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1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: ALGERIA AND THE ARAB REVOLUTIONS
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The democratic revolution has yet to happen in Algeria, but this shouldn't lead us to believe that the Algerian people aren't "doing anything", writes journalist Ghania Mouffok.

"The Algerians [...] are constantly doing something. There are demonstrations, strikes, and arrests; there is the world of those nameless people, with no party affiliation, armed only with their humanity. And they are on the streets every day, putting up unbelievable resistance to the declared intention of successive powers to break them using clubs, tear-gas grenades, and the tanks that the young people call "azraïne" -- the devil."

In an article originally in French and first published in English translation in Eurozine, Mouffok describes the deep anger of a population that has been living under a state of emergency since 1992:

"In Algeria, setting fire to your own body has become the latest way of showing that you have no hope for the future and that you want the rest of the world to witness this, thanks to the mobile phones of stunned bystanders, who will share their visual scoop with others on the Internet."

These images of self immolation, writes Mouffok, "will not provoke a horrified reaction; they will not even make it onto the front page of the dailies. This will justify the views of those who serve the regime and keep repeating, as if to reassure themselves, that 'Algeria is not Tunisia'. And that is true: Algeria is not Tunisia. Not, as their propaganda would have you believe, because this is a good place to live, but because the flames of hell have become so familiar here that they amount to nothing more than a minor news item."

Ghania Mouffok
Algeria: A country in search of its movement
A brief account of the Years of Fire

This article is available in English and French:

http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-23-mouffok-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-23-mouffok-fr.html

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2. NEW FOCAL POINT ON CONFLICTING NARRATIVES
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In western Europe, the starting point of a common European narrative of sorts is 1945. "Never again" became the motto of the European integration project. In eastern Europe, however, 1945 above all means a transition from one occupation to another.

Is it possible to rewrite the larger narrative so as to include both East and West in a common European story? In recent years, this question has been discussed intensely, much of that discussion taking place in Eurozine.

In a new Focal Point entitled European histories (2): Concord and conflict -- a cooperation with the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam -- Eurozine now seeks to broaden the question beyond the East-West historical divide. How are contested interpretations of historical and recent events made active in the present, both uniting and dividing European societies?

Alongside Claus Leggewie's benchmark essay "Seven circles of memory", the first instalment includes articles focusing on the Balkans: Slavenka Drakulic suggests "a few 'easy" steps towards reconciliation" and Svjetlan Lacko Vidulic approaches post-Yugoslav memory via family history, on the premise that talking openly about inherited bias can break down fossilized patterns of thought and promote inter-memorial dialogue.

Read all articles in European histories (2): Concord and conflict:

http://www.eurozine.com/comp/focalpoints/eurohistories2.html

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3. MULTICULTURALISM-BASHING AT THE TOP: RESPONSES
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David Cameron's attack on "the doctrine of state multiculturalism" at the Munich Security Conference in February echoed Angela Merkel's comments in October last year that "multiculturalism had failed utterly". Nicolas Sarkozy then jumped on the bandwagon, replying to a question on French TV that "we do not want a society where communities exist side by side" -- despite the fact that France has never pursued an official multiculturalist policy.

Multiculturalism deserves criticism but Merkel's comments were more an attack on immigrants and immigration, writes Kenan Malik. Claus Leggewie, on the other hand, defends the concept of multiculturalism and argues that policy failures on the part of multiculturalism's conservative critics are the real point of issue. Writing in response to Cameron's comments, Cécile Laborde finds little to criticize in the relatively successful integration policies pursued by previous British governments and argues that the real "multiculturalist" danger lies in a security policy that places citizens under suspicion on the basis of their religion.

Follow the debate:

http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-21-malik-en.html

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4. NEW EUROZINE PARTNER: GAM
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The Austrian magazine "GAM -- the Graz Architecture Magazine" is a new partner in the Eurozine network.

Published since 2004 by the architecture faculty of Graz University of Technology, the journal covers important topics from the areas of architecture, urbanism and landscape.

Each issue is dedicated to a particular theme. By focusing on distinct viewpoints and selecting contributions by an open peer-reviewed process, "GAM" is an engaging forum in which different and often controversial views are expressed.

