The global debt crisis is encouraging economists and others to explore alternative ways of measuring national wealth and productivity. In conversation with Almantas Samalavicius, the economist Mark Anielski discusses the possibility of an economic system based on wellbeing rather than unlimited growth.
Geopolitics is not quite as simple as it is often made to appear. Karl Palmås and Jonas Lindberg explore the concealed relationships between global capital and bio-engineering, the ambiguous dependencies of rich and poor nations, and the nature of society itself in the modern world.
As the new Polish middle class seeks to establish its own identity and to break with the traditional ethos of the central European intelligentsia, it may find a model for integration with the broader international community through the experience of merchants once based in the Polish sector of the Russian empire.
Choreography replaces vision in a leaden US election campaign, writes George Blecher. No amount of media hype can disguise voters’ sense that neither candidate is offering a significant variation on the status quo.
As an independent, self-financing publication, Blätter is a relative exception in the journals field. So far, it has not felt the impact of recession, says editor Daniel Leisegang, who sees the big challenges in generating demand for political content and keeping pace with media change.
A long-standing media diversity policy in Sweden means journals such as Glänta and Ord&Bild enjoy an exceptional degree of stability. The question is how, amidst the massive changes affecting other media, they can turn the particular character of the cultural journal into a strength.
Heavy dependency on steadily declining state funds makes the situation for Czech journals unsustainable, says Host editor Marek Seckar. As a small sector of the cultural budget, journals funding barely registers wider policy trends. It is precisely this inconspicuousness that gives cause for concern.
With sharp drops in advertising revenue and drastic public cuts, the financing system for Greek journals has never been less transparent. As the “networking” factor attains new levels, meritocracy seems a far-off dream says Intellectum editor Victor Tsilonis.
Internationalizing itself following a 100 per cent defunding by the Arts Council of England, Mute magazine is developing new publishing strategies in the digital field while retaining a strong commitment to the long-form text, writes director Simon Worthington.
In Poland, policy for journals funding is all about “professionalization”, writes Res Publica Nowa editor Artur Celinski. Declining subsidies together with a sluggish sales climate obliges the young journal to diversify into areas beyond strictly publishing.
Swingeing funding cuts with worse expected has left Slovenian journals to a death by instalments, writes Sodobnost editor Evald Flisar. The new government’s disdain for national culture combines with a unhealthy proximity to the corporate sector to marginalize the cultural community.
A long tradition of financial independence might come to an end if Varlik’s sales decline much further, says the editor of the Turkish journal. In a climate where cultural support is heavily politicized, Varlik’s future stands or falls on the demand for critical content.
Generous funding for Estonian journals, rooted in the politics of national identity, has shielded them from the effects of the crisis. Yet past continuity is no guarantee for the future, as Vikerkaar and others negotiate the transition from print to digital formats.
A dramatic decline of advertising revenue has forced Austrian journal Wespennest to scale down from four issues to two issues a year. While commitment to the print format remains undiminished, the question of how to build up readerships across generations remains open, write the editors.
Regeneration of the Mediterranean region must draw on its legacy of cosmopolitan democracy while offering prospects for ecological, energy-political and scientific development. The Mediterranean may then re-enter the European consciousness as the Mare nostrum, with all the joint responsibilities that entails.