----------------------------------------------------------- EUROZINE NEWSLETTER 3.2008 -----------------------------------------------------------
1. Article of the month: Living in visa territory 2. Cartoon controversy redux 3. Gallery for Cultural Journals at the Alte Schmiede, Vienna 4. New partner: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 5. New articles
----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: LIVING IN VISA TERRITORY -----------------------------------------------------------------
The extent of a person's freedom is determined by the status of their passport. For people who live outside the EU's charmed circle, travelling not only earns them the distrust of the country they wish to leave, but also of the country they wish to enter, writes Belarusian essayist and sociologist Nelly Bekus-Goncharova.
"Citizens of western European countries have their own credit histories. Those living outside the limits of the EU have visa histories. In both cases, it is about trust. In the former case a person is given money for temporary use, in the second case the temporary right to travel. With a loan it is expected that the money will return, with a visa the actual person. However, while a loan may improve a person's material wellbeing, a visa, upon expiry, always returns them to square one. 'Freedom' becomes reduced to the possibility of obtaining another invitation."
Giving an affecting insight into the absurd reality facing Belarusians who wish to leave the place that has been ascribed to them, Bekus-Goncharova's critique hits hard at the self-proclaimed promoters of freedom of movement in the West:
"The world has been closed to Belarusians not by their far-from-democratic regime but by those very countries where human rights and the freedom of the individual are declaredly at the top of the hierarchy of cultural values."
In visa territory, she notes, the intention to cross a border instantly triggers mechanisms inside a repressive machinery that suddenly "forgets" its liberal values. "We end up playing a new part: that of an object of suspicion of a power for whom the idea of individual freedom no longer exists, nor our right to be where we need to be."
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-22-goncharova-en.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. CARTOON CONTROVERSY REDUX -----------------------------------------------------------------
The Danish cartoon controversy has flared up again after police foiled a murder attempt on one of the cartoonists. This prompted Danish and international newspapers to republish the offending drawing, arguing that free speech is a fundamental human right and a central tenet of democracy. Yet there are strong divergences among liberals about what the right to free speech entails, as reactions to the initial controversy in 2006 revealed. Don't miss Eurozine's take on the debate the last time around, including contributions by Ian Jack, Kenan Malik, Ursula Owen, Ronald Dworkin, Tom Stoppard, Isolde Charim, Göran Rosenberg, Christoph Türcke, and Tahar Ben Jelloun.
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/comp/focalpoints/freespeech.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. GALLERY FOR CULTURAL JOURNALS AT THE ALTE SCHMIEDE, VIENNA -----------------------------------------------------------------
The "Alte Schmiede" (Old Smithy) in Vienna, so-called for the former blacksmith's workshop still housed in its premises, has for 33 years been organizing readings and discussions on literature. Cultural journals have always been a central part of its programme. Now, a broad selection of Austrian and European cultural journals, among them numerous Eurozine partner journals, can be read in the "Gallery for Cultural Journals" that opened on 11 February at Schönlaterngasse 9 in Vienna. Online access enables visitors to gain a further overview of digital publications. The reading room is open on weekdays between 14:00 and 18:30.
For further details see the website of the Alte Schmiede: http://www.alte-schmiede.at
----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. NEW PARTNER: BLÄTTER FÜR DEUTSCHE UND INTERNATIONALE POLITIK -----------------------------------------------------------------
The newest addition to the Eurozine network, "Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik" (Journal for German and International Politics), was founded in 1956. At a time when Cold Warriors set the tone in West Germany, the theologian Karl Barth called the journal "an island of reason in an ocean of nonsense." The journal went on to be instrumental in the '68 movement as well as in the peace movement of the 1980s. More recently, it has intervened on issues including compensation for victims of National Socialism, xenophobic politics, and the Kosovo conflict. "Blätter" also awards the "Democracy Prize", whose winners include Daniel J. Goldhagen, Amira Hass, and Seymour Hersh.
Today, "Blätter" is the most widely read political journal published in the German language. Every month, "Blätter" publishes 128 pages of commentary and analysis on contemporary political issues, focusing on institutional politics as well as social movements.
