When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

TOPIC: society

Society

How WeChat Is Helping Bhutan's Disappearing Languages Find A New Voice

Phd candidate Tashi Dema, from the University of New England, discusses how social media apps, particularly WeChat, are helping to preserve local Bhutanese languages without a written alphabet. Dema argues that preservation of these languages has far-reaching benefits for the small Himalayan country's rich culture and tradition.

THIMPHU — Dechen, 40, grew up in Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. Her native language was Mangdip, also known as Nyenkha, as her parents are originally from central Bhutan. She went to schools in the city, where the curriculum was predominantly taught in Dzongkha, the national language, and English.

In Dechen’s house, everyone spoke Dzongkha. She only spoke her mother tongue when she had guests from her village, who could not understand Dzongkha and during her occasional visits to her village nestled in the mountains. Her mother tongue knowledge was limited.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

However, things have now changed.

With 90% of Bhutanese people using social media and social media penetrating all remotes areas in Bhutan, Dechen’s relatives in remote villages are connected on WeChat.

Watch VideoShow less

Winnetou, The Immortal: Germany's Complicated Love Affair With Native American Lore

The latest season of Germany's largest festival celebrating the adventure writer Karl May ended with a record audience. Over 430,000 visitors watched the adventures of the Native American character Winnetou, despite criticism of the story's problematic legacy from some sections.

BAD SEGEBERG — "It's simply amazing! You're dropped off in the middle of the Wild West," gushes Markus after his visit to the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. He is one of over 430,000 people who have seen a stage adaptation of German adventure writer Karl May's Winnetou I on the open-air stage in Schleswig-Holstein this year. That number has broken all records for attendance in a single season of the festival.

Much was written a year ago about how the Karl May classic had fallen out of time. The trigger was a series of books and fan articles about the movie The Little Chief Winnetou, forcing the publisher Ravensburger to withdraw the titles shortly before delivery.

The reason offered by the company was that it did not want to "repeat and spread any trivializing clichés." A debate ensued as to whether and how a story from the 19th century, whose depiction of Native Americans is primarily based on the author's imagination, could be too racist, sexist and dismissive for our time.

Keep reading...Show less

Milei Elected: Argentina Bets It All On "Anything Is Better Than This"

The radical libertarian Javier Milei confounded the polls to decisively win the second round of Argentina's presidential elections; now he must win over a nation that has voiced its disgust with the country's brand of politics as usual.

-Analysis-

BUENOS AIRES — Two very clear messages were delivered by Argentine society with its second-round election of the libertarian politician Javier Milei as its next president.

The first was to say it was putting a definitive end to the Kirchner era, which began in 2003 with the presidency of the late Néstor Kirchner and lasted, in different forms, until last night.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

The second was to choose the possibility, if nothing else, of a future that allows Argentina to emerge from its longstanding state of prostration. It's a complicated bet, because the election of the candidate of Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) is so radical and may entail changes to the political system so big as to defy predictions right now.

This latter is the bigger of the two key consequences of the election, but the voters turning their back on the government of Cristina and Alberto Fernández and its putative successor, (the Economy minister) Sergio Massa, also carries historical significance. They could not have said a clearer No to that entrenched political clan. So much so that they decided to trust instead a man who emerged in 2021 as a member of parliament, with a weak party structure behind him and a territorial base no bigger than three mayors in the Argentine hinterland.

Keep reading...Show less

Transparent, Colombia: First Black Trans Parents Shake Latin American Traditions

Valerie and Theo, both students at Cali's del Valle university, are the country's first Afro-Caribbean trans couple to have a baby, with husband Theo giving birth through C-section.

CALI — The day Valerie and Theo, an Afro-Caribbean trans couple from Colombia, found out they were expecting a baby, they became emotional — and a little afraid. They had been trying for pregnancy for six months, in vain, and had decided to give up. Theo began his first semester at university, and Valerie resumed her work and studies in the field of popular education. There was a menstrual delay two months later, and Theo had the right sensation this time: he was pregnant.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

On Dec. 30, 2022, their daughter Mar Celeste was born in Cali, western Colombia. This made Valerie and Theo the first trans couple of Afro-Caribbean origins in Colombia to have a biological daughter. At first sight they seem like any young couple, but their life experience as black, trans individuals meant that the challenge of starting a family was a whole different story. Their priority now is to care for Celeste and they're certain of one thing: They do not want her to become some kind of exception or social "freak."

