Political Critique: Surprise Breakthrough for the Radical Left in Croatia

In the 27 years since the collapse of Yugoslavia, Croatia has endured a profound crisis of deindustrialisation, agricultural collapse and a dearth of social services. Two figures in particular show the results of the capitalist experiment. In 2015 real wages were 27% lower than in 1978. In 2013, meanwhile, GDP was 7,1% lower than in 1986. [...]

Despite this bleak reality, the devastation of capitalist Croatia is masked by very strong nationalism, which was forged in the 1991-5 war with Serbia. This is grounded in strong anti-communist rhetoric the ideological goal of which is to deny any positive reminiscence of socialist times, and prevent the advance of any kind of new radical ideas. In the last few years this has also been accompanied a resurgence of neo-fascist tendencies. In the town of Jasenovac, for example, the Croatian equivalent of Auschwitz, there is a notorious plaque on which the salutation, za dom spremni the Croatian version of Sieg Heil, is written. The current government has no intention of removing this, satisfying itself by nominally condemning “both totalitarianisms.” [...]

In the capital, the United Left Front (consisting of five mostly new or newer parties – covering wide ideological range, from left-liberal, green, social-democratic to anti-capitalist) reached a remarkable 7.64% in the elections for the City Assembly. It won some 24,000 votes and four seats, thereby surpassing the much-publicized Bridge party (4.93%) and Human Shield (4.53%). In city districts and local councils the united left front did even better than Zagreb, winning tenths of positions on all levels, with results which occasionally went up to 30%, sometimes beating both HDZ and SDP. [...]

Although at first glance these results might seem small they are the highest the radical left has been able to gain since 1990. Entering local political structures will mean not only greater media attention, but increased key financial and spatial resources thus paving the way for further growth. What is particularly significant is that the Croatian national government is currently undergoing a great crisis, only temporarily deferred until the end of the local elections (the run-off is in just ten days or so). Snap parliamentary elections could be held again in the autumn.

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The Washington Post: The case for preserving — and improving — brutalist architecture

Clearly, the beleaguered Metro system has bigger things to worry about — safety, reliability, plummeting ridership — than the color of its stations. Yet “Paintgate” does prompt tantalizing questions about the future of perhaps the world’s most polarizing architectural style: brutalism, derived from the French béton brut, meaning “raw concrete.” And few big cities in the United States or Europe have as much brutalism per square mile as Washington — thanks to the Metro, the FBI headquarters downtown, the Hirshhorn Museum on the Mall and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Southwest Washington, among other federal buildings, as well as privately built structures like Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library.

Brutalist architecture in the United States emerged in the 1960s, the era of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, when progressive designers wanted to create buildings that fit their vision of a strong and benevolent public sector. They were also bucking the previous generation and its cool, glassy modernism, which by that point had become the architectural language of the corporate world. By contrast, brutalism showcases stark or rough exterior walls; deep-set, sometimes small windows; a sculptural or blocky form (often top-heavy); and a monumental scale.

Over the years, many Americans have come to associate brutalism with failed public housing projects and Soviet architecture. The fact that its signature material, concrete, was used for hundreds of forgettable knockoffs, not to mention storm drains and highway overpasses, didn’t help its reputation.

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America Magazine: The problem of violence in the modern world

First, the concept of ethnicity itself is a distinctively modern idea. Borrowing from Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Benedict Anderson, Lange defines ethnicity in terms of a subnational “communal identity” and “collective consciousness” based on an imagined common culture and shared descent. Like national identity, ethnicity enabled people to envision themselves as part of the same community even though they “do not know most co-ethnics, commonly have major cultural differences, and rarely share blood ties.” In turn, the move from ethnic consciousness to ethnic violence depends on having a sense of “ethnic obligation” to one’s own in-group and “emotional prejudice” (for example, hate, anger, jealousy, fear and envy) against the ethnic out-group. [...]

Another modern concept, the nation-state, stands especially implicated in the rise of ethnic violence. Twentieth-century “ethnicized nation-states” were especially brutal. One thinks here of the ethno-national mythos of the Nazis’ “German volk,” Slobodan Milosevic’s “Greater Serbia” or Rwanda’s “Hutu Republic.” In turn, the modern nation-state model is linked to the idea of communal self-rule. This has created great instability and, often, violence in ethnically plural states, exacerbated by the fact that two-thirds of the world’s ethnic communities were excluded from political power between 1946 and 2005. [...]

A final important if more ambiguous point concerns Lange’s treatment of religion. For Lange, organized religion has been one of the key factors in mobilizing in-groups and out-groups in both premodern and modern times. (What Lange means by “organized religion” is less clear, especially since he simultaneously locates its roots in both biblical and modern times). Lange assigns considerable responsibility to Christian missionaries for creating ethnic consciousness among groups, including the Karen in Myanmar, the Assam in India or the Tutsi in Rwanda. In their determination to “convert and control,” missionaries often empowered marginalized community groups, reversing social hierarchies through Western education and thereby “politicizing” ethnicity. My own past studies of Rwanda bear out many of Lange’s claims.

