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Claustropolis: 1984
“Claustropolis: 1984” is excerpted from a forthcoming novel. In Bhopal, I could lie low. In Bhopal, there would be instructions for me. Because I had been told not to take the express, I traveled on a local, in an unreserved bogie. The whiskey was Director’s Special, a parting gift from Gupta’s people. I didn’t even…
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Django Unchained, or The Help On reflection, it’s possible to see that Django Unchained and The Help are basically different versions of the same movie. Both dissolve political economy and social relations into individual quests and interpersonal transactions and thus effectively sanitize, respectively, slavery and Jim Crow by dehistoricizing them. The problem is not so much that each film invents cartoonish…
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The late Albanian writer Ismail Kadare maintained a delicate balance between collaboration and dissent under Enver Hoxha’s brutal Communist dictatorship. His openness to both innocence, and guilt, is the true test of his luminous genius.Ismail Kadare. Credit: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo ‘Comrade Enver wants to speak with you,’ came the voice over…
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On Isla Grande, Afro-Colombian residents discuss the urgent need for a sustainable electricity plant. Their efforts echo President Petro’s push for solar energy, with the aim of addressing broader regional goals of sustainable development. Yet, development and climate adaption require funding – funding that is instead going to war, with global military spending nearing $3…
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The philosophy of personalism inspired Martin Luther King’s dream of a better world. We still need its hopeful ideas today Martin Luther King Jr declaring the Freedom Rides will continue at a press conference in Montgomery, Alabama, June 1961. Photo by Bruce Davidson/Magnum Bennett Gilbert is adjunct assistant professor of history and philosophy at Portland…
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Published May 10, 2024 Remote Visualization China’s shipbuilding empire is the latest flashpoint in the intensifying frictions between Washington and Beijing. As the Biden administration zeroes in on the potentially unfair trade practices that propelled China’s emergence as the largest shipbuilder in the world, broader national security issues are also at play. Foreign capital and…
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