----------------------------------------------------------- EUROZINE NEWSLETTER 2.2008 -----------------------------------------------------------
1. Article of the month: Unacknowledged, unseen, unmentioned 2. New partner: The Hungarian Quartlery 3. New articles
----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: UNACKNOWLEDGED, UNSEEN, UNMENTIONED -----------------------------------------------------------------
Impoverished German children dream of the US; one Greek person in four is behind with their most basic bills; sixty per cent of the poor in Romania have outdoor toilets. "Knowledge of this kind about Europe seems to remain shrouded in darkness", writes Per Wirtén in an article first published in "Arena". "Why should that be, I wonder. Has it anything to do with how Europe views the US?"
The force that binds the EU together is its vision of itself as the egalitarian alternative to the US -- as more peaceable, more enlightened, more democratic... and without any real problems of poverty.
The fight against poverty is often held up as a goal by the machinery of the EU. Yet, as Wirtén discovers, the delegation of preventative action to the national level obstructs any attempt to gain a broader picture of European poverty.
"Might a comparison of the statutory minimum wage in different member states offer some kind of pointer? What it shows is a breathtaking regional gulf between incomes. The monthly minimum wage in Bulgaria is 92 euros. In other eastern European countries it is between 130 and 225 euros. In France, by contrast, it is 1280 euros a month -- fourteen times higher than in Bulgaria."
"Europe's self-image, its political identity as a fairer and more egalitarian alternative to the US, is a European dilemma. Unless the self-image is based on a real political project, it will become self-deception, echoing ever more hollowly and ultimately degenerating into a pure lie."
This article is available in English and Swedish http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-25-wirten-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-25-wirten-sv.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. NEW PARTNER: THE HUNGARIAN QUARTERLY -----------------------------------------------------------------
Eurozine's new partner, "The Hungarian Quarterly", has a long and tumultuous history: founded in 1936 as an English language journal for authors, journalists, and politicians who sympathised with post-Trianon Hungary, fascists killed its editor and closed it down in the final stages of WWII. The Kádár regime, wishing to improve its image, revived it in 1960 as "The New Hungarian Quarterly". The journal reverted to its original name in 1993 after Hungary’s return to democracy.
"Since then," write the editors, "'The Hungarian Quarterly' has been politically neutral, seeking to inform and provoke on a wide range of subjects -- historians, economists, literary scholars, musicians, and film- and theatre-goers will regularly find something stimulating. The journal has earned a peerless reputation for its translations of Hungarian fiction and poetry."
Read more about "The Hungarian Quarterly", including the current issue: http://www.eurozine.com/journals/hq.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. NEW ARTICLES -----------------------------------------------------------------
Niels Kadritzke HEADSCARVES, GENERALS, AND TURKISH DEMOCRACY Turkey The Turkish government's move to lift the ban on headscarves in universities is part of an ongoing discussion on a new constitution that has the potential to decide the country's future. It could dramatically increase Turkey's chances of becoming a member of the EU. 01.02.2008
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-01-kadritzke-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-12-19-kadritzke-de.html
Peter Rak PORTRAIT OF A MOMENT IN THE LIFE OF A NATION A decade and a half after Slovenia's declaration of independence and three years after EU accession, political and cultural life in the country is stagnating, writes Peter Rak. A moderate sense of national spirit and collective self-love may be the only way forward. 31.01.2008
This article is available in German, English, French, and Slovenian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-31-rak-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-08-17-rak-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-31-rak-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-08-17-rak-sl.html
Olivier Abel A WESTERN SPLIT WITHIN CHRISTIANITY? Benedict XVI's Regensburg speech in 2006 was directed less at Islam than at Protestantism, with its twofold spectres of sectarian utopia and consumer individualism. The real scandal was the way Benedict's anti-rationalism was warmly received by so many intellectuals. 30.01.2008
This article is available in English and French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-30-abel-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-01-24-abel-fr.html
