Another brick in the wallAugust 5, 2017Source: Dawn / www.dawn.com/ By Sakib Sherani / OVER the past few weeks, I have come across two powerful new words. Coincidentally, both are related in a certain way. The first, ‘kakistocracy’ refers to “government by the worst people”. (Understandably, PML-N sympathisers want to insert an ‘h’ after the first …
Living in the lie in South AfricaJuly 28, 2017Source: Daily Maverick / www.dailymaverick.co.za / By Paul Trewhela / What to say, and what not to say, became almost as regular and normal for the returned MK cadres in South Africa as in Havel’s Czechoslovakia. It was this rule of silence that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma endorsed on behalf of the …
Charter 77 and Charter 08: Two men’s common devotion to freedomJuly 28, 2017Source: ejinsight / www.ejinsight.com / By Simon Shen / With the passing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, many people around the world have begun to draw a parallel between Charter 08 initiated by him and Charter 77 drafted by, along with others, former Czech dissident and playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel. …
Cleaveland: Seeking common ground in politicsJune 22, 2017Source: Times Free Press / www.timesfreepress.com / By Dr. Clif Cleaveland / Our nation’s challenges are numerous, complex and without obvious solution. Whether in matters of security, public education, health care, environmental issues, poverty or immigration, our political leaders seem hopelessly divided. They resemble warriors atop steep ridges who stand …
Trump’s 100th-day speech may have been the most hate-filled in modern historyMay 2, 2017Source: The Washington Post / www.washingtonpost.com / By Michael Gerson / For those who claim that Donald Trump has been pasteurized and homogenized by the presidency, his sour, 100th-day speech in Harrisburg, Pa., was inconvenient. Trump used his high office to pursue divisive grudges (Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer …
Democracy Without Conscience Can Only Result In ChaosMarch 8, 2017Source: HuffPost / www.huffingtonpost.ca / By Glen Pearson / It’s likely time most of us agreed that we collectively have no idea where democracy is going. And if numerous polls are correct, living in such a situation is creating increased insecurity and tensions among citizens around the world. It’s at …
Like ‘1984,’ these plays take a deep dive into the heart of totalitarianismMarch 1, 2017Source: Miami Herald / www.miamiherald.com / By Christine Dolen / Sales of George Orwell’s chilling dystopian novel “1984” have soared during the early days of the Trump administration, the headlines pouring out of Washington having repositioned a 1949 literary classic as a 21st century cautionary tale. The late Czech president …
Long after the Cold War, have we become our opponents? Václav Havel weighs inMarch 1, 2017Source: Stanford University / The Book Haven / By Cynthia Haven / I have long observed how people become the thing they hate most, so when René Girard described how locked rivals come to resemble each other more and more, it was no surprise to me. Czech writer, dissident, and president …
Václav Havel’s Lessons on How to Create a “Parallel Polis”February 9, 2017Source: The New Yorker / www.newyorker.com / By Pankaj Mishra / The recent political earthquakes have found us intellectually and emotionally underprepared, even helpless. None of our usual categories (left, right, liberal, conservative, progressive, reactionary) and perspectives (class, race, gender) seem able to explain how a compulsive liar and serial …
Bracing for President Trump with thoughts on hope from Vaclav HavelJanuary 20, 2017Source: Chicago Now / www.chicagonow.com / By Kim Z Dale / As we enter the era of President Donald Trump, who I expect will be one of my least favorite world leaders (Go ahead an prove me wrong, DT!), I reflect on a quote from on of my favorite world leaders, …
The Women of CharterJanuary 12, 2017Source: Charter 97 / www.charter97.org / By Natallia Radzina / Czechoslovakian movement Charter 77 was created 40 years ago but even today its ideas still inspire freedom fighters around the world including Belarus. They gave up their own freedom in pursuit of a freer country by signing an illegal document …
Charter 77: Communist Czechoslovakia’s Rock ‘N’ Roll RevolutionJanuary 9, 2017Source: RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty / www.rferl.org / Forty years ago this week, the first civic opposition movement in the Eastern Bloc was born, and a rock band was at its heart. After several musicians were arrested on dubious charges, a group of Czechoslovak dissidents drew up a petition — known …
As Russia subverts democracy across Europe, we should remember how the Iron Curtain fellJanuary 7, 2017Source: The Telegraph News / www.telegraph.co.us / By Jan Surotchak / At a time when the establishment is under fire around the world, it’s worth reflecting on a moment when the intellectual elite actually drove democratic change from underground. Today is the 40th anniversary of the Charter 77 Declaration, the foundational …
Ceann Comhairle marks anniversary of Václav HavelDecember 8, 2016Source: House of the Oireachtas / www.oireachtas.ie / Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, TD marked the anniversary of Václav Havel at a short ceremony in Leinster House today, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 which was attended by the Czech Ambassador, former ambassadors of the Czech Republic, members of the Czech community …
Artistic Identity in the Age of FascismDecember 8, 2016(or: You don’t bring nuance to an iron fistfight) This piece, “Artiscit Identity in the Age of Fascism,” by Abbey Fenbert was originally published on HowlRound www.howlround.com, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community, on December 3, 2016. Writers don’t like protests. My first (and until November 2016, …
