Diversiteit

Interview

‘The super-rich choose their own place in the world — and pay for it’

6 January 2023 -

Who among us can truly become a global citizen? Journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, herself the holder of three nationalities from three different continents, takes a unique look at what citizenship means in the 21st century.

© Sociaal.Net / Lisa Develtere (foto top left), rights reserved (other). Collage: MO*

Report

You need a good assist to score a goal

22 September 2021 -

How does a young, unaccompanied migrant find his way in a new country? Education. Work. Language. The standard answers to the question are not incorrect, but certainly not always sufficient. Why isn’t more attention paid to sports?

Report

‘Not everyone has the strength to carry their heavy backpack’

11 May 2021 -

The Afghan community in Antwerp (and in Belgium) is predominantly young, male and single. And hurt by a violent past. Should we be worried about the boys? Will the girls find opportunities? Portrait of a new generation of Antwerp citizens.

Report

Afghans in Antwerp: ‘The journey begins once we reach our destination’

2 March 2021 -

The 40-year war in Afghanistan is pushing more Afghans to become refugees. Their numbers are also increasing in Belgium. In the port city of Antwerp, Afghans have already become the fifth largest nationality group. Gie Goris talked to the Afghans of Antwerp.

Analysis

Belgium slams doors on asylum seekers from El Salvador

25 January 2021 -

Asylum seekers from El Salvador hardly ever receive a positive answer to their application for protection in our country. In 2020, barely 10 percent of Salvadoran asylum applications were approved; in 2019, the number was 90 percent. Does the change in trend indicate a revision of the policy?

Interview

Jhumpa Lahiri: ‘In a monolingual universe, you see the world through one eye only. You lack perspective.'

28 February 2018 -

As a child, Jhumpa Lahiri often felt like an alien, both in Rhode Island and in Calcutta, the two pivotal places in her young life. Although the Indian-American writer has moved on since then, she says that ‘almost no day passes without me thinking: wouldn’t it have been nice to have one place of origin?’ A conversation about iden ...

Visual

Petruro Irpino, a new Italian model for locals and migrants living together peacefully

6 July 2017 -

Petruro Irpino. In this small village, situated between the green hills of Avellino, people of different religions and coming from different parts in the world live together peacefully. Photographer Alessio Paduano went to have a look at what the secret is of this refreshing new-found harmony between locals and migrants.

Report

Bosnian students’ long fight against segregated schools

21 June 2017 -

In Bosnia, there are 57 "two schools under one roof", segregated according to ethnicity. War degenerated into a battle for the children, fought out in front of the blackboard. Cosmopolitan youth, however, are fighting back. Recently, their continued protest led to a breakthrough. ‘We won this battle, but not the war&r ...

Interview

Yasmin Nair: ‘Critique on identity politics should be about power’

17 June 2017 -

We need to criticize identity politics when it’s a tool to strengthen capitalism, but without ignoring how issues like racism, migration or gender play a role in how people are exploited. That’s what Yasmin Nair advocates for. Nair is a writer, academic and queer-activist living in Chicago. According to her the left needs to pay more attention to h ...

Interview

Muslim women in Sarajevo: ‘Our starting point is a prejudice against us, this makes us stronger’

6 March 2017 -

These veiled and unveiled Bosnian Muslim women are more consciously approaching their bodies than most other women. Often the headscarf is discussed as a political symbol, but rarely debates touch upon the personal motivation of the women and how the sense of community influences their choice. MO* organized a focus group with young Bosnian women fr ...

Longread

Trump brings the European New Right into the White House. To be continued in 2017?

6 December 2016 -

Everyone fears Trump will give the European far-right parties a boost. But it is the European New Right that laid the ideological foundations for Trump. Their network has been paving the way since 1968. Half a century later they are in power in the White House and the Kremlin. Next year in Western Europe?

Opinion

Leave no one behind.

24 November 2016 -

25 years ago the extreme right( burst onto the Belgian political scene. The election of Donald Trump reminds us that we no longer have the “luxury” to look the other way. There is anger, there is fear. How do we answer the expectations of people who don’t belong to the succesful cosmopolitans?