More about "Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik", including the current issue: http://www.eurozine.com/journals/blatter.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. NEW ARTICLES -----------------------------------------------------------------
Lev Gudkov A STATE WITHOUT SOCIETY ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF AUTHORITARIANISM IN RUSSIA Far from having "restored Russia's greatness", the Putin regime has ushered in a new stage of social decay. Indifference towards authoritarianism means that when Russia goes to vote, it will be an act of mass obedience on the part of a society unable to imagine anything better. 27.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-27-gudkov-de.html
Süreyyya Evren "CANONIZING" AND "TALKING" MAGAZINES ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHING IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT There are magazines that simply mirror the cultural environment and those that open up new channels of expression -- "canonizing" and "talking" magazines respectively. Publisher Süreyyya Evren outlines how "talking magazines" in Turkey can move beyond their niche audience to reach broad readerships. 26.02.2008
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-26-evren-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-26-evren-de.html
André Schiffrin CONTROLLING WORDS Press and publishing concentration in France is exceptionally high yet there is barely any protest from within the sector itself. Media monopolization is by no means only a French issue, however: throughout Europe and the US, profit has become publishing's bottom line. 25.02.2008
This article is now available in French, English, and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-17-schiffrin-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-01-17-schiffrin-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-25-schiffrin-de.html
Niels Kadritzke HEADSCARVES, GENERALS, AND TURKISH DEMOCRACY 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. 22.02.2008
This article is now available in German, English, and Norwegian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-12-19-kadritzke-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-01-kadritzke-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-22-kadritzke-no.html
Nelly Bekus-Goncharova LIVING IN VISA TERRITORY The extent of a person's freedom is determined by the status of their passport. For people outside the EU's charmed circle, travelling not only earns them the distrust of the country they wish to leave, but also that of the country they wish to enter. 22.02.2008
Daniel Leisegang THE GOOGLE EMPIRE Internet users increasingly reveal private data on social networking platforms. Yet a great deal of information is also gathered for commercial purposes without users' consent. Google is at the forefront of the data-tracking business, writes Daniel Leisegang. 21.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-21-leisegang-de.html
Jérôme Sgard NICOLAS SARKOZY, GRAMSCI READER NEW POWER AND THE TEMPTATION OF HEGEMONY Nicolas Sarkozy has professed admiration for the Gramscian notion of "cultural hegemony" -- political domination via domination of ideas. The difference is that Sarkozy seeks hegemony not over ideas so much as values. 20.02.2008
This article is now available in French and Lithuanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-07-25-sgard-fr.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-20-sgard-lt.html
Robert Misik SIMULATED CITIES, SEDATED LIVING THE SHOPPING MALL AS PARADIGMATIC SITE OF LIFESTYLE CAPITALISM If the imperative of consumer capitalism is "lead us into temptation", then the shopping mall is its cathedral. Increasingly, city centres -- or "brand zones" -- are adopting the mall aesthetic. 20.02.2008
This article is now available in English, German, and Lithuanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-12-15-misik-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-12-15-misik-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-20-misik-lt.html
Boaventura de Sousa Santos BEYOND ABYSSAL THINKING FROM GLOBAL LINES TO ECOLOGIES OF KNOWLEDGES Modern Western thinking continues to operate along abyssal lines that divide the human from the sub-human. One side of this line is ruled by a dichotomy of regulation and emancipation, the other by appropriation and violence. In order to succeed, the struggle for global social justice requires a new kind of post-abyssal thinking. 19.02.2008
This article is now available in English and Portuguese: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-06-29-santos-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-19-santos-pt.html
Eurozine Review AN ACRONYM FOR THE HOMELESS "Le Monde diplomatique" (Berlin) can't wait for consensus over climate change; "Esprit" looks into Sarkozy's intentions for Church and State; "Springerin" doesn't recommend playing the lottery; "Kulturos barai" faces up to Lithuania's migration problem; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) warns of the erosion of human rights; "Revista Crítica" looks into the abyss and beyond; "Reset" puts its faith in atheism; and "Kritika&Kontext" searches for the liberal in Nietzsche. 19.02.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-19-eurozinerev-en.html
Assia Djebar SCARS ON MY MEMORY ON ALGERIA'S LITERARY ANCESTORS AND THE CHOICE OF LANGUAGE "Thanks to the narrative art that my sisters learned to preserve over generations, I found my way back to an inner unity, so that the original note began stir at the centre of the French language in which I was writing. Thus reconciled to myself, I could swim completely freely." 18.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-18-djebar-de.html
Peter Bergmann, Teodor Münz, Frantisek Novosád, Paul Patton, Richard Rorty, Jan Sokol, Leslie Paul Thiele WHAT DOES NIETZSCHE MEAN TO PHILOSOPHERS TODAY? Excessively sensitive, anti-liberal, and irrelevant, or radical, prescient, and misunderstood? Six philosophers answer Kritika&Kontext's questions on Nietzsche. Their responses make one thing clear: Nietzsche still divides opinion. 15.02.2008
This article is available in English and Slovak: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-15-nietzsche-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-15-nietzsche-sk.html
Dagmar Herzog THE ILLEGITIMATE CHILD OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION HOW THE US RELIGIOUS RIGHT USED SEX TO GET TO POWER The US religious Right has learned more from the sexual revolution than the liberal Centre, which it has forced onto the defensive in matters of sexuality. But despite its condemnation of hyper-sexualized culture, the Right is far from prude, writes Dagmar Herzog. 14.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-14-herzog-de.html
Anette Baldauf SHOPPING TOWN USA VICTOR GRUEN, THE COLD WAR, AND THE SHOPPING MALL Victor Gruen's "shopping towns" were supposed to strengthen civic life and alleviate women's lives. But within a decade they had become the architectural expression of the policy of gender segregation underlying the US postwar consumer utopia. 13.02.2008
This article is available in German and English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-25-baldauf-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-13-baldauf-en.html
Gérard Wormser VIOLENCE AND HISTORY Violence is a relationship, not a "thing"; nor does it submit to typologies. Nevertheless, that does not mean that violence cannot be studied and its present-day occurrences located, writes Gérard Wormser. The exercise of imagined history is probably one of the best antidotes to violence. 12.02.2008
This article is available in English and French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-12-wormser-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-12-wormser-fr.html
Märt Väljataga LITERARY PERSPECTIVES: ESTONIA WAITING FOR THE GREAT ESTONIAN NOVEL While the Great Estonian Novel has yet to be written, the range of fiction in Estonia is sufficiently wide to serve as an indicator of the post-communist country's hopes and fears, anxieties and obsessions. 11.02.2008
This article is now available in English, Swedish, and Estonian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-06-30-valjataga-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-10-10-valjataga-sv.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-11-valjataga-et.html
Truls Lie, Jonas Gahr Støre COSMOPOLITAN CHOICES As a wealthy oil nation, Norway is increasingly faced with choices at the crossroads of economic interests and ethical values. Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre argues that trade relations are more effective than economic sanctions as a way to achieve ethical and political goals. 08.02.2008
This article is available in English and Norwegian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-08-lie-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-08-lie-no.html
Michail Ryklin BRANDED BUT NOT A SLAVE ON THE WORK OF VARLAM SHALAMOV Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales is the stylistic counterpart to Solzhenitsyn's cosmetic account of the Gulag. Michail Ryklin defends the existential authenticity of what Solzhenitsyn criticized as a fiction "without the expression of authorial subjectivity". 07.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-07-ryklin-de.html
Gus Hosein THEY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE Gus Hosein worries about the Internet turning into a data goldmine for governments that want to keep track of their citizens. Confronted with the next censorship initiative, it won't be so easy for us all to argue that the Internet just isn't built that way. 05.02.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-05-hosein-en.html
Heiko Haumann "HEROES" AND "THE PEOPLE" IN EASTERN EUROPE A RAPPROCHEMENT "Heroes" are associated in national memory with freedom and hope. The idolization of Polish rebel leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817) and Russian general Aleksandre Suvorov (1729-1800) demonstrates eastern Europe's predilection for longsuffering yet proud heroes. 05.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-05-haumann-de.html
Eurozine Review "REAL MEN LOVE JESUS" "L'Homme" calls the religious Right "the bastard offspring of the sexual revolution"; "Osteuropa" asks why Russians long for the stability of the Brezhnev era; "The Hungarian Quarterly" pictures Hungary's historical role in Europe; "Index on Censorship" speaks freely about cyberspeech; "dérive" follows the urban filmscript; "Host" points out the gaps in young Czechs' reading lists; and "Merkur" sees religion pitted against the religion of art. 05.02.2008
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-05-eurozinerev-en.html
Karin Moser VIENNA NOIR AUSTRIAN FILM IN THE POSTWAR ERA In postwar Austrian cinema, bombed-out Vienna provided the backdrop for films portraying returning soldiers as victims. International productions such as "The Third Man" and "The Red Danube" upset this myth and made Vienna the location for a new drama: the Cold War. 04.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-04-moser-de.html
Wolfgang Ullrich RELIGION VERSUS THE RELIGION OF ART German art critics were outraged after the bishop of Cologne found Gerhard Richter's new stained-glass window for Cologne cathedral to be insufficiently religious. Their response reveals the enduring Romantic ideology of artistic genius, writes Wolfgang Ullrich. 04.02.2008
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-02-04-ullrich-de.html