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Given country music’s association with the American South and its conservative majority, it is difficult to ignore the correlation of country music's revival with the rise of the far-right in the US. However, can one link these phenomena? Is country music inseparable from conservatism? < Back Politicizing the Heartland: The Conservative Instrumentalization of Country Music Loowit Morrison September 30, 2025 “Baptize me in a bottle of Beam, put Johnny on the vinyl.” The lyrics of Zach Bryan’s “Revival” speak to the soul of rural America: whiskey and country music. Lines of musical sessions, religious footnotes and Johnny Cash evoke emotions of youthfulness, small-town life and human connection. However, when Bryan, a 29-year-old country music artist, plays “Revival” for a packed crowd of over 50,000 fans, the song becomes more than lyrics; it becomes a revival of country music in and of itself. Bryan’s self-titled 2023 album, Zach Bryan , received over 141 million streams within the first week. This is not an isolated occurrence across the country music genre – artists such as Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman have been topping the charts at rates unseen in decades. In March 2023, Wallen’s “Last Night” became the first solo male country music song to top Billboard’s Hot 100 charts since 1981. A few months later, Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” peaked at number 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100, trailing only Wallen’s “Last Night”. These “new” artists are positioning country music at the forefront of the American music scene, blending traditional beats with modern themes and diverse influences. Despite its decades of latency and unpopularity, being seen as a “shabby farmer genre”, country music is making its comeback. Given country music’s association with the American South and its conservative majority, it is difficult to ignore the correlation of country music's revival with the rise of the far-right in the US. However, can one link these phenomena? Is country music inseparable from conservatism? Country music does not have a discernible root from a certain location or demographic. Instead, it is a conglomeration of diverse genres, including those of Brits, Scots, Polynesians, Evangelical Christians and African Americans. Instruments typically associated with country music also have diverse origins, from the Hawaiian steel guitar to the banjo, which originated in West Africa. Until the 20th century, country music was not affiliated with a specific political ideology. Instead, it was a genre popular amongst the working class, African and Mexican Americans and rural citizens. For most of its history, the base of country music has been rooted in class, not in race or party. The political charge of country music did not actually arise until the late-20th century. Up until this point, the American South, the cradle of country music, was not dominated by the Republican Party. In fact, most white, blue-collar southerners were members of the Democratic Party, which had begun to factionalize over issues of segregation and federalism. The Republican Party’s Southern Strategy capitalized upon this schism, effectively mobilizing white southerners to hop ship. Country music’s nonpartisanship began to shift in President Richard Nixon’s 1972 reelection campaign, taking inspiration from George Wallace, the infamous segregationist governor of Alabama, who instrumentalized country music in his 1968 presidential campaign. Nixon worked to pull working- and middle-class white people in the South from the Democratic to the Republican Party. To do so, he recruited Merle Haggard, integrating “Okie from Muskogee” into his campaign, a song which criticized hippies, counterculture and the anti-war movement. By affiliating traditional country music with the Republican Party, Nixon and Haggard effectively infused a previously apolitical genre with acutely political tones: conservative masculinity, white nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments. Ever since Nixon’s landslide 1972 victory, country music and conservatism have paralleled each other. In 2001, they fused further. Post-9/11, the U.S. experienced a wave of white nationalism, shifting farther politically right. Country music reflected this: songs with themes of simple living, marginalization and conflict with authority became songs referencing the ‘rally around the flag’, beer-drinking and romanticization of small towns – something that inherently alludes to white nationalism and anti-immigrant policy, upholding the concept of a “simple” and “neat” white America, cleansed from the crime, homelessness and poverty which the far-right blames on cities’ diversity. Given country music's and conservatism's twin history, is the former’s recent resurgence reflective of the latter’s rise? A New York Times article by Tressie McMillan Cottom stated that the current conservative political climate in the U.S. “makes country music [...] a good fit for the moment”. Cottom argues that the far-right is scrambling to create a political pop culture to rectify their lack of cultural institutions, and is claiming country music as a part of that culture. Although the claim that the far-right and the Make American Great Again movement lack cultural power is debatable, the far-right’s annexation of country music as a cultural artifact is a clear demonstration of the conservative nostalgia which is settling over the U.S. today. There is a deep yearning across the U.S. to ‘return’ to an America unplagued by the economic and cultural crises that the nation witnesses today, according to The Federalist editor Samuel Mangold-Lenett. “Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit and Authoritarian-Populism” by Pippa Norris, British-American political scientist, describes the idea that the rise of populist authoritarian politics can be described by a sense of threat to tradition, felt acutely by traditionalists who feel alienated as society changes without them. We see this phenomenon today, as American farmers and blue-collar workers are dubbed unintelligent, unworthy and distasteful, while politicians in the Democratic Party turn their attention to doctoral students and urbanites. Country music offers a safe haven from these rapid social changes. Songs such as Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” sing of a world that is no longer “ for people like me, people like you” , yearning for a nation in which “politicians would look out for miners”. Thus, country music is instrumentalized by the far right, as they empower populist figures such as Donald Trump. This movement can be seen across the nation through trends such as Tradwives and the fetishization of small towns. Situated within the context of the far-right’s rise in the U.S., it would appear that country music is conservative. But looking beyond the songs about tractors, the military and the nuclear family, country music is not inherently conservative. In fact, “Rich Men North of Richmond” is not conservative at all. After it was played at a Republican Party debate in 2023, Anthony stated , “ I wrote that song about those people,” and, “I do hate to see that song being weaponized.” Despite the fact that country music is “adopted” by conservatives, many artists, such as Anthony, do not recognize this claim. And while the globally recognized face of country music is conservative, low brow whites, country music has much more diversity to offer. Considering country music’s multicultural influences, especially those from African Americans, many artists today are pushing to reclaim the Black history and culture of country music. As mentioned before, country music is deeply intertwined with African American musical traditions and instruments, having been brought to the U.S. by slaves. A key character in this reclamation is Lil’ Nas X, whose country-trap music, with songs such as “ Old Town Road ”, attest to country music’s diverse history and presence. Alongside this, Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter challenges the stereotypical associations of country music with whiteness. In April 2024, Cowboy Carter positioned itself at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums, making her the first Black woman to have led this list. Despite its clear country music influences, Cowboy Carter has received backlash, with many fans claiming that it is not ‘real’ country music. Big Country, the corporatist industry based in Nashville, seems to agree that Beyoncé does not belong in the genre, demonstrated by the refusal to give her radio airtime and her lack of nominations at the 2024 Country Music Association Awards. Country music is seen as for and by white people, creating an invisible barrier to people of color who want to enter the industry. Executives, often white men themselves, would rather cater to white consumers than honor the diversity that country music is rooted in and is demonstrating today. However, country music has never been about conservatism. Throughout its history, it has always been infused with the theme of conflict with authority, poverty and exploitation. Country music sings to the margins, not to a political party. Despite its nonconservative past, the rightward shift of country music is a signal of a larger cultural shift occurring in the U.S. A return of conservative values regarding masculinity, religion and race, has characterized American political culture since President Trump’s 2024 victory. And, thanks to political history and a current lyrical shift in the genre, country music has been roped into this conservative revolution, becoming intertwined with the far-right. I do not believe, however, that country music equals conservatism. From The Dixie Chicks to Tim McGraw and Mickey Guyton, progressivism, too, holds a place in country music. And disregarding the diverse, multicultural past and present that have shaped the genre as we know it today is a disservice to country music and all who have helped it become a cornerstone of American culture. As an avid country music fan myself, I find solace and nostalgia in its comforting rhythms. Even in Menton, nearly 9000 kilometers from my hometown, Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car replants me in my backyard with my sister, or to my mother’s childhood farm in North Carolina. To me, country music doesn’t represent division and hate; rather, it stands for family, tradition and simplicity. No matter the political charges associated with country music, it is, at its very core, a genre created by humans and for humans. Photo Source: Public Domain, Picryl

On a tranquil Mentonnais weekend, two weeks before the midterms rush, I boarded a train bound for Antibes. As I wandered through its cobbled streets, the Mediterranean shimmered next to me, breathing light into every corner of the city; a scene not so different from that of my hometown in Alexandria, Egypt. Apparently, this feeling of familiarity with this vast blue sea is nothing new—a feeling shared by many people no matter on which shore one is standing. < Back The Mediterranean Charm: Why Writers and Painters Keep Coming Back to This Sea Amena Elkayal November 13, 2025 On a tranquil Mentonnais weekend, two weeks before the midterms rush, I boarded a train bound for Antibes. As I wandered through its cobbled streets, the Mediterranean shimmered next to me, breathing light into every corner of the city; a scene not so different from that of my hometown in Alexandria, Egypt. Apparently, this feeling of familiarity with this vast blue sea is nothing new—a feeling shared by many people no matter on which shore one is standing . Back in Alexandria, when we used to drive along the Corniche, my father always spoke of how deeply he loved this sea, and I thought I already understood. But I only realized the depth of his feeling later, when I saw the words of Hugo, Fitzgerald, Matisse, Picasso and Monet scattered across Antibes' corners, showing the attachment they all had with the Mediterranean. Their words and brushstrokes still linger on the city’s walls, testament to an endless fascination of the Mediterranean and the solace it brings to their hearts and their arts. I found myself wondering: what is it about this exact sea; what is really that mesmerizing about this luminous expanse binding continents and cultures, continuously calling artists back? From Mahmoud Darwish, Albert Camus and Mahmoud Saïd to Monet and Picasso, the Mediterranean has been both a muse and a mirror, reflecting the spirit of those who gaze upon it. So let us drift along its shores to see why its beauty has never ceased to inspire. I’ll be biased and start with two of my personal favorite writers: Khalil Gibran and Mahmoud Darwish, two Levantines whose work was carried by the same Mediterranean wind. The Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran found a wellspring of poetic and spiritual inspiration in the Mediterranean landscape of his native Lebanon. Themes of sea and nature prevailed in the seemingly Mediterranean setting of “The Prophet,” his best known work. For Gibran, the sea was not just a body of water, but a restless companion, mirroring the human soul’s search for meaning. In his poem “ Revelation ” from (Prose Poems, 1934), he writes , “The sea never sleeps and the wakefulness of the sea brings comfort to a sleepless soul.” For Gibran, the sea became a sacred metaphor and an ever-living symbol through which he expressed humanity’s ceaseless yearning for spirituality, looking to a landscape that seems infinite. For Mahmoud Darwish, on the other hand, the water and the sea took on a more haunting symbolism. They were both a promise and a wound: a mirror of exile itself. To look at the sea was to remember a wounded present of migration, departure and displacement, but also to imagine a promised future: one of freedom and return. The strong link between the sea and exile was crystal clear in his poem “Without Exile, Who Am I?” What will we do … what will we do without exile, and a long night that stares at the water? Water binds me to your name ... The Mediterranean sea forms a central metaphor in Darwish’s poetry, symbolizing both exile and the aspirations for Palestine’s rebirth. In his eyes, the endlessly rolling waves mirror the uncertain lives of Palestinians displaced from their home, while the horizon reflects the trauma of those unable to envision a future. In his prose poems “Memory for Forgetfulness” (1986), written after the poet’s forced departure from Beirut during the Israeli invasion of 1982, Darwish describes the sea simultaneously as a space of annihilation and potential creation. He states : “The sea walks in the streets. The sea hangs from the windows and the branches of dried out trees. The sea descends from the sky and enters the room. Blue.. White.. Foam.. Waves. I do not love the sea.. I do not want the sea, because I do not see a shore, or a dove. I do not see anything in the sea except the sea. I do not see a shore. I do not see a dove.” As the Mediterranean floods the streets of Beirut, it represents not only the collapse of Arab unity and postcolonial dreams but also the primordial chaos from which new meaning can emerge. Between Algiers and metropolitan France, Albert Camus’s thought was molded by the Mediterranean world that defined his life. Born in colonial Algeria to French parents, he inhabited the uneasy space between colony and metropole. From this tension and in-betweenness he forged what he called the “Mediterranean spirit.” For Camus, this spirit was not about geography but about the harmony of living in rhythm with the world’s beauty and absurdity. The Mediterranean and its simplicity offered him a moral compass, a refuge and a rhythm, a place where time slows and life is measured not by productivity, but by presence. The sea and the sun are fundamental motifs in his literary works, like “The Stranger.” Camus’ “Mediterranean spirit" was a conscious cultural and political stance. In an article about this notion of a mediterranean spirit, the author states : … Camus overcame his strangerhood by calling the entire Mediterranean his home – not France, not Algeria. “I understand what it means to belong to a climate, rather than a country: a home shaped by the sun, the sea and the play of light. That home is also mine.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, was an outsider to the Mediterranean, but nonetheless found himself enchanted by it. In 1926, he and his wife Zelda settled in Antibes, renting what is now the Hôtel Belles Rives, where he began writing “Tender Is the Night.” In a 1926 letter to Hemingway, he wrote : “With our being back in a nice villa on my beloved Riviera… I’m happier than I’ve been for years. It’s one of those strange, precious and all too transitory moments when everything in one’s life seems to be going well.” That joy, fragile and fleeting, lives on in his fiction, where the Mediterranean became a stage for both beauty and tragedy. In “How to Live on Practically Nothing a Year”, published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1942, Fitzgerald states : “When your eyes first fall upon the Mediterranean you know at once why it was here that man first stood erect and stretched out his arms toward the sun. It is a blue sea; or rather it is too blue for that hackneyed phrase which has described every muddy pool from pole to pole. It is the fairy blue of Maxfield Parrish’s pictures, blue like blue books, blue oil, blue eyes, and in the shadow of the mountains a green belt of land runs along the coast for a hundred miles and makes a playground for the world.” From the page to the canvas, the Mediterranean also inspired painters. If Fitzgerald came to the Mediterranean seeking joy, Pablo Picasso’s art was shaped by it. Born on the Spanish coast, Picasso spent decades in the South of France, drawn to the Côte d’Azur’s light and familiarity. He often drew on his Mediterranean surroundings for inspiration, and once commented : "It’s strange; in Paris I never drew fauns, centaurs or mythological heroes. They always seem to live in these parts." In Antibes, Picasso painted “La Joie de Vivre” (1946) – a vibrant hymn to life, dance and the sea’s timeless energy. His Mediterranean was exotic and playful, filled with ancient echoes of Greek and Roman myths. It wasn’t just a landscape to him; it was a civilisation painted in color. His vision transformed the Mediterranean from a mere geography into an enduring symbol of artistic renewal. Artist Henri Matisse has also always been tremendously inspired by the Mediterranean. In 1917, Henri Matisse arrived in Nice and immediately fell under the spell of the Mediterranean light, which was brighter, softer and more consoling than Paris’s grey. This light revived his artistic spirit, giving his canvases new warmth and radiance. “When I realized that every morning I would see this light again, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was,” he confessed. The Mediterranean light reinvigorated his artistic style with his bold use of colors and sculptural lines. He didn’t just seek to paint the Mediterranean as it appeared, but as it felt: a place both lived and dreamed. His vivid palette captured the region’s warmth, sunlight and sensuous vitality— the rhythm of daily life by the sea. Yet through his simplified forms and unreal, luminous colors, Matisse transformed that lived reality into a dreamlike vision of harmony and timeless beauty. This fascination is evident in many of his works, such as “The Open Window” and “ Intérieur à la boîte à violon. ” Matisse’s fascination with the Mediterranean Sea endured throughout his life. From his first stay in Corsica in 1898 to his long, luminous years in Nice between 1917 and 1954, as well as his journeys across Algeria, Spain, Italy and Morocco. Matisse, in a conversation with Pierre Courthion, once said : “ I’m a northerner… so it’s the Mediterranean that made the biggest impression on me.” For Matisse, the Mediterranean was more than a landscape: it was a revelation. Its radiant light and rich artistic traditions shaped his visual language, linking him deeply to the ancient cultures of the Near East. Through this connection, he explored not mere representation but his own perception of place — a sea both real and imagined, lived and dreamed. As the poet Paul Valéry once described , the Mediterranean is a “machine for making civilization.” For Matisse, it was precisely that: an endless muse—a source of color, beauty and renewal. There was also Claude Monet, who came to the Riviera unsure whether he could ever paint it. In letters to his beloved Alice Hoschedé, he confessed both awe and doubt on whether he could really capture its exotic essence: Between 1884 and 1888, Monet painted the coasts of Bordighera and Antibes, producing dozens of works that shimmered with new colors and light. The fort, sea, mountains and rocks of Antibes inspired Claude Monet. In 1888, he came to the Riviera from Paris and, although he only stayed four months, completed 39 paintings. Each of Monet's three long stays in the Mediterranean were an opportunity for him to radically transform his work. Each wave, each reflection was a proof that even for an artist of his stature, the Mediterranean could still teach wonder. On the southern shore, in Alexandria, Egypt, Mahmoud Saïd, the pioneering Egyptian modernist, found great artistic inspiration in Alexandria, with its beautiful Mediterranean shore and people. His paintings, from “Le Port d’Alexandrie” (1919) to “Les Falaises à Marsa Matrouh” (1948), captured the Mediterranean’s unique light and the quiet lives of its people. Through Saïd’s eyes, the sea became Egyptian, familiar and deeply human—portrayed with the same artistic mastery as in the works of Matisse or Monet, only from the other shore. His work also extended to portraying the Mediterranean in other countries like Crete Island and Lebanon, showing his interest in the sea as a cultural and artistic continuum rather than a national boundary. As the train carried me back to Menton that evening, the sun dipped low over the horizon, ornamenting the sea with light. I thought of all the writers and painters whose wisdom I experienced wandering around Antibes, the exiles and dreamers who had stood before this same sea, searching for meaning, beauty or simply a sense of belonging. Big words scattered around the city but not at all far or unfamiliar from what my dad, me or even Mahmoud Said experienced in Alexandria. Perhaps that is the secret of the Mediterranean charm: it does not belong to anyone, yet it makes everyone who looks at it feel at home. Its rhythm speaks a universal language, one of lightful souls loving to live, one of longing and one of shared experiences. The Mediterranean, after all, is not just a sea. It is a mirror of civilization, of exile and of the human spirit, one I will always carry whether in Alexandria or Menton. Photo Source: Author's Own

