Articles

When the financial crisis made clear the extent of western banks’ involvement in eastern Europe, concerns surfaced about the effects on western economies, re-awakening perceptions of the East as unruly and unpredictable. In the East, meanwhile, suspicions were reinforced that the West was interested in the new EU member states only insofar as they provided an opportunity to expand existing markets. What are the ethical and political implications of a globalized economy in general, and of western companies’ expansion in eastern Europe in particular? What does the European integration project really mean, not only economically but also at a social and cultural level? Romanian economist Daniel Daianu met Austrian author Robert Misik in Bucharest to discuss whether the failure of existing political and economic structures has opened up a new-old East-West divide. Moderated by Mircea Vasilescu, editor of Dilema veche and Carl Henrik Fredriksson of Eurozine.

Nationalism in Belgium might be different from nationalism in Ukraine, but if we want to understand the current European crisis and how to overcome it we need to take both into account. The debate series “Europe talks to Europe” is an attempt to turn European intellectual debate into a two-way street.

The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman finds unstable families and relationships a threat to society at large. Anthony Giddens opens for negotiation and change to keep both parties satisfied. Dalia Leinarte finds Giddens more in keeping with the times and uses the correspondence between two Lithuanian intellectuals to illustrate her point.

Surreal rearguard state or foretaste of problems yet to come? David Van Reybrouck predicts that the underlying causes of Belgium’s political crisis will repeat themselves throughout Europe as the new media call into question established democratic practices.

In the UK, women are being disproportionally affected by cuts in public spending. Sally Feldman asks whether the fiscal crisis is a cover for a return to a more traditional view of women’s roles and discusses an attack on gender quotas from an unexpected quarter.

In The Sexual Contract, Carole Pateman investigated how women’s lesser status as citizens is founded on their subordination in marriage and employment. Now, she writes, global inequalities introduce a racial dimension to the “classical” sexual contract.

Hungary’s media law could lead to a depoliticisation 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 on the basis of the agreement with the European Commission will do little to this halt this tendency.

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.

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.

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.

The isolation of Belarusian artists means they fail to speak the conceptual language of the internationally networked artworld, writes Ausra Trakselyte. A recent exhibition in Vilnius – entitled “A Door Opens?” – aimed to change that by introducing Belarusian artists to the Lithuanian public.

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.

The multiculturalism recently attacked by David Cameron bears little in common with the integration policies pursued by 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.

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.

“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.

Lukashenka’s departure from the path of liberalization required by the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme 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.