Jacobin Magazine: The Resentful and the Damned

In towns where only five years ago Salvini’s party defined the locals as terroni, a racialized term of abuse against Southerners considered akin to “Albanians” or “Moroccans,” it is now combining a new reactionary common sense with an older conservative base. Having risen from zero to high single figures in Southern regions at the general election seven months ago, the Lega is now polling 22 percent in the bottom half of Italy that stretches from Abruzzo to Sicily. Yet this is no uniform picture: the Lega vote remains wealthier and older than the general population; in the South, it is winning more support off other right-wing parties than from the Five Star Movement, an eclectic force which enjoys particularly strong backing among white-collar workers and the unemployed.[...]

Such rhetoric is today echoed by the hard-right Interior Minister’s coalition partner; after Lucano’s arrest, and the announcement that funding for migrant reception would be cut off, Salvini’s undersecretary Carlo Sibilia (Five Star) wrote a blog entitled “Riace was no model: time’s up for the immigration business.” If a handful of Five Star figures not in government (such as parliamentary speaker Roberto Fico) do defend immigrants, this direct combination of anti-corruption and anti-immigration politics has always been a potent ingredient in the movement’s brew.[...]

Despite occasional accusations of vote-buying made during the election campaign, notably in Naples’s Scampia district, it would be a vast exaggeration to suggest that the Lega’s base in the far south is dependent on organized crime. It has, instead, succeeded in cohering behind itself more legitimate networks of power, as well as parts of the activist base of right-wing and far-right parties of older vintage. [...]

Anti-racist voices are beleaguered, as are all those that seek to unite workers on the basis of their economic interests rather than promote the war between the poor. The glue of the Lega’s support, across class divides, is weaponized resentment; those whose social status is in decline, or challenged, are mobilized behind a nakedly reactionary agenda in order to blame those who stand even lower. Rather like the Northern, and then Southern Italian immigrants who gradually became an accepted part of US society, the latest-comers in the Lega’s own ranks can be among the most aggressive in policing the boundaries of race, identity, and “who belongs.”

read the article

Quartzy: IKEA investigates why so many of us don't feel at home in our own homes

After interviewing nearly 23,000 respondents in 22 countries, IKEA’s ethnographers say that five components need to be present for one to feel “at home” in any space: privacy, security, comfort, ownership, and belonging. For many, these five emotional needs are no longer fulfilled by a single place. “Our physical homes are getting smaller, smarter, busier and noisier,” the report states. “All of this impacts on how successfully a single space can deliver what we need from it—functionally and emotionally. When we can’t get what we need at home, we head outside.”[...]

But ambitions have changed since, explains Jackson. “A decade ago, a dream home was designed to wow your friends and neighbors,” she says. “Today, it’s designed to house your relatives. Or your Airbnb guests. And also be your workplace. Homebuilders say one of the biggest selling points in 2018 isn’t a three-car garage or a grand entryway—it’s a home with flexibility.”

Feeling untethered to a particular address doesn’t necessarily have to be dour. Creating a sense of home in multiple places—real, virtual or imagined—can arguably even foster a sense of freedom. “We discovered a new behavior, where people use a network of spaces and places, both within and beyond the four walls [of their homes], as part of their homemaking experience,” says IKEA researcher Maria Jonsson. “We believe that this expanded notion of life at home gives people more opportunities to create the feeling of home, no matter where or how they live.”

read the article

Quartz: Sexism isn’t just bad for women—it’s bad for democracy

The findings were based on in-depth interviews of 123 women in European parliaments (81 of them MPs) from 45 European countries. More than 85% of the female members of parliament interviewed in the report said that they had suffered “psychological violence” during their time in office. Almost 47% had been threatened with rape, physical violence, or death either at work or online. Over 58% had been targeted for sexist abuse online.[...]

This problem is not specific to Europe. A 2016 report from the same organization covering the five regions of the world found that daily sexism and gender-based violence were “universal and systemic problems in the world of parliaments.”

It also showed that “sexism, harassment and violence against female MPs had the short- and long- term consequences of hindering women’s access to leadership positions and their full contribution to political processes,” they wrote. “In this respect, the systemic occurrence of these problems in parliaments is prejudicial to democratic institutions and to democracy itself.”

read the article

Politico: How to break the Brexit impasse: Reunite Ireland

Add this all up, and it’s getting hard to avoid the conclusion that Brexit would be a lot easier for the British if Northern Ireland were to vote to break away from the U.K. and rejoin the rest of the island — an eventuality made possible by the Good Friday Agreement, which allows for a so-called border poll, “if at any time it appears likely” that a majority of Northern Ireland would support reunification.[...]

The DUP’s fundamentalist Christian viewpoint also doesn’t sit well with many in the north of Ireland who look to the south and see a modern, pluralist, inclusive society that has passed referendums on marriage equality and reproductive rights; rights opposed by the DUP.[...]

That doesn’t even take into consideration higher economic activity rates, better wages and an industrial output in the Republic that is 10 times that of Northern Ireland. A united Ireland in which the average annual wage is €45,000 rather than €30,000 isn’t looking too shabby to many unionists.[...]

For the first time in 21 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there is neither an Assembly sitting in Stormont, nor are there any talks or political initiatives being pushed by Secretary of State Karen Bradley in order to get the institutions up and running again.

read the article

Haaretz: Will the Khashoggi 'Murder' Bring Down Saudi’s Crown Prince?

The 33-year-old Mohammed bin Salman has gotten away with quite a lot since his elevation just 16 months ago to the role of heir-apparent to the throne. While praised as the reformist behind measures like allowing women to drive, he detained dozens of members of the royal family and top business leaders at the Ritz Carlton until they agreed to pay financial settlements for unspecified “violations;” has arrested and imprisoned scores of human rights and women’s rights activists; pursued a war in neighboring Yemen where routine flouting of human rights and international battlefield rules have led to the death of at least 10,000 civilians and displaced an estimated 2 million; blockaded and isolated the neighboring sultanate of Qatar, and is yet to complete contracts binding him to a commitment to $110 billion in defense purchasesfrom the United States. [...]

Riyadh certainly has never been known for its respect for human rights. But even Saudi Arabia hasn’t typically operated in such an unrestrained way. What’s changed? Part of it is a new generation of leaders trying to muscle their way into power. Still, it may be too early to predict with certainty whether this new-look leadership will revert to the royals’ more trusted old style of slow, evolutionary progress toward goals designed to preserve rather than shatter the status quo. MbS, it would seem, may simply be unready to assume the reins of power. [...]

Already, MbS has lost some key allies or supporters who should be central to his aims. His vaunted Davos in the Desert conference this month was supposed to play a key role in launching his Vision 2030 development plan. But in the days since the disappearance of Khashoggi and continued Saudi foot-dragging in uncovering the source and methods of the attack, the withdrawal of major sponsors and leading executives have left the entire enterprise in limbo.

Whether MbS is actually the individual able to take up the challenge of reforming Saudi Arabia and leading it is becoming increasingly questionable. The fact is, he rules neither alone nor unchallenged. There is a process and there are certain red lines that MbS may have crossed in the Khashoggi affair if he is to win the support of leading royals. Perhaps the most important is not to call too much unfortunate attention to yourself or the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has spent quite literally a king’s ransom donations to leading institutions in major Western nations, especially the United States, to make sure that this image is never irreparably tarnished.

read the article