Trump’s new border policy isn’t as simple as just closing the border and getting “terrorists the hell out” of the United States. It encompasses a myriad of endeavors, each dealing a blow to the U.S.’ immigration program, which comprises one-fifth of the entire world’s international migrants. < Back America First, Migrants Last: Trump’s New Southern Border Policy Loowit Morrison for Amnesty Sciences Po Menton February 28, 2025 In a flurry of 37 executive orders signed by President Donald Trump during his first week in the Oval Office, eight regarded immigration. This proportion is unsurprising; Trump’s campaign revolved tightly around promises to stunt immigration, having long pledged to “restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country.” Trump’s new border policy isn’t as simple as just closing the border and getting “terrorists the hell out” of the United States. It encompasses a myriad of endeavors, each dealing a blow to the U.S.’ immigration program, which comprises one-fifth of the entire world’s international migrants. Below lists a handful of the Trump Administration’s embryonic, yet already destructive, immigration policies. It is crucial to understand the impacts of Trump’s agenda, as it will fundamentally transform the U.S.’ immigration process as we know it today. To do so, we must observe what actions Trump has taken so far, and what each of these policies will entail. Eliminating CBP One “CBP One came like a gift from God”, reflects Yoandis Delgado, an immigrant from Nicaragua who entered the U.S. in 2023. Launched in 2020 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP One is an app that offers resources for migrants, including scheduling appointments, securing travel authorization and accessing a plethora of migration-related materials. It has been cherished as a “salvation” by many migrants, principally those from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. However, CBP announced the app’s termination on January 20, 2025. Tens of thousands of appointments scheduled for upcoming months were canceled after the notice, leaving migrants stripped of CBP One’s resources. In its short lifetime, CBP One helped admit nearly one million migrants. Ending humanitarian parole for migrants On the first evening of his term, Trump halted an initiative that allowed migrants to apply for non-land -based entry in cases of “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit”. After receiving a U.S.-based sponsor and background check, these migrants could stay on American soil for up to two years with a work permit, which would shield them from deportation. Since 2023, nearly 532,000 migrants, predominantly Haitians, have benefitted from this program. Undeterred by its advantages, Trump argued that terminating the program would “protect the American people from the disastrous effects of unlawful mass migration and resettlement”. In reality, this program was crucial to reducing pressure on the land border with Mexico. Canceling flights for refugees, including those already approved for travel Thousands of refugees already approved for travel were blocked from entry after Executive Order 14163, “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” indefinitely paused refugee resettlement. Over 10,000 refugees in the process of coming to the U.S. from Afghanistan, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are now barred from entry. Trump’s harsh policy towards refugees is unexpected — in 2020, the number of admitted refugees sank to an incredibly low 11,000, as compared to 100,000 under Biden in 2024. In line with his “America First” policy, President Trump holds that continuing to receive refugees would burden American communities, which are unequipped to absorb them. He did not, however, comment on how terminating the program would burden the refugees, who already live under acute threat. Expanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) powers Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is notoriously responsible for the enforcement of immigration laws. Although it already has a considerable amount of monetary power — its annual budget is approximately $9 billion — ICE’s abilities have expanded substantially under the Trump Administration. ICE now has the power to deport migrants who temporarily entered the country under Biden-era programs and sidestep immigration courts to accelerate deportation by labeling undocumented immigration as an “alien invasion.” The past weeks have seen a flood of ICE raids and arrests, sometimes resulting in over 1,000 arrests per day. A new directive revealed that “sensitive areas,” such as schools and churches, can now be targeted by officials, and undocumented immigrants who happen to be present at the arrest of a criminal can be arrested as well. While some “ sanctuary cities ” — those that limit their cooperation with efforts to deport undocumented immigrants — are fighting against this development, the Justice Department has threatened to prosecute local and state officials who resist federal immigration crackdowns. Declaration of a “national emergency” at the southern border. Since 1978, there have been 83 national emergencies declared under the National Emergencies Act of 1976. The most recent of these is the Declaration of a National Emergency at the Southern Bord er of the United States, under the justification that the U.S. is being threatened by widespread crime. The statement permits President Trump to unlock billions of dollars without congressional approval, ones he will likely use for border wall construction and the deployment of the military and National Guard. Typically, the National Emergencies Act is invoked in times of acute stress, allowing the executive to respond quickly to sudden and exceptional cases. Immigration, however, is not sudden , nor is it exceptional. Instead, immigration is a phenomenon that has long occurred on the U.S.’ southern border, leading many to dub this declaration as a worrisome abuse of executive power. Deployment of troops to the southern border. On January 20, the landscape of the U.S.’ southern border was drastically altered with the signing of two executive orders: Securing Our Borders and Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting The Territorial Integrity of the U.S . These orders authorized the deployment of personnel to the southern border with the goal of ensuring “complete operational control” and maintaining the “sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security” of the nation. Following the executive orders, the Department of Defense immediately sent 1,500 troops to the border, joining the stationed 2,500 troops and 18,000 Border Patrol members. While most troops will work in logistics and support tasks, deployment poses the potential for heightened issues at the border, as “military personnel are trained and equipped to destroy enemy forces, [...] regard[ing] civilians as a potential threat,” according to CSIS senior advisor Mark F. Cancian. The deployment of the military is an alarming reflection of Trump's militaristic goals and ruthless practices, both at the border and beyond. Restarting “Remain in Mexico” “Remain in Mexico,” a souvenir from Trump’s previous term, was ended by Biden in 2021 amidst concerns about abuses faced by migrants at the border. The program forces certain migrants to wait south of the border while their cases are processed. Requiring migrants to remain in Mexico during processing subjects them to the risk of kidnapping, extortion, rape and botched smuggling . At the border, migrants, including families and children, face pressure from drug cartels and often live in miserable conditions. In its first lifetime, Remain in Mexico saw some 70,000 migrants sent back across the border. How many more will suffer from its revival? “We are witnessing the reinstatement of some of the most inhumane and harmful immigration policies the U.S. has imposed in recent years,” states Avril Benoit, Chief Executive Officer of Doctors Without Borders USA. The crisis at the U.S.’ southern border — which has been ongoing — will only worsen with Trump’s brutal crackdown on immigration. Even before his inauguration, the border was home to a host of abuses, including cruelty, victimization, family separations, falsifying paperwork and a range of health issues, from heat exhaustion to drowning. The list of abuses faced at the border has not, and will not, deter Trump from pursuing his pillage at the border. His North Star is the “ America First ” doctrine, which outlines the aspirations of his border policy, justified by protecting American communities from strain and criminals. “America First” does not, however, mean “immigrants second,” nor third, fourth, or fifth. In reality, “America First” implies “everybody else last.” Highlighted in his endeavors from Panama to Gaza, Trump has made it clear that he will stop at nothing to “ protect ” Americans, even if this means abusing everybody else. The Trump Administration’s new border policy is actively working to dehumanize migrants, whom he has openly referred to as “animals.” Instead of working to improve the U.S.’ immigration system to aid both migrants and the communities which take them in, the administration has focused on efforts to eject and criminalize migrants. If the Trump Administration were, on the other hand, to center attention on reshaping and bettering the immigration system, both migrants and Americans would benefit greatly. Not only does immigration contribute to economic growth in the U.S., but migrants have permitted the U.S. to develop a diverse, multicultural social fabric. The U.S. flourishes thanks to immigration, a prosperity that is radically threatened by Trump’s new policies on the southern border. Photo credits: Alisdare Hickson, 2018

By largely ignoring women or portraying them in stereotypical roles of victim or consumer, the mass media has symbolically annihilated women. < Back Women’s Annihilation by the Mass Media: How Words and Language Help Shape Our Reality and Perpetuate Power Dynamics By Francesca Di Muro January 31, 2024 Words are more than simple combinations of letters displayed on a blank piece of paper. Words are woven into our social and political lives. Words can be weapons wielded by the powerful or tools for social resistance and change. As stated by linguist Sally McConnell-Ginet, " Words (and meaningful silences) matter enormously in our lives. They enable us to cooperate, collaborate, and ally with one another and exclude, exploit, and subordinate one another. They script our performances as certain kinds of people in certain social locations. They are politically powerful, both as dominating weapons that help oppress and as effective tools that can resist oppression’’. Violence against women, femicide, and gender discrimination pervade every area of contemporary society without geographical and cultural limits. Even today, an alarming number of women are targets of physical and psychological violence at the hands of their male counterparts. Direct violence, often fatal, is accompanied by linguistic violence, which is more hidden and spread implicitly at multiple levels. Media framing plays a pivotal role in the social construction of reality and, consequently, in the reproduction of power dynamics and imbalances. Browsing the pages of national and international newspapers, one can see that many, if not all, newspapers that report on violence against women employ a lexical and discursive structure that indirectly justifies the executioner and blames the victim, in a scheme s based on the concurrence of blame and distorts the real nature of the crime. Violence is multifaceted, and the ways it can be reproduced, expanded, and extended are so. Language is one. ‘How can the media be changed? How can we free women from the tyranny of media messages limiting their lives to hearth and home?’ This is how sociologist and feminist philosopher Gaye Tuchman ends her celebrated essay “The Symbolic Annihilation Of Women By The Mass Media,” encapsulating the concerns that continue to drive much feminist media analysis worldwide. Despite enormous transformations in national and global media landscapes, the fundamental issues that preoccupied Gaye Tuchman in 1978 are still prevalent: power, violence, and hegemony in the narration of violence itself. By largely ignoring women or portraying them in stereotypical roles of victim or consumer, the mass media has symbolically annihilated women. This destruction has further strengthened the patriarchal vision that classifies women as dependent and incapable of living their own lives without male ‘guidance’. Women’s magazines once focused on domestic pursuits such as marriage, household chores, and childcare. What made this pattern even more problematic was the media's role in shaping young girls’ wants and aspirations. Media coverage has created expected roles and perpetuated inequality through the reproduction of stereotyped discourses and sexist narratives and a mediated invisibility that is achieved not simply through the non-representation of women’s points of view or perspectives. Even though this narration has slightly changed nowadays, where women are ‘visible’ in media content, their representation still reflects the biases and assumptions of those who define the public agenda and, consequently, the mediatic one: men. Even when covering cases of femicide, specific language and discourses chosen by the media obscure the gendered and sexist basis of the violence taken out on women's bodies, portraying it as a mere homicide. A dominant patriarchal discourse implicit in newspaper coverage and a representation of femicides that ignores its structural and ideological foundations have been prevalent, as well as the recurrent use of a psychiatric discourse to label the femicide as an act of pure madness of the man, reducing such phenomenon within the predictable framework of a normal homicide, caused by mental illnesses, emotivity or monstrous impulses. Here, redefining language and recreating it in feminist terms can be a form of resistance. To conclude, it is not enough for the media to report how the femicide dynamics developed and focus on turbid details to feel like they satisfied one’s duty of informing the public. It is not enough to represent only those legal and political institutions that want to treat femicide as an isolated case. It is not enough to give an account to friends and relatives of the killer who claimed he loved the woman he just assassinated. It is not enough and never will be to address the system of oppression and latent subjugation that women experience in their daily lives, even in the narrations of violence themselves. The media helps shape society’s perception and public opinion of victims and offenders. Femicide is the result of a deeply embedded and rooted ideological structure, which shapes one’s beliefs and one’s behaviors, not only in femicide itself but also in the narration of it. As Sally McConnell-Ginet once stated, ‘words matter so much precisely because so little matter is firmly attached to them,’ and they do matter — especially when they have the power to annihilate, violate and underpin one’s safety, and, consequently, one’s empowerment.

