The European Union is a contemporary manifestation of Kant’s fantasy of universal peace. Long condemned as chimerical, his vision is increasingly being realised in Europe.   Steve Latham   This project of the imagination is, of course, fragile, ever likely to disintegrate into atavistic warfare, as in the Balkans at […]

Finally, the shoe is on the other foot, as a generational shift takes place. Instead of me taking time to teach my daughter, she is assuming the role of teacher.   Steve Latham   It’s a reversal of Rebecca Solnit’s ironic essay, “Men explain things to me”, exposing men’s practice […]

Aweful, or awful, these encounters unveil occult, that is, according to its original definition, concealed, realities, a metaphysics of alterity, of possibility. Surrealism lurks in the city – resting, hiding, waiting to be noticed, observed, called forth into recognition.   Steve Latham   These are times of the signs, random […]

True pluralism does not reside in an easy-going, indifferent, toleration, which does not care what other people think or do. Secular pluralism is an unspoken ideology in our society. Consequently, we must examine its hidden assumptions.   Steve Latham   There are two meanings of the term ‘secular’. It may […]

The particular identities are not universal, nor is the concept of ‘identity’ itself universal, but is itself the product of an individualistic, late capitalist modernity. The challenges of living in and constructing a truly pluralistic society are immense. If we are going to accommodate many different lifestyles and worldviews then […]