Both parties in the debate surrounding France’s ban on wearing a full-face veil in public appeal to European values. It is this, writes Ivan Krastev, that makes the discussion between Martha Nussbaum and Alain Finkielkraut on the nature of tolerance so relevant.
There is no place for multiculturalism in France, says Alain Finkielkraut, let alone full-face veils; any concession that allows the Islamicization of Muslim-dominated neighbourhoods is a fatal mistake. What is required is a true and authentic, reflective and self-critical hospitality.
Stuart Hall’s model of culture as a site of struggle makes more sense than ever in an age of growing inequalities and iniquities, writes Caspar Melville. And the stakes in this struggle couldn’t be higher: nothing less than the conditions of possibility for human freedom.
For Vladimir Putin, the West’s tolerance is weakness and dialogue is failure to impose force. Because KGB-styled Russia believes that either you devour, or you are devoured. Europe’s “silence of the lambs”, writes Volodymyr Yermolenko, is not a proper response to Russia’s war.
On 2 May, clashes between anti-Maidan and Euromaidan activists claimed 48 lives in Odessa. The city is still in shock. Tanya Richardson reports on how Russian intervention in Crimea has made such questions as “Who am I?” and, “In which state will I be secure?” more pressing than ever.
As Russia becomes more and more isolated, the Russian government will need to provide for all those who support it. Maxim Trudolyubov explains why those who can provide for themselves will be the first victims of western sanctions and Russian countermeasures.
Sanctions on Russia may tip economic stagnation into recession and widen the country’s gap with western nations still further. This time Putin seems to be plying an isolationist course without regard for the consequences, writes Maria Lipman.
The new wave of revolutionary politics, from the Arab Spring to the Turkish Summer, is an insurgence against representative democracy that offer no alternatives, writes Ivan Krastev in a new book. Is protest really a better instrument than elections for keeping elites accountable?
Confronted with gruesome images of the brutality of ISIS, many people conclude that this violence is inherent to the faith itself, to Islam. But is there really something about Islam that makes its followers more prone to violence and intolerance than others?
The informal politics of distribution on the streets, of begging and of giving, makes visible the faults inherent in European welfare systems, writes Cecilia Parsberg. And the rules and statutes that aim to prevent poverty-stricken EU citizens from enjoying free movement add insult to injury.
In a deceivingly simple prose poem, Lina Ekdahl captures the characteristic mix of genuine curiosity and interrogative hostility with which newcomers have been met throughout history and which is no less pertinent in the era of Dublin regulations.
In a narrative shaped by the persistence of gender and racial inequalities, Suzanne Sinke maps the interplay between migration and marriage from the origins of the United States onward, chronicling shifts in women’s rights along the way.
Treat economists like any religious minority, says Tomas Sedlacek. Grant them the right to say whatever they believe and the right to gather. But always be sceptical of the stories they tell. Just take the invisible hand of the market: it’s plain wishful thinking, like a prayer.
In an issue of the Austrian architecture magazine GAM entitled “Intuition & the machine”, guest editor Urs Hirschberg interviews developmental psychologist Edith Ackermann. Ackermann explains how imagining and realizing novel ideas engages aspects of the mind, body and self that we barely control. Learning, she says, is like the art of living itself, as it is about navigating uncertainties rather than controlling what we cannot predict. Which makes the question as to where digital technologies fit into these complex processes all the more exciting.
The longest anti-government protest in Bulgarian history brought about the resignation of Plamen Oresharski’s cabinet in July. But where does the political process go from here? Nikolay Nikolov remains optimistic about the outcome of the country’s tormented transition to democracy.
The Arab Spring has done nothing to stop business continuing as usual in the art markets of the Gulf states, write Nat Muller and Ferry Biedermann. At the same time, the wrath of the Arab peninsula monarchies continues to rain down on anything that smacks of dissent.