Bérengère Massignon THE EU: NEITHER GOD NOR CAESAR How does the European Union handle the relationships between confessional faiths and the unified body that it is striving to bring about? Being inherently pluralistic, it is incumbent upon the EU to develop a new form of secularization. 28.01.2008
This article is available in French and English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-28-massignon-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-28-massignon-en.html
Per Wirtén UNACKNOWLEDGED, UNSEEN, UNMENTIONED POVERTY IN EUROPE Impoverished German children dream of the USA; one Greek person in four is in arrears with their most basic bills; sixty per cent of the poor in Romania have outdoor toilets. Cracks are appearing in Europe's beloved image of itself as the egalitarian alternative to the United States. 25.01.2008
This article is available in English and Swedish: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-25-wirten-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-25-wirten-sv.html
Claus Leggewie BETWEEN NATIONAL CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS SUPERMARKET MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS IN GERMANY AND THE PROBLEM OF REPRESENTATION In Germany, "cultural Muslims" have challenged the authority of conservative Muslim organizations to represent "the Muslim community". The problem of representation has to do with the German state's corporatist approach to negotiation, which is ill-suited to the changing religious landscape. 23.01.2008
This article is available in German, English, and Swedish: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-10-19-leggewie-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-10-19-leggewie-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-23-leggewie-sv.html
Svetoslav Malinov RADICAL DEMOPHILIA REFLECTIONS ON BULGARIAN POPULISM Populism in Bulgaria feeds off two phenomena: a pure hatred of political parties and the constant emphasis in the public discourse on an alleged contrast between ordinary people and the political elite. 23.01.2008
This article is available in English, Bulgarian, and Lithuanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-22-malinov-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-23-malinov-bg.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-23-malinov-lt.html
John Clark ACTING UP When "stand-up philosopher" Slavoj Zizek calls for "repeating Lenin" or praises Robespierre's defence of terror, some observers might be tempted to ask whether his entire intellectual oeuvre is not just some kind of act. No, says John Clark. "It's not just a pose; it's a position." 22.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-22-clark-en.html
Eurozine Review THERE ARE NO FAIR BORDERS "Le Monde diplomatique" (Berlin) warns against Kosovan independence; "New Humanist" wishes all a happy Darwin Day; "Glänta" goes underground; "Multitudes" discusses soft and hard activism with Toni Negri; "Esprit" bids farewell to democracy as we know it; "Kulturos barai" says sustainability must come first in Vilnius; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) asks what Norway should do with all its oil; "Revolver Revue" considers engaged filmmaking; and "Ord&Bild" anthologizes Russian short stories. 22.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-22-eurozinerev-en.html
Toni Negri, Constantin Petcou, Doina Petrescu, Anne Querrien WHAT MAKES A BIOPOLITICAL SPACE? A DISCUSSION WITH TONI NEGRI The city, says Toni Negri, is where the "political diagonal" intersects the "biopolitical diagram". Yet "soft" forms of activism that create collectivities on micro, neighbourhood levels only go so far, says Negri, who favours rupture and revolution over accumulation and gradual change. 21.01.2008
This article is available in English and French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-21-negri-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-21-negri-fr.html
Laurie Taylor WATCHING DAVID ATTENBOROUGH David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries have attracted massive audiences around the world, but have sometimes failed to endear themselves to academics. Laurie Taylor turns the microscope on to the man who's brought us life on earth, under the oceans, and in the undergrowth. 18.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-18-ltaylor-en.html
André Schiffrin CONTROLLING WORDS Press and publishing concentration in France is extraordinarily high yet there is barely any protest from within the sector itself. Media monopolization is not only a French issue, however: throughout Europe and the US, profitability has become publishing's bottom line. 17.01.2008
This article is available in French and English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-17-schiffrin-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-17-schiffrin-en.html
