Listening for Silences: Michael Freeden on the Role of Silence in Political Thinking

In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Lorena Drakula, Michael Freeden – leading political theorist and author of the new book Concealed Silences and Inaudible Voices in Political Thinking – discusses the various forms of political silences; the problems of superimposing and inventing voices; the effects of the unnoticeable and the unknowable in political thinking, with the aim of understanding the complex and often hidden aspects of silence that shape our political beliefs and actions.

Economic Sanctions are Insufficient to Stop the War

A year ago, Russia invaded Ukraine, catching many of us unprepared despite clear signs of impending conflict. The assumption that a European nation would conquer another in the 21st century appeared far-fetched. When the worst scenario happened, experts doubted Ukraine’s ability to hold its ground for more than a few weeks. However, the country keeps resisting. The economic domain, along with warfare and geopolitics, presents many examples of events that did not turn out the way it was expected. This op-ed by Volodymyr Kulikov highlights three selected points about economic sanctions, corporate self-sanction, and energy wars.

Aakar Patel on His New Toolkit to Protest and Peaceful Resistance

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Aakar Patel – author of “The Anarchist Cookbook. A Toolkit to Protest and Peaceful Resistance” – discusses why he considers dissent essential to improving society; what lessons we can draw from successful recent examples of protest; which options activists have to amplify and maximize their efforts; and how egregious laws on the book, practices of denying rights, and the extreme disparities of Indian society have shaped activists’ possibilities and agenda.

Reacting to Globalization’s Discontents: Tara Zahra on Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Tara Zahra – author of the new monograph “Against the World: Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics Between the World Wars” – discusses the common features of anti-globalist agendas between the 1910s and the 1930s; explains what the main phases of anti-globalism looked like and how its various forms related to globalization; shows why centering women – as key actors as well as objects – and focusing on Central Europe amount to fruitful approaches; reflects on the long-term consequences of interwar anti-globalism – and how our present predicament may help us reconsider this history.

In conversation with Jakub Jaraczewski: The European Commission’s latest action against Poland and Hungary

In this latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast, Oliver Garner speaks to Jakub Jaraczewski about the European Commission’s latest actions to defend the EU’s values against backsliding Member States. Jakub is a Research Coordinator at Democracy Reporting International, a Berlin based NGO, and one of the coordinators of the “re:constitution” programme.

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