More about "GAM", including the latest issue:

http://www.eurozine.com/journals/gam.html

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5. NEW ARTICLES
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Martin Tharp
The rubber-stamp and the cyber-troll
Democracy and media in Hungary today
The Hungarian Right is less interested in the details of the law than in leading a "moral revolution" that threatens to create islands of virtual defiance isolated from an increasingly homogeneous national public sphere, writes Martin Tharp.
01.03.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-03-01-tharp-en.html

Miklós Haraszti
Notes on Hungary's media law package
(Updated following the agreement with the European Commission)
Hungary's media law could lead to a depoliticization of the media the likes of which exists in Russia and in other post-Soviet democracies, writes the former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. The alterations to the law will do little to this halt this tendency.
01.03.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-03-01-haraszti-en.html

Svjetlan Lacko Vidulic
Tinplate and gilt
The memory landscape of the SFRY
Our view of the past is tarnished by our ancestors' suffering or success. Svjetlan Lacko Vidulic approaches post-Yugoslav memory via family history, on the premise that talking openly about inherited bias can break down fossilized patterns of thought and promote inter-memorial dialogue.
28.02.2011

This article is available in English and German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-28-vidulic-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-28-vidulic-de.html

Slavenka Drakulic
A few "easy" steps towards reconciliation
Laissez faire reconciliation in the Balkans will never work, writes Slavenka Drakulic. Symbolic gestures by politicians are well and good, but a substantial change in social attitudes can only be achieved through the institutional promotion of tolerance and collaboration.
28.02.2011

This article is available in English and German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-28-drakulic-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-28-drakulic-de.html

Eurozine Editorial
European histories: Concord and conflict
In recent years, the possibility of a "grand narrative" that includes both East and West in a common European story has been discussed intensely. In a new Focal Point, Eurozine seeks to broaden the question beyond the East-West historical divide. How are contested interpretations of historical and recent events made active in the present, both uniting and dividing European societies?
28.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-28-eurozine-en.html

Eurozine Review
Irony as painkiller
"Osteuropa" draws conclusions from Lukashenka's crackdown; "Studija" enters Belarus through art's portal; "Esprit" finds political Islam subjugating the preacher to the prince; "Le Monde diplomatique" (Oslo) revels in Arabic revolts; "Arena" warns that dropping multiculturalism could be fatal; "Varlik" sees The Satanic Verses still creating waves in Turkey; "Vikerkaar" is underwhelmed by Sofi Oksanen's novel The Purge; "NZ" considers Russian modernization fundamentally archaic; "Revista Crítica" discusses women in public and women in private; and "Ny Tid" calls for contextualization, not censorship of the n-word.
23.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-23-eurozinerev-en.html

Ghania Mouffok
Algeria: A country in search of its movement
A brief account of the Years of Fire
In Algeria, the uprising is being kept down by political propaganda and police brutality. Ghania Mouffok describes the deep anger of a population that has been living under a state of emergency since 1992, asking whether the street can join with the liberal elite to depose the corrupt and complacent government.
23.02.2011

This article is available in English and French:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-23-mouffok-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-23-mouffok-fr.html

Ausra Trakselyte
An opened door?
On contemporary Belarusian art
The isolation of Belarusian artists means they fail to speak the conceptual language of the internationally networked artworld, writes Lithuanian critic Ausra Trakselyte. A recent exhibition in Vilnius -- entitled "A Door Opens?" -- aimed to change that.
22.02.2011

This article is available in English and Latvian:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-22-trakselyte-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-22-trakselyte-lv.html

Cécile Laborde
Which "multiculturalism" has failed, David Cameron?
The multiculturalism recently attacked by David Cameron bears little in common with the integration policies of previous British governments, writes Cécile Laborde. What it does resemble is a securitization approach that places citizens under suspicion on the basis of their religion.
21.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-21-laborde-en.html

Claus Leggewie
Monoculturalism is dead: Multiculturalism has yet to come
In Germany, conservatives criticize a pastiche of multiculturalism to justify authoritarian policies and deflect attention from decades of neglect, argues Claus Leggewie. Failure to recognize Muslims as part of society is to risk repeating an historical mistake.
21.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-21-leggewie-en.html

Kenan Malik
A Merkel attack on multiculturalism
In Germany as in Britain, the consequence of multiculturalist policies was social fragmentation, argues Kenan Malik. But a critique of multiculturalism should not be confused with the current wave of political attacks on immigrants and immigration.
21.02.2011

This article is available in English and German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-21-malik-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-21-malik-de.html