José Casanova RELIGION, EUROPEAN SECULAR IDENTITIES, AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION The rapid process of secularization in western Europe has not diminished the unease with which Europe considers Islam and Muslims in its midst. In this benchmark essay from 2004, José Casanova argues that the "Islam problem" is an indicator of the disparity between liberal and illiberal strands of European secularism. 16.01.2008
This article is available in German, English, French, Italian, and Lithuanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-07-29-casanova-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-07-29-casanova-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-07-12-casanova-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004-09-21-casanova-it.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-16-casanova-lt.html
Jean-Arnault Dérens INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVO: THE DOMINO EFFECT AN END TO BALKAN NATION STATES Talks on the status of Kosovo have led to a political impasse, and a crisis seems likely, yet another failure of international policy in the region. As the situation deteriorates, there are fresh proposals to redraw the border maps, but another round of conflicting aspirations could cause worse chaos. 15.01.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-15-derens-de.html
Matt McGuire LITERARY PERSPECTIVES: NORTHERN IRELAND SHAKING THE HAND OF HISTORY While the Northern Irish literary tradition is closely bound up with the experience of sectarian violence, contemporary Northern Irish poets and prose writers defy the assumption that "the troubles" are all there is to the country's literature. 14.01.2008
This article is available in English and Turkish: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-06-21-mcguire-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-14-mcguire-tr.html
Carl Henrik Fredriksson THE RE-TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF LITERARY CRITICISM Critical and public discussion of foreign literature in newspapers and magazines has traditionally served as a source of information and guidance not only for a broad readership, but also for "people in the business", for publishers and authors. When that discussion disappears, or loses its perspectives and becomes one-sided, this has consequences for the literary institution as a whole. 14.01.2008
This article is available in English and Turkish: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-07-04-fredriksson-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-14-fredriksson-tr.html
Tim Wilkinson IMRE KERTÉSZ'S HEART OF STONE A DETECTIVE STORY This month sees the English publication of Imre Kertész's little-known novella "Detective Story". Kertész's translator Tim Wilkinson introduces the work and, placing it in the context of Kértesz's oeuvre, embarks on some detective work of his own. 11.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-11-wilkinson-en.html
Zinovy Zinik ANYONE AT HOME? IN PURSUIT OF ONE'S OWN SHADOW Zinovy Zinik traces the history of the shadow as metaphor for exile through Evgeni Shwartz's play "The Shadow" back to earlier fables by Hans Christian Andersen and Adelbert von Chamisso. The sum effect: a web of émigré biographies and fictions spanning two centuries. 11.01.2008
This article is available in English and Estonian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-10-31-zinik-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-11-zinik-et.html
Taras Wozniak A POSSIBLE BIOGRAPHY OF OLD MASTER PINZEL (?-1761) The works of the baroque sculptor known as Master Pinzel are famous and plentiful. But little is known about his life. Perhaps looking at the time in which he lived can give us a better picture of the person behind the art. 10.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-10-wozniak-en.html
Achille Mbembe WHAT IS POSTCOLONIAL THINKING? Postcolonial thinking looks so original because it developed in a transnational, eclectic vein from the very start, says theorist Achille Mbembe. This enabled it to combine the anti-imperialist tradition with the fledgling subaltern studies and a specific take on globalization. 09.01.2008
This article is available in English and French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-09-mbembe-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-09-mbembe-fr.html
Eurozine Review DO FOOTBALLERS NEED BALLS? "Sodobnost" pinpoints Slovenia's place in Europe; "Samtiden" grabs football by the balls; "Merkur" winds up feminists; "Mittelweg 36" reads Shalamov against Solzhenitsyn; "Gegenworte" brings in the consultants; "Vikerkaar" talks to an anti-anthropologist; and "Passage" reads the dust jacket. 08.01.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-08-eurozinerev-en.html
Rainer Paris CRAZINESS "Craziness only half believes in the ideology to which it prescribes, but also believes that it can't believe in anything else. The top priority becomes to constantly repel doubt via relentless activism." 07.01.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-07-paris-de.html