Current events - Literal Magazine

¿Existe una sociedad civil cubana? Políticas de participación en Cuba

Armando Chaguaceda

Las protestas que en los últimos meses han convulsionado (y modificado) el status quo de diversos regímenes árabes y democracias occidentales han actualizado el debate sobre los problemas de la…

Current Events

Lessons for Modern-Day Autocrats: Farewell to the PRI

Lecciones para el moderno autócrata: Adiós al PRI

Yvon Grenier

What is following the Cold War is not the “end of history,” as we all know by now. Authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes of all stripes continue to coexist, often quite…

Current Events

The Arab Spring and the Latin Winter

La Primavera Árabe y el invierno latino

Miguel Ángel Centeno

Why do people rebel? This is one of the central questions of social science. Scholars on the side of power have often supported studies meant to make sure that change…

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Cyber-Protest is Cheap, Digital Disobedience Easy: The Dangers of Digital Disobedience

Julian Baggini

In 1964, a 46-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for his participation in many terrorist activities, including the preparation, manufacture and use of explosives for the purpose of committing…

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The Future of Power

El futuro del poder

Joseph Nye Jr.

Joseph Nye Jr. is a Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He coined the term soft power in the late 1980’s.…

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In Memoriam David Viñas (1927-2011)

Gisela Heffes

Este texto es un íntimo homenaje a David Viñas; homenaje que no busca una forma acartonada, rígida o formal que probablemente su nombre y fi gura en algún momento acrediten.…

Current Events

Revolution in Arabic: Staging Collective Will

Revolución en árabe: la voluntad colectiva en escena

Muhsin al-Musawi

Satellite publics became aware of Arab popular revolutions only after the rise of the Egyptian youth against the senile autocracy of Hosni Mubarak on the 24th of January 2011. There…

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Notes From the Egyptian Revolution

Ahdaf Soueif

There are so many aspects to the personality of the Egyptian revolution that would have resonated with Edward Said’s thoughts, exemplifi ed his ideas, his way of being, and what…

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The Democratic Myth And Other Obaminations

Rogelio García Contreras

When Albert Camus writes in his collection of essays known as the Myth of Sisyphus, “consciousness and revolt are the contrary of renunciation”, he refers to the idea of a…

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A lo mejor debiera uno callarse…

Gonzalo Rojas

A lo mejor debiera uno callarse. Pero no. Todavía no. Por lo menos todavía no. Estoy viviendo un reverdecimiento en el mejor sentido, una reniñez, una espontaneidad que casi no…

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Confesión del araucano. In memoriam Gonzalo Rojas

Adolfo Castañón

Debe haber sido a finales de enero de este 2011, la última vez que hablé con Gonzalo Rojas por teléfono. Gracias a su amiga-lectora y editora Fabienne Bradu en cuya…

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Future Minds

Mentes por venir

Richard Watson

Richard Watson is a writer and speaker who advises organizations on the future, focusing particularly on the impact of trends on long-term strategy. He has worked on scenario planning, research…