----------------------------------------------------------- EUROZINE NEWSLETTER 10.2009-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Article of the month: The imaginary pirate of globalization 2. Public debate: "Dilemma '89. My father was a communist" 3. "Challenges of freedom", conference in Krakow 4. New Eurozine partner: Soundings 5. New Eurozine partner: Intellectum 6. New articles
----------------------------------------------------------- 1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: THE IMAGINARY PIRATE OF GLOBALIZATION----------------------------------------------------------- The terrorist, the hacker and the financier are the new pirates, taking advantage of the spatial revolution brought about by globalization, writes Antoine Garapon in an article first published in "Esprit". "What defines them is, first and foremost, the sea, boundless and formless, that washes at once over every trace, a universe of risk and of capture."
"A pirate is the purest kind of rational agent, motivated solely by a desire for gain; free of loyalty towards any flag, he is subject to no system of taxation. In that sense, the pirate symbolizes the globalized individual, unattached, who behaves solely in response to his "animus furandi", his predatory instinct."
"If the menace has become stateless then the law must become stateless too", argues Garapon. "The law must be 'decontinentalized' so that it too becomes more maritime. Universal jurisdiction means that law is everywhere; it turns each and every judge into a pirate of the law: the law takes on the same form as its object."
The result of this "dialectic of piracy" is a society of total surveillance: "We are no longer dealing solely with a ban from above but from a process of regulation that comes from all sides: from above, horizontally, from peers, consumers, in short from the environment (it is in that sense that it resembles the liquid element). It will have achieved its goal when it has been sufficiently internalized to turn each individual into their own regulator."
This article is available in English and French: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-18-garapon-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-18-garapon-fr.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 2. PUBLIC DEBATE: "DILEMMA '89. MY FATHER WAS A COMMUNIST"----------------------------------------------------------- The first in Eurozine debate series "Europe talks to Europe" took place at the Collegium Budapest on 29 September. Slovak author and journalist Martin M. Simecka met Hungarian architect, former politician and political dissident László Rajk to discuss the legacy of communism both as family history and as public issue. The result was a truly riveting discussion about "Dilemma '89".
Both Rajk's and Simecka's fathers were members of the Communist Party from the first hour but were later persecuted: László Rajk sr. was executed in the Rakosi show trials in 1948 and Milan Simecka was expelled from the Party in 1968 and imprisoned in the 1980s. Martin Simecka suffered directly for his father's "crime" and was excluded from higher education, while Rajk jr. spent the first five years of his life in an orphanage. Later, János Kádar joked that the only thing that prevented him having Rajk jr. arrested was his hesitance in "killing a man with the same name twice".
Nevertheless, questions remain about both men's part in communist repressions. As Martin Simecka said: "It took me twenty years to understand that I didn't understand what had happened in the 1950s." This observation might apply to society as a whole: while there is a large body of literature on and by the dissident generation, an equivalent literature about the communist past does not exist.
László Rajk noted that the failure to deal with the communist past is not an exclusively eastern European phenomenon: what about the western '68ers who waved their little red books? Martin Simecka stressed that it is not a matter of apologizing, rather of what really happened. "But is it more than just historical truth that you want?", Martin Simecka was asked. His reply: "It's about giving the younger generation a chance not to repeat the mistakes of the past."
A full text based on the discussion will appear in Eurozine soon.
More on the series Europe talks to Europe, a cooperation with the ERSTE Foundation: http://www.eurozine.com/comp/europetalkstoeurope.html
http://www.eurozine.com/authors/Simecka.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 3. "CHALLENGES OF FREEDOM", CONFERENCE IN KRAKOW----------------------------------------------------------- Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the rise of the Polish Solidarity movement, crucial to the events currently being celebrated all over Europe: the successful struggle for freedom in eastern Europe, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The conference "Challenges of freedom" will discuss the essence of ideologies of liberation, the sources of anti-totalitarianism, and the role of ethical values in initiating historical change. The conference takes place on 8 and 9 October in Krakow and is organized by Villa Decius in partnership with Eurozine.
The programme includes an opening speech by Paul Berman; among the panellists are Susan George, Marc Raboy, Guy Sorman, Paul Gillespie, Nina Witoszek, Unni Wikkan, Zdzislaw Mach, Henryk Wujec and Michael Daxner.
