Stories about Ideas from February, 2012
Palestine: “Diwan Ghazza” and the Gaza Book Club
Yasmeen El Khoudary introduces an initiative by young bloggers in Gaza called Diwan Ghazza, and the Gaza Book Club.
Cuba: Dialogue with the Opposition?
“It might be paranoia. In totalitarian states, suspicion and the absurd become habit. But it isn’t insane to think that to give the dissidents a space if circumstances force their hand, could become a part of the island’s mandarin’s calculus”: Iván's File Cabinet puts forward a compelling theory.
St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago: Priestly Poetry & A New Literature Partnership
Caribbean Book Blog interviews priest and poet Fr. Lambert St Rose, while Bocas Lit Fest announces “a new partnership that will work towards enhancing the Caribbean literary scene and help kick-start an infrastructure to support writers, writing, and publishing.”
Africa: Vote for the Most Influential African Thinker Alive
Africa is a Country blog wants readers to vote for one influential African thinker from a list of 12 candidates. The list includes Chinua Achebe (Nigeria), Mahmood Mamdani (Uganda), Mamdouh Habashi, (Egypt), Kwame Anthony Appiah (Ghana/United States), J M Coetzee (South Africa/Australia) and Issa Shivji (Tanzania). Voting is open until 5 March, 2012.
Egypt: Mahliat, popular initiative to improve local councils
This short video highlights the role of local councils in the community. It is made by mahliat [Ar] or “local councils” – an Egyptian movement founded by Moustafa Shoman. You can also follow the movement on Twitter and Facebook.
France : Who is French and who is not?
Abdellali Hajjat, author of the book The Boundires of National Identity: The Injunction to Assimilation in France and its Territories, explains in an interview [fr] on the blog Contretemps the ideological seeds of Islamophobia and the institutional logic that reinforces it. “Racism needs a crutch to provide the principle of...
Hong Kong, China: Visual Presentation of Why Hongkongers are Unhappy
Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated an InfoGraphics published by Southern Metropolis Weekly that seeks to visualize Hong Kong people discontent.
Cambodia: Network Against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
Established in 2005, Chab Dai (“joining hands” in Khmer) seeks to end trafficking and sexual exploitation in Cambodia through coalition building, community prevention, advocacy and research.
Bangladesh: The Ethical Dilemma of Using Opportunities
In developing countries, where bureaucracy, corruption and misinformation thrive, people may create opportunities to cash in from those anomalies. Some consider this as creativity or simply a part of the livelihood and some question about the ethics in using those opportunities.
Jamaica: Gang Culture
Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac attends a symposium on gang violence in the Caribbean and comes to the conclusion that “white-collar crime is no better or worse than street crimes.”
Sri Lanka: Promoting Reconciliation and Hope to Young People
Reconciliation is a much discussed buzzword across Sri Lanka. While there has been much talk about how to do it, a group called Sri Lanka Unites is actually doing something. They are uniting the youth of all ethnic and religious groups across Sri Lanka and promoting hope and reconciliation to them.
Mexico: Citizen Initiative to the Clear the Streets of Election Trash
Every three years, the streets of Mexico are plastered with a thick layer of unending advertisements sporting images of smiling candidates for a variety of elected positions. But after the elections, the advertisements remain for days, weeks and even months. #QuitaUnAnuncio ["TakeDownAnAd"] is a citizen initiative to clean up Mexico City during the election period.
Italy: New Volunia Search Engine Intrigues Blogosphere
Volunia is a brand new search engine which encourages interaction between people searching for the same topics in different languages. It's creation was only recently announced, but already Volunia has caused quite a stir in the blogosphere.
Martinique, Guadeloupe, France: MP Letchimy Against Minister Guéant
Bloggers and mainstream journalists around the French-speaking blogosphere have been buzzing once more about French Minister of Home Affairs, Claude Guéant, who is notorious for suggesting extreme right-wing policies about national identity, religion and immigration.
Arab World: Where Even Valentine's Day is Different
It's Valentine's Day today! The occasion was not forgotten despite a year of protest across a large portion of the Arab world. Netizens share their thoughts on this day of celebrating love.
Trinidad & Tobago: Blogger Karen Walrond is All About Love
Love is so much more layered than the romantic love of Eros; what better gift for Valentine's Day than to talk about love with a Caribbean blogger whose entire mission revolves around sending love and positive energy into the blogosphere?
Caribbean: Talking to Peter James Hudson of The Public Archive
An interview with historian Peter James Hudson, whose “digital humanities” blog The Public Archive collects historical and archival resources on Haiti.
China: Fascist State?
Roland Farris from Truthout argues that China could be understood as a fascist state with the extension of the role of the nation in all matters, including sports; a sense of national grievance as the core of national identity; the paranoid control of any potential opposition; and the rise of...
Puerto Rico: Extraordinary Decisions
“What do you say when you meet someone you think is extraordinary? You should say ‘Hi!’ and then start a conversation,” says Gil the Jenius, who profiles the extraordinary Andrea Pérez, a speaker at the recently held TEDx San Juan.
Peru: A blogger's proposition
Peruvian blogger Cyrano makes a proposition on his blog [es]: “today February 7, 2012, without fail (or whenever you read this), let's make a call to someone we don't talk to for a while and let's simply tell them: ‘I care a lot about you'”.
Jamaica, St. Vincent: Happy Earth Day, Mr. Marley
Geoffrey Philp and Abeni both pay tribute to the late reggae icon Bob Marley on his birthday.
