Smartphones have transformed the way we go about our lives. Street names, squares — even the very sense of place itself — seem to have vanished.
Tag: capitalism
Trump’s latest move, which virtually dashed the American dreams of millions of Indians, should not be seen as an isolated event but a definitive consequence of the dysfunctional global capitalism.
A self-described “veteran reader, aspiring writer and a long-term bachelor” considers the summer trend of reading to build your public image.
Love doesn’t just happen out of thin air; it has everything to do with our material circumstances. Do we have an emotional issue, or simply a too demanding work schedule?
In 2022, 62 million tons of electronic devices ended up in the trash. This results in the loss of valuable resources, significant social and environmental impact, and the perpetuation of a linear production and consumption system based on waste.
Technoliberalism and toxic masculinity tell us that the comfort zone is cowardice. Yet inhabiting this space may be the most revolutionary gesture of our time.
In the midst of discussions about the use of artificial intelligence, ecofascist narratives have crept in. How did this happen? What are the dangers?
The 21st century has completely transformed how we deal with emotions, says sociologist Eva Illouz. In a conversation with Die Zeit, she talks about love, emojis, and exploitation.
The unlikely alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk didn’t make it past the 100-day mark of the new presidency. What’s really to blame?
The porn industry and amateur and professional adult content plays a role in the Israeli war on Gaza. Some pornographic companies did not only provide support to Israel, but adult content also contributed to drawing a violative imagination about Israeli soldiers and their relationship with the battlefield and the Gazan victims. It is part of a long history linking pornography and war.
The Egyptian people love soccer, but those who rule its professional leagues don’t seem to care about the sport. The people had to find a solution, on city streets and remote villages — and special once-a-year Ramadan tournaments.
With a growing number of far-right victories in Western democracies, many individuals have begun idealizing Poland as “the ideal combination of capitalism and tradition.” What are the origins of the conservative fascination with Poland, and is it even true?
Food companies fatten us up only for Big Pharma to let us inject ourselves slim again. Crazy? Perhaps it’s the beginning of the end for a destructive business model.
Only 5% of German couples are formed by East-West partners. So why, 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification, does an invisible wall still seem to keep Germans apart romantically?
Many experts are counting on Trump’s economic policies to be a disaster. But that doesn’t have to happen: he could leave the economy to his advisors, and focus his attention on consolidating power.
Eco-disaster fiction has changed since Soylent Green, one of Hollywood’s first eco-disaster films, came out in 1973; there has been an evolution from catastrophic fatalism to a certain optimism, with TV series like The Last Of Us.
The porn industry and amateur and professional adult content plays a role in the Israeli war on Gaza. Some pornographic companies did not only provide support to Israel, but adult content also contributed to drawing a violative imagination about Israeli soldiers and their relationship with the battlefield and the Gazan victims. It is part of a long history linking pornography and war.
Updated Aug. 1, 2024 at 1 p.m. On this day in 1966, a group of Red Guard factions clashed with the local authorities and army units in the city of Wuhan during China’s Cultural Revolution. The Red Guards, consisting primarily of students and young activists, had been encouraged by Mao Zedong to challenge and disrupt […]
A confounding alliance between leftists, wokism and Islamic fanatics is the perfect smokescreen for an insidious enemy targeting the West’s liberal values. It’s happened before.
The October 7 attack and Israel’s brutal response have left a trail of devastation, which materializes in very different tragedies for Palestine and Israel, a story of missed opportunity for Turkey — and a tragicomedy of U.S. leadership.
An anthropologist who has focused on urban geography and violence, Omnia Khalil reflects on how her daily movement was shaped by architectural design in Egypt, a country where sexual harassment is a widespread and serious problem.
Politics has always been associated with image. This is especially true in Latin America, where white men in suits have dominated the field for years. But a new generation of women are shaking up politics — as well as how female politicians are expected to dress.
For decades, feminists have accused Marxism of not addressing women’s specific struggles. With presidential elections in Mexico approaching in June, an interesting experiment may happen, as two female candidates are in the race. A vision for how Marxism and feminism, together, can help change Mexican society — with a woman at the helm.
The new “Sneakers” exhibition in Dusseldorf features pairs that sell for six figures and explores how the simple sports shoe became a global obsession.
The threats posed by advanced AI are serious and varied. Among them is a direct threat to capitalism so much that in the end we will be faced with a choice between two systems: a new form of communism or unchecked chaos.
This is a debate that must challenge those in our region who benefit from the perpetuation of the male culture of violence.
Argentina’s rabidly privatizing president, Javier Milei, had a curiously warm meeting with “socialist” and fellow Argentine Pope Francis. As both have an emotive side and abhor the technocratic élites, it could even open the door to an unlikely entente, and even a long-awaited papal visit.
Are Bob Marley’s artistic and cultural values now clouded in a haze of rampant commercialization?
Streaming video channels that allows interactive home shopping has been booming in China, and is beginning to win over customers abroad as a cheap and cheerful way of selling products to millions of consumers glued to the screen.
Categories
Burnout, Lies And Capitalism
The writer hits a professional wall the year after the birth of her second child. It’s a reminder of the limits of our modern uber competitive economy.
New research reveals the emergence of “grassroots capitalism” in North Korea, disproportionately through women. It provides a cautionary tale in the most unlikely of countries for patriarchal societies everywhere: underestimate women at your peril.
The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.
Argentina has elected a “paleolibertarian” outsider with little experience, and by a wide margin. What does this say about the existing structures of power around the democratic world?
Deep structural problems were already pushing it to breaking point. And with teleworking becoming the new normal after COVID, Paris’s La Défense business district stands as a melancholic shadow of its old, buzzing self. Can it find a way to reinvent itself?
With the social value of sports having recently been officially acknowledged in the Italian constitution, writer Simonetta Sciandivasci reflects on the cult of excessive health, and rants about the impossibility of keeping up beauty trends masked as self-care.
Mothers everywhere are struggling with the pressures of parenting in an increasingly individualistic culture. Enter the rapidly growing empire of parenting influencers who promise to help – at a price. In Italy, where mothers have long been seen as models of strength, the novelty is particularly acute.
Consumer habits have changed, and with it the music industry – gone are the days when one hit song would define the sound of an entire summer. But why have we abandoned this iconic practice, and what has the race turned into in our modern day?
On the Italian coast, you’ll be asked €200 per day for a beach umbrella and sunbed at the cheapest bathing establishments. Nowhere else makes clear the huge post-pandemic gap between the haves and have-nots.
Categories
Calling For The End Of Call Centers
Our Naples-based Dottoré takes a critical look at companies that rely on telesales.
With the rise of influencers has come a sub-category: deinfluencers, who tell their followers what NOT to buy instead of promoting products in an effort to reduce wasteful consumption.