27 Jun 19 | Magazine, News and features, Volume 48.02 Summer 2019 Extras
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The summer 2019 Index on Censorship magazine looks at the narrowing gap between a nation’s leader and its judges and lawyers. What happens when the independence of the justice system is gone and lawyers are no longer willing to stand up with journalists and activists to fight for freedom of expression? Free expression is vital to inform — and criticise — the actions of the authorities who have the power to take it away. Music has long been a form of popular rebellion, especially in the 21st century where it is easier than ever for artists to distribute and share their songs. This playlist compiles a selection of songs written about, and around, the threats to free expression touched on in this issue. The songs give insight into everything from the nationalism in Viktor Orban’s Hungary to the role of government-controlled social media in China to poverty in Venezuela.
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The Punch Brothers is a folk-bluegrass band headed by virtuoso mandolinist Chris Thile. Jumbo is a song from their most recent, Grammy-winning album All Ashore. It is a satirical song mocking an ineffectual American leader that comes from immense privilege, meant to criticize the presidency of Donald Trump. Throughout the song, the titular character is portrayed living a lavish life while the institutions around him flounder. Jan Fox’s article in the most recent magazine covers Trump’s effect on American institutions, much of what the Punch Brothers song aims to mock.
Liszt spent a large portion of his career in the Weimar region of Germany — the subject of Regula Venske’s recent piece on the intellectual history of the area. Liszt capitalized on the rich musical history of the region in composing Ad nos, ad salutarem undam, which was based on Act I of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera Le prophète. Weimar, in addition to being known for the classical writers Venske discusses, was also famous for long, dramatic organ pieces, going back to J. S. Bach. Liszt employed that history when writing Ad nos, ad salutarem undam.
Bobi Wine, a Ugandan songwriter and politician, was interviewed by Lewis Jennings for Index Magazine. Incorporating elements of reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat, his music often communicates political statements about freedom in Uganda. Wine wrote Afande in April 2019 while under house arrest for two days. He has served in the Ugandan parliament since April 2017, and was arrested by political rivals. The word “afande” means military policeman, and the song protests the police violence that Wine has experienced in Uganda.
Gilberto Gil began his career as a bossa nova musician, a genre that fuses traditional Brazilian music with samba, jazz, and French classical melodies. Gil was instrumental in the Tropicalia movement, which took inspiration from bossa nova and American rock, though it was far more political. Domingo no parque was the song that propelled him to solo fame, from his second self-titled album. Gil later went on to have phenomenal musical success and a political career: he served as minister of culture in the early 2000s under the popular Lula de Silva, who was eliminated from the most recent Brazilian election following corruption charges. Jair Bolsonaro, the subject of Conor Foley’s article on 26, ended up winning the election.
FFC Acrush, now known as FanxyRed after the departure of three out of its original seven members, is one of many Chinese Pop (or c-pop) bands that has built its following on the government-controlled Chinese social media site Weibo. Weibo is monitored by the government as referenced in Karoline Kan’s and Xinran’s pieces on pages 23 and 74. FFC Acrush has received increased attention due to the androgynous style of its members — homosexuality, though decriminalized, is still taboo in Chinese society, and the band in many ways represents recent generations’ evolving attitudes in the face of strict cultural norms.
The Police’s frontman, Sting, wrote Invisible Sun while living in Ireland during the Belfast hunger strikes during the troubles. Sting’s first wife was Irish which led him to move to Galway in the 1980s. Ten Irish nationalist inmates in Northern Irish prisons died as a result of the hunger strikes, which the song commemorates. As Ryan McChrystal writes, Northern Irish institutions still lack public trust, because of the lack of transparency in their dealings. The aftereffects of the Troubles are still felt in Ireland and Northern Ireland today.
Ali Primera was a Venezuelan activist and musician in the 1960s and 1970s. His music came to define a generation of Venezuelans, particularly the working classes. Techos de Carton, or cardboard roofs, tells the story of the poverty faced by many Venezuelans, a story that is all too familiar today. Melanio Escobar and Stefano Pozzebon discuss how conditions have worsened in Venezuela following a long period of economic and political unrest, conditions that may be again reflected in the music of Ali Primera.
