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Category: 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.

Electric Istanbul

In her research project, EUME Fellow Nurçin İleri traces the electrification of Istanbul during the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish nation state. She examines how, where and by whom electrical energy was generated and how it was distributed. In doing so, she shows how the electricity grid spread around the Bosphorus with street lights and electric trams, creating new social and political interdependencies and permanently changing the everyday lives of many Istanbulites.

Stamps of different colours on top of a desk.

Bureaucrats Under Illiberal Rule. How Governments Subdue Bureaucrats and How They Fight Back

By Dániel G. Szabó. This blog post summarises and analyses some of the leading scholarship on bureaucrats under illiberal rule and compares leading authors’ taxonomies on government approaches and strategies towards the bureaucracy, and bureaucratic reactions to these actions. It is discussed how governments might try to influence and subdue the public service and how it can fight back or resist. Despite the immense importance of the topic – governments in our societies cannot do anything without the intermediation of an army of bureaucrats – it is relatively understudied.

Stamps of different colours on top of a desk.

Illiberális kormány és a közigazgatás. Az államapparátus térdre kényszerítése és bürokratikus ellenállás

[HUNGARIAN] By Dániel G. Szabó. Ez a tanulmány az illiberális kormányok mellett működő közigazgatásról szóló szakirodalmat elemezte és összehasonlította, hogy különbőz szerzők hasonló jelenségeket milyen különböző fogalmakkal írnak le. A közigazgatás óriási jelentősége ellenére – hiszen a modern társadalmakat hivatalnokok működtetik – ez továbbra is kevéssé kutatott terület. Záró gondolatként a blogbejegyzés amellett érvelt, hogy a kormány és az apparátus viszonyát kutató szakirodalom általános szervezetszociológiai keretben is értelmezhető, valamint kiemelte a kérdőíves és interjúalapú kutatások megvilágító erejét, valamint – új elemként – a bírósági jegyzőkönyvek forrásértékét.

A poster reading "The Samira Al-Khalil Award" and further details on the event, in the background a drawing of a woman.

“The struggle has always been one” – On the Third Samira al-Khalil Award Ceremony

By Anne-Marie McManus. On December 9th, members and allies of the Syrian community gathered at Spore Initiative in Berlin-Neukölln to remember the life, activism, and disappearance of Samira al-Khalil. They did so under the aegis of the Samira al-Khalil Award, a three-year old prize that recognizes and honors activists – particularly women – who “struggle to end violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in the Arab and Mediterranean regions.” It was an evening dedicated to individuals who resist in the face of violence and despair, through their activism, narrative, and solidarity.

Abstract art in blue and lilac.

The European Democracy Shield – A Toolbox for Safeguarding Digital Democracy?

By Valentina Golunova. On 12 November 2025, the European Commission presented its long-awaited Communication ‘European Democracy Shield: Empowering Strong and Resilient Democracies’. It promises to ‘reinforce the core elements that allow citizens to live our shared democratic values every day’ (European Commission, 2025c). To that end, the European Democracy Shield (EUDS) puts forward a broad spectrum of measures to strengthen the security and integrity of the European Union’s (EU) information ecosystem, particularly in the face of foreign interference.

A drawing of a woman reading a magazine while leaning on the countertop of a kitchen, electric appliances in the background.

Ideal Family, Citizenship, and Hygiene: Representations of Electric Household Appliances in Early Republican Turkey

By Nurçin İleri. Early Republican discourse on hygiene-focused modernization in Turkey intersected with the visual and rhetorical representations of electric household appliances. Those appliances functioned less as everyday tools than as material and symbolic markers of an imagined modernity. Rather than reflecting local realities, they projected a normative vision of the future and of women’s roles in society and the household. While these technologies ostensibly eased women’s labor, they simultaneously disciplined it, making women both carriers and regulated figures of modernity.

Teenagers and young adults holding protest signs, reading e.g. "Justicia Climática" or "Si no escuchas al planeta me escucharas a mí".

A Right to Defend the Environment. Legal Protection for Environmental Advocacy in the IACtHR’s Climate Advisory Opinion

By Nina Alizadeh Marandi and Philipp Schönberger. As the world faces an escalating triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – those who step forward to defend the environment are increasingly stigmatized, criminalized, and subjected to violence. It is therefore not surprising that the protection of environmental defenders features prominently in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR). By recognizing environmental defenders as essential actors in democratic climate governance, the IACtHR’s advisory opinion advances a bold vision of environmental democracy that positions civic engagement as a vital precondition for legitimate and effective climate action.

A group of women wearing folk attire and headscarves.

Is Folk Music a Flashback to the Past or a Promise for the Future?

By Ganna Goncharenko. Folk music and folklore preserve collective memory, traditions, and values of a people, combining the past, the present, and the potential of the future. Today, folklore includes not only songs and tales, but also ritual practices, urban legends, anecdotes, and even internet memes. Its remarkable ability to preserve historical experience and remain a support for the community will be further examined in this article.

Close-up shot of a piece of striped fabric.

A Forgotten Fabric From German Colonial History in Kamerun: The Case of Hina Fabric

By Salomé Soloum. Among the numerous objects violently uprooted from their original contexts during the German colonization of Kamerun (present-day Cameroon), one artifact holds particular significance: a textile from Hina,in the Far North region. Deceptively modest in appearance, woven from cotton and now faded with time, the cloth bears a crucial inscription: “C.V. Krogh” and the number “516.’’ These markings constitute tangible evidence of a contested appropriation, prompting critical questions about its removal. This article argues that simple textile fragments, no less than iconic masks or regalia, offer a critical lens for analyzing the mechanisms of colonial plunder.

Close-up shot of a piece of striped fabric.

Un Tissu Oublié du Passé Colonial Allemand au Kamerun: Le Cas du Tissu de Hina

Par Salomé Soloum. Parmi les nombreux objets violemment arrachés à leur contexte d’origine durant la colonisation allemande du Kamerun (l’actuel Cameroun), un artefact revêt une importance singulière : un textile provenant de Hina, dans la région de l’Extrême-Nord. D’apparence trompeusement modeste, tissé de coton et aujourd’hui patiné par le temps, ce tissu porte une inscription significative : « C.V. Krogh » accompagnée du numéro « 516 ». Ces marques constituent une trace matérielle d’une appropriation contestée, soulevant des interrogations essentielles sur les circonstances de son déplacement. Cet article soutient que de simples fragments textiles, tout autant que les masques ou les regalia emblématiques, constituent un prisme pertinent pour analyser les mécanismes du pillage colonial.