With the United States experiencing its highest level of inflation since 1981 and Europe following closely, inflation, a phenomenon that many economists claimed was long gone, seems to be back. How worried should we be? < Back Global Inflation: Is the Fairy Tale Beast Back to Haunting us? By Ata Tezel April 29, 2022 If you are a regular at Brioche Dorée, the recent 10% price increase of the student deal might have been catastrophic news. In fact, a double-digit inflation rate is becoming a reality in the developed world, with the Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) average annual rate reaching 7.7 percent in March 2022. With the United States experiencing its highest level of inflation since 1981 and Europe following closely, inflation, a phenomenon that many economists claimed was long gone, seems to be back. But how worried should we be? Why is inflation back? The rise in inflation caught many economists and central banks off guard – as a matter of fact, nearly none of the central bank inflation forecasts in the developed world were accurate for 2021. This is surprising, as the recovery from the economic downturn of the pandemic signaled increased pressure on both the demand and supply sides of economies. Simply put, today’s inflation is the result of too much money chasing too few goods: an inevitable outcome of the economic policies of the pandemic era. The demand-side inflation (also known as demand-pull inflation) is, in large part, related to the drastic aggregate demand recovery fueled by the stimulus packages distributed by governments during the pandemic alongside the overall global employment recovery. The US federal government passed stimulus packages that injected more than 4.5 trillion dollars into the economy, with the EU following up with a package of 2 trillion euros. With many investing their stimulus money on mid- to long-term assets - such as government bonds, stocks, gold, and real estate - demand-side pressures increased prices for these highly attractive assets. In fact, all American indices have passed far beyond their pre-pandemic levels, signaling an unprecedented demand recovery from the pandemic. As the economy on the demand side is stronger than ever, theories suggest inflation should be expected. Though one might then ask: “how has the developed world grown at a stable rate for years while keeping inflation at bay and maintaining low unemployment and minimal monetary intervention?” The difference this time is that the pressure is on the supply-side. The impact of the pandemic was more drastic on the supply-side compared to demand-side simply because short to mid-term adjustments in supply tend to be more inelastic than demand-side adjustments. For example, the ongoing electronic chip shortage can be partly attributed to the automakers’ decision to slash orders during the early stages of the pandemic which led chipmakers to switch their products to fit the surging demand for consumer electronics. As the aggregate demand recovered, the supply of cars is now drastically halted due to the chipmakers' unwillingness and inability to switch their supply back to the automotive sector. This caused a spillover demand for substitutes, resulting in a 20 percent price increase in the second-hand car market in the US. Moreover, disruptions to supply chains triggered by the pandemic are now exacerbated by political tensions spurred by the Ukrainian war. The increase in energy prices has reached, on average, 27 percent in OECD due to the political tensions surrounding oil and natural gas supply. This cost-push inflation is only aggravated by the cutting of government subsidies to many sectors – subsidies that were instrumental in the survival of many businesses during the economic fallout of the pandemic. What to expect now? While the dramatic increase in inflation is worrying for many, central banks have been cautious in implementing monetary policy to combat rising inflation. Throughout 2021, the consensus among the developed world was that the increase in global inflation was temporary and would eventually fade out as market forces settle around pre-pandemic levels. The higher-than-usual inflation rates could also be attributed to the unusually low commodity prices in 2020 caused by the demand fallout which would have given rise to unnatural inflation once demand and prices returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, recent political developments in commodity markets are forcing central banks to take action. The US Federal Reserve had already started tapering its quantitative easing policy by the end of 2021, effectively increasing real interest rates without changing their near-zero policy rate. Leading emerging markets have also responded to inflation throughout the year, with many increasing policy interest rates by couple hundred basis points - a move that the developed world resisted to take. Nevertheless, by March 2022, the Federal Reserve was forced to increase its policy rate for the first time since 2018, an action soon replicated by the Bank of England. The Fed also signaled further increases in the policy rates up to 3.5 percent, citing the dangers of high inflation. Central banks around the developed world now hope to raise rates rapidly to avoid a “hard landing.” However, many are skeptical about central banks’ ability to use monetary policy effectively without causing a recession. Considering the track record of the Fed, recession risks are no doubt elevated, creating a low morale in the world of economics. As inflation is affected by expectations as much as by market forces (if not more), pessimism and distrust in the market could be the biggest worry of all. With the European Central Bank also signaling a potential switch from its zero-interest policy, the future is more unclear than ever. The question is, can the West curb its inflation as successfully as Japan or is it leading to a catastrophic fallout like Turkey? The answer, as with everything else, will probably lie somewhere in between.

The political co-opting of the hijab has a long and violent history. As the French governmental and social domains continue to politicize Muslim head-coverings, it is vital to examine it. < Back The Hijab Is a Hot Political Topic for Islamists… but Also the Secular West By Ghazal Khalife November 30, 2022 Hijab is an Arabic word that translates to “curtain” or “covering.” It is now commonly used to refer to the headcovers sometimes worn by Muslim women. A lot of questions surround the hijab: Why is it worn? Is it a sign of oppression — an archaic symbol of patriarchal traditions? Does it fit in modern societies? What should we do about it? The fact that the hijab has become such a controversy shows how it has long left the private realm and become a matter of public debate and politicization. In Iran: From a symbol of protest to a symbol of oppression In its modern history, Iran has had a complicated relationship with its religious identity and, thus, the role of the hijab. Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled Iran from 1925 to 1941, to abandon backwardness and tradition and promote modernization, issued the decree, “Kashef-e Hijab,” which banned all head coverings for women as well as the “chador,” a full-body Iranian covering. Unsurprisingly, this decision, which was swiftly and strongly enforced across the country, was not received well by the more conservative population. The ban restricted women’s freedom of movement, as many stayed at home or came out at night when they could hide from police, who were instructed to resort to physical violence to unveil hijabi women forcibly. The shah’s decree adhered to the premise that the hijab is antithetical to modernity and women’s integration into society, a view that resonates to this day. During the ceremony in which the shah announced “Kashef-e Hijab,” he stated that women “should stand out in society the same way they stand out in their homes.” Fast forward to the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution, the hijab resurged in the social and political spheres as a sign of protest against westernization and the Pahlavi dynasty’s attempt to repress Iran’s cultural and religious identity. It is worth noting, however, that at that point, wearing the veil was a choice, an expression of disenchantment with a regime that dictated women’s clothing. After the Islamic republic was established, veiling became mandatory and violently enforced by the morality police. Post-Revolution leader Ruhollah Khomeini described women who did not veil as “naked.” Consequently, the veil became a symbol of the resurrection of Islamic values and strict interpretation of the Quran. Women have been protesting the hijab mandate for decades in Iran — a movement that culminated in the recent and ongoing protests . The hijab is simply another manifestation of the Islamic state’s political oppression; it is a reminder that the Islamic Republic can and will dictate the public’s life choices, that it does not tolerate diversion from its interpretation of religion and that its version of society is the right one. The affiliation of the hijab with a political movement is not exclusive to Iran, however. The idea of the hijab was also politicized in post-colonial Arab liberation movements and their competing ideologies, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood. During the early period of decolonization (1930s-40s), Muslim women wore the hijab to reaffirm their pride in their heritage and Islamic identity, especially since European colonial soldiers unveiled indigenous women during “civilizing missions.” In Algeria, the veil became a focal point of the War of Independence as there was strong resentment against the French for their unveiling and sexualization of Algerian women. Unveiling ceremonies were popular, but the obsession with the hijab took on an even more sinister undertone. To many, it hid mysterious sexual objects cloaked beneath a layer of modesty, begging to be seen by the male gaze. This is epitomized by the school of French photographers who took photos of unveiled women and hypersexualized them; some of these images were even used in French postal cards. In France: The symbol of a struggle with religious diversity In contemporary France, the hijab remains a contentious topic in government and public realms. Despite being worn by less than 2% of France’s population, the hijab dominates political discussions about secularism, immigration and Islam. Under the pretext that it violates France’s sacred principle of “laicité,” a specific interpretation of secularism that guides French society, many lawmakers, even those affiliated with the centrist party, have fervently supported strict regulations on veiling. These include banning the headscarf in public schools and prohibiting citizens working in the public sector from wearing it. In February 2022, the French senate voted 160-143 in favor of banning the wearing of the hijab: “an ostentatious religious symbol” in sports competitions. How do these regulations fit into the larger context of French politics? The prevalent argument is that the hijab is an “ostentatious” religious symbol and, hence, incompatible with “laicité.” Many hijabis have countered this assertion by pointing out that the hijab is a religious obligation and a commitment to modesty as opposed to being an inherent symbol of faith. As such, the rhetoric in support of restricting the hijab in favor of laïcité minimizes its significance for hijabi women and is sometimes used to emphasize the “otherness” of France’s Muslim population. France, like many Western countries, has undoubtedly struggled with its increasing diversity in the post-colonial context, especially with recent migratory waves from predominantly Muslim countries. Since hijabi women are easily identifiable as Muslim, they have been subject to the most scrutiny and discrimination. When asked how wearing the hijab changed people’s perceptions about her in France, an anonymous Menton first-year answered that “people’s perceptions definitely changed towards me as I started wearing the hijab because I was no longer seen as (who I am), but as ‘the hijabi girl.’ I particularly noticed (this) when people confused me for another hijabi girl or when the first interaction I had with a stranger would be regarding my hijab.” Another angle from which to examine this issue is a more subtle extension of the “civilizing mission” justification in which the hijab is considered a symbol of patriarchal oppression and incompatible with modern society. This may also be interpreted as an argument that encourages Muslim women to abandon a potentially important element of their identity in order to be accepted into French society. The fundamental problem with this “savior complex” narrative is that it assumes that all women are forced or even conditioned into wearing the hijab and not wearing it out of their own free will. While this unfortunately, can be the case in many Muslim communities, it cannot be generalized. Moreover, instead of empowering women, banning the headscarf could inhibit many Muslim women from integrating productively into society since many civic and educational doors would be slammed shut for them. The hijab: An individual experience Ultimately, politicizing the hijab reduces women’s bodies to social matters; it risks ridding them of their bodily autonomy, as observed in both extremes of hijab regulations. Every Muslim woman experiences the hijab differently, and while it is normal and even vital to discuss the motivations behind wearing the hijab, employing it as a political tool to control women, garner votes or advance a political agenda constricts not only Muslim women but also distorts the deeply personal nature of this religious practice.

In the past few years, an increasing number of intrepid content creators are documenting their journeys to places of conflict. They acquire rare visas, hire local tour guides, and point iPhone cameras through the streets as they seek to capture the ‘real’ version of these countries—places whose very essence is often reduced to fearful headlines and apocalyptic imagery. This phenomenon, known as conflict tourism, ranges from visiting historically troubled areas to entering zones of active conflict, and has taken on an entirely new significance in the age of vlogging. < Back Vlogging Live From Kabul: The Insights and Absurdities of YouTube Conflict Tourism Bronwen Sutcliffe November 2, 2025 Afghanistan is certainly not a typical travel destination for a social media influencer, let alone your average tourist. Travel advisories, scarce flight routes, and fearsome news coverage (to name just a few) make conflict zones feel decidedly off-limits to outsiders. In the past few years, an increasing number of intrepid content creators are documenting their journeys to places of conflict. They acquire rare visas, hire local tour guides, and point iPhone cameras through the streets as they seek to capture the ‘real’ version of these countries—places whose very essence is often reduced to fearful headlines and apocalyptic imagery. This phenomenon, known as conflict tourism, ranges from visiting historically troubled areas to entering zones of active conflict, and has taken on an entirely new significance in the age of vlogging. Having watched a number of these videos myself, I’ve begun to wonder: who are these travelers, and how do they manage to break the red tape that seals off highly sanctioned regimes from the West? What motivates them—and, perhaps most importantly, what should we make of their videos? Travels Amidst Conflict For those determined enough, travel advisories are merely a suggestion; influencers like Canadian Nolan Saumure, British Miles Routledge, and French Tibi Jones have ventured into a number of highly volatile countries, such as Afghanistan, where they wish to witness life under Taliban rule firsthand. Visas can be acquired from neighbouring countries to their destination of choice. Travelers are very frequently accompanied by reputed tour guides, essentially wingmen for navigating the city, translating, and assisting them with administrative tasks. They also often hire a driver for the trip. Their travels may even be facilitated by tour companies who, aware of the market, arrange activities catering to foreigners’ dark curiosities. Though travelers are often accompanied by locals, conflict tourism is inherently dangerous. The UK government, for example, implements a strict ‘avoid all travel’ advisory for Afghanistan on the basis of extreme danger, high risk for detention or imprisonment, as well as kidnapping and terrorism. This situation is intensified by the government’s inability to intervene on Afghan soil, with no embassy and therefore no direct aid for tourists. The situation for conflict tourists has escalated on numerous occasions. In a story that sounds almost unbelievable, Miles Routledge– known online as “Lord Miles”– traveled to Afghanistan in 2021, just days before the fall of Kabul, despite warnings from the UK government. He wanted to witness life under the Taliban and share it with his followers. Ultimately, when the Taliban took over, he found himself stranded and had to seek refuge in a UN safe house. He was eventually evacuated by the British army, disguised as a woman in a burqa. Undeterred, Routledge returned to Afghanistan multiple times, and in 2023 he was detained again for several months. Motives of Conflict Vloggers If it’s so dangerous, why do they do it? Professor Dorina-Maria Buda, a leading scholar on the role of emotion and psychology in tourism to conflict zones, offers part of the answer. Drawing on her fieldwork in the Palestinian West Bank, she found that tourists visiting areas of turmoil are not driven solely by morbid curiosity; they also seek to challenge their emotions and assumptions. According to Buda, such travelers want to feel “emotionally connected to the situation… and… like they are bringing about a small positive change by experiencing the realities of life on the ground.” She also observes that, unlike traditional tourist hotspots where locals often feel burdened by over-tourism, communities in contested regions may “welcome tourists as… an opportunity for them to tell their own story about living in a conflict zone and to have their voices heard.” Perhaps this idea does not resonate with the case of Miles Routledge. But for some other creators, it seems an apt characterization of their motives. A genuine emotional connection is reflected in the travels of YouTube creators Matt and Julia, whose shared channel documents, as their bio puts it, “adventures somewhere we probably shouldn’t be.” In their videos, they visit countries such as Afghanistan and North Korea, where they are often welcomed by locals or taken under their wing. In their Afghanistan travel series, for instance, Matt and Julia are met with curiosity and warmth in the streets, and later welcomed into a family’s home, where they cook together, share a meal, play with the children, and explore the family garden—offering a warm, personal glimpse into everyday life rarely captured in traditional media. Another video I found insightful is YouTube creator Eli from Russia’s visit to Iran: her documentary is beautifully filmed and interspersed with candid, authentic exchanges with locals. She shares many facets of life in Iran that rarely appear in news reports or mainstream media– for instance, the underground nightlife, Armenian neighborhoods that enjoy a degree of autonomy from state laws, and bustling street markets showcasing handmade crafts. One remark she makes on the impact of her travels stood out to me: Before you get to a country, it’s just a point on the map for you… But once you explore the place, the point on the map gets colors. It transforms into landscapes, sounds, tastes, faces, feelings, and many memories. When you’re back home… you will want to scream, ‘Of course, I’ve left. I’ve lived a whole life during that trip, and I’ve changed so much. The authenticity of these conflict tourists comes from the thoughtfulness of their storytelling —their willingness to listen, to engage, and to show people as more than just symbols of suffering. As naive and idealistic as it may be, this is why I often find myself engrossed in conflict tourism videos from creators like Eli, Matt, and Julia. They feel like a way to understand, however imperfectly, the human experience within regions of instability, and to appreciate the place’s culture, cuisine, and quiet resilience amidst disorder and uncertainty. Encounters like these also feel mutually beneficial: the creators gain an authentic experience of culture and hospitality and have their worldview challenged, while locals have the chance to share their story, to be seen not as victims or as statistics, but as hosts, parents, and individuals living full lives despite tense circumstances. Ethics However, not all creators are motivated by empathy or a genuine desire to educate; some— perhaps most— prioritize shock value, spectacle, or personal clout. Canadian content creator Nolan Saumure exemplifies the darker side of the genre. His provocative commentary and self-important antics are difficult to view as anything other than objectionable. In one video, “Afghanistan Has Too Much Testosterone,” he visits an arms market where he poses with rifles, laughs alongside traders, and treats the situation more like a game than a glimpse into daily life under the Taliban. He casually remarks: “This probably doesn’t come as a shock to you, but this is the only series I’ve ever filmed where I didn’t speak to, or have any form of interaction with, a single woman. It’s a complete sausage fest—all dudes, 24/7”. With hundreds of thousands of subscribers, this careless and insensitive representation has a wide and likely harmful influence. Humorous social media renditions have an influence on people’s perceptions. After the Taliban seized control in 2021, viral internet memes contributed to softening their image, showing fighters struggling to understand how gym equipment works or riding carousel horses. Like traditional media, conflict tourist content creators bear a responsibility to consider how their work influences popular understanding of reality in their destination countries. In an interview, Saumure insists he doesn’t want to impose his outsider perspective: “Even if the west is maybe selling a very sensational narrative, I still saw the oppression firsthand as far as women not being allowed in certain parks and modesty laws,” he said. “It's a delicate subject. I just wanted to be like, “This is how it is here,” instead of driving into my beliefs.” Yet, his content style is far from neutral, making light of a grave reality to fuel his channel. As young audiences increasingly rely on influencers rather than traditional media, conflict tourism vlogs that approach troubled areas with humor or irreverence risk instilling outsiders with false or apathetic perceptions of both daily life under conflict and the oppression itself. Another creator, Tibi Jones, traveled to Afghanistan in 2021 with the goal of countering Western bias. He filmed in a dental office where veiled women were working, presenting it as evidence that some Afghan women can still participate in the workforce. On Instagram, he stated: “the western narrative has nothing to do with this land.” While some viewers praised him for countering western narratives, his portrayal overlooks the systemic oppression faced by Afghan women under the Taliban. Creators like Saumure and Jones seem to view themselves as movie characters or adventurers. By treating, say, Afghanistan, as a stage for personal adventure, they reduce the social and political reality to props for entertainment, blurring the line between reporting and spectacle. In Ukraine, where conflict tourism has grown into a small industry, locals have mixed feelings about outsiders peering in on their daily lives amid war. Around ten Ukrainian agencies now offer specialized “war tours,” such as guided visits to war-damaged areas in Kyiv and Kharkiv, with a part of proceeds supporting soldiers. While some locals see these tours as a way to raise awareness internationally, others view them as deeply disrespectful. As one Ukrainian man told ARTE in a report on war tours, “It’s not entertainment. It’s our life.” If conflict tourism can provide a platform for local perspectives, it can simultaneously put those same individuals at risk. Those who appear on camera may be endangered if their participation is interpreted as opposition to the regime—especially in authoritarian contexts such as Afghanistan or North Korea. Even seemingly innocuous footage could potentially be used as evidence of collaboration or dissent, leading to harassment, arrest, or worse. YouTube conflict tourism is a paradox. On one hand, it offers a window into the culture, resilience, and everyday life in regions often reduced to statistics, headlines, or fear-driven narratives. Many videos do not lean on risk or spectacle, instead taking a humanized, intimate storytelling approach that comes across more like thoughtful travel documentaries than sensationalized vlogs. That said, I am inclined to view the vast majority of conflict tourism content poorly. Too many creators prioritize shock value, and with the immense monetization potential of this content, this has eclipsed much of the content base. Anyone can bring a phone to a war-torn country, but not everyone can bring empathy, respect, or nuance. Titles like “The Real Afghanistan” threaten to turn lived experiences into commodities, reducing people’s lives to sources of entertainment that people in more privileged positions can consume casually, just as one can turn on and off the TV news. Photo Source: @mbj, Flickr