Hazám, hazám (My homeland, my homeland) is an aria from the opera Bánk Bán, by Erkel Ferenc. Viktoria Serdult discusses the changes in Hungary’s institutions following the rise of Viktor Orban. In addition to the increased pressure on the judiciary, press, parliament, and electoral system, Orban (in typical nationalist fashion) has increased funding to the arts to glorify Hungary’s history. Bánk Bán is considered the national opera of Hungary, one of several put on in the most recent season of the Hungarian State Opera House following an increase in funding.
Radiohead’s Electioneering, from their seminal album OK Computer, was written in the wake of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s election in 1997. Radiohead members, who were sceptical at the time of the new direction in which Blair pledged to take the Labour Party, wrote the song Electioneering about corrupt politics and the tactics employed by the power hungry to remain in power. Many of the pieces in the Index magazine talk about the corruption of politics, including several that touch on the ways in which corrupt officials manipulate elections to remain in power.
La Voz del Desierto is a band from Madrid, Spain. Three of its members are ordained Catholic priests, and their music brings Spanish Catholicism into the 21st century. In her piece Silvia Nortes examines why the Catholic church has maintained prominence and power in Spain, even while its influence is diminishing elsewhere in Europe. Modern rock bands like La Voz del Desierto, which go on US tours and are popular within Spain and Portugal, connect the public with the church through music.
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24 Jun 19 | China, News and features, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Volume 48.02 Summer 2019, Volume 48.02 Summer 2019 Extras
In the Index on Censorship summer 2019 podcast, we focus on how governments use power to undermine justice and freedom. Lewis Jennings and Rachael Jolley discuss the latest issue of the magazine, revealing their top picks and debating what rating they would be under China’s social credit rating system. Guests include best-selling Chinese author Xinran, who delves into surveillance in China; Italian journalist Stefano Pozzebon, who reveals the dangers of being a foreign journalist in Venezuela; and Steve Levitsky, the co-author of The New York Times best-seller How Democracies Die, discusses political polarisation in the US.
Print copies of the magazine are available on Amazon, or you can take out a digital subscription via Exact Editions. Copies are also available at the BFI, the Serpetine Gallery and MagCulture (all London), News from Nowhere (Liverpool). Red Lion Books (Colchester) and Home (Manchester). Each magazine sale helps Index on Censorship continue its fight for free expression worldwide.
The Summer 2019 podcast can also be found on iTunes.
19 Jun 19 | Press Releases
Judged: How governments use power to undermine justice and freedom. The summer 2019 edition of Index on Censorship magazine
In a world when journalists are operating in increasingly harsh and difficult conditions, and are hit by lawsuits to stop them doing that, they need lawyers independent enough to stand up with them in court. This is an issue that the latest edition of Index on Censorship magazine looks at in detail.
“While at a conference, I spoke to journalists under extreme pressure. They told me: ‘When the independence of the justice system is gone then that is it. It’s all over.” We need to make a wider public argument about the importance of the judiciary. It’s something we should all be talking about in the local cafe. The average citizen needs to be vigilant to make sure the line between those making the laws and those sitting in judgement is not blurred. Our fundamental rights depend on it,” Rachael Jolley, editor of Index on Censorship, said.
In the latest magazine we look at a global phenomena where powerful governments are trying to unpick the independence of legal systems, to bring them under more direct influence, and the implications for global freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
With contributions from Kaya Genc in Turkey; Stephen Woodman on the Mexican government’s promises to rebuild the pillars of democracy and what hasn’t happen; Jan Fox on Donald Trump’s trampling of democratic norms; Karoline Kan on China’s retaliation against lawyers who argue for human rights, Caroline Muscat on independent news in Malta, Melanio Escobar and Stefano Pozzeban on Venezuela’s abuse of judicial power, Viktoria Serdult on how the Hungarian prime minister is pressurising independence in all its forms, Silvia Nortes on the power of the Catholic church in increasingly secular Spain.