The gestation process among the trans population remains a taboo. On the one hand there are the hormonal replacement therapies either for testosterone or estrogen, which can affect long-term fertility. On the other, the binary division of sexual and reproductive health services has proved obstructive and can prevent most people from receiving the advice they need.

As the Colombian Trans Health League (Liga de Salud Trans) points out, many trans men are offered bilateral hysterectomy, meaning total removal of the uterus and ovaries, drawing prejudiced comments like they would not "be needing these" if they are going to be "real men."

Keep reading...Show less
Society
Guadalupe Rivero

Freedom From Social Norms Is Generation Z's Gift, And Its Burden

While many young people have shaken off the social and emotional shackles of their parents' years, they must now resist the pressures of their own peers to constantly experiment, and never settle for anything or anyone.

BUENOS AIRES — The "crystal generation," or young people born since 2000, is often described as fragile and intolerant of setbacks. Also termed Generation Z or Gen Z, the group is also perceived, more positively, as sensitive, reflective and spiritual, in its own way.

Argentine psychologist Sofía Calvo (born 1993) believes young people of this generation share traits beyond their age. She is the author of a book on modern relations, La generación de cristal: Sociedad, familia y otros vínculos del siglo XXI (The Crystal Generation: Society, Family and Other Ties in the 21st Century).

"We understood as a generation that enjoying our sexuality, building a free identity, separating from a partner, leaving a job or doing what we love or going to therapy were not failures, but in fact a great win," she says.

She believes this generation must hold onto the gains of people who struggled for rights in preceding centuries, "When the world was a place that was still much more hostile to the individual's social, sexual and ideological freedoms. We must ... keep looking for whatever is uncomfortable," or what "nobody would ask," she tells Clarín.

This is a generation conscious of "aspects that seemed irrelevant before but certainly were not," she says, referring to traits like sensitivity or personal pain.

Watch VideoShow less
Society
Aila Inete and Flávia Rocha

How Thousands Of Brazilian Girls Have Been Duped Into Slavery By Foster Families

Brazil has come a long way in improving the rights of domestic workers, but it has failed to completely abolish the dangerous nexus between domestic work and child labor.

PARÁ — Luana* was exploited as a domestic worker when she was still a teenager. She almost died of exhaustion. Leila was a 15-year-old black girl when she was left in the home of strangers, who forced her to work in conditions similar to slavery. Josiane was “welcomed” by a family when she was 7, but soon they dumped household duties on her: washing, sweeping, folding, taking care of the other children.

Luana, Leila, and Josiane are just three among thousands of Brazilian girls deceived by 'foster parents' who steal them away from their families with the lure of a better life and a shot at education. It's all a lie. The chance to go to school never comes, nor do wages for their labor. They are barred from sitting at the family table or even turning on the lights. They are confined to cramped rooms, forced to eat what they don't like, passed around like objects. They are bullied, harassed, shamed, and given names such "useless, frizzy hair Nigger.”

Luana, Leila, and Josiane worked day and night. They slept crying. Their childhood died as soon as they stepped foot inside these “family homes”, scarring them for their entire lives.

Brazil has come a long way in improving the rights of domestic workers, but the country has failed to completely abolish the dangerous nexus between domestic work and child labor. The spectre of “foster daughters”, while more common in middle- and upper-class homes in the past, still haunts Brazilian society. In Pará, where the practice takes a heavy toll on the indigenous community, thousands of children remain trapped in this hell.

Watch VideoShow less
Ideas
Emanuela Minucci

The Vacant Era Of 'Homo Viden' — A Philosopher's Takedown Of Selfie Culture

Italian philosopher Umberto Galimberti says it is a tragedy to photograph a life into existence rather than living it.

-OpEd-

"The selfie is indecent," proclaims Italian philosopher Umberto Galimberti.

Watch VideoShow less
Migrant Lives
Joydeep Sarkar

A Train Journey With Bengal Migrants Looking For A Living Far Away

Finding a seat on the Karmabhoomi Express is close to impossible. A closer look at why so many migrant workers travel on it, and out of Bengal, offers a grim picture.