Beirut, known as the “Paris of the Middle East” in the 1950s, and arguably the region’s financial hub, is slowly relapsing into its war-torn state. After hearing of yesterday’s events, I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart — the country’s collapse has never seemed so clear and obvious. < Back A Beacon of Light for a Country in the Dark: Lebanon’s Untiring Resilience By Maria Kouteili October 30, 2021 October 14, 4:38 pm. My phone does not cease to ring: photo flash, gunfire, smoke, chaos. The photos on my device are the same ones you would find in a history textbook about the civil war; the same militias that terrorized my mother and my aunts, are now terrorizing my friends and my cousins. Today’s attack is just another example of a crumbling nation; what was supposed to be a demonstration in Beirut calling for the removal of a judge who led a probe into the deadly August 2020 port blast quickly became a blood-bath. Thursday’s attack falls within a context of national crisis on all scales: Lebanese citizens have been in the dark since 2019 and are gradually being stripped of all human dignity. The needs of the Lebanese people have been ignored, brushed off and frankly stepped on. I remember going to the pharmacy with my grand-father, a diabetic with heart failure, I remember him having to beg the pharmacist (who was a close friend) for his prescrip-tion. My grandmother, who lives in Central Beirut, wakes up in the dark every morning. Lebanon is in the dark. These are not isolated examples, every single Lebanese citizen has seen his or her way of living crumble. To quote the World Bank, this is “one of the worst financial crises in centuries.” Beirut, known as the “Paris of the Middle East” in the 1950s, and arguably the region’s financial hub, is slowly relapsing into its war-torn state. After hearing of yesterday’s events, I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart — the country’s collapse has never seemed so clear and obvious. However, it also made me think of how special the country is. Lebanon is undeniably a crossroad of civilizations; to quote an Oxford article on the matter “Modern-day Lebanon is like a mosaic, characterized by a diversity of cultures, traditions, and religions. Because of its location at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa, Lebanon has been shaped by many civilizations throughout its long history.” The streets of downtown Beirut tell the story of Lebanon’s history themselves: you will pass domed mosques and steeply churches on your right, French cafes and Arab “Souks” on your left. Lebanon is also the home of arak, an alcoholic beverage made from raisins and aniseed and many other delicacies enjoyed worldwide. This example of cultural heritage is particularly interesting as it first appeared in the 12th century from the Arab invention of alembic distillation and later spread to the Balkans and eventually Indonesia and Malaysia. Similar to Lebanon, arak is a cultural mosaic and an emblem of Arab-Islamic history. And just like arak, Lebanon has a heritage almost as old and as diverse as Arab civilizations and an incontestable influence on a global scale. Generally speaking, the country’s geographical location at a crossroad between Arab and Asian civilizations has made it a cosmopolitan power. As most Lebanese proudly state: “Lebanon is small in size but huge in its influence.” Finally, let this article be a celebration of Lebanese culture rather than another cry of despair: let us remember the joys of Lebanese mezze, kahwa, and Fairuz!

In light of the recent controversy surrounding the OGC Nice vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv football game, the UEJF of SciencesPo Campus de Menton offers the following statement. < Back Menton’s Branch of Union des Étudiants Juifs de France Issues a Statement Condemning Integration Week’s Football Match Protest By Ellie Carter, Gayle Krest, Azra Ersevik September 29, 2022 Editor’s note: Objectivity is of paramount importance to The Menton Times. As such, the September 2022 issue of the publication features a variety of stances that students took amid the controversial Integration Week boycott. In light of the recent controversy surrounding the OGC Nice vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv football game, the UEJF of SciencesPo Campus de Menton offers the following statement: It is crucial to differentiate between a person who is Jewish, a person who is Israeli, and the Israeli State itself. A person who is Jewish may live anywhere on earth. A person who is Israeli has Israeli citizenship and may or may not be Jewish. These two identities are not synonymous. The Israeli State acts as an independent entity and does not represent the global Jewish community nor the wishes of every Israeli citizen. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a football team that was founded in 1906, predating the modern state of Israel. It is a Jewish team – its logo featuring the Jewish Star of David – and players hail from a variety of countries . Their owner is Mitchell Goldhar, a Canadian businessman and the son of a Polish Holocaust survivor. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance cites blaming Jews as a group for the responsibility of individuals, holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel, and denying the right of Jewish self determination as three elements of their definition of antisemitism. The individuals at this match are not representatives of nor accountable for the State of Israel and as such, should not be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. We condemn protesting the State of Israel at the match due to the ethnicity, religion, or nationality of the players. We would like to emphasize the right of Jews and Israelis to live, travel, and play football in peace without being asked to bear responsibility for the actions of the State of Israel. Moreover, the UEFA Europa Conference League is an international football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations. Both OGC Nice and Maccabi Tel Aviv are competing in the qualifying rounds for the UECL this year. Neither OGC Nice nor any other team in the league has control over who they are assigned to play, as participants in each qualifying round are determined by each team’s placement in their domestic leagues. As such, protests and demands directed at OGC Nice are incorrectly placed, as they have no control over who they play. We encourage thoughtful protest and support freedom of speech. However, we call for care, mindfulness, clarity, and cohesiveness of thoughts and goals from students who exercise their right to protest, with the ultimate telos of peace. Finally, we have seen an abundance of inflammatory and hateful comments on Sciences Palestine’s posts related to the planned (and now canceled) protest. These are comments which we do not condone, nor are they written on our behalf . On behalf of the UEJF, CARTER Ellie, President KREST Gayle, Secretary General ERSEVIK Azra, Treasurer Français: À la lumière de la récente polémique autour du match de football OGC Nice vs Maccabi Tel Aviv, l'UEJF de SciencesPo Campus de Menton propose le communiqué suivant : Avant tout, il est crucial de faire la différence entre une personne qui est juive, une personne qui est israélienne et l'État israélien lui-même. Une personne qui est juive peut vivre n'importe où dans le monde. Une personne qui est israélienne à la citoyenneté israélienne et peut ou non être juive. Ces deux identités ne sont pas synonymes. L'État israélien agit comme une entité indépendante et ne représente pas la communauté juive mondiale ni les souhaits de chaque citoyen israélien. Le Maccabi Tel Aviv est une équipe de football fondée en 1906, antérieure à l'État moderne d'Israël. C'est une équipe juive – son logo représente l'étoile de David – et les joueurs viennent de divers pays . Leur propriétaire est Mitchell Goldhar, un homme d'affaires Canadien et le fils d'un survivant polonais de l'Holocauste. L' Alliance internationale pour la mémoire de l'Holocauste cite le fait de blâmer les Juifs en tant que groupe pour la responsabilité des individus, de tenir les Juifs collectivement responsables des actions de l'État d'Israël et de nier le droit à l'autodétermination des Juifs comme trois éléments de leur définition de l'antisémitisme. Les personnes présentes à ce match ne sont ni des représentants ni responsables de l'État d'Israël et, en tant que telles, ne devraient pas être tenues responsables des actions du gouvernement israélien. Nous condamnons les protestations contre l'État d'Israël lors du match en raison de l'ethnie, de la religion ou de la nationalité des joueurs. Nous voudrions souligner le droit des Juifs et des Israéliens à vivre, voyager et jouer au football en paix sans qu'on leur demande d'assumer la responsabilité des actions de l'État d'Israël. De plus, l'UEFA Europa Conference League est une compétition internationale de football organisée par l'Union des associations européennes de football. L'OGC Nice et le Maccabi Tel Aviv participent tous deux aux tours de qualification de l'UECL cette année. Ni l'OGC Nice ni aucune autre équipe de la ligue ne choisissent contre qui elles vont jouer. En effet, les participants à chaque tour de qualification sont déterminés par le placement de chaque équipe dans leurs ligues nationales. En tant que telles, les protestations et les demandes adressées à l'OGC Nice sont placées de manière incorrecte, car les équipes n'ont aucun contrôle sur qui elles jouent. Nous encourageons les manifestations réfléchies et soutenons la liberté d'expression. Cependant, nous appelons à la prudence, à la pleine conscience, à la clarté et à la cohérence des pensées et des objectifs des étudiants qui exercent leur droit de manifester, avec le telos ultime de la paix. Enfin, nous avons vu une abondance de commentaires incendiaires et haineux sur les messages de Sciences Palestine liés à la manifestation prévue (et maintenant annulée). Ce sont des commentaires que nous ne tolérons pas , et ils ne sont pas écrits en notre nom. Au Nom de l’UEJF CARTER Ellie, Présidente KREST Gayle, Secrétaire Générale ERSEVIK Azra, Trésorière