In China, hundreds of human rights lawyers are in prison; in England and Wales, it has become more of a financial risk for ordinary people to go to court; in Brazil, the new president has appointed a judge who was very much part of the election campaign to a super-ministerial role. In Turkey, the Erdogan government is challenging the opposition candidate’s win in Istanbul’s mayoral elections. Hungary’s Orban has been set out plans to introduce new types of courts under the nose of the EU (although there appears to have been a U-turn).
We have an exclusive interview with imprisoned author and journalist Ahmet Altan, who was accused of inserting subliminal messages in support of the attempted July 2016 coup into a television broadcast and was sentenced to life in prison, told us: “I came out against the unlawful practices of both the era of military tutelage and that of the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party]: I believe I am a target of their anger.” The issue also includes the first English translation of an extract from his 2005 novel The Longest Night.
“Ahmet’s case is a perfect illustration of what can happen when the rule of law and courts are aligned with the political will of an increasingly authoritarian government,” Jolley commented.
About Index on Censorship Magazine
Since its establishment in 1972, Index on Censorship magazine has published some of the greatest names in literature including Samuel Beckett, Nadine Gordimer, Mario Vargas Llosa, Hilary Mantel and Kurt Vonnegut. It also has published some of the greatest campaigning writers of our age from Vaclav Havel to Amartya Sen and Ariel Dorfman plus journalism from Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, China, India, Turkey and more. Editor Rachael Jolley was named British Society of Editors’ editor of the year in the specialist publication category (2016) and the magazine has received numerous awards including the APEX Award for Excellence and the Hermann Kesten prize.
With each new issue of the magazine, an archival issue will become available for students, researchers and supporters of free expression. The four latest issues of the magazine are available for purchase in print or digital formats via SAGE Publishing, bookshops and Exact Editions.
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19 Jun 19 | Magazine, Magazine Contents, Volume 48.02 Summer 2019
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Judged: How governments use power to undermine justice and freedom. The summer 2019 edition of Index on Censorship magazine
The summer 2019 Index on Censorship magazine looks at the narrowing gap between a nation’s leader and its judges and lawyers. What happens when the independence of the justice system is gone and lawyers are no longer willing to stand up with journalists and activists to fight for freedom of expression?
In this issue Stephen Woodman reports from Mexico about its new government’s promise to start rebuilding the pillars of democracy; Sally Gimson speaks to best-selling novelist Robert Harris to discuss why democracy and freedom of expression must continue to prevail; Conor Foley investigates the macho politics of President Jair Bolsonaro and how he’s using the judicial system for political ends; Jan Fox examines the impact of President Trump on US institutions; and Viktória Serdült digs into why the media and justice system in Hungary are facing increasing pressure from the government. In the rest of the magazine a short story from award-winning author Claudia Pineiro; Xinran reflects on China’s controversial social credit rating system; actor Neil Pearson speaks out against theatre censorship; and an interview with the imprisoned best-selling Turkish author Ahmet Altan.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Special Report: Judged: How governments use power to undermine justice and freedom”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Law and the new world order by Rachael Jolley on why the independence of the justice system is in play globally, and why it must be protected
Turkey’s rule of one by Kaya Genc President Erdogan’s government is challenging the result of Istanbul’s mayoral elections. This could test further whether separation of powers exists
England, my England (and the Romans) by Sally Gimson Best-selling novelist Robert Harris on how democracy and freedom of expression are about a lot more than one person, one vote
“It’s not me, it’s the people” by Stephen Woodman Mexico’s new government promised to start rebuilding the pillars of democracy, but old habits die hard. Has anything changed?
When political debate becomes nasty, brutish and short by Jan Fox President Donald Trump has been trampling over democratic norms in the USA. How are US institutions holding up?
