularity, that would mean billions of dollars." Artist, author, and editor Artur Klinau has a dream. 10.05.2007
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-10-klinau-de.html
António Sousa Ribeiro THE REASON OF BORDERS OR A BORDER REASON? TRANSLATION AS A METAPHOR FOR OUR TIMES How does translation affect and change our notions of multiculturalism and cultural identity? 09.05.2007
This article is now available in Slovak, English, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Macedonian, and Bosnian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-09-ribeiro-sk.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-01-08-ribeiro-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-07-18-ribeiro-pt.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-13-ribeiro-it.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-01-14-ribeiro-tr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-10-13-ribeiro-mk.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-10-05-ribeiro-bs.html
Erica Johnson Debeljak GAINED IN TRANSLATION What is the translator's job? To bring the text to the reader or the reader to the text? And either way, do translators receive the credit they deserve? 09.05.2007
This article is now available in Slovak, English, Slovenian, and Italian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-09-johnsondebeljak-sk.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-07-25-johnsondebeljak-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2005-07-25-johnsondebeljak-sl.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-01-11-johnsondebeljak-it.html
Eleanor Burnhill WEEDS AND WILD FLOWERS. POLITICAL TOURISM IN WEST BELFAST During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, journalists would jump into taxis and ask to be taken to the fighting. Now it's political tourists eager for the scenes of past battles. But are taxi drivers qualified to be their guides? 08.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-08-burnhill-en.html
György Schöpflin DEMOCRACY, POPULISM, AND THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN HUNGARY. A REPLY TO THOMAS VON AHN In Hungary, it is not a question of whether history has been instrumentalized by politics, but of whether one approves of how it has been instrumentalized, argues György Schöpflin. 07.05.2007
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-07-schopflin-en.html
Thomas von Ahn DEMOCRACY OR THE STREET? ON THE STABILITY OF THE HUNGARIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM The demonstrations in Budapest in September 2006 marked the culmination of a conflict between Conservatives and the liberal Left. The rift is exacerbated by politicized disputes about the past, argues Thomas von Ahn. 07.05.2007
This article is now available in German with an English summary: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-11-21-vonahn-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-07-vonahn-en.html