How did the modern Christmas tree, the beacon of the holiday season, emerge? And what does it represent in our contemporary world? < Back From Pagan Tradition To Seasonal Landmark Of Consumer-Capitalism: The Origins Of The Christmas Tree By Lara Harmankaya January 31, 2024 While walking along some residential streets in Istanbul in December, it’s not unusual to spot Christmas trees shining from the living rooms of apartment buildings. Even in this supposedly secularized country, where the religious connotations of the Christmas holiday have no meaning to the Muslim-majority population, the tradition of putting up an evergreen tree with an expiration date of approximately two months has persisted over the years. Globally, the evergreen tree adorned with colorful ornaments, tinsels and lights is ubiquitous every December. One, therefore, wonders: at what point did accessorizing trees, as if embellishing a cake with sprinkles, become a universal tradition? Nowadays, the Christmas tree is detached from its religious symbolism parallel to the growth of mass-consumerism. In the twenty-first century, market forces have shrouded the ancient roots of the evergreen and replaced them with the politics of wanting and materialism. After all, to complete the image of the modern Christmas tree, one needs the boxes of gifts underneath it. So, the question is: how exactly did the meaning of the Christmas tree evolve over the years? How did the modern Christmas tree, the beacon of the holiday season, emerge? And what does it represent in our contemporary world? The roots of decorating the home with the evergreen during wintertime originate long before the advent of Christianity. In the pagan world, plants that survived the harsh, long winters were placed as boughs before doors and windows to keep Satan, evil spirits and diseases at bay. These symbols of the winter solstice reminded the residents of the imminent return of spring and the resilience of life over death and decay. The solstice marks the point of “rebirth of the sun,” at which the shortening of days ends, and each passing day progressively encounters more sunlight and warmth— a cause of celebration since Greco-Roman times. For the Romans, the festival of Saturnalia was the occasion in which temples were decorated with tree branches and homes with wreaths around the time of the winter solstice. Many historians now trace other Christmas traditions, such as gift-giving, feasting and merrymaking back to this pagan festival dedicated to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time. For Druids and Vikings alike, the evergreen also meant light and life, and the essence of this was integrated into Christian belief. Despite the difficulty in tracing the true origins of this tradition and the contrasting claims made by some northern European countries to be its birthplace, many historians concur that Germans around the 16th century can be accredited with the birthing of modern Christmas traditions in the Christian context. Many now believe that Martin Luther was the first to domesticate and illuminate the Christmas tree; as the story goes, while walking in the forest, he was inspired by the twinkling of the stars he saw through the tree branches and decided to recreate the scene for his family by covering an evergreen he brought home with candles. These would come to signify the birth and resurrection of Christ and the light he is said to bring to the world. German influence in engendering the Christmas tree cannot be overlooked. It was the German tradition of decorating wooden Christmas pyramids with ornaments and treats that merged with the concept of the Paradise tree — decorating fir trees with apples to mimic the tree of life in the Garden of Eden that developed into the modern Christmas tree we know today. Its popularization outside of Germany was also notably German-led; it was German-born Queen Charlotte who introduced the Christmas tree to the upper classes of the United Kingdom in 1800, and it was the originally Bavarian Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s illustrated family portrait around the Christmas tree that popularized it among the masses of English society. In the United States, the first records of Christmas trees include the wooden pyramids of the Moravian Germans in 1747 Pennsylvania. Initially rejected by Puritans for their pagan heritage during the colonial period, the customs of Christmas became popular only after mass immigration from Germany and their prevalence in Europe in the 19th century. The Christmas tree is thereby a product of the intertwining history of religions, including Paganism and Christianity, as well as nationalities. It might be one of the best examples we have of a successful transplant of a custom across borders. As such, it is the continuation of a joint human heritage that nurtures unity. As we have seen for centuries, the essence of the Christmas tree and the many other festivities associated with it have remained the same – the importance of light in times of spiritual and seasonal darkness. Yet, with industrialization in the 19th century and consumer-capitalism's rise, this meaning has slowly been sapped away. The commodified character of the Christmas tree can best be encapsulated by its plastification; the artificial Christmas tree sold in most supermarkets from November onwards each year is manufactured with a large carbon footprint, thus rendering it not eco-friendly nor durable in most cases. Like most gifts awarded at Christmas-time by distant family relatives, they are discarded as soon as the holiday period is over. What is left behind is piles of waste, driving the climate crisis that is slowly but surely dismantling the future of upcoming generations. According to Lisa Joyner, writing for the home decor blog HouseBeautiful, “an artificial Christmas tree will need to be used for at least 10 years before its carbon footprint comes close to the total carbon footprint of buying than burning a real tree every year for a decade.” Thus, it is undeniable that capitalism’s embracement of Christmas traditions has had a detrimental impact on the planet. For many devout Christians, capitalism has also desecrated the Christmas tree, eradicating its moral core. They lament that the modern celebration of Christmas, which encourages and espouses the exchange of gifts in a consumerist frenzy, completely contradicts the humble, ascetic and anti-materialist way of life embraced by Jesus Christ. As is now seen in the December days building up to Christmas Eve, the spiritual element of Christmas has been taken over by the frantic search for gifts in jam-packed shopping malls and streets. With this, it is easy to forget why people practice such traditions or decorate their trees in the first place. The celebration of Christmas, as represented by its special evergreen tree, is the culmination of humanity's multicultural and multi-religious history. From the ancient Egyptians and the Romans to the Luthers, the evergreen tree has always held optimistic hopes for togetherness. It has been a promise to cast away the darkness of our daily world. Yet, it is now the poster child for the most pervasive religion of the twenty-first century: capitalism. It evokes the expectation of gifts even more so than the unison of family and friends for a merry celebration of the return of spring. The fault here lies in the spirit of consumerism that permeates social life. The prevalence and secularization of Christmas trees in the twenty-first century that came along with these developments are not inherently bad. The spread of light, hope and merriment to all those who need it in their lives can become universal, especially in our contemporary world of ever-deepening darkness and anomie. However, it is still our job to ensure that the commercialization of tradition does not erase the collective memory of the past and promote wasteful consumption. The sight of a Christmas tree illuminating a dark living room should continue to conjure up thoughts of peace, comfort and family, not expectations of extravagant gifts. As our Christmas trees become artificial, let us not turn artificial in our celebrations as well.

Over 7 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression. The unity and warmth with which Europe has responded to the exodus of Ukrainian refugees is commendable. Yet it has highlighted the prejudice and bigotry that has plagued Europe’s willingness to welcome refugees from other parts of the world. < Back Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Exposes the Duality of European Hospitality By Hugo Lagergren October 31, 2022 Over 7 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression. The unity and warmth with which Europe has responded to the exodus of Ukrainian refugees is commendable. Yet it has highlighted the prejudice and bigotry that has plagued Europe’s willingness to welcome refugees from other parts of the world. Over the summer, I had the privilege of spending one month working with an NGO called Quick Response Team (QRT). I witnessed first-hand the brilliant work they do in supporting refugees in and around Thessaloniki, both psychologically and physically, both of which are part of their self-proclaimed mission. Naturally, I was nervous before arriving as I had never done something like this before. However, I realize now that there was no need for such feelings. The warmth and kindness that I was met with upon my arrival, not only from the QRT team, but also from the refugees, surprised me. Many of the people who manage to complete the treacherous journey to Greece from Syria, Iran or Afghanistan have suffered innumerable hardships just to get to Europe. Despite this, they always, without fail, took the time to find out how we, the volunteers, were doing. They asked us about our home countries, how we liked Greece and constantly thanked us for anything and everything. To say it was moving would be an understatement. Even now, three months after, I still struggle to find the words to describe the impact this summer had on me. Knowing that these people, who I developed such a strong connection with, are stuck in a prison, while I have gone back to my day-to-day life as a student, saddens me deeply. And knowing that the conditions in which they are living are worsening because of the war in Ukraine makes me very angry. It is for these reasons that I felt compelled to write about the desperate situation that many refugees find themselves in and to relay the message, that it is time to change how Europeans view refugees arriving from the Middle East and North Africa, as the crisis is anything but over. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Europe has shown its solidarity with the people of Ukraine through the swiftness of its response to the crisis, through direct aid to Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia, as well as welcoming the seven and a half million refugees that have been forced to flee their country due to the war, a number that continues to grow as the war drags on. There is no doubt that the impressive speed and efficacy with which Europe has acted with regard to the Ukraine crisis is to be applauded. However, before attitudes become overly self-congratulatory, it is important to think back to Europe’s response to the 2015 refugee crisis and to observe how it continues to respond to the steady influx of refugees from the MENA region since then. Notwithstanding, it is important to mention that I am in no way trying to belittle the plight of the Ukrainian people. What they are undergoing, both as individuals and as a nation, through Putin’s aggression is utterly tragic. Yet, the stark contrast in treatment remains relevant, not only because it highlights a clear divide on a humanitarian level in the treatment of refugees based on culture, religion and skin color, but also because it reveals lurking sentiments within Europe that have contributed to the rise of far-right politics. Within weeks of the war’s commencement, the European Union fast-tracked the repurposing of funds originally intended as a COVID relief package, a decision which would usually take many months of debating. The money was redirected to Ukraine’s neighboring countries, including Moldova, which is currently not a member of the union, to support the mass reception of Ukrainian refugees. Even on a macro level, EU citizens have been filled with humanity and compassion, with many people offering up their houses to refugees. The scenes of kindness and generosity visible in train stations across the continent illustrated Europe’s willingness to integrate these refugees into their society. In Poland, refugees were met with banners that read “you are safe here” in Ukrainian. People rushed to carry their luggage and make sure that they found their way. Local governments on the Polish-Ukrainian border have spent millions of Euros providing refugees with food, water and prepaid phones among other things. A survey conducted at the start of the war revealed that 64% of Polish people were willing to personally assist Ukrainian refugees, with 90% supporting their acceptance into the country. Poland has now accepted over 1.4 million Ukrainian refugees. Germany has followed suit by accepting one million refugees, with Italy and Spain having accepted 170,000 and 145,000, respectively. In the United Kingdom, where immigration policy has become a major point of controversy in the last few years, the government has facilitated the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees through the creation of various sponsorship schemes. Nearly 100,000 Ukrainians have taken advantage of this. Another country whose political discourse has revolved around immigration in recent years is France, yet it has managed to take in over 100,000 Ukrainians with little controversy. Of the seven and half million refugees that have been forced to flee Ukraine in the last seven months, already over 50% have been registered as having “Temporary Protection” under the Temporary Protection Directive of the EU or similar national protection schemes (The Temporary Protection Directive has never been activated previously since its conception in 2001). This grants them the same rights as EU citizens or residency permit-holders for an initial period of one year, thus opening the possibility of housing, work and access to social welfare and medical assistance. Many have jumped at the opportunity to praise the warm reception provided to Ukrainians by the European community. Rightly so. When hearing praise for the swift and effective efforts to aid Ukraine I can’t help but to think back to the conditions experienced by refugees in Diavata camp in Thessaloniki. I remind myself that such hospitality was not often shown when Middle Eastern and North African refugees arrived on the shores of Europe in 2015. Since 2014, two and a half million refugees have arrived in Europe from the MENA region. Civil war and political persecution are some of the reasons that they have been forced to flee their homes. There was no rush to alleviate the suffering of these people. Instead, the response has been marred by discord, lethargy and a lack of willingness to aid those seeking safety and opportunity. Many countries tightened their borders, implemented harsher immigration regulations, and suspended the Schengen Accords, which allows for the free movement of people inside of the EU. Notably along the Serbia-Hungary border, where the Hungarian government infamously built a large barbed-wire fence along the entirety of the border, thus blocking a frequently used route by refugees coming from Turkey seeking passage to Germany. Police were also given the right to detain any who try and force their way through. As of today, Hungary has taken in 30,000 Ukrainian refugees. photo by Mattia Bidoli This apparent reluctance to welcome non-white refugees has resulted in many displaced individuals being stuck in the countries that they initially arrive in, notably Greece and Italy. The resultant burden on these countries has been crushing, as they have largely been forced to deal with the repercussions of this crisis on their own. In Italy, this has contributed to the emergence of the far-right, with the election of a coalition led by Georgia Meloni. Greece has also begun to crack-down on immigration. Recent reports suggest that Greek authorities are attempting to block an additional 40,000 refugees from entering the country. Moreover, new cumbersome regulations concerning NGOs and journalists have also been put in place which may hinder their presence in the country. NGOs working in Greece are now being forced to rely more heavily on private humanitarian donors. This can prevent local NGOs from effectively in the face of larger humanitarian emergencies wherein donors often opt to fund more urgent causes, like that of Ukraine. Upon arrival in receiving countries, Middle Eastern and North African refugees are not met with signs of greeting and acts of civilian kindness, but are instead confronted by armed police, who then round them up into designated camps which have been built for one purpose: to contain and remove the refugees from the general population. The camps, which have been built out of tall concrete blocks with some having barbed wire along the top, can often be found in rural or industrial areas, isolated from central and suburban parts of cities. photo by Hugo Lagergren The managers of these camps can also be authoritarian in the way they govern the camps. For instance, traditional celebrations are blocked from taking place and personal gardening projects are forcefully prohibited. As of today, some of the refugees have been living in camps for upwards of five years as they wait for approval to continue their journey, often towards Germany, a popular destination for refugees due to their better record in the 2015 crisis compared to other European countries. On the Franco-Italian border between Menton and Ventimiglia, where I am currently a student, the gendarmerie routinely searches trains coming from Italy, removing and detaining anyone they deem to be illegal, often as a result of racial profiling. France has in fact suspended the Schengen Accords for the first time since 2015 to control the influx of illegal immigration from Italy – a move which the bishop of Ventimiglia said will have “very negative consequences” by stoking racial tensions. This decision also causes refugees to risk their lives, as they are pushed to take more dangerous paths across the border, specifically, a pathway along the Alpes-Maritimes which has now been dubbed the “Pass of Death” due to the dangers presented by the terrain. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself debating with a friend whether racial tensions were more prominent in the US or in Europe. I was adamant that the two weren’t comparable, both in terms of its scope and its radicalism. Now, I’m not so sure. After researching this article, I realize that Europe has simply been successful in pushing the issue to the periphery of the continent, thus removing the issue from day-to-day life in its society. For you, Zahra, Mina, Donia, Kowsar, Zohre, Iram, Gowsar, I hope it changes and Europe becomes the place you dreamed of.

While some argue that innovation is a fundamental component of art, others contend that tradition and repetition have their place in the creative realm. < Back The Artistic Enigma: What Does Innovation Mean in the Context of Art? By Rozy Betrosian November 30, 2023 Art is thought of as inherently innovative, original; and personal. While this statement may hold truth, art often includes recycling, emulating, echoing, and homage. However, a pessimistic viewpoint asserts that there is no true innovation in art, everything is always connected to a predecessor — is art merely repetition? One may ask, if this negates its artistic nature? In the realm of fashion, two creators, the brand of Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen, embody this dichotomy. The former, a global luxury brand, relies on the repletion of old ideas, while the latter, a boundary-pushing designer, is a paradigm of true originality in a contemporary context. This article explores the relationship between repetition, commercialization, and artistic innovation, questioning whether homage and echoing can be considered art forms themselves. Repetition As An Artistic Philosophy Louis Vuitton – an iconic name in the fashion industry — has mastered the art of repletion. The brand's design philosophy often involves revisiting its archives, drawing inspiration from past collections, and reinventing classic designs. The conflation of tradition and modernity is evident in each iteration, creating a sense of continuity that resonates with consumers. On the other hand, Louis Vuitton creative directors’ aim is creating couture that has appeal and respects the legacy of the brand. This can be construed as a limitation on artistic expression, rendering the product, a mere product, A potent argument asserts that this approach leans towards commercialization. The question arises: can repetition be an art form in itself? Homage or Commercialization? Louis Vuitton's repetition of old ideas raises the question of whether it is a form of homage to Vuitton himself, preserving his heritage, or merely a commercial strategy. Some argue that paying tribute to past designs is a way of acknowledging the brand's heritage and creating a sense of nostalgia, which can be considered an art form. Others, however, view it as a calculated move to capitalize on established aesthetics, potentially diluting the essence of true artistic expression. The blurred line between homage and commercialization challenges our understanding of what constitutes art in the context of the fashion industry, and incites the overarching question of what we view as art in a broader sense. The Quest For True Innovation In stark contrast to the repetitive nature of Louis Vuitton, Iris Van Herpen stands out as a designer who embodies true originality. Van Herpen stands at the forefront of fashion innovation, weaving a narrative that transcends the conventional boundaries of the industry. Her avant-garde approach is a symphony of technology, unconventional materials, and hands-on experimentation. Integrating technologies such as 3D printing and laser cutting, Van Herpen pushes the limits of what fashion can achieve. Her use of unconventional materials, from liquid resin to transparent acrylics, redefines the very fabric of clothing. The collaboration with scientists and artists enriches her creations, drawing inspiration from diverse sources. Nature serves as her muse, with designs mirroring and transcending organic beauty. Van Herpen's avant-garde aesthetic challenges traditional notions of beauty, sparking conversations about the limitless possibilities of fashion as an art form. In her hands, couture becomes more than garments; it transforms into sculptures that tell unique stories, urging a reconsideration of the essence of fashion itself. Her work not only sets her apart as a designer but also sets a transformative precedent for the future of fashion innovation. Is Art Inherently Innovative? The exploration of Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen's approaches begs the question: is art inherently innovative or can repetition and homage also be considered valid forms of artistic expression? While some argue that innovation is a fundamental component of art, others contend that tradition and repetition have their place in the creative realm. Although historical accounts frequently highlight revolutionary developments and original works of art, as seen in the case of Van Herpen, a critical analysis indicates that artistic expression occasionally seems bound up with established artists from the past. The idea of unrestrained invention appears to be challenged by the very nature of creativity becoming entwined with cyclicality, where established forms and ideas resurface. Repetition and innovation in the fashion world, as exemplified by Louis Vuitton and Iris Van Herpen, reflect the broader dialogue within the realm of art; how does one define art and what is considered artistic? Whether repetition is seen as homage or commercialization, and whether true art must always be innovative, these questions provoke thought and challenge our understanding of creativity. As we navigate artistic expression, the tension between tradition and innovation continues to shape the ever-evolving world of fashion and art.

