Viktoria Sereda illustrates why Volodomyr Zelensky won the 2019-election, how he shifted the narrative in Ukraine and what role the fictional character of a history teacher played in all of it. By bridging the gap bewteen fiction and reality, she then exposes the experiences and feelings of two real history teachers, forced to leave their homes in the Donbas and Crimea.
By Brahim El Guabli and Aomar Boum. For the millions watching the semi-final World Cup match between France and Morocco, it felt like the ultimate showdown, yet players on both teams fought valiantly and treated each other to hugs and moral support, suggesting a sea change in international relationships between former colonies and their European nemeses (ED).
Interview with Asef Bayat. This interview was published in Persian on Oct. 10 by the Tehran daily Etemaad. Shortly after its publication, the Iranian authorities ordered the newspaper to take the interview down from its website. The interview had already gone viral in Iran and abroad, and several other outlets that had reposted it were likewise forced to unpublish it.
By Zahiye Kundos. Above and beyond the heartache that recent events in Iran engender among Muslims and people who are in solidarity with us, it harms what we truly and communally care about: finding creative ways to reassert who we are and what we stand for.
By L. Is the uprising in Iran a feminist revolution? This essay is an attempt to understand an intuition born of experiencing a gap: A gap between viewing photos and videos of protests online, and presence in the street. It’s an effort to explicate the short-circuit that courses in the opening between these two domains—virtual space and the reality of the street—in this historic moment.
By Laetitia Nanquette. The images of the current protests in Iran are striking and possibly unexpected for some. However, there is a long history of political movements in Iran, and throughout this history, literary creations and politics have influenced each other.
By Nassim Mehran. On 14 September 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, was detained by Iranian police forces because of an “improper hijab.” Two days later, she was pronounced dead, allegedly due to police brutality. For Iranians living under the fundamentalist state’s oppression of women during the last 43 years, this is not an exceptional incident.
By Andrii Portnov. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 came as a surprise to many in Western Europe. Perhaps even more surprising was the firm Ukrainian resistance. But why was this unexpected? Apparently, Putin’s worldview and Ukrainian reality were ignored for a long time.
Von Andrii Portnov. Die russische Invasion in die Ukraine im Februar 2022 kam für viele in Westeuropa überraschend. Vielleicht noch überraschender war der entschlossene Widerstand der Ukrainerinnen und Ukrainer. Doch warum? Putins Weltsicht und die ukrainische Realität wurden offenbar lange ignoriert.
Just three weeks following my release after 16 years in prison in Syria, I started translating a book into Arabic. The book was “Powers and Prospects: Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order,” by Noam Chomsky. It had taken me some time to realize that the leading linguist and the harsh critic of American imperialism was the same person.
TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research is a platform for scholars in the humanities and social sciences who are interested in transregional exchange and research on current issues. TRAFO is the blog of the Forum Transregionale Studien (Berlin) and the Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland (Bonn).
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