Can democracy hurt minority rights? In a fascinating and disturbing essay on how Tahrir Square is not Egypt, Sami Zubaida acknowledges that dictators have liberated women and stifled the displeasure of religious conservatives and their supporters. What does it mean for women’s rights now, when cha
The west’s financial crisis has exposed great failures of economic thinking as well as policy. This week, we launched “Uneconomics”. It challenges the dominance of orthodox economists. They have taken over the thinking and language of both policy-making and media coverage of business and finance.
Paedophiles should not be allowed to melt into society undetected
Contrary to the fears of some western observers, Islam has had a strong tradition of rule of law and religious and political freedom. There is no reason for concern about the electoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
What does a mother say when her son's just been convicted of 15 racist murders? (This is not a comfortable read.)
One year on from the January 25 protests in Tahrir Square, the experiences of Egyptian women are strained and contradictory. Zainab Magdy tells of the experience of ‘performing’ in a world of virginity tests, attacks on women and the furore over Aliaa ElMahdy’s naked photograph. Hania Sholkamy hig
openSecurity
* has been a full section of openDemocracy since 2012.
* has a global remit, with a particular focus on the global south.
* recognises that violence and conflict are often amplified
Mariano Aguirre Director, NOREF. Previously director of the Peace, Security and Human Rights department of the Spanish think-tank FRIDE. Editor, author and contributor, including La Ideologia neoimperial: La crisis
At its first editorial meeting of the year, openDemocracy decided to strike. We joined the global blackout. Joichi Ito and Ethan Zuckerman explain what we opposed. The next day our editor, Rosemary Bechler, attends the Oxford launch of the FreeSpeechDebate where guest speaker Jimmy Wales pronounce
Does the mindset of market fundamentalism get its philosophical imprimatur from Descartes' calculating cogito? In which case perhaps a more generous world needs to look to Spinoza, the first great critic of Cartesian individualism. The contrast hovers over an elegant engagement with John Berger's
I hope you enjoyed the festive period. For the past two weeks openDemocracy has been looking back at the best of 2011 with sections preparing front pages of their own. The quality reflects the quite extraordinary year it has been: from the Arab Spring to the London riots; from the prospect of war
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