< Back Student Strike Shuts Campus By Colette Yamashita Holcomb March 31, 2023 As the sun rose over campus on Tuesday morning, dozens of students were already hard at work assembling a “blocus,” or blockade, using dumpsters, metal gates and wooden pallets embellished with various signage at the school gates. Organized by the campus student union and an open-access general assembly Monday, the blockade drew students across language tracks, nationalities and grades to band together, blocking campus access in alliance with national strikes on pension reform. French President Emmanuel Macron has continued his plans to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, despite months of strikes and widespread public opposition, especially from labor unions. The campus protest was also motivated by struggles with the Sciences Po administration — including absent teachers for established classes, registration and scheduling issues, and the lack of English-speaking staff, not to mention the controversial seven and a half percent tuition increase for the 2023-2024 academic year . Shortly after the blockade began on Tuesday morning, campus director Yasmina Touaibia informed students that the campus was closing due to the demonstration. All classes were moved to a Zoom format or rescheduled. Touaibia’s announcement came before many students had even learned of the demonstration. That night, another general assembly was organized to decide whether to organize a blockade the following day. In a private and narrow vote, Sciences Pistes determined that another filtered blockade — where essential workers could pass through — would occur. Yet, when students attempted to blockade the campus on Wednesday morning, they faced private security hired by Sciences Po Paris to guard the entrance. Municipal police also quickly arrived to remove the publicly-owned dumpsters and railings used by students. Students then formed a human barrier and continued to display various signs and posters advocating for their causes. In a general assembly attended by over 130 students that afternoon, Camille Lebègue, Elisa Finocchiaro and Lucie Charbonneau were elected as representatives to communicate with the administration, other student unions, police, media and other organizations that may arise. Following the blockades at the Menton, Nancy and Paris campuses, the Sciences Po Paris administration sent an email to students on all campuses announcing the closure of the Paris campus on March 8 and condemning the blockades. “The right to participate in public demonstrations is a matter of individual freedom. It is regrettable, however, that certain students have chosen as an alternative means of expression to block access to our university, which should remain a place of teaching, debate and discussion, fundamental to the democratic process,” read the official administrative statement. On Wednesday, the administration continued their efforts to denounce and delegitimize student action, singling out the Menton campus for continuing the blockade, which, according to administrators, was aimed at “preventing access to the campus, thus denying other students access to on-campus teaching and resources” in light of the approaching exams . They also asserted that the Menton student organizers were claiming to represent the entire campus with their actions — an allegation the student union strongly contested. This statement further demonstrated the administration’s failure to comprehend the actual situation on campus: that Wednesday, those wishing to enter the campus could do so freely, as a peaceful student sit-out replaced the blockade. Nevertheless, this statement echoed some of the points brought by the students opposing the blockade. The movement became more widely recognized throughout the blockades and spread discussion within the student body and beyond at other campuses. Not all students favored the blockades — some opposed the idea of a protest entirely. In contrast, others advocated a filtered blockade or sit-ins. The student union stated that the intention had always been a filtered blockade, but Touaibia’s closure of campus on Tuesday prevented the plan. Beyond differences in opinions on the pension reform, a key point of opposition to the blockades was that they obstructed access to campus resources, including the internet and study spaces. Furthermore, they prevent employees from being able to work — such as library workers and custodial staff whose salaries depend on their physical presence. To address this, the student union committed to compensating for any wages lost due to the protest through a collective fund. Notably, the movement has been primarily dominated by French track 1As. Some English track 1As argued that it felt like the French track’s fight and that they were not informed of the initial blockades. However, there were confirmed texts in the English track group chat that informed students of the actions taking place throughout the week. While the first two general assemblies were conducted primarily in French, the third assembly had a dedicated translator, and all participants were encouraged to speak in English. Other students also decided to join the protests happening in Nice throughout the week instead of coming to the campus or participating in the blockade. At the time of writing, there is no public plan to blockade again, but there is an uptick in security on campus with increased bag searches and ID checks.

It was Feb. 6: the weather was cold, the sky was dark and the streets were silent. Many were asleep, unaware that life was never going to be the same after 4:17 a.m. < Back A Year After the Earthquakes in Turkey: Has Anything Changed? By Selin Elif Köse January 31, 2024 It was Feb. 6: the weather was cold, the sky was dark and the streets were silent. Many were asleep, unaware that life was never going to be the same after 4:17 a.m. It was Feb. 6: it lasted for 1 minute and 5 seconds, with a magnitude of 7.7, and it was fatal. It was Feb. 6 when everyone thought it was over, yet the ground started shaking again. And it was around 1:24 p.m., with a magnitude of 7.6, when it all happened once more. Then it was silent again, and everything was left under the rubble: photographs of distant memories, newly bought books and toys, unlived lives, and unfinished stories. It’s been a year since the two deadly earthquakes struck the southeastern part of Turkey, which also affected northern Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the death toll reached 50,500. Yet this number only includes the identified bodies; needless to say, the actual number is expected to be significantly higher. Turkey had previously experienced destructive earthquakes as it lies in the seismic zones and is categorized as one of the most earthquake-prone countries, yet this was the deadliest in history. For comparison, other earthquake-prone countries like Japan don't get nearly as affected by earthquakes. Most recently, on Jan. 1, 2024, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 and a depth of 10 km (the same as the earthquakes in Turkey) struck Japan’s Noto peninsula. As of today, 202 deaths have been reported and 102 still missing. However, these numbers are strikingly low compared to that of Turkey. This brings the question: why? The answer is simple — the lack of precautions, not the earthquake, kills. The Turkish infrastructure and buildings were not ready to endure an earthquake, and the government failed to handle the crisis. Both of these issues boil down to politics essentially. The two main reasons were the delay and insufficiency in sending aid and construction amnesties. After the initial destruction, thousands of people were stuck under debris. The temperature fell below zero in most cities in the southern part of Turkey. Those trapped under the debris were racing against time, facing the dangers of hunger, thirst, and freezing. At that point, the most crucial action needed was the delivery of supplies such as food, drinkable water, and blankets to those injured and trapped under the rubble. The first three days were extremely critical to ensure that the victims could survive. People were sharing their locations on Twitter as a desperate attempt for aid . However, right at that moment, the government imposed a ban on Twitter. This ban aimed to prevent the public from witnessing and criticizing the government's inability to manage the crisis effectively. By doing so, the government also took away the only means of communication for those under the debris. Additionally, the search and rescue teams in the region were not adequately prepared for such a devastating earthquake and proved insufficient. Despite identifying the locations under the rubble, many individuals were abandoned to death due to the danger of collapse and the inadequacy of rescue equipment. Meanwhile, other cities sent numerous trucks loaded with aid, but due to the government's lack of organization, this effort also failed. Unplanned trucks hitting the roads created traffic jams, compounded by heavy snowfall closing roads. As a result, during the crucial first three days, essential aid couldn't reach the injured, leading to the loss of many lives under the debris due to hunger, thirst, or freezing. Following the earthquake, construction amnesties became a heated topic of discussion. More than 20 laws related to construction amnesties have been enacted since 1948 in Turkey. Yet, the most comprehensive one occurred in 2018 through an omnibus law passed in the Turkish National Assembly just before the presidential election. The construction amnesty, enacted by the AKP government to garner votes in the election, resulted in the registration of a total of 294,166 unlicensed houses in the ten cities most affected by the earthquake. Legalizing buildings not constructed in compliance with earthquake regulations was a major contributing factor to the collapse of 36,932 buildings. What is the condition of the southeastern region of Turkey today? Following the earthquake — according to the damage assessment report of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change — 90,609 buildings were either determined to be in urgent need of demolition, heavily damaged or collapsed. The number of residences in these buildings was identified as 269,051; this, unsurprisingly, led a significant portion of the affected individuals to migrate to the western part of the country. However, despite rental assistance provided to earthquake victims, the amount was insufficient to cover the high rents in the country, signifying that those unable to afford these rents and find housing had to continue their lives in tent camps established for earthquake victims. These tent camps faced flooding during cold weather conditions and still serve as a home for many who couldn’t find or afford housing. President Erdogan failed to accomplish his promised goal, which he had stated to be “to build 650,000 houses within one year to revive the earthquake-stricken region." Additionally, Taner Yüzgeç, Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Civil Engineers, commented on Erdogan's ambitions: "These are dangerous statements. A city is not merely composed of houses. For a housing project, its plans must be drawn up. Disaster risk plans and geological studies must be conducted, and plans should be developed accordingly. The issue is not only about housing. Certainly, housing is a burning need, but claiming that I can build houses wherever I want means determining the lives of those who will live there from now on." Yüzgeç emphasized that professional organizations, including the Chamber of Architects, were not involved in the reconstruction process of the earthquake-stricken region. He further pointed out that the approach to the issue was solely through the lens of construction and housing production. Currently, there is an increasingly widespread fear among the citizens regarding a potential earthquake in Istanbul. Turkish geologist and professor Naci Görür has warned multiple times against a possible earthquake with a magnitude above 7.0 centered in the Marmara Sea, highly affecting Istanbul and surrounding cities. This would be even more deadly as almost 20 percent of the country's population resides in Istanbul, and there are serious questions about the durability of the buildings due to construction amnesties. Görür emphasizes that there is an energy accumulation in the North Anatolian Fault, as the last major earthquake was in 1999, in which more than 17,000 lost their lives. As a result, the majority of the buildings today are damaged and not durable enough to withstand another earthquake. Yet, there are still no proper long-term measures taken as precautions. Observing the lack of necessary planning once again signals the potential repetition of history. Last February's events should be a lesson, urging the need for change in the country and hoping that misguided policies and neglect won't cost any more lives. In loving memory of the 2023 Earthquake Victims

< Back How I Survive the Walk to School Without Losing my Will to Live Shirley Marie Victorio Everyone loves to brag about how they can roll out of bed five minutes before class and still make it to class on time. (Good for you, king. May your alarm never betray you.) Meanwhile, some of us are out here having our own daily Olympic event—a 20-30 minute trek to campus. Every. Single. Day. Character-building, they say. Trauma, I reply. For those of us living along Avenue de Sospel , though geographically close to the train station (I take advantage of this a lot) , the location brings numerous problems, namely a long walk to school that chips at my will to live. Yes, it builds character. Yes, it’s free exercise. But let’s be honest: most mornings it feels less like a commute and more like a punishment. To find the best coping strategies, I spoke with other students who share this daily struggle. Still, since teleportation hasn’t been invented, here’s how to survive—and maybe even thrive—on the daily trek. Step Zero: Pre-Departure Preparation Before you even step outside, the suffering begins. Check the weather. I know it’s freezing at 7 a.m., but you’re going to regret wearing that Uniqlo Heattech (true story) . And if you’re walking to class in the middle of the day, shorts and a tank top will be your best friend. Pack strategically. Laptop, readings, water, umbrella, sunglasses…suddenly your bag weighs as much as a baby elephant. Footwear choice. One wrong move and you’re hobbling by Minute 5. (See Step Two: The Shoe Betrayal) Breakfast (a.k.a. the most important step). If you don’t have your daily coffee/matcha and something vaguely breakfast-shaped, you will collapse at Minute 7. Don’t test this. Final mental pep talk. Remind yourself: “I am strong, I am capable, I am…already regretting this.” Step One: Accept your fate. You live far. No, you can’t “just run.” No, Uber is not a sustainable option unless you’ve got a trust fund (in which case…hi, can we be friends?) . Accept it. Romanticise it. Call it your daily mindfulness walk if that helps you sleep at night. Step Two: The Shoe Betrayal If you’re thinking of wearing “cute shoes,” please don’t. Those boots will stab you in the back faster than a bad group project partner. Sneakers only. Anything else is an act of self-sabotage. And no, “breaking them in” doesn’t work. Ask my blisters. My busted ballet flats “I wear sandals. It’s fine.” — Someone whose house is literally next door to Sciences Po (may they stub their toe on the way out.) Step Three: Entertain or Perish A 20-minute walk in silence is basically an invitation for your brain to spiral. Don’t do it. Load up: A playlist you can strut dramatically to. (Bonus points if you make eye contact with strangers while mouthing the lyrics.) A podcast so you can arrive with “fun facts” no one asked for. Or, just rehearse your fake TED Talk in your head. (Topic suggestion: “The socioeconomic inequality of living three minutes vs. 25 minutes away from campus.”) Of course, there’s a fine line between healthy distraction and full-blown disaster, as one student learned the hard way: “But don’t lose yourself. I was watching a show—not even music anymore, [because that isn’t enough] for such a long and treacherous journey)—and [I] laughed my way there…until I saw it was 0755 and I was still at the bakery.” — Easily distracted commuter Step Four: Nature vs. You The moment you step outside, the heat hits you like a physical wall. On days like these, the weather is definitely not your friend. Your choice is simple—wear SPF or suffer. You’ll walk into class looking like you ran a marathon in the Sahara. Sunscreen melts, backpack sticks to your shirt, and classmates hit you with the classic: “Why are you sweating?” Pro tip: For instant shade and protection from the sun’s glare, stash a mini umbrella and sunglasses in your bag at all times. My trusty sunglasses, sunscreen, and umbrella Step Five: Focus on the Journey, Not Just the Destination The walk doesn’t have to be a punishment. Make it earn its keep: Stop at a bakery and buy a pastry you 100% don’t need. (Fuel for the journey, also known as butter and regret.) Raspberry Tart from Carrefour “But it has to be before 1630, or else there won’t be anything left. I learned this the hard way when I finally decided to reward myself, and the shelves were basically empty.” — A hungry commuter The moral of the story: procrastination is the enemy of good pastries. Plan your self-care accordingly. Take a weird alley to “save time” and get mildly lost. Stop to dramatically drink water like you’re trekking the Sahara. Step Six: Know Thine Enemies (The Tunnel and The Stairs) Just when you think you’re safe, two obstacles appear to test your will to live. The dreadful car tunnel, echoing with the sweet symphony of honking and exhaust fumes. Every step feels like you’re auditioning for a dystopian survival film. (Fun fact: the Wi-Fi signal dies in here, so you can’t even doom-scroll your way through.) And then, the stairs. A flight so vertical it feels like penance for all your past sins. My quads scream, my lungs file complaints, and halfway through, I start bargaining with higher powers. Whoever designed this monstrosity? Straight to jail. Ema Nevřelová How to Conquer the Stairs (A Not-So-Extensive Guide) Pace yourself. Sprinting will land you in the ER. Slow and steady means survival. Strategic breaks. Pretend you’re “admiring the view” when really you’re just catching your breath. Motivational soundtrack. Nothing powers you up like Miley Cyrus’s The Climb . Reward system. Promise yourself a snack from the cafeteria at the top. Bribery works. Step Seven: If All Else Fails, Buy an Electric Scooter (...or Just Get the Bus Card?) Why build character when you can build speed? Sure, it’s cheating—but so is living three minutes away from school. Just try not to mow down pedestrians on the way. Or, you know, be normal and get the bus card like everyone keeps telling me to. (But where’s the drama in that?) A scooter that could save my knees (but kill my street cred) Final Boss: Arrival You made it. You survived. You didn’t even contemplate hitchhiking with a passing Vespa. Take a bow, hero. You’ve done what many can’t: shown up to school on time, with functioning legs, and maybe even a pain au chocolat. (Yes, you’re still sweaty. No, don’t hug anyone.) The Takeaway The long walk to school isn’t just about endurance. It’s about suffering loudly enough that your friends with 3-minute commutes feel guilty. One day, when teleportation is real, you’ll look back and say: “Wow. I actually walked. Like, with my legs.” Until then, lace up, roll your eyes, and march on. Photo Source: William Murphy, Wikimedia Commons Previous Next

56 seasons. 21 playoff appearances. 6 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Championships: the Athletics’ storied time in Oakland came to an end late this September with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, their final game in the city’s Coliseum. < Back Restless Relocations: The Hard Breaks Between City’s and their Sports Teams Pracheth Sanka October 31, 2024 56 seasons. 21 playoff appearances. 6 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Championships: the Athletics’ storied time in Oakland came to an end late this September with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, their final game in the city’s Coliseum. The team’s departure is part of a larger effort to permanently move the franchise to Las Vegas, with a quick pit-stop in Sacramento before moving into their new $1.5 billion publicly-financed home on the Strip. The A’s owner, John Fisher, remained silent on the team's relocation, though it is no secret that his inability to compromise with Oakland city officials played a major role in his decision. The feud stemmed from the team’s plans to move from the single-function Coliseum to a 55-acre, multi-use commercial area on the Oakland waterfront. The city’s inability to raise public funds pushed Fisher to look elsewhere, despite recent traction in allocating federal infrastructure money and clearing bureaucratic hurdles to initiate the project. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, who initially objected to Fisher’s proposals, allowed the A’s to submit a relocation application in early 2023. After securing $380 million from the Government of Nevada and leasing out an area in the heart of Las Vegas, the team began preparing for a full push to move from Oakland. By November 2023, Manfred started warming up to relocation efforts, and the 30-team league voted unanimously in favor of the A’s relocation. Oakland is now left without a professional sports team for the first time in sixty years, following similar relocations by the National Basketball League’s Golden State Warriors and the National Football League’s Raiders earlier this decade. Like the A’s, the Raiders moved from the aging , run-down Oakland Coliseum to the custom-made , fittingly all-black, multi-billion dollar Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Unlike Fisher, Raiders owner Mark Davis spared no suspense on the motive behind his move: money. Without the billion-dollar cost of constructing a new Oakland stadium, and with the aid of $750 million from the city of Las Vegas, Davis finalized his move to the team-barren Nevada desert, capitalizing on the area’s lack of professional sports teams. Vegas, however, was not Davis’ first choice. In competition with the then-St. Louis Rams, and in collaboration with the then-San Diego Chargers, the Raiders hoped to upgrade from the tenth-biggest sports market in the United States to the second: Los Angeles. While the Chargers and Rams were eventually successful in a bid to move to the city, it was originally the Chargers and Raiders who wished to jointly finance a stadium just south of city limits in Carson, even gaining the support of an N.F.L. relocation commission. Despite the difference in outcome, both the Chargers’ and Rams’ stories paint eerily similar pictures to that of Oakland. In San Diego, ownership attempted to replace the fifty-year-old Qualcomm Stadium with a $1.2 billion downtown arena. This failed to attract lawmaker support, who were reluctant to divert millions of taxpayer dollars towards it. Owner Dean Spanos instead decided to buy into a joint stadium with Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke, who himself harbored his fair share of reasons to leave his St. Louis home. Chief among them was the city’s promises to maintain a modern, N.F.L. caliber stadium, which was one of the main temptations for Kroenke to move the team to Missouri in the first place. As city officials repeatedly failed their contractual obligation to uphold the stadium , Kroenke became increasingly frustrated and detached from the team’s midwest home. Los Angeles, the Rams’ former home, was an open market for any football team, having remained teamless for 21 years. With the prospect of creating a modernized stadium in the largest untapped market in the U.S., Kroenke took an all-out bid on L.A., buying land in Inglewood before the owners even held a vote on the relocation. But were these moves worth it? Sure, the free market ideals of expanding into an untouched consumer pool can be exciting, but these ventures are not inexpensive. Even with government aid, financing the world’s most expensive stadium was much more costly than staying in their respective cities. With the aid of the N.F.L. and sponsorship rights, Spanos would have only needed to cover around $600 million, government aid not included. A move to Los Angeles cost him a relocation fee of $645 million , along with a $200 million loan to build the stadium. What is markedly more absurd though, is that this nearly $1 billion number pales in comparison to the astronomical costs incurred by the Rams. With what was expected to be a just over $2 billion project, Kroenke ended up contributing a monster $5.5 billion to build SoFi Stadium. On top of that, Kroenke was sued for $790 million by the City of St. Louis, a figure that itself rivals the $1.1 billion cost projected for a new stadium in Missouri. What is not accounted for in any balance sheet, however, is the hidden cost of fan alienation. As the new Los Angeles Rams found their way to Super Bowl LII, St. Louis bar patrons were offered free drinks for every Patriots’ score in a show of symbolic hatred towards their old team. Chargers fans rented a billboard near their new stadium to express that the team had “no freaking loyalty.” Raiders fans, while a bit split and muted in their protest, sold many of their season tickets away in the team's last stint in Oakland, uneager to financially support a team that was moving away. And this fan alienation came with no guarantee of fan attraction in their new cities. While the Nevada television market was often zoned for Raiders games, the area saw rival viewership with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Las Vegas is in closer proximity to the Phoenix-based Arizona Cardinals than to Oakland. This was reflected in the team's fan attendance rates, where visiting teams could often be greeted at a stadium almost halfway full with their supporters, though this trend is slowly improving. With the A’s move fast approaching, management should be wary of the fate of their relocated predecessors. The present-day success of the Chargers and Rams came at a high cost and there is no guarantee that the Raiders will be able to establish themselves as a serious anchor in the competitive Las Vegas market. Leaving Oakland can give the A’s a new start, a chance to build a strong legacy in Sin City, but only the future will tell if their big gamble will result in a winning hand.

Sans qu’on puisse mettre un trait d’égalité entre le RN et la Nouvelle droite, il faut saisir l’apport essentiel de cette mouvance à l’extrême-droite tant sur le plan idéologique que sur la formation intellectuelle de ses cadres. La Nouvelle droite est une entreprise de blanchiment car derrière le ‘pluralisme’ dont elle se targue, se cache directement le nazisme et le néo-fascisme terroriste. La grande blanchisserie aujourd’hui est le Rassemblement national. < Back Le racisme aussi peut être pluraliste Lubin Parisien March 31, 2025 « Je ne suis absolument pas raciste, » simplement il faut « faire des différences [...] en fonction de l’appartenance ou de la non-appartenance à la nation. » D’ailleurs, « nous considérons que c’est la seule discrimination en même temps légale et morale. » Bref, Marine Le Pen n’est pas raciste. C’est du moins ce qu’elle affirme dans une interview accordée à BFM TV le 6 mai 2024 au moment de la campagne des européennes. Le programme de préférence nationale qui est celui du Rassemblement national, ex-Front national, ne serait donc pas discriminant envers les personnes racisées car, affirme-t-elle dans cette interview, les Mahorais à 95% musulmans ont voté pour le RN lors des diverses élections précédentes. Le repli raciste et ethnonationaliste passerait inévitablement par le rejet des Noirs et des Arabes et le postulat de leur infériorité: rien de tout ça en effet dans le programme du RN… Pourtant, le refus du métissage et du mélange entre les ‘cultures’ sans en affirmer une hiérarchie trouve sa source dans la production intellectuelle de la ‘Nouvelle droite,’ une mouvance d’extrême-droite née dans les années 1970. Le droit à la différence? Le mouvement de la ‘Nouvelle droite’ se structure autour de revues et d’organisations ‘savantes;’ dès 1968, la revue Nouvelle école est créée. Un an plus tard, Dominique Venner fonde le Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne, le GRECE. Il s’agit de discuter savamment des problèmes du temps, l’ambition n’est pas de faire de la politique mais de la ‘métapolitique.’ Jacques Marlaud , qui a présidé ce cénacle pendant quatre ans, explique que la métapolitique « se réfère à tout travail de réflexion, d’analyse, de diffusion d’idées et de pratiques culturelles susceptible d’influencer à long terme la société politique. Il ne s’agit plus de prendre le pouvoir, mais de lui fournir un aliment idéologique, philosophique, culturel… capable d’orienter (ou de contredire) ses décisions. » Il y a donc une certaine distance avec les partis politiques et les groupuscules d’extrême-droite, mais le GRECE se conçoit, selon Jean-Yves Camus en 2015 dans Les faux-semblants du Front national , comme une élite devant s’éduquer et être partout où il est possible de s’infiltrer pour concrétiser la pensée de la Nouvelle droite dans la politique nationale. Le postulat central est l'ethno-pluralisme, ou ethno-différentialisme: c’est l’idée selon laquelle toutes les cultures se valent. Hélas, elles ne sont pas compatibles, affirme la Nouvelle Droite. Les différences culturelles fondent l’impossibilité de l’assimilation et de la possibilité d’une cohabitation entre immigrés et natifs, principe qui vaut aussi contre une certaine colonisation ‘généreuse’ et ‘assimilationniste.’ Cette posture radicale surprenante est bien exprimée par un important idéologue de la mouvance, Alain de Benoist , en 1992: « je ne suis fondé à défendre ma différence que pour autant que je reconnais et respecte celle d'autrui. »C’est sur cette base qu’il critique la posture de Jean-Marie Le Pen—qui déclarait préférer « [s]a fille à [s]a cousine, [s]a cousine à [s]a voisine »—qui est un égoïsme subjectif à courte vue selon Alain de Benoist. Un mouvement respectable? Serait-ce donc vraiment une nouvelle droite radicale débarrassée de l'obscurantisme raciste? Cela est encore à vérifier surtout quand on discute d’une mouvance qui puise dans les références nazies et dont les compagnons de route sont pour certains d’authentiques nazis. Ainsi, le politiste Stéphane François indique que d’anciens SS tels que Saint-Loup, alias Marc Augier, ou encore Robert Dun, alias Maurice Martin, « participent aux travaux de la nouvelle droite » et cela « jusqu’au milieu des années 1980. » Idéologiquement, un des points communs avec le nazisme est le rejet du christianisme et la valorisation du paganisme comme la « vraie religion de l’Europe » pour reprendre le titre d’un ouvrage de Sigrid Hunke sur le sujet, une amie d’Alain de Benoist et membre du NSDAP . En effet, le christianisme et sa volonté évangélisatrice sont considérés comme les prémisses de l’universalisme contre lequel se dresse l'ethno-différentialisme. Ainsi, la Nouvelle droite se réclame du courant völkisch, « un courant apparu à la fin du XIXe siècle, habité par la nostalgie d’une Allemagne païenne, une fascination pour la race blanche et ses prétendues origines scandinaves, » selon Stéphane François. Les penseurs du GRECE se réclame aussi de la ‘révolution conservatrice’ allemande durant la République de Weimar. La Nouvelle droite a aussi une certaine vision du dépassement des clivages politiques classiques et sait ainsi brouiller les pistes. Par exemple, il y a dans les travaux du GRECE une vraie vision de l’Europe. Celle-ci n’est pas du tout la CEE et l’UE de Bruxelles telle qu’on la connaît—une « province de l’Internationale atlantique dirigée par les États-Unis » selon Jacques Marlaud. Il s’agit avant tout de penser une unité de la ‘civilisation européenne’ menacée par l’immigration et la mondialisation, c’est-à-dire la menace de la mixité. « L’idée est d’essayer de penser des aires culturelles débordant le cadre strict de la nation » affirme la doctorante en philosophie politique Périne Schir dans un article du Monde consacré aux projets européens dans l’extrême-droite. Cette Europe doit émerger en opposition aux autres civilisations qui posent un problème dès qu’elles mettent le pied en Europe avec l’immigration. Il y a un dépassement de la Nation—sans qu’on ignore les spécificités locales—pour adopter le cadrage culturel ethno-pluraliste d’exclusion des autres ‘cultures.’ Il y a également une volonté affichée de dépassement en essayant de penser hors des catégories gauche-droite, ce qui se manifeste par le cadrage culturaliste et par l’usage assumé de figures de camps politiques adverses. L’antifasciste préféré des néofascistes: Le grand apport de la Nouvelle droite, c’est aussi l’importation d’Antonio Gramsci dans les terres de l’extrême-droite française. Il est banalement utilisé pour dire qu’il faut gagner la bataille des idées et imposer sa vision du corps social. L’usage d’extrême-droite de Gramsci débute juste après la débâcle fasciste de la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec la nébuleuse d’« Ordine Nuovo », dont le journal, Ordine Nuovo , a le même nom que le journal d’Antonio Gramsci créé en 1919. Inspiré par le philosophe néo-fasciste et anti-moderne Julius Evola et son fondateur Pino Rauti , le mouvement participe pleinement aux Années de plomb en Italie avec de nombreux attentats comme en 1969 à Piazza Fontana à Milan (17 morts). Alain de Benoist a grandement contribué à inventer le ‘gramscisme de droite’ français. Ses liens avec les fascistes italiens sont connus et ses accointances sont publiques. Ainsi, il publie un article dans Europe-Action en 1963 sur le MSI—Mouvement social italien, parti néo-fasciste prédécesseur de Fratelli d’Italia—où pointe du doigt sa désorganisation , sa tendance trop légaliste à son goût et préfère les méthodes de l’ Ordine Nuovo . C’est de là que vient la référence à Gramsci à l’extrême-droite, mais discuter du militant communiste permet de ne pas évoquer les vrais maîtres à penser, à savoir Julius Evola et Pino Rauti. C’est ainsi que la référence à Gramsci est devenu un marqueur de l’extrême-droite, le GRECE ayant organisé un colloque en 1982 à son sujet et Jean-Marie Le Pen utilisant cette référence en 2007 pour justifier de sa stratégie. La Nouvelle droite et le Front national: la filiation ou la rupture ? La slogan d’une bataille culturelle à gagner avec Gramsci est le signe de la porosité entre la Nouvelle droite et le Front national. Néanmoins, il faut aussi concevoir la multiplicité des sources irriguant le programme frontiste et les fractures qu’il y a avec la Nouvelle droite. Il y a certes des liens personnels avec des gens issus du GRECE et ayant fini au FN tels que Pierre Vial ou Jean-Yves Le Gallou . Néanmoins, Alain de Benoist a eu des mots durs contre le FN en 1992: « En vérité, ce n'est pas parce qu'il y a des immigrés que la France est menacée de perdre son identité. C'est plutôt parce qu'elle a perdu son identité qu'elle n'est plus en mesure de faire face et de résoudre le problème de l'immigration. En montrant du doigt les immigrés, on opère donc un gigantesque détournement d'attention. » Nous savons ce qu’est l’ethno-pluralisme défendu par Alain de Benoist, mais remarquons ici la force pernicieuse du discours de l’intellectuel de la Nouvelle droite qui pourrait se faire passer pour un modéré. Le programme économique du RN ex-FN, fondamentalement libéral , doit beaucoup au Club de l’Horloge , créé en 1974 et qui se distingue du GRECE par son ultralibéralisme en matière économique en soutenant la révolution conservatrice, mais pas celle sous Weimar, plutôt celle de Thatcher et Reagan dans les années 1980. Le national-libéralisme ‘pragmatique’ de Bruno Mégret et des nombreux cadres qu’il a formés au FN s’inscrivent dans cette lignée. Sur la question de l’euroscepticisme et de la prétendue générosité coloniale, les différences sont palpables face à une Nouvelle droite quasi-fédéraliste sur l’Europe—d’un point de vue institutionnel, sans idée universaliste aucune—et jugeant l’entreprise coloniale comme un dangereuse émanation de l’universalisme judéo-chrétien. On aurait toutefois tort de s’arrêter là car ce serait ignorer que le RN fait de la politique et la Nouvelle droite de la ‘métapolitique,’ elle ne s’engage pas dans l’arène mais elle en fournit les armes. Ainsi, Périne Schir déclare dans un article de Mediapart au sujet des liens entre Jordan Bardella et des personnalités issus de la Nouvelle droite que ce mouvement apporte aujourd’hui au RN présidé par M. Bardella la « substance théorique » dont manque le parti suite à la stratégie de ‘dédiabolisation.’ Cela permet d’irriguer le discours de justification de l’idée d’un ‘grand remplacement’ que le président du parti décrit comme pointant une « réalité juste. » L’idée d’incompatibilité des cultures permet de donner un fond intellectuel à la chose sans parler de hiérarchie, évitant ainsi de se faire trop remarquer par son racisme. Sans qu’on puisse mettre un trait d’égalité entre le RN et la Nouvelle droite, il faut saisir l’apport essentiel de cette mouvance à l’extrême-droite tant sur le plan idéologique que sur la formation intellectuelle de ses cadres. La Nouvelle droite est une entreprise de blanchiment car derrière le ‘pluralisme’ dont elle se targue, se cache directement le nazisme et le néo-fascisme terroriste. La grande blanchisserie aujourd’hui est le Rassemblement national. Photo source: Joe Mud on Flickr

