Quartz: Why are Indian liberals outraged over Muslims’ killing but not Hindus’ plight? It’s complicated

 Though they can lay the grounds for actual blood-letting, culture wars unfold through claims and counter-claims of injuries to the psyche. An aspect of this is the current criticism that goes by the name of “selective outrage.” The term is used to describe the situation where the so-called liberal citizenry engages in apparently self-serving public protests against some incidents while ignoring a number of others. [...]

But first, one must address the logic of the critique. Do protestors against the killing of Muslims deliberately downplay or ignore the killing of Dalits and Sikhs? And, do their reactions to the killing of Hindus (say, by Muslims) display partisan emotions because they fail to organise demonstrations and protests? Let us leave politicians out of the discussion, for their actions are motivated by the psychopathology of power. But what about the rest of us? Do we discriminate in our outrage? [...]

The question is deliberately simplistic and is intended to produce a black-and-white view of the world. The question assumes that all forms of actual or symbolic violence are exactly the same and require the same response. The accusation of selective outrage is intended to foreclose a serious examination of violence and any fundamental social critique of its multiple forms and causes. It stops us from thinking about actually existing social and political conditions and the conditions that make for violence. Censorship, of the kind faced by Nasrin is—as she herself has eloquently pointed out—also an issue of masculine power, and the killing of state security personnel is the tragedy of a state that is viewed as the enemy in many parts of the country. [...]

Second, the selective outrage argument produces pathologised personalities through presenting a picture of social life where extending empathy is always a competitive act: to be seen to protest against one kind of violence is to imagine that you condone another kind. Empathy becomes the shallow act of shoring up community feeling rather than stretching out across community boundaries. Shallowness of empathy is the classic trait of the psychopath. Empathy is translated into an act of political manipulation and fear-mongering. Empathy transforms into an instrument of producing gated mentalities and violence.

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Quartz: Populist, authoritarian leaders are still on the rise across Europe

One in five Europeans (a total of 55.8 million people) voted for a populist party in 2016 and 2017, according a new study by the European Policy Information Center. The think tank analyzed electoral data in EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, and Montenegro and found the vote share for authoritarian populist parties jumped from 10.6% in 1980 to 18.4% in 2017.

Most of this success has been quite recent. The average vote share of populist parties increased by only 1 percentage point from 1980 to 2000, but then jumped by 7 percentage points from 2000 to 2017.

The vote share for populist parties has overtaken support for liberalism in the last two decades. Over the same period, there’s been a decline for support for mainstream ideologies, including of conservatism and Christian democracy (down 4.7 percentage points), while support for social Democracy has decreased by 4.1 percentage points. [...]

The last decade has also seen the return of the radical left. The vote share of these parties declined between 1980 and the late 2000s, but gained ground over the last seven years. The radical left increased its average vote share to 6.3% in 2017. The examples of left-wing populists included in the report were Spain’s Podemos and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France (a far-left presidential candidate), who plans to make a ruckus in the French parliament.

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Vox: Rebuking Trump on climate, the G20 proved “soft power” works

But Light says the most important thing coming out of Hamburg is a strong emphasis on the decoupling of emissions growth from economic growth. One of the biggest obstacles to international climate action, he says, is the historical notion that “burning fossil fuels is how we grow economies.” [...]

The action plan also contains bold new language on financial arrangements. For example, the 19 states pledged to “strive to create an enabling environment that is conducive to making public and private investments consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement as well as with the national sustainable development priorities and economic growth.” This is important, Light says, because “these are the countries that are the most important when you look at the votes in the big multilateral development banks around the world.” [...]

As Vox’s David Roberts wrote at the time of the announcement, Trump’s reasoning for withdrawal flies in the face of reality, and a recent analysis suggests that renewable energy is becoming so cheap that the US may meet its Paris commitments anyway. When all is said and done, pulling out from Paris, Trump’s mostly symbolic gesture to his base, will surely not be worth the undermining of America’s international standing.

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Vox: Why people think they see ghosts

The Atlantic: Roxane Gay on Acceptance

In Roxane Gay’s new memoir Hunger, the writer details her relationship with her body over her life. In this short interview, Gay critiques socially constructed beauty norms and how weight has been left out of the new culture of acceptance.