WEST BENGAL — Welcome aboard the 22512 Kamakhya-LTT Karmabhoomi Express — a metaphor, if any, of the acuteness of Bengal’s unemployment problem.

It is 10.28 pm at north Bengal’s Alipurduar Junction and the crowd has swollen to its peak. This is when the Karmabhoomi Express appears at the station. It is bound for Mumbai. Finding a seat on it is close to impossible. It is always chock full and there are always hundreds struggling to get a spot in the unreserved general compartment.

Watch VideoShow less
Migrant Lives
Yam Kumari Kandel

How Nepal’s “Left-Behind” Children Of Migrants Hold Families Together

Children left to fend for themselves when their parents seek work abroad often suffer emotional struggles and educational setbacks. Now, psychologists are raising alarms about the quiet but building crisis.

BARDIYA — It was the Nepali New Year and the sun was bright and strong. The fields appeared desolate, except the luxuriantly growing green corn. After fetching water from a nearby hand pump, Prakash Jaisi, 18, walked back to the home he shares with his three siblings in Bardiya district’s Banbir area, more than 500 kilometers (over 300 miles) from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. As it was a public holiday in the country, all his friends had gone out to have fun. “I’d like to spend time with my friends, but I don’t have the time,” he says. Instead, Jaisi did the dishes and completed all the pending housework. Even though his exams are approaching, he has not been able to prepare. There is no time.

Jaisi’s parents left for India in December 2021, intending to work in the neighboring country to repay their house loan of 800,000 Nepali rupees (6,089 United States dollars). As they left, the responsibility of the house and his siblings was handed over to Jaisi, who is the oldest.

Just like Jaisi’s parents, 2.2 million people belonging to 1.5 million Nepali households are absent and living abroad. Of these, over 80% are men, according to the 2021 census on population and housing. The reasons for migration include the desire for a better future and financial status.

Watch VideoShow less
Ideas
Nabeela Jamil

Two Hijab Cases Highlight The True Nature Of Muslim Discrimination In India

Two different cases of hijab controversies in India show there is one thing that is consistent, which is to impose on people at the margins an idea of "uniformity."

Watch VideoShow less
Migrant Lives
Adrià Salido

With The Migrants Forced To Face The Perils Of The Darién Gap Journey

The number of migrants and refugees who have passed through the Darien Gap reaches historic figures. So far this year, it is estimated that 250,000 migrants and refugees have crossed through the dangerous Darién jungle, mainly from countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador and Haiti.

NECOCLÍ — It is 7 in the morning at the Necoclí pier. Hundreds of migrants and refugees pack their goods in garbage bags. Then, they wait for their name to be called by the company that organizes the boats that will take them to Capurganá or Acandí.

Necoclí, a small Colombian fishing town on the Caribbean coast, has become the hub from where daily masses of people fleeing their countries set out for the Darién Gap — a tropical jungle route beset with wild animals and criminal gangs that connects Colombia to Panama. The journey to the UN camps in Panama can take up to seven days, depending on the conditions along the way.

In May this year, the US revoked Title 42, an emergency restriction imposed during the Trump administration. While on paper the order was meant to stop the spread of Covid-19, in practice it served to block the flow of migrants by allowing border officials to expel them without the opportunity to request asylum.

The termination of Title 42 has seen a dramatic increase in the number of migrants and refugees seeking the "American dream". According to the UN, more than 250,000 people have used the Darién Gap this year, over half of them Venezuelans.

Watch VideoShow less
Society
Nahuel Gallotta

Pink Cocaine: Is There Fentanyl In Mystery "Dirty Drug" From Colombia?

Also known as 'Tuci,' the "designer drug" has been spreading in Latin America and globally over the past decade. But it's looking more and more like a dirty mix concocted by Colombian dealers with potentially devastating effects, particularly if it contains the deadly opioid fentanyl.

Updated Sep. 11, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.

BUENOS AIRESThe "menu" of options, sent via WhatsApp, arrived like it always did, Josefina (not her real name) recalls. Only this time there was something that caught her eye besides the constantly increasing prices. "Tuci," it said.

Watch VideoShow less