Identity & Culture
The Faces of Belonging
How memory, migration, and meaning shape who we are—and the cultures we create together.
The Right to Be Forgotten vs. the Duty to Remember
Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation enshrined an unusual concept into law: the “right to be forgotten.” Citizens may petition for…
After Repatriation: What Returns Mean for Living Communities
In a small courtyard in Benin City, Nigeria, the air thick with incense and drumbeats, a bronze head was lowered…
Can a Just Society Survive the Loss of Privacy?
What is justice without privacy? It is a question that, until recently, belonged to the realm of speculative philosophy. Today,…
The Global Fashion Supply Chain’s Invisible Storytellers
In the narrow backstreets of Dhaka, where sewing machines hum in uneven chorus, the story of global fashion is stitched…
The Global Stage: How Culture is Packaged for International Consumption
In a converted warehouse in Dakar, dancers rehearse to the sharp rhythms of sabar drums. The choreography is tight, the…
The Tyranny of the Majority in the Digital Age
In his 1835 Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville warned of a danger inherent to democratic life: the “tyranny of…
When Democracy Defends the Undemocratic
One of democracy’s proudest boasts is its tolerance for dissent—even dissent that seeks to dismantle democracy itself. We permit unpopular…
Who Gets to Be an ‘Authentic’ Voice?
In the dusty courtyard of a Dakar neighborhood, a griot once told me, “Truth is not only in the words—it…