The Washington Post: The window for reform is closing in Ukraine

Ukraine has some genuine achievements to which it can point. Some important reforms have taken place. Macroeconomic fundamentals are good; the value of the currency has stabilized. And Ukraine hasn’t lost the war despite the direct involvement of Russia, whose forces are far more powerful. [...]

The sad reality is that Ukraine’s reforms have stalled, and the window of opportunity is starting to close. None of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s cronies have been prosecuted. Vested interests have blocked the process of building a clean Supreme Court from scratch. Although the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has succeeded in bringing charges against two notoriously corrupt officials, former parliamentarian Mykola Martynenko and former head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov, powerful forces are pushing back. The court considering Nasirov’s case refuses to examine all of the evidence. There are growing indications that the director of the anti-corruption bureau could be fired soon, and activists and parliamentarians worry that the bureau’s powers may soon be curtailed. [...]

If things continue as they are, Ukraine’s most talented will leave. More than 70 percent think the country is going in the wrong direction. The reforms that would better people’s lives materially still haven’t materialized, and some that have – such as restructuring of the natural gas market to eliminate corruption – hurt average people badly. As journalist Vitaliy Sych notes, “People are tired, their patience is running out, and many are leaving.” In 2016, nearly 1.3 million Ukrainians received temporary work permits in Poland, and another 116,000 were working there on longer-term permits. Ukrainians already make up the largest ethnic minority in the Czech Republic, and the second-largest in Italy and Portugal.

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Independent: After Britain's first gay Muslim marriage, let me tell you what it's actually like to be a gay Muslim

This week, Britain celebrated one of its first same-sex Muslim marriages. Jahed Choudhury, 24 – who identifies as both gay and Muslim – married his partner in an Islamic ceremony, even though his family refused to attend. As a gay person raised Muslim, I was thrilled to read of this news (and was inspired by Choudhury’s bravery). In Islamic teachings, I was taught from a young age to constantly chart all my sins, and was forced to imagine myself in the pits of hell for all my transgressions. Homosexual desire was of course a one-way-express ticket to fiery torture. [...]

However, homosexuality as a taboo among families and faith is hardly specific to Islam. Whilst I saw Christians at Pride celebrating both their faith and sexuality at the parade, I also witnessed a Christian group protesting same-sex relationships behind them. Homosexuality has hardly been a walk in the park for Catholics, and same-sex marriage is still illegal in Northern Ireland (the DUP-coalition suggests the Tories don’t much seem to care). Yet when same-sex marriages do occur in Christian contexts, the Western response is often one of relief, not incredulity – an “ah yes, finally,” rather then a “no way?! Not possible!” [...]

Umber Ghauri, who identifies as pansexual, agender and Muslim, talks to me about their perspective as a queer British Muslim. They tell me that Islam can be explored through a variety of perspectives, explaining that “Islamic history in Arab regions shows clearly that Muslims were among the most progressive people in terms of gender justice, racial equality, class politics and law. Muslim women were among the first in the world to vote, own property, run businesses, have the right to divorce.” It is this facet of Islam that Umber has an alliance with, and as such, being Muslim is a progressive part of their character.

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The Telegraph: Ryanair boss: ‘No flights’ between UK and EU after Brexit

Flights between the UK and the European Union will be cancelled for months after Brexit, unless replacements for EU airline agreements are struck before Britain leaves the bloc, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told the European Parliament yesterday.

Heathrow will be deserted, summer holidays cancelled and Ryanair aircraft moved to Europe, Mr O’Leary, who insisted the sensible decision would be to ignore the referendum result, said.

The Open Skies agreement allows EU airlines, including those registered in the UK, to operate in each other’s countries. Unlike other sectors, aviation cannot fall back on World Trade Organisation rules. That made sealing a new deal vital, the CEO of Europe’s largest airline said. [...]

The European Commission, which is handling the Brexit negotiations on behalf of the EU, has refused to discuss anything until a settlement on citizens’ rights and the Brexit bill is reached. The second round of talks will be held in Brussels next week.

Aviation will not wait until March 2019, Mr O’Leary said. A clear legal framework was needed by September 2018.

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