Another brick in the wall August 5, 2017 Source: Dawn / www.dawn.com/ By Sakib Sherani / OVER the past few weeks, I have come across two powerful new words. Coincidentally, both are related in a certain way. The first, ‘kakistocracy’ refers to “government by the worst people”. (Understandably, PML-N sympathisers want to insert an ‘h’ after the first …
Living in the lie in South Africa July 28, 2017 Source: Daily Maverick / www.dailymaverick.co.za / By Paul Trewhela / What to say, and what not to say, became almost as regular and normal for the returned MK cadres in South Africa as in Havel’s Czechoslovakia. It was this rule of silence that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma endorsed on behalf of the …
Charter 77 and Charter 08: Two men’s common devotion to freedom July 28, 2017 Source: ejinsight / www.ejinsight.com / By Simon Shen / With the passing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, many people around the world have begun to draw a parallel between Charter 08 initiated by him and Charter 77 drafted by, along with others, former Czech dissident and playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel. …
Cleaveland: Seeking common ground in politics June 22, 2017 Source: Times Free Press / www.timesfreepress.com / By Dr. Clif Cleaveland / Our nation’s challenges are numerous, complex and without obvious solution. Whether in matters of security, public education, health care, environmental issues, poverty or immigration, our political leaders seem hopelessly divided. They resemble warriors atop steep ridges who stand …
Trump’s 100th-day speech may have been the most hate-filled in modern history May 2, 2017 Source: The Washington Post / www.washingtonpost.com / By Michael Gerson / For those who claim that Donald Trump has been pasteurized and homogenized by the presidency, his sour, 100th-day speech in Harrisburg, Pa., was inconvenient. Trump used his high office to pursue divisive grudges (Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer …
Democracy Without Conscience Can Only Result In Chaos March 8, 2017 Source: HuffPost / www.huffingtonpost.ca / By Glen Pearson / It’s likely time most of us agreed that we collectively have no idea where democracy is going. And if numerous polls are correct, living in such a situation is creating increased insecurity and tensions among citizens around the world. It’s at …
Like ‘1984,’ these plays take a deep dive into the heart of totalitarianism March 1, 2017 Source: Miami Herald / www.miamiherald.com / By Christine Dolen / Sales of George Orwell’s chilling dystopian novel “1984” have soared during the early days of the Trump administration, the headlines pouring out of Washington having repositioned a 1949 literary classic as a 21st century cautionary tale. The late Czech president …
Long after the Cold War, have we become our opponents? Václav Havel weighs in March 1, 2017 Source: Stanford University / The Book Haven / By Cynthia Haven / I have long observed how people become the thing they hate most, so when René Girard described how locked rivals come to resemble each other more and more, it was no surprise to me. Czech writer, dissident, and president …
Václav Havel’s Lessons on How to Create a “Parallel Polis” February 9, 2017 Source: The New Yorker / www.newyorker.com / By Pankaj Mishra / The recent political earthquakes have found us intellectually and emotionally underprepared, even helpless. None of our usual categories (left, right, liberal, conservative, progressive, reactionary) and perspectives (class, race, gender) seem able to explain how a compulsive liar and serial …
Bracing for President Trump with thoughts on hope from Vaclav Havel January 20, 2017 Source: Chicago Now / www.chicagonow.com / By Kim Z Dale / As we enter the era of President Donald Trump, who I expect will be one of my least favorite world leaders (Go ahead an prove me wrong, DT!), I reflect on a quote from on of my favorite world leaders, …
The Women of Charter January 12, 2017 Source: Charter 97 / www.charter97.org / By Natallia Radzina / Czechoslovakian movement Charter 77 was created 40 years ago but even today its ideas still inspire freedom fighters around the world including Belarus. They gave up their own freedom in pursuit of a freer country by signing an illegal document …
Charter 77: Communist Czechoslovakia’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Revolution January 9, 2017 Source: RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty / www.rferl.org / Forty years ago this week, the first civic opposition movement in the Eastern Bloc was born, and a rock band was at its heart. After several musicians were arrested on dubious charges, a group of Czechoslovak dissidents drew up a petition — known …
As Russia subverts democracy across Europe, we should remember how the Iron Curtain fell January 7, 2017 Source: The Telegraph News / www.telegraph.co.us / By Jan Surotchak / At a time when the establishment is under fire around the world, it’s worth reflecting on a moment when the intellectual elite actually drove democratic change from underground. Today is the 40th anniversary of the Charter 77 Declaration, the foundational …
Ceann Comhairle marks anniversary of Václav Havel December 8, 2016 Source: House of the Oireachtas / www.oireachtas.ie / Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, TD marked the anniversary of Václav Havel at a short ceremony in Leinster House today, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 which was attended by the Czech Ambassador, former ambassadors of the Czech Republic, members of the Czech community …
Artistic Identity in the Age of Fascism December 8, 2016 (or: You don’t bring nuance to an iron fistfight) This piece, “Artiscit Identity in the Age of Fascism,” by Abbey Fenbert was originally published on HowlRound www.howlround.com, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community, on December 3, 2016. Writers don’t like protests. My first (and until November 2016, …