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Soliloquy: Why does Homosexuality Evolve?

Homosexual sex doesn’t lead to reproduction. So given that evolution by natural selection favours genes that increase an organism's reproductive success, why does evolution not drive homosexuality to extinction?

Deutsche Welle: Italy to stop producing 1- and 2-cent coins

Italians were receiving the small copper coins as change but were not spending them, claimed Sergio Boccadutri, the member of the ruling center-left Democratic Party who proposed the measure. [...]

Since the euro was introduced in 2004, Italy has spent millions on manufacturing the coins, whose inside is made of iron and whose outside is copper.

In Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Ireland, prices are often rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cents to avoid using the smaller denominations, though they remain legal tender. [...]

In 2013 the European Commission reported that the difference between production costs for the small coins and their face value since their introduction had grown to more than 1.4 billion euros (US $1.8 billion at the time).

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Haaretz: 15,000 Rally in Tel Aviv in Support of Two-state Solution

"The time has come to live, you and us, in peace, harmony, security and stability. The only way to end the conflict and the fight against terror in the region and the entire world is a solution of two states based on the 1967 borders, Palestine alongside Israel. We've accepted the decisions of the UN, recognized Israel and accepted the two-state solution, and the world has recognized the state of Palestine. Now the time has come for the State of Israel to recognize our state and end the occupation. The opportunity still exists, and it cannot be missed when our hand is extended in peace that is created between those who are brave." 

Herzog called for the creation of a political bloc representing the Israel's center-left that would replace the current government. "We must put aside ego and connect, all of us, to one large political bloc - a large political bloc that doesn't want a bi-national state; a large political bloc that doesn't want half of a democracy; a large political bloc that wants a Zionist, Jewish, democratic state that gives full equality to minorities and is open to a variety of opinions. This bloc needs to include many good people, from Tzipi Livni, my partner in the Zionist Union, to Moshe Kahlon, Yair Lapid and other people." [...]

A poll released by Channel 2 news on Friday found that 47 percent of Israelis still support a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians based on 1967 borders, while 39 said were opposed, and 14 percent said they do not know. 

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The Conversation: Green space – how much is enough, and what’s the best way to deliver it?

There is a substantial evidence base to show that green space is good for us. It is associated with many health benefits, both physical and mental – including reductions in illness and deaths, stress and obesity – and a range of positive social, environmental and equity outcomes. [...]

These intervention types range from smaller green spaces, such as street trees and community gardens, to larger, more interlinked spaces, such as parks and greenways. This signals the need to think beyond the traditional urban park when considering how to meet the demand for green space among growing urban populations.

Another finding of the review was that urban green-space interventions seem to be most effective when a physical improvement of the space is coupled with social engagement. [...]

Another key finding was the importance of understanding that urban green-space interventions are long-term investments. They therefore need to be integrated within local development strategies and frameworks – such as urban masterplans, transport policies and sustainability and biodiversity strategies.

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VICE: How a Wrestling Club Became My New Home in Germany

I started wrestling four months ago. I never wrestled in Syria, though I did have the occasional scuffle with my brother, cousins and mates (but with less rules or tactics and more dirty tricks). My friend Abdul lives in the same dormitory in Berlin as me. He took me along to his wrestling club one time, and I immediately loved it.

These days we wrestle here together, three times a week. I get on with everyone, although we don't all speak the same language – there are Russian, Arabic, Polish and German guys here. We don't talk a lot, but I think you can say that we communicate with movement and really have become best friends through that. My friend Saleh, who speaks better German than I do, was happy to translate this article from Arabic to German for me. [...]

My day starts at 9AM. I have a language class until 1PM and an integration course until 2PM. During that course, I learn a lot about German culture and ethics. We've also already gone on two outings – one to the Environmental Protection Centre and another to the Egyptian museum. I also go to the mosque once a week. Otherwise I don't go out much, but instead go back to the dormitory after classes and cook. On the days that I have wrestling training, I prepare a lot of food – mainly potatoes and chicken. I learnt how to cook Arabic dishes at my school in Syria, and I think I've gotten pretty good at it.

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Politico: Why G7+2? It’s all about the EU

But Tusk and Juncker’s crucial, often little-noticed role is not just to represent a big market but also the smaller countries within it — nations such as Estonia, Malta and Cyprus — that don’t have their own seat at the table. At these swanky shindigs for big powers, their presence is a reminder that the EU operates collectively and might does not always make right.

“Many of the issues that are discussed at G7 level, for our EU member states, these are issues of [European] Community competence,” said a senior EU official who is part of the delegation to Sicily. [...]

With Trump and Brexit posing new and uncertain challenges, the joint press conference Tusk and Juncker normally hold before the start of the summit drew a large crowd Friday. They used that platform to push the EU’s fundamental priorities, which include the very idea of multilateralism itself.

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