‘Wespennest’ contemplates normality in its various guises: how can abnormal behaviour have become acceptable; what lies behind the ‘new normal’ and flattening coronavirus-induced curves; and whether the aspiration of a newly equitable norm is just wishful thinking.
In this anniversary edition of ‘il Mulino’, the journal and its content receive a makeover, with crises in democracy taking centre stage. Including the search for: honest liberal politics; sanity in party politics; and a post-austerity, green and mutual European Union.
‘Kultūros barai’ offers a Lithuanian perspective on Russian power play, historic and current; and a Jewish history behind Soviet jazz. Plus: philosopher Algis Mickūnas on upholding democratic principles through everyday politics.
‘The Dutch Review of Books’ presents: the commons, vying for legitimacy between state and capitalism; the void of societal responsibility for #MeToo; and African oral traditions evident in rap music.
Catalonian journal ‘L’Espill’ on feminism discusses: reducing the care deficit of men; women upholding health and environment; and recognition for war-time rape victims in peace times. Also: the dangers of flouting COVID-19 science.
In ‘Mittelweg 36’: how photographs of lynchings were used against the perpetrators; the history of hunger strikes at Guantánamo Bay; and the resistance of an engineer scapegoated by the GDR regime.
‘Positionen’ remembers the life and work of Romanian avant-garde composer Octavian Nemescu. Also, a focus on the art of the musical: TV casting shows as mass-market theatre; and musical theatre as space for inter-cultural dialogue.
‘La Revue nouvelle’ explains why the ‘Next Generation EU’ COVID recovery fund does not break with the logic of austerity; how the Belgian ‘Plan for Recovery and Resilience’ fails to unite; and what needs to be done to put culture at the centre of the recovery.
‘Ord&Bild’ opens its pages to the Gothenburg-based writers collective Qalam, headed by Johannes Anyuru. Poetry, prose and discussion reflecting on what it means to write – and to write in Swedish.
Cogito’s 100th issue focuses on the history of critical theory. Including Adorno in Turkey; Foucault and Habermas on despotism; COVID-19 and ‘temporal fracture’; and nineteenth-century attitudes to empire.
‘Springerin’ considers reparations, colonial violence and race relations in Europe and the US. Also, on the ever-increasing presence and future implications of technology in our cultural, political and daily lives.
‘New Literary Observer’ discusses the iconic turn in the art of the Middle Ages. Articles explore the relationship between visual practice and literary reflection, drawing both on western and Russian research.
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, a public whose freedom has been dictated by science is showing signs of scepticism. ‘Esprit’ examines the vexed relations between science and public opinion when scientific truth no longer inspires unquestioning trust.
‘Public Seminar’ assesses the politics of shame: how Afropessimism challenges the established meaning of privilege; the questionable religious fervour of antiracists; and when global human rights ‘naming and shaming’ backfires.
‘Passage’ focuses on literature about work, highlighting the underrepresented: women whose work aligns with giving life; Greenlanders’ voices overwhelmed by Danish writers; working class authors extricated from tedium. Plus: literature on agricultural policy and farmers’ demos.
Out on the town at night, ‘dérive’ uncovers queer constellations after gentrification, bars as living sculptures facing suffocating lockdowns and the persevering nightlife of Sydney, London and Shanghai.