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Kategorie: Issues

What are current issues, ideas, themes or concerns that merrit transregional debate and exchange, and why? Issues offers an opportunity to introduce, report, explain and contextualize academic events, new and ongoing projects. For more information see Contributions.

Issues / MECAM

Reimagining the Maghreb: Navigating an Autonomous Region in Motion

By Julius Dihstelhoff, Rachid Ouaissa, and Thomas Richter. The Maghreb has been shaped and influenced by external powers and forces throughout most phases of its recent history. As a vibrant space in motion, this world region is only at the beginning of a long process of carving out its own future autonomous role. Historically, the Maghreb has faced internal tensions due to acute disparities and complex external interlinkages with surrounding regions. These tensions are crucial for understanding contemporary transformation processes and future dynamics.

EUME / Issues

Friendship in Dark Times: Fragments on Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim Literatures

By Zahiye Kundos. “Now, as a group of people who are obsessed with the idea that history matters, we can agree that in the last few months, the aforementioned big hopes have been receiving a series of electric shocks. Thereafter, the word ‘return’ and the question mark disappeared, leaving ‘exile’ standing alone, naked on an empty stage. By then, and while becoming perplexed about the title’s orientation and the exact concepts to tackle, our hosts first suggested talking about “Rethinking Jewish Politics: Between Exile and Sovereignty” and then changed it to “Between State and Exile: Rethinking Jewish Politics.”

Issues / re:constitution

Rule of Law Backsliding and the Fundamental Rights of Migrants in Europe

By Dr Ruji Auethavornpipat. The European Commission’s Rule of Law Report, while assessing EU member states’ adherence to key rule of law principles, significantly lacks a focused evaluation of fundamental rights protections, especially for migrants. This oversight not only undermines the report’s comprehensive integrity but also reflects poorly on the EU’s commitment to its core democratic values.

Issues

Desecularising Culture in Method: Five Theses on Syncretism

By Sebastián Eduardo Dávila. After experiencing the Alasitas Celebration in Puno, Peru, the author puts forward five theses on syncretism, or the amalgamation of different religions and cultures in the Andean region. By advancing an understanding of syncretism not as fusion, but as layering of experience through centuries marked by colonisation, diaspora, and resistance across the hemisphere, the author attempts to redraft the concept of syncretism.

Issues / re:constitution

Elections, Rule of Law and Democracy in Greece

By Taygeti Michalakea. In the 2023 elections, Greece’s ‘New Democracy’ party won a second term with 40.5% of the vote, while the opposition Syriza received only 17.8%. Smaller far-right parties also gained seats, raising concerns about the rule of law. Issues such as weakened independent institutions, lack of media freedom, widespread surveillance, and political interference in the judiciary are contributing to this decline. This text explores how these factors are undermining democracy and eroding fundamental freedoms in Greece.

Issues

Digital Apartheid in India: Depriving India’s Youth from Digital Empowerment

By Nihakira Srivastava. “The divide between India’s haves and have-nots created vastly different worlds of opportunity – all shaped by their level of internet access from birth. For some it opened doors, while for others it remained a locked portal.” This article addresses the critical issue of digital exclusion and its impact on the younger generation in India. Through her research and writing, the author aims to highlight and combat the systemic barriers that hinder digital inclusion, striving to create a more just and empowered digital future for all.

Issues

Cities in Custody: Urban Development as Spatial Proxy of Ideological Coloniality

In Iran, urbanization has played a central role in establishing infrastructures of social control, labor exploitation, and resource extraction – all under the auspices of religious authority. The appropriation of natural resources and public goods has caused lasting damage to ecological systems, making the region one of the world’s most extreme cases of heat and pollution, as Nassim Mehran and Niloufar Vadiati argue in their contribution to the “Kin City” text series.

EUME / Issues

Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo: A Syrian Tale of War and Exile

By Elise Daniaud Oudeh and Loaay Wattad.
“Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo” is an animated film produced by artists Marya Zarif and André Kadi. As the sequel of the film, “Dounia and the Great White North”, will soon be playing at festivals, this article explores the original creative process of Marya Zarif. The movie introduces us to the life of Dounia, a young Syrian child born and raised in Aleppo. From her birth in an old traditional house, to her departure, hands in hands with her grandparents, as civil unrest and repression start spreading in the country, the viewer follows the daily life of the small family.

Issues

The Global Pontificate of Pius XII: Catholicism in a Divided World, 1945-1958 

In 2020, the Vatican has opened its archives for the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958), which has been accompanied by strong media coverage. While a lot of scholarly attention has been given to the actions of the Catholic Church during the Second World War and the Holocaust, the research group “The Global Pontificate of Pius XII: Catholicism in a Divided World, 1945-1958” is the first attempt to focus on the post-war period and tries to address new questions about the Vatican’s role in the phase of reconstruction after 1945, the emerging conflicts between the capitalist West and the communist East, and the processes of decolonization in the global South. Simon Unger and Julian Sandhagen in conversation with Alex Favalli.

Issues / Reviews

A Global History of Hungary: Concept, Implementation, Reflection

By Ferenc Laczó, András Vadas, and Bálint Varga. As a recent project on the global history of Hungary aims to demonstrate, studying Central and Eastern Europe through the systematic application of transnational methods and from a truly global perspective can offer original and valuable insights. In this essay, the authors of Magyarország globális története (A Global History of Hungary) would like to outline their agenda of applying transnational methods to the long-term reinterpretation of a country’s history and reflect on the ambition to embed Hungarian history comprehensively in global frameworks.