Ghania Mouffok
The Revolution will take place from 11 o'clock until noon
"If that's a march for change, then I have one of those every day!" In Algeria, unhealed social conflicts make a united front an unlikely proposition: to the advantage of the despotic regime. Ghania Mouffok listens to protesters but hears little revolutionary optimism.
18.02.2011

This article is available in English and French:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-18-mouffok-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-18-mouffok-fr.html

David Marples, Manfred Sapper
"Europe's last dictatorship": A self-fulfilling prophecy
An interview with David Marples
Lukashenka's departure from the path of liberalization suggests Russian pressure, says David Marples. The Belarusian president may have been able to dispose of political opponents, but the country's economic weakness poses a more elusive threat to the stability of his regime.
16.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-16-marples-en.html

Albrecht von Lucke
Propaganda of inequality
In a row over integration, prominent German intellectuals have supported elitist and determinist positions. All part of a campaign by "neo-Nietzscheans" to create acceptance of social inequality, writes Albrecht von Lucke.
16.02.2011

This article is now available in German and Hungarian:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-12-15-vonlucke-de.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-16-vonlucke-hu.html

Slavenka Drakulic
Censorship does not do justice to victims of mass rape
Attempts to prevent the shooting of a film about mass rape in Bosnia equalled an attempt at censorship, argues Slavenka Drakulic: this kind of response perpetuates misunderstandings about war crimes and overlooks the real problems facing Bosnian victims of mass rape today.
15.02.2011

This article is now available in English, German, Norwegian and Swedish:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2010-12-06-drakulic-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2010-12-06-drakulic-de.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-15-drakulic-no.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-15-drakulic-sv.html

Sabine Strasser
Blood, milk, and honour
Feminist debates on modernization and multiculturalism in Turkey and Europe
Reassessing research into honour rituals in rural Turkey and the discourse of modernization, Sabine Strasser asks whether culturally legitimated violence against female minority members calls for egalitarian intervention or rather a deconstruction of categories of "perpetrator" and "victim".
10.02.2011

This article is available in German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-10-strasser-de.html

Bronislaw Geremek
European politics and the ethical reference
Addressing the Società Europea di Cultura in 2007, the late Polish historian Bronislaw Geremek warned that apathy was Europe's greatest threat. His plea for a just and liberal Europe united by common ethical references remains as pertinent as ever.
10.02.2011

This article is available in French:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-10-geremek-fr.html

Alyson M. Cole
Embittered subjects
The new politics of blaming the victim
The phrase "blaming the victim" was originally intended to critique the attribution of social disadvantage to "inherent faults"; now, however, it has come to mean the condemnation of self-designated "victims" as manipulative. An analysis by Alyson M. Cole.
09.02.2011

This article is available in English and Swedish:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-09-cole-en.html
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-09-cole-sv.html

Eurozine Review
The invisible elbow
"Blätter" sees the lie of the nation persisting in Europe; "Reset" speaks some home truths about Italy; "Glänta" shows how the dead are (ab)used by the living; "Res Publica Nowa" scents political necrophilia in Poland; "Multitudes" claims its right to the city; "dérive" welcomes the illogic of signs; "Merkur" gets to the bottom of homo economicus; "Dialogi" is not amused by Slovenian political rhetoric; and "NLO" sides with Platonov's revolutionary animals.
09.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-09-eurozinerev-en.html

Michael R. Krätke
Misnomer Euro-crisis
The common "economic governance" being mooted in Berlin and Brussels indeed needs to happen, writes Michael Krätke. The crucial question, however, is what kind of policy the EU would operate. A continuation of the same neoliberal course only stronger cannot be the answer.
09.02.2011

This article is available in German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-09-kraetke-de.html

Dietmar Voss
Make live and let die
Facets of bio-power
The economic form of life becomes the model for the individual relation to the self. Lifetime, acquired skills, education and pleasure have a single purpose: self-increase of imaginary life-capital. Dietmar Voss gets to the bottom of the homo economicus.
09.02.2011

This article is available in German:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-09-voss-de.html

Slavenka Drakulic
Euroskansen
Europe as outdoor museum? Threatened with extinction by all-consuming privatization and the pursuit of endless profit, self-musealization might be Europe's only hope. Slavenka Drakulic has a scary vision of the future of the European way of life.
03.02.2011

This article is available in English:
http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2011-02-03-drakulic-en.html

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This work programme has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm