Issue 107
February 2005
Contents
Emile Durkheim
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The great French sociologist is now half forgotten, but he shaped much 20th-century social thought. The inventor of the idea of "anomie," and analyst of suicide and religion, still speaks to us
The mother of all elections
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Iraq's 30th January election will put Shias in power and be marred by Sunni violence. But it will express Iraqi, not US, ambitions. Bush will cease to call the shots— sooner than the world realises
Escape from the universe
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The universe is destined to end. Before it does, could an advanced civilisation escape via a "wormhole" into a parallel universe? The idea seems like science fiction, but it is consistent with the laws of physics and biology. Here's how to do it
Islamophobia myth
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
If there is a backlash against British Muslims, where is the evidence for it? Scaremongering about Islamophobia promotes a Muslim victim culture and allows some community leaders to inflame a sense of injury while suppressing internal debate. The new religious hatred law will make matters worse
The NHS works
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The complaint of "marketisation" in the NHS is incoherent. The Blairite solution of giving patients the choice of publicly or privately provided care is helping to deliver the old Labour dream of reducing demand for privately funded care. But the NHS must earn the support of each new generation
The Lewis doctrine
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The Iraq war was fought on a false premise about the roots of backwardness in the Arab world, provided by the influential American-based scholar Bernard Lewis. The alternative view—that Islam can be a help rather than a hindrance to the development of Arab democracy—will now be tested in Iraq
Democratic principles
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
America's Democrats won't unseat the Republicans by adopting their languages and policies. Their job is to oppose
Is God to blame?
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
A theologian and an atheist philosopher clash over the great theme of suffering
Victims as heroes
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
We applaud heroes who suffer, not ones who achieve—they might be better than us
Truth aid
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The disaster relief profession, like its development cousin, has grown wiser and humbler
MSF's tough succour
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Why did Médecins Sans Frontières refuse to accept public donations?
Free to distrust
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The Freedom of Information Act will not increase public trust, and that's a good thing
Orchestral void
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
On its 60th birthday, the Philharmonia Orchestra is at its very best—so why isn't the wider culture listening? An interview with managing director David Whelton
The Sontag essay
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The late Susan Sontag practised cultural forms promiscuously. The one which made her great was the essay, and the theme she made her own was pain
Cutting down the last tree
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Jared Diamond offers hindsight on past environmental disaster, but he may underestimate the extent to which technology can save us from our own folly
The poet of documentary
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
John Grierson saw documentary as a lesson; Humphrey Jennings's wartime films showed that it could be an art. It is Jennings we should remember
Theatre forecast
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The physical and visual adventures of Theatre de Complicite helped release the British stage from its text addiction. So why is the company now reviving old experiments?
Smallscreen
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Howard Goodall's Channel 4 series on 20th-century music was a triumph of intelligent television. It worked because it was driven by a powerful polemic
Widescreen
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Real disasters make some films unwatchable, particularly the old 1970s Towering Inferno type. But other kinds can reach into the heart of human catastrophe
The possibilities of love
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The man drinking whisky at the bar is keeping a date, made ten years ago to the hour…
Brussels diary
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The Spaniards are now the most Europhile big country in the EU. But they don't want to give their regional aid to the Poles. How about the British rebate instead?
France profonde
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Rural France, unlike rural Britain, is the habitat of the poor. While more Brits buy cheap homes here, it is dying. Decentralisation is just speeding up the decay
Out of mind
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
I have long dreamed of tsunamis, although I grew up far from the ocean. The disaster seems to have stirred the ancient relics of our common humanity
Notes from underground
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
The London Underground sickness policy is a thing of beauty if you know how to work it—the genuinely ill suffer while the cunning get extra holiday
Washington watch
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Thought Tony Blair had no influence in Washington? Meet Jerry Lewis, king of the congressional budget. Plus three right-wing horrors of 2004
My top ten fears
20th February 2005 — Issue 107
Al Alvarez, 75, is a poet, novelist, critic and writer. His most recent book is The Writer's Voice (Bloomsbury)