More about the conference "Challenges of freedom" and how to register: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-10-01-newsitem-en.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 4. NEW EUROZINE PARTNER: SOUNDINGS----------------------------------------------------------- "Soundings" (UK) is a journal of politics and culture founded in 1995 by Stuart Hall, Doreen Massey and Michael Rustin, with the aim of providing a forum for democratic and pluralist left discussion, broadly in the New Left tradition. It has been published from its inception by independent radical publisher Lawrence & Wishart. Its current editor is Jonathan Rutherford.
"Soundings" seeks to include within its remit the widest possible range of issues. It has published themed issues on subjects such as young Britain; the echoes of Windrush; emotional labour; frontier markets; well-being; bare life; eco-wars; and living in cities.
"'Soundings' has sounded for me quite a few ideas which I wouldn't be able to fathom on my own. And they go on doing it -- for which I am immensely grateful," says Zygmunt Bauman. And now they are doing it as Eurozine partners!
More on "Soundings" including the current table of contents: http://www.eurozine.com/journals/soundings.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 5. NEW EUROZINE PARTNER: INTELLECTUM----------------------------------------------------------- "Intellectum" is a Greek bi-annual journal promoting critical thought and dialogue beyond traditionally demarcated academic boundaries. By placing the reader at the centre of critical thinking, "Intellectum" aspires to be a tool for the understanding of "a rapidly changing socio-political environment". It seeks to break down stereotypes and challenge current orthodoxies via multiple approaches from a variety of fields: law, sociology, history, biology, medicine, political sciences and philosophy among them.
"Ultimately, "Intellectum" aims at providing a meeting place for readers' intellectual encounters, expressions and perceptions, which constantly evolve and change."
More about "Intellectum" including the current table of contents: http://www.eurozine.com/journals/intellectum.html
----------------------------------------------------------- 6. NEW ARTICLES----------------------------------------------------------- Konstanty Gebert, Irena Maryniak Table talk "It is an unnatural but positive development when democracy trains people to believe that, overall, it is better to let the bastard speak." Former Solidarity actvist and journalist Konstanty Gebert on censorship post-'89 and anti-Semitism in Poland today. 30.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-30-gebert-en.html
Silvia García Dauder, Nuria Gregori Designing the margin of feasible bodies Truths and binary oppositions in the construction of sexes-genders-sexualities The controversy around the gender of South African athlete Caster Semenya is by no means unprecedented. As Silvía Garcia Dauder and Nuria Gregori write, the world of sport is a social microcosm that reveals much about assumptions concerning biological sex. 28.09.2009
This article is available in Catalan and English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-28-garciadauder-ca.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-28-garciadauder-en.html
Slavenka Drakulic Tito between legend and thriller A museum to Tito at his one-time summer residence glorifying the Yugoslav dictator is in stark contrast to a damning new biography, finds Slavenka Drakulic. Yet between the two extremes is an absence of objective history-writing in the former Yugoslavia. 25.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-25-drakulic-en.html
Eurozine Review The moderate use of pleasure "Le Monde diplomatique" (Berlin) points to the blind spots of the G20; "The Hungarian Quarterly" says informants weren't to blame; "Merkur" is not embarrassed by heroism; "New Humanist" re-reads postmodern classics; "Samtiden" votes for a more representative parliament; "RiLi" critiques the green movement with Gorz; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) gathers critical voices on Israel; "A Prior" combats amnesia with the moving image; and "Esprit" unravels Enlightenment paradoxes. 23.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-23-eurozinerev-en.html
Ulrike Hermann Pensions must pay off As trust in stock markets falters, private pension insurance companies invest in the state. Money is moved from one pocket of the tax payer to another -- and the only ones to profit are the insurers. 23.09.2009
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-23-hermann-de.html
Nina Power Think again Postmodern theory can be pretentious and overblown. But a new series of reissues calls for a response that goes beyond the glib rejection characterizing much of the contemporary Anglo-American humanities, writes Nina Power. 22.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-22-power-en.html
Sándor Révész One day it has to come out Two books dealing with the state security in communist Hungary show that a much wider circle than the network of agents were responsible for the disadvantages suffered by thousands. This radically calls into question the treatment of informants as scapegoats. 22.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-22-revesz-en.html