From a New York block party in 1973 to a world-renowned genre, hip-hop has branched out to become one of the most prominent and versatile music genres. < Back Dr Dre and the Rise of Mainstream Rap By Anna Halpern February 29, 2024 Last year officially marked 50 years of hip-hop. From a New York block party in 1973 to a world-renowned genre, hip-hop has branched out to become one of the most prominent and versatile music genres. In this context, I wanted to look back at one of the key figures that shaped our vision of hip-hop and more specifically, rap. Dr. Dre is the man in the shadows producing world-famous artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and many more. His impact on mainstreaming rap cannot be highlighted enough. Throughout his career, he was a founding member of the group N.W.A. ( Niggaz Wit Attitudes) as well as a co-founder of Death Row Records where he discovered Snoop Dogg, who went on to become one of the most acclaimed rappers alive. Both N.W.A. and Death Row Records were major symbols of the 1990s West Coast rap and crucial players in mainstreaming gangsta rap and specifically G-Funk. In a time of deadly East-West rivalry, he created his own label Aftermath Entertainment in 1996 which signed some of the biggest names in rap history such as Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game and Kendrick Lamar and produced the likes of Jay-Z. His impact on the industry has made him one of The Rolling Stone ’s 100 Greatest Artists, in spot 56. His deep impact on West Coast Rapm especially on mainstreaming G-Funk, was crucial through his production of the 1988 N.W.A. album Straight Outta Compton and his 1992 album The Chronic which featured his protege Snoop Dogg (known at the time as Snoop Doggy Dogg) on nearly every track. It was deeply inspired by the 1992 LA riots which many Death Row Records members, including Snoop Dogg, had taken part in, deeply criticizing police brutality and giving an insight into life in the Los Angeles ghettos. Death Row Records was a crucial element to the album’s success. Despite the critical and popular acclaim gained by the N.W.A. album, mainstream record labels still feared the idea of getting involved with Dr Dre due to the legal problems with his previous label (Easy-E and Jerry Heller’s Ruthless Records) and The Chronic was rejected by many labels before finally being released by Death Row . Moreover, the cop killer controversy pushed him to remove the song “Mr. Officer '' due to the line “ Mr Officer, I wanna see you layin’ in a coffin, sir ” in the chorus, leaving him in a controversial position politically and legally. However, despite such rocky grounds, the album was a hit and its success skyrocketed G-Funk and Death Row Records to fame and served as a launching pad for Snoop Dogg’s solo career. However, this success was short-lived as the East-West feud raged, a brutal competition dividing the hip-hop world between New York based Bad Boy Records ’ golden age rap and L.A. based Death Row Records’s G-Funk , causing rising tensions . The culmination of the violence due to this conflict led to the loss of two of hip-hop’s greatest talents — 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. in 1996 and 1997 respectively. This pushed Dr. Dre to leave Death Row Records and form his own label Aftermath Entertainment in 1996. He did not distinguish between East and West talents, evident through his producing and appearing on albums of New York artists such as Nas, LL Cool J and Jay-Z, as well as discovering artists ranging from Detroit-based Eminem in 1998 to Compton-born Kendrick Lamar in 2012. He was more recently recognized for his performance with Snoop Dog, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. It was the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). It also won Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction. Finally, in 2023, he was awarded the inaugural Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his career achievements in light of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. From the 1980s to the 2020s, his decades-long career is studded with achievements and awards for his impact on redefining rap as we know it. Kanye West’s tribute to him in the Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists sums it all up “ Dre feels like God placed him here to make music, and no matter what forces are aligned against him, he always ends up on the mountaintop. ”

< Back Students Elect 2022-2023 Representatives By Colette Yamashita Holcomb October 30, 2022 After a week of intense campaigning — primarily on social media — students were able to make their voices heard by electing their student representatives for their year group. These representatives will have seats on the Campus Life Council, which will meet regularly throughout the year with an administrative team composed of the campus director, the pedagogical managers, the student life advisor, class representatives, and the presidents of the permanent associations. At the start of the semester, the administration reminded students that the election should not be a popularity vote, emphasizing the importance of the role in campus communication. In accordance with campus tradition, the first-year tracks have one representative each, while second-years share two representatives (typically one female and one male). Exchange students also elect a representative. This year, the first-year French track displayed the highest voter turnout, with 87% of the students voting. French track also had the highest number of candidates — four competed for the representative spot. In both the English track and exchange student elections, candidates ran unopposed. In both the first and second years, few students attended the candidate's speeches. For the first years, William Chan was elected to represent the English track and Pablo Civera to the French track. Ishan Naithani and Valentine Menegazzo will represent the second-year students, and Bianca Van Tonder will represent the exchange students. To see a full-length profile of the candidates, check out this post on the Menton Times Instagram. The representatives play a vital role in student life. The elected students will meet monthly with the administrative team throughout the year to discuss all student issues and concerns — from campus life to student projects. “Your cohort representative will have the delicate and crucial task of transmitting information between the administration and the student community from the bottom up and down,” stated Solène Hoy, the student life advisor, in an email to the first-year students. As student representatives serve primarily as liaisons between the student body and the administration, candidates emphasized their communication skills and experience throughout their campaigns. Additionally, they promised to advocate for solutions to various student issues on campus, like the lack of a campus cafeteria and adequate English language outreach. Beyond prioritizing general student well-being and mental health, other key topics included improving networking resources for students — particularly regarding the third year abroad — and helping forge connections among exchange students across the different years and tracks. Many representatives also stressed making the communication between students and administration and subsequent problem-solving more efficient. As representative meetings commence, the student body eagerly anticipates what changes the new representatives will bring to our campus.

Whether it’s a $300 white noise machine that is advertised to put you to sleep within 10 minutes, or a $500 ring that will track all your bodily functions, which will most likely not be accurate, all the problems you can’t even imagine having have been solved for you. You are no longer only overwhelmed but you now also live in an overcrowded space. As if being exposed to advertisements of these isn’t enough, you also have the opportunity to buy them and test them out. Because investing in yourself can’t be a bad thing, can it? < Back FOMO (Face Yoga, Overwhelming, Maintenance and Overconsumption) Melissa Cevikel April 29, 2025 Missed Retro night or MEDMUN party? Tried writing your midterm paper on your train back from a weekend trip with friends and it didn’t go well? Stuck in a 14.05 km² town in your 20s where you feel like you’re missing out on classic college experiences? The early 20s are often advertised to be the most carefree and, according to clinical psychologist Meg Jay, the most defining years of one's life. But what exactly are these years defining if most youth navigating through them are battling with FOMO and are chronically overwhelmed? And how is this being used against us? In her book The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now, Jay argues that the biggest factor shaping young adults is entering the workforce. Citing this, she mentions that she refuses to work with 20-something-year-olds who are not under stress while at work. “ If my 20-something clients aren’t on a steep learning curve at work, I would rather they get another job because it’s really about skill building,” she told UVA Today . “If you’re not feeling stressed and anxious at work as a 20-something, you’re probably not learning enough.” But who is this mindset serving? A 2023 American Psychological Association study on stress levels in young adults in America, defined as 18-34 year olds, revealed that 24% rated their stress level between 8 and 10 out of 10. An increase of 8% in overall stress levels was also observed compared to 2019—a change the APA linked to COVID-19. It should be noted that these findings most likely do not correlate with those in the Global South, for which statistics aren’t widely available. Looking at the data, it’s clear that people in their 20s are stressed and overwhelmed. So, where does the general stigma of Gen Z being careless, yet overly sensitive, come from? A 2023 Dazed article titled “Everyone needs to grow up” explains this phenomenon, noting: “Most complaints about the infantilism of young people have typically come from the right, which has pointed to safe spaces and trigger warnings as evidence that Gen Z and millennials have been coddled to the point of softness. The right-wing critique of infantilism usually contends that, due to a vague decline in moral fibre, young people aren’t willing to embrace the mantles of adulthood, like moving out of the family home, entering into a stable career, getting married and starting a family.” This right-wing idea of “softness” has not come alone—it has also brought justifications and cures to overwhelming stress with it. For some, the reason why people under 25 engage in behaviors that aren’t ideal can be explained by putting the blame on the frontal lobe. A popular belief—that has especially flourished on TikTok—claims that the age of 25 is the milestone at which life choices become clear, and henceforth, the feeling of overwhelmedness induced by decision making is no longer present. But how true is this? In an interview with Dazed, the head of the University of Edinburgh's Psychology Department, Dr. Sarah MacPherson, highlighted the wide misconceptions surrounding frontal lobe development. She stated that although it is true that frontal lobe development ends at 25, this doesn’t determine a clear and strict distinction between choices made before that age. Up until the early 2010s, the age of 16 was seen as the milestone age. Movies such as Sixteen Candles showcased characters hitting all their teenage milestones at 16. The idea of “sweet sixteen” being the perfect dating age during the 60s also signified the importance of the age in relation to transition into adulthood, especially for young girls. This age of “self fulfillment” kept being pushed further and further as many of today's young adults spent their critical ages of 16,18 and 21 in quarantine, without any chance of experiencing young adult milestones. Whatever was missed out on during the three years when COVID-19 was declared a health emergency is, in turn, being made up for right now. As we all know, we can’t make up for all the teenage and young adult experiences missed: attending high school house parties, carelessly drinking on a weekday or declaring “Euro summer” the minute we’re done with midterms. Responsibilities persist, but so does FOMO. This FOMO gradually grows as we see people who are, in fact, able to do all these things and balance it out with their academic life, and this subsequently turns into the feeling of chronic overwhelmedness. Feeling overwhelmed can be caused by many different factors, and frontal lobe development can’t always be blamed for it. Common symptoms of overwhelm include irritability, hopelessness, lack of motivation, panic and anxiety, low appetite and even problems with the immune system. And while the best way of solving this would be to take some time off and take everything one day at a time, social media’s obsession with self-care would beg to differ. As our problems became more complex, the market economy has presented us with more niche solutions. You can buy hormone balancing supplements (with no medical oversight), a new body lotion with 10% niacinamide and 1% zinc, a new workout set and a pilates subscription and sip on your green juice all at once! If you instead prefer to focus on your education and lock-in, you can purchase ten different highlighters, a laptop stand to help your posture and a subscription to an app that manages your screen time. A lymphatic drainage massage might help with muscle relief (because muscles “hold trauma”) and a foot mask just might be the purchase standing between you and solving your actual problem of procrastination. Whether it’s a $300 white noise machine that is advertised to put you to sleep within 10 minutes, or a $500 ring that will track all your bodily functions, which will most likely not be accurate, all the problems you can’t even imagine having have been solved for you. You are no longer only overwhelmed but you now also live in an overcrowded space. As if being exposed to advertisements of these isn’t enough, you also have the opportunity to buy them and test them out. Because investing in yourself can’t be a bad thing, can it? Our chr onic overwhelmedness has reached new heights. We are no longer overwhelmed by our tasks, relationships and responsibilities. We have entered a new era where we are overwhelmed by our purchases and the possibilities of them. AI is thinking—and most recently creating—in our place, so that we have fewer things to worry about. Yet the feelings of FOMO persist, no matter how much time we save not doing a reading for class or not editing an application. We still get bummed out when our friends post stories from a night out we had to sit out on, and are haunted by the regret of leaving our assignments to the last minute. Our overwhelmedness seems to connect us to our irreducible humanity more than any emotion can. We stress about jobs, money, friendships and grades—because we’re human enough to understand that there is no definite solution to any of it. We continue to go out the night before the exam, knowing that we will regret it, and we do things knowing they will overcomplicate our relationships. We make mistakes, partly because some of us have the privilege to do so and partly because there is no other way around being human. We get overwhelmed and feel like the end of the world is around the corner, yet we wake up the next morning and at least try to be better. Being chronically overwhelmed shouldn’t be normalized, but there isn’t any way not to feel overwhelmed once in a while. And though a pillow spray might seem like just the thing to help let go of everything, there is a very high chance it won't. Not buying into marketing tactics that claim to help with feeling overwhelmed might be one of the most important steps towards breaking free from the “chronic” aspect of feeling so. So can recognizing that our biological development most likely isn’t the reason for all our recklessness. People over 30 get overwhelmed, and so do people over 50. We will hopefully be surviving at least 50 more years of feeling overwhelmed and missing out on things, so no need to waste all our emotions on it now. Photo source: Toni Blay on Flickr