The party is the law by Karoline Kan In China, hundreds of human rights lawyers have been detained over the past years, leaving government critics exposed
Balls in the air by Conor Foley The macho politics of Brazil’s new president plus ex-president Dilma Rousseff’s thoughts on constitutional problems
Power and Glory by Silvia Nortes The Catholic church still wields enormous power in Spain despite the population becoming more secular
Stripsearch by Martin Rowson In Freedonia
What next for Viktor Orbán’s Hungary? Viktoria Serdult looks at what happens now that Hungary’s prime minister is pressurising the judiciary, press, parliament and electoral system
When justice goes rogue by Melanio Escobar and Stefano Pozzebon Venezuela is the worst country in the world for abuse of judicial power. With the economy in freefall, journalists struggle to bear witness
“If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs…” by Caroline Muscat It’s lonely and dangerous running an independent news website in Malta, but some lawyers are still willing to stand up to help
Failing to face up to the past by Ryan McChrystal argues that belief in Northern Ireland’s institutions is low, in part because details of its history are still secret
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Global View”][vc_column_text]Small victories do count by Jodie Ginsberg The kind of individual support Index gives people living under oppressive regimes is a vital step towards wider change[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”In Focus”][vc_column_text]Sending out a message in a bottle by Rachael Jolley Actor Neil Pearson, who shot to international fame as the sexist boss in the Bridget Jones’ films, talks about book banning and how the fight against theatre censorship still goes on
Remnants of war by Zehra Dogan Photographs from the 2019 Freedom of Expression Arts Award fellow Zehra Doğan’s installation at Tate Modern in London
Six ways to remember Weimar by Regula Venske The name of this small town has mythic resonances for Germans. It was the home of many of the country’s greatest classical writers and gave its name to the Weimar Republic, which was founded 100 years ago
“Media attacks are highest since 1989” by Natasha Joseph Politicians in South Africa were issuing threats to journalists in the run-up to the recent elections. Now editors have built a tracking tool to fight back
Big Brother’s regional ripple effect by Kirsten Han Singapore’s recent “fake news” law which gives ministers the right to ban content they do not like, may encourage other regimes in south-east Asia to follow suit
Who guards the writers? Irene Caselli reports on journalists who write about the Mafia and extremist movements in Italy need round-the-clock protection. They are worried Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini will take their protection away
China in their hands by Xinran The social credit system in China risks creating an all-controlling society where young people will, like generations before them, live in fear
Playing out injustice by Lewis Jennings Ugandan songwriter and politician Bobi Wine talks about how his lyrics have inspired young people to stand up against injustice and how the government has tried to silence him[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Culture”][vc_column_text]“Watch out we’re going to disappear you” by Claudia Pineiro The horrors of DIY abortion in a country where it is still not legal are laid bare in this story from Argentina, translated into English for the first time
“Knowing that they are there, helps me keep smiling in my cell” by Ahmet Altan The best-selling Turkish author and journalist gives us a poignant interview from prison and we publish an extract from his 2005 novel The Longest Night
A rebel writer by Eman Abdelrahim An exclusive extract from a short story by a new Egyptian writer. The story deals with difficult themes of mental illness set against the violence taking place during the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Column”][vc_column_text]Index around the world – Speak out, shut out by Lewis Jennings Index welcomed four new fellows to our 2019 programme. We were also out and about advocating for free expression around the world[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Endnote”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Subscribe”][vc_column_text]In print, online, in your mailbox, on your iPad.
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SUBSCRIBE NOW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Listen”][vc_column_text]Music has long been a form of popular rebellion, especially in the 21st century. These songs, provide a theme tune to the new magazine and give insight into everything from the nationalism in Viktor Orban’s Hungary to the role of government-controlled social media in China to poverty in Venezuela
LISTEN HERE[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Listen”][vc_column_text]The summer 2019 magazine podcast, featuring interviews with best-selling author Xinran; Italian journalist and contributor to the latest issue, Stefano Pozzebon; and Steve Levitsky, the author of the New York Times best-seller How Democracies Die.
LISTEN HERE[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Punch Brothers, Jumbo