Jörg Lau The pathos of obstinacy Civil courage and heroism In the German discourse, "civil courage" replaces "heroism", which carries asscociations with the war ethos of earlier eras. But can civil courage truly be de-heroized? According to Jörg Lau, "people must come forward who are not afraid to 'act the hero'." 22.09.2009
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-22-lau-de.html
Antoine Garapon The imaginary pirate of globalization The terrorist, the hacker and the financier are the new pirates, taking advantage of the spatial revolution brought about by globalization. They force legal institutions to change their responses: universal jurisdiction turns every judge into a pirate of the law. 18.09.2009
Agnes Heller Twenty years on "When in opposition, they do not comport themselves as the opposition to a democratically elected government. When they become the governing party, they pursue the same paternalistic, populist political game." Agnes Heller's indictment of Hungarian politicians twenty years after 1989. 17.09.2009
This article is now available in English, Polish and Romanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-04-07-heller-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-05-28-heller-pl.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-17-heller-ro.html
Martin M. Simecka Central Europe's laboratory of freedom The quest for a media culture in Slovakia The Slovak media has had a turbulent career since 1989. But although the most serious challenges to press freedom have been seen off, a media culture free of the legacies of the past has yet to develop, writes Martin Simecka. 15.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-15-simecka-en.html
Tomas Kavaliauskas Salvation fantasies No one in eastern central Europe suspected that once the fight for independence was won, democracy would become a parody of itself, writes Tomas Kavaliauskas. Open disrespect for the public jars with the ideals of the Baltic Way that existed before and after 1989. 09.09.2009
This article is available in English and Lithuanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-09-kavaliauskas-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-09-kavaliauskas-lt.html
Eurozine Review The election campaign that wasn't "Blätter" despairs of an election campaign devoid of content; "Varlik" hears opinions on the AKP's "Kurdish move"; "Arena" warns Sweden against the Danish trap of xenophobia; "Osteuropa" draws lessons from the Czech EU debacle; "Critique & Humanism" revisits the Batak controversy; "Passage" reads Derrida after Derrida; "Akadeemia" argues medical ethics is not just about morals; and "Mittelweg 36" says heroes are not as selfless as we like to think. 09.09.2009
This article is available in English: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-09-eurozinerev-en.html
Albrecht von Lucke More experiments! Camouflaged behind the "politainment", the CDU and FDP are promising the same neoliberal tax cuts that were among the causes of the financial crisis, writes Albrecht von Lucke. No wonder they have avoided mentioning concrete policy in their election campaigns. 08.09.2009
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-08-vonlucke-de.html
Jan Philipp Reemtsma The hero, the I and the we Heroes, and hero-worship, may not be as selfless as we like to think, argues Jan Philipp Reemtsma. "Heroes are people who live out their narcissism to an extent not normally permitted in everyday life. They receive admiration not despite, but because of their narcissism." 08.09.2009
This article is available in German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-08-reemtsma-de.html
Timothy Snyder Holocaust: The ignored reality Auschwitz and the Gulag are generally taken to be adequate or even final symbols of the evil of mass slaughter. But they are only the beginning of knowledge, a hint of the true reckoning with the past still to come, writes historian Timothy Snyder. 03.09.2009
This article is now available in English, Lithuanian, Norwegian and Romanian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-06-25-snyder-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-08-11-snyder-lt.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-08-24-snyder-no.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-03-snyder-ro.html
Miranda Alison, Debra Bergoffen, Pascale Bos, Louise du Toit, Regina Mühlhäuser, Gaby Zipfel "My plight is not unique" Sexual violence in conflict zones: a roundtable discussion What conceptions of gender underlie military policy towards sexual violence? Is the form violence takes determined by the type of warfare? And to what extent is sexual violence in wartime different to that in peacetime? 02.09.2009
This article is available in English and German: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-02-zipfel-en.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-02-zipfel-de.html
Esther Kinsky A lesson in the void "People stare at me, and I can't blame them. Not because I'm someone who has something among those who have nothing, but because I can afford to look to the horizon." 01.09.2009
This article is available in German and Hungarian: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-01-kinsky-de.htmlhttp://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-09-01-kinsky-hu.html
----------------------------------------------------------- The Eurozine newsletter is published with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm