The Sundial Press Issue 3 (28.12.2022)

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

Dear Readers,

As the first semester wraps up, The Sundial Press is excited to celebrate months of hard work by presenting to you our third issue and the first of the 2022-23 academic year. Our writers, editors, and media team have been thinking, reading, researching, and, of course, writing, to deliver you hot takes, sensational prose, and insights from our bustling campus.

This year, The Sundial Press is composed of over 100 writers, 15 editors, and 6 media team members. Together, our team’s conscientiousness and passion have allowed us to publish consistently on our website and social media platforms. For next semester, we are excited and committed to continue bringing student journalism to campus!

The Sundial Press’ strength lies in our diverse student body. The plethora of backgrounds and opinions of The Sundial reflect our ever-increasing interconnectedness allowing us to write and report on a wealth of different topics. This semester’s issue reflects this vitality; covering topics ranging from a Belgian-French photographer’s journey in Nepal to Merkel’s puzzling role in the E.U, as well as the story of a rapper on our campus, and finally a discussion on what makes talking about politics a thorny endeavour.

As editors-in-chief, we would like to sincerely thank our team at The Sundial as well as our readers on the Reims Campus and beyond. Thank you for making our work worthwhile!

Grab a cup of tea and enjoy!

Elena Muglia and Ambihai Akilan Anglophone Editors-in-Chief

Want to write for The Sundial Press? Write us a pitch to asso.sundial@sciencespo.fr to be connected to an editor!

Follow us on Instagram @TheSundialPress and check our other pieces here: www.sundialpress.co.

PHOTOGRAPHER FRÉDÉRIC LECLOUX

Bridging the gap between Nepal and Qatar

Sciences Po Amnesty International and Interagir host documentary photographer Frédéric Lecloux and his work capturing Nepal and the harsh realities of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar.”

Greg Schaefer, Campus Life

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photograph. Not just an interesting scene, to be frozen onto a surface: a photograph. One of the images that exist in me, though I don’t know where, or with what features, to the point where I get a vibration in the real, and the framing scintillates so that the image takes on flesh and matches up with its internal trace, still latent a second earlier.”

Frédéric Lecloux reflects on the weight of a single photograph in an excerpt from his 2017 book, Népal: Épiphanies du Quotidien.

At the Sciences Po Amnesty International and Interagir event this September 27th, the Belgian-born photographer discussed and presented the photography of one of his most recent projects, “Le vide et le plein.” Decades after his first visit to Nepal, Lecloux’s project paints the life of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar and the impact of their absence in their native homes. Amnesty and Interagir’s showcase, their first event of the year, explored both Lecloux’s photography and his journey as a visual storyteller.

Frederic Lecloux’s discovery of photography and the country of Nepal are intertwined.

In our interview, Lecloux recalled his grandmother showing him photography books of the Himalayas and precipitous Nepalese landscapes. His first travels in 1994 not only exposed him to the luminescent land-scapes but also the dark socio-political realities. This inspired following visits, and over the years, Lecloux has seen Nepal evolve through its persistent political and natural shocks. In particular, Lecloux recounts the Nepalese Civil War, which was fought between the established royal government and Communese insurgents from 1996 to 2006, and left over 12,000 Nepalese dead. Still, the country felt hopeful, as the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord stripped the special status of the king and began a period of writing a new constitution. This hope quickly dissipated, adds Lecloux, as attempts to to write a new constitution continuously failed. The fragile country was hit again on April 25, 2015 as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the centre of the country. “Around me, the country I love was all ruins,” Lecloux commented on the tragedy, “It was a breaking point in my life.” The combination of the earthquake and political instability has led to thousands of Nepalese,

© Photos by Frédéric Lecloux

mostly men, leaving the country for work. 500,000 Nepalese workers leave the country for work every year.

Lecloux followed the lives of eleven divided families — the men working in Qatar and the women, children, and elderly who remained in Nepal. In this way, Lecloux’s work links the two seemingly distant worlds and challenges the viewer to see the crisis not just as a story of labor abuse but also of absence. “What it is to live now in a village that is empty of its male population. Women along with the elderly people. According to Hindu rules, there are a lot of things women cannot do in daily life, like ploughing the fields… in Nepal it’s forbidden for women. What do you do if you cannot even plough the fields and grow the seeds? Because the men are absent? How do you feed yourself and your children?”

Qatar became a popular destination for these individuals. After winning the bid for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in 2010, the country began rapid construction projects of stadiums, roads and the metro. The Guardian estimated a year ago that 6,500 migrant workers have died in the country since the World Cup was awarded.

Fréderic Lecloux learned about the issue in part from Pete Patison’s 2013 reporting on the first deaths at migrant labour camps. Meanwhile, Lecloux read of Nepalese villages becoming emptier and emptier as thousands left the country. With VU’ Agency and 8,000 in grant money from the Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Lecloux worked with Amnesty International to provide many of the resources that could make the project possible. Unlike the in-depth reporting other journalists did on Qatar’s construction sites, Lecloux decided to focus more closely on the daily life at the camps workers returned to each night. “I will also show pictures of their environ-

Lecloux aimed to answer these questions in his photographs of Nepali life. In his photos of women, children and the elderly, Lecloux emphasises a void, a discernible absence of human connection. In some photos, the wives and children use their phones to communicate with their husbands and fathers thousands of kilometres away. With these photos and ones taken in Qatar, Lecloux plans to publish a book featuring the project.

A goal of Lecloux’s photography on “Le vide et le plein” is not just to criticise the way professional football is operating, but more importantly, to showcase the crisis’s effect on Nepal. “Football is not the first problem,” said Lecloux, “The first problem is that Nepalese have to leave their country to earn a living and to feed their families, and it has been so for decades.”

ments, of their bed, of their room, of their clothes, their working clothes, have details of their daily life that will, I hope, give an interesting documentary background about what it is to live in a camp,” said Lecloux.

Lecloux also sees this as a critical moment to expose football fans to the broader issues behind the World Cup. “When the World Cup is over, less people than today will care for these young Nepalese and Bangladeshis and Indians and Pakistanis… who are in those countries. This is now or never.”

MAGST DANS LA CITÉ DES ROIS

Nous avons eu l’exclusivité d’un entretien avec l’un des rares rappeurs du campus de ScPo Reims, de son nom d’artiste Magst (prononcé “Majesté”). Une discussion approfondie quant à ses débuts, ses inspirations, son rapport aux études et ses prochains objectifs. Magst, de son ‘blaze’ tout aussi royal qu’intrigant, est francophone d’origine finlandaise, et a vécu la plupart de son enfance à Madrid. De par son amour pour les jeux de mots, son pseudonyme est né de l’idée de jouer sur la forme du nom ‘Magst’, aisément prononçable puisqu’il suffit de suivre la phonétique des lettres du nom de scène (lire « M-A-G-S-T »). Il confie également son goût pour la dimension ‘ego-trip’ de ce nom, qui se traduit par ‘aime’ en allemand.

« Un finlandais qui rappe, ça serait drôle », avaient remarqué ses amis. Il s’y est donc essayé en leur compagnie et sa passion pour le rap est alors née. Il conclut dans un premier temps des sons auto-produits qu’il publie sur la plateforme gratuite SoundCloud et, début 2021, diffuse pour la première fois un son sur toutes les plateformes de streaming via DistroKid. Récemment, Magst à dépasser les mille écoutes Spotify sur son morceau ‘Nauséabonde’.

Avec une honnêteté touchante, Magst nous explique qu’à chaque fois qu’il sort un morceau/projet, il est persuadé d’être “la meilleure version artistique de lui-même”. Il se rappelle avoir trouvé son premier projet intitulé ‘Ego Trip’

Léon Boulenger, Culture and Travel

« incroyable » à son échelle de diffusion, un projet qui aura mis en lumière son aisance au micro et sur lequel il aura de nombreux retours positifs. Il est conscient d’une certaine monotonie qu’on pouvait lui reprocher dans son rap et ses flows, héritée certainement d’un exercice au slam et à la poésie antérieur à celui du rap. Dès son deuxième projet, ‘Cercle Vicieux’, Magst met un point d’honneur à s’en détacher et introduit des mélodies plus chantées couplées à une utilisation encore approximative mais efficace de l’autotune. En apparaît deux facettes de son art, une davantage rap kické, dans le style de ‘Poésie Noire’ et une davantage mélodieuse, nostalgique, dans le style de ‘Yeux’. Son dernier projet en date, un EP de 4 titres intitulé ‘Veille d’été’, est un mélange harmonieux de ces deux facettes qu’il cherche à perfectionner. Son processus d’écriture, lui, n’a pas changé. Magst écrit seul le soir, en écoutant en boucle les “type beats” qu’il découvre ou les prods qu’on lui envoie. Il décrit son inspiration comme « hétérogène », pouvant parfois terminer ses deux couplets en quelques minutes mais pouvant procrastiner plusieurs jours dans l’écriture d’un même texte.

Sa première collaboration avec ‘El Barto’ lui aura fait comprendre l’importance des prods, que l’on ressent par la qualité indéniable des instrumentales sur ses différents projets. Plus récemment, il a lui-même démarché des producteurs talentueux via Discord (“un foyer à talents” selon lui) et a notamment établi des liens avec des membres du collectif ‘Maison Malsaine’. Par exemple, le morceau ‘Fenrir’ est le résultat d’une proposition de l’un de ces membres, Kiram, qui l’incite à se tester à la drill, de par sa voix grave. De là s’est construite une certaine affinité avec ce même Kiram, les deux évoluant parallèlement en sortant de leur zone de confort respective.

Passé par la trap, le cloud et la drill, Magst aimerait aujourd’hui tenter des morceaux propres à la « new wave » du rap, un style qui émerge ces derniers temps sur la scène rap français. Il exprime aussi un intérêt pour des morceaux plus « house » et aimerait s’essayer sur des prods style jazz.

Dans cette optique de création, Magst sort dans les prochaines semaines un single bien différent de ce qu’on a l’habitude d’entendre chez lui, alors je vous conseille de ‘rester branchés’. En termes de projets, il souhaite développer une mixtape ou un album au courant de l’année 2023 ou 2024 et sortir durant cette même année un premier clip, qu’il désire authentique à la réalité de l’artiste qu’il est. Il évoque d’ailleurs l’idée de le produire en collaboration avec les différents réalisateurs/photographes de son campus, le clip faisant office de comm pour son projet à venir.

Parmi ses inspirations et modèles, il cite notamment Laylow comme une référence en termes d’album, le projet ‘Trinity’ (2020) poussant Magst à se lancer. Le

morceau ‘Burning man’, en featuring avec Lomepal, l’a notamment bouleversé et l’a amené à se pencher sur la discographie de Laylow. Il cite également ‘Deux Frères’ de PNL comme l’un des meilleurs albums de la décennie passée, ainsi que LMF ou Memoria comme ses albums appréciés dernièrement. Les ambitions de Magst dans l’industrie musicale sont contradictoires, partagé entre l’envie de produire toujours plus et une certaine “peur de percer”, qu’il caractérise comme une pression face à laquelle il ne se voit pas vraiment faire face. Il exprime une volonté de rester indépendant, de continuer à s’enregistrer dans sa chambre, sans contraintes peu importe ce que l’avenir lui réserve. Les chiffres d’auditions lui importent peu, conscient qu’il perdrait du plaisir à y porter trop attention. C’est aussi cette volonté de liberté qui l’a poussé à être un artiste ‘anonyme’, son identité étant inconnue sur ses comptes d’artiste. Cela ne l’empêcherait pas, s’il en avait l’occasion, de participer à des formats à l’instar de Booska P ou type Nouvelle école pour l’intérêt du concept. Ses études actuelles lui permettent de s’assurer le bagage nécessaire pour « ne pas vivre de la musique, mais continuer à en profiter ». L’univers de Magst se caractérise également par sa sensibilité exacerbée. La musique est devenue sa catharsis, une manière unique d’exprimer ce qui est impossible à exprimer autrement. Une purgation d’émotions autour des relations familiales, amoureuses, de la vie d’adulte à travers l’introspection musicale, en particulier dans le très émouvant et beau ‘Outrospection’ (s/o SPK) sorti en 2021. Il aime préciser que cette dimension introspective, parfois triste de sa musique (inspirée par la mélancolie poétique) est à contraster avec sa réalité heureuse et apaisée. On se rend compte en écoutant sa discographie que l’univers de Magst va au-delà de simples influences de culture hip-hop, il revendique l’influence de la science-fiction et des grandes sagas sur son art, ce qu’on retrouve par exemple dans les covers futuristes de ses projets. Il est également passionné par Baudelaire ainsi que, dans une toute autre veine, de la diction et du flow de George Brassens, qu’il considère éminemment similaires à ceux du hip-hop. Magst, c’est un rappeur prometteur aux influences diversifiées, qui a su découvrir et explorer sa passion musicale, tout en s’épanouissant dans des études assidues. Une rare maturité pour son âge, loin des objectifs matérialistes communs à beaucoup d’artistes, qui s’accompagne d’une audace artistique et d’une identité qui se construit au fil de sa discographie. Les morceaux qui arrivent prochainement sont symboliques de sa progression, ainsi l’on souhaite à Magst de pouvoir continuer à profiter de la musique pour un jour, qui sait, réaliser son feat de rêve avec Laylow.

The release of Blonde, the Marilyn Monroe biographical film, has raised many controversies. The American movie was recently released on Netflix and is inspired by the 2000 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. The performance - and resemblance - of Ana de Armas, who plays Marilyn, is certainly remarkable; however, before actually seeing the movie, I had little knowledge of the American celebrity’s life beyond her iconic “Flying Skirt” photo. Generating a divided response from the public, some hold a sincere appreciation, while others have criticized its length and objectification of Monroe. Despite the fact that the goal was to denounce the exploitation of her image and body, the film basically ends up using her in this very way. Nevertheless, most strikingly, the film repeatedly insists on the amount of pain and suffering, to an almost excessive and disturbing extent. The purpose of this article is not to be a critique of this movie in particular, but rather to start a reflection on an issue that goes far beyond Blonde: the portrayal of women as vulnerable and in a position of suffering in popular culture.

We can find countless women throughout history – actresses, singers, artists – all linked by a common recurring element: something that made their lives, as well as “famous,” tenderly sad. But, why does the portrayal of a woman necessarily have to have that tragic element? Does a woman, in order to remain sculpted in the collective imagination, need a tragic ending to make her look vulnerable?

We can trace this tendency back to early figures of femininity – think of the first famous poetess, the Greek woman Sappho, and the famous painting “The Death of Sappho” (preserved in the “Baron Gerard” Museum in Bayeux, France). This work depicts the poetess about to throw herself into the sea from the top of a cliff, in a setting that is as idyllic as it is tragic, verging on romanticizing this pain. There is something sublime and charming, almost romantic, about these kinds of depictions. But these examples are countless, from singers including Edith Piaf, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston to the modern

Adele or even Britney Spears. Outside of the music sphere we see examples such as Lady Diana, Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Frida Kahlo, or Grace Kelly. Of course, not all women who have become famous in history have an element of tragedy and pain in their lives, but an overwhelming percentage of well-known women do, and this tendency does not appear to be an ever-present or overpowering phenomenon among men. If one thinks, for example, of Bohemian Rhapsody, the film about Freddy Mercury’s life, it touches on the many hardships that Freddy endured throughout his life and highlights his accomplishments as an artist. This is unlike so many films about famous women in film or music history, as shown with Blonde. Everything we see in the media tells us more about the desires of the storyteller than the reality of the world, so should we not reflect more on why this is happening – on the reason why pop culture, media and entertainment keep on offering this kind of representation of women? Why is pain proportionally associated more with women rather than with men?

By objectifying women and sexualizing their pain, it makes female pain seem as though it is a fantasy, to the point where the public is unable to take it seriously anymore, reducing it to just a male fantasy. The other distorting effect that this creates is the fact that no matter what these women have achieved or done through out their lives, everything is simply reduced to their

tragic ending, or to that tragic matter or mistake. Their misfortune becomes a justification for their success and achievements, in order to make it more comprehensible for the public to accept a woman in a position of success, building upon a predominantly male-driven narrative of female weakness. This representation glorifies a conception of womanhood as existing in reliance on men. Therefore, men are seen as dominantly central to the living experience of women – acting as the “White Knight” to mediate the weakness of women. These stories revolving around women’s lives being destroyed, such as Blonde, are basically serving the same narrative by showing in some ways what happens when there is no “White Knight.” This kind of narrative and representation of men as that one missing piece that can bring happiness, closure and salvation, is in reality extremely disruptive and disturbing, both for women and men alike, perpetuating the societal narrative that men should not show pain or weakness.

We need to think more as a society about how we are representing gender differently in the media. We need to reflect on the subsequent meaning and the importance that we give to pain and success. This has direct consequences on how people define its conception, and how they believe they should express it, playing a vital role in maintaining an unjust power hierarchy.

© Death of Sappho by Gustave Moreau

THE MERKEL MYTH

lways be more than you appear and never appear to be more than you are”, these words are attributed to one of Europe’s most acclaimed leaders of the 21st century, Angela Merkel. Ironically, it is exactly the persona of Merkel herself that, now that the dust of her 16-year reign (2005-2021) as German Chancellor has settled, appears to be more than she is. Despite being heralded as the guardian angel of the stability and prosperity of Europe, a thorough look at her legacy paints a less favourable picture. While Merkel did many things right for Germany and Europe, her myopic mercantilism has been a major contributor to Europe’s current state of continuous chaos.

FOREIGN FOLLIES

Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is mostly attributable to Vladimir Putin and the imperialistic warmongers in the Russian military, political elites, and talkshowhawks. However, outside of Russia, the former German chancellor is amongst the biggest enablers of the most devastating European war since WWII. Inheriting the chancellery from Kremlin puppet Gerard Schröder, she continued the foreign policy of “Wandel durch Handel” (“change through trade”). This policy rested on the assumption that increasing trade and bettering ties with authoritarian leaders would lead them to become more democratic and more liberal.

In 2011, the opening of the

Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline - which cut out Ukraine as a transit country by going through the Baltic Sea - increased Germany’s extreme dependence on Russian energy supplies, accounting for 50% of its gas imports last year, while simultaneously damaging Ukraine’s economic and political interests. In 2014, after the Crimean annexation and Russia’s first invasion of Eastern Ukraine, the European response— led by Merkel—was astronomically weak, according to the Warsaw Institute. Apparently the biggest illegal and unprovoked land grab in Europe since the Second World War was no reason to change course for the German government. Germany kept trade ties as strong as ever and it saw no problem in selling key gas infrastructure to Russia.

In September 2015—after Putin’s invasions in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine, and with increasing levels of domestic repression—the Merkel government agreed to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. In exchange for cheap gas, Merkel agreed to a plan that would make Europe even more dependent on Russia for decades to come while simultaneously completely bypassing Ukraine. Thereby, Merkel helped Putin by hitting two birds with one stone: increased Russian leverage over Germany Ukrainian leverage over Russia This Merkelian appeasement significantly emboldened Putin in launching his full-scale invasion

earlier this year. By making Germany ever more dependent on Russian gas, despite continuous Russian warfare against its neighbours, Merkel showed Putin that war goes unpunished. As we all know, Russia’s full-scale invasion proved to be a step too far for many European governments. And while this forceful response to Russian aggression deserves praise, this does not diminish the blame for those that failed to deter it, most prominently amongst them Angela Merkel. Merkel’s affability for autocrats reached further than just Moscow, however. Especially onerous has been how she cosied up to Xi Jinping and his increasingly hostile China As has been clear for years, China’s foreign policy is guided by a dual circulation strategy, which aims to make China more independent while simultaneously making the rest of the world more dependent on China. In the case of Germany, the Chinese government has succeeded; Juergen Matthes, Head of Global Markets at the German Economic Institute, concludes in a recent study that “the German economy is much more dependent on China than the other way round”. The creation of such dependencies – almost fifty percent of German manufacturing companies are currently dependent on key inputs from China, according to the IFO Institute for Economic Research –does not happen overnight. This asymmetric dependence is the result of years of

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Abe De Ruijter, Opinion

myopically prioritising short-term economic gains over long-term strategic interests. Instead of acknowledging, and acting upon, the risks of unrestricted trade with China, Merkel’s “Wandel durch Handel” policy actively aimed for ever-increasing levels of trade, this created and deepened dependencies, instead of alleviating them. Despite the fact that Cosco, a Chinese state-owned firm, recently acquired a stake in the Hamburg port, it seems as if the current German government has changed course; Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor and minister of Economy and Climate, recently stated that Germany must protect critical sectors - such as semiconductors and energy - from Chinese influence. Nevertheless, for many sectors this is too little too late, the dependencies are already there. These dependencies bear drastic implications. If China engages in aggression against Taiwan, the German government has little leverage to sanction China as it can countersanction by halting the exports of semiconductors, critical medical supplies, or rare earth minerals. Given that these trade ties have become the lifeline of the German economy, health-care system, and energy transition, such Chinese counter-sanctions could inflict unimaginable damage on the country.

EUROPEAN ERRORS

In Europe, Merkel’s conduct – despite being heralded as the glue that has kept Europe together in tumultuous times – has both created, as well as, fortified dividing lines within the “Ever Closer Union”. Merkel’s above-outlined foreign policy vis-à-vis Russia sowed many divisions within Europe. Together with the US, the Baltic and Central- and Eastern European states have warned Merkel many times about the geopolitical consequences of mollycoddling Russia. Now that Russia’s invasion has proven that (literally) laughing off the concerns about energy dependency has been a cataclysmic strategic error, the European East-West divide regarding Russia has come to the surface more than ever before. While the East-West divide has only come to the front this year, the German-driven North-South divide has haunted European politics for over a decade now. During the Eurozone crisis, Germany pushed for imposing severe austerity measures on indebted Southern European states. The economic effects of these measures are still disputed to this day: while they led to reduced government debt in Greece,they also severely lowered household income, increased unemployment levels, and reduced tax income. What has been unequivocally clear, however, is the sentiment of moral superiority that developed in Germany and other Northern European states during these years. Juxtaposing themselves with the Southern states who,

according to Dutch former head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, waste money on “drinks and women”, these Northern states believed that their idea of frugal finances was the superior way of governing a country. Hence, they believed that these measures should be imposed on the fiscally irresponsible Southern states. These humiliating austerity measures – combined with paternalistic and condescending Northern rhetoric – have invigorated a stark North-South divide that obstructs EU policymaking, fuels cultural chauvinism, and emboldens anti-European populism.

DOMESTIC DAMAGES

Despite nationwide chest-pumping about Germany’s responsible government, the German federation itself also suffered from numerous flaws during Merkel’s time in office. One could think of the primaeval state of Germany’s digital infrastructure (COVID-19 test results were being sent by fax machines in many municipalities) or that the “climate chancellor” swapped zero-emission nuclear power plants for the highly pollutive black-coal power plants in a flurry of post-Fukushima anti-nuclear populism. But, above all, her flawed handling of the Syrian refugee crisis stands out. In 2015, in her infamous “wir schaffen das” speech, she bombastically took the stage by asserting that Germany could cope with a gigantic influx of refugees from Syria. While this open policy – allowing over a million people to seek refuge in the country – was and is very morally righteous, Merkel did not follow up on her big words; instead of showing leadership by detailing how Germany would integrate these people, she left the stage and delegated responsibility to the ill-funded and unprepared federal states. The subsequent unsuccessful integration of many of these people has fueled anti-immigrant sentiments, divided German society, and firmly established the far-right in German politics.

THE JURY IS OUT

When Angela Merkel stepped down as German chancellor she left office with remarkably high domestic and international support. Polls conducted at that time show people from all over the world believing that she did the right things for her country and for the world. And while Merkel indeed did many things right, Russia’s invasion, Chinese sable-rattling, and European divisions show that it would be short-sighted to conclude that she deserves a place in the European leaders’ hall of fame. Instead, a longer –and historically contextualised – time span is needed to fully assess her merits and flaws. As Friedrich Hegel said, “world history is a court of judgement.” Knowing that the full impact of Merkel’s term as Bundeskanzlerin will be playing out in the decades ahead, Angela Merkel ought to fear the final verdict.

WHAT MAKES POLITICS SCARY?

Finding answers in the political mirror

Rysha Sultania, Opinion

What is one thing everyone tells you to avoid doing on a first date?

Don’t talk about your ex, and don’t skip the shower. But, more importantly, don’t be ‘controversial’.

When I think about controversial topics, I’m immediately drawn to a) politics, b) religion, and c) the best Kardashian. While the latter two are especially alluring to a gossip-loving, agnostic teen like myself, politics is the most relatable given how pervasive it is across cultures and demographics. But even when politics is everywhere, it is still forced to be nowhere in our conversations.

There is a running joke among Sciences Po students about how our parties are incomplete without a political debate, but even these often end in “whatever, let’s play beer pong” when things get too heated too

© Harvard Buisness Review

fast. So, what really makes politics such a scary topic to discuss?

Aside from the fact that many people believe politics to be a dirty, dark place to be involved in (I don’t blame them either— unsurprisingly 43% of Indian Members of Parliaments have a criminal record), there is something unsettling about talking about politicians and political manifestos: the bureau-mirror that shines back at you.

At the dinner table, I avoid talking about politics with my father, whose extreme right-wing ideologies often conflict with my more liberal leaning. I do this not out of fear of his disagreement, but out of fear that our ideological incompatibility may negatively influence our relationship permanently. The concept of associating people with their political leanings isn’t unique, or surprising. Political identities form a major part of the

human experience. Freudian psychology refers to humans being governed by their unconscious desires.

Our existence in a legally bound society, however, implies that these unconscious desires are often frustrated, interlacing behaviour with politics. Abortion or affirmative action, for example, are all issues that raise significant questions about one’s moral compass.Dating apps, like Hinge, for example, ask and display political ideologies as a key yardstick of compatibility with one’s profile. That is what makes politics a double-edged sword: it is distant enough to be a choice of engagement but close enough to reflect who you really are.

Now, the existence of political identities isn’t some unknown secret lost in time.

Politicians know the power of making people believe that their party manifesto is their life’s motto. The synthetic personalisation employed by politicians can be pivotal in an election. Using tools like political rhetoric tactfully helps create a sense of community that forges a lucrative lasting link between voters and parties. Often, this concocted oneness blurs out scrutiny when judging candidates and their proposed policies.

In a radically partisan society, a voter is more likely to criticise the same policy more harshly when suggested by the opposing party. This phenomenon refers to the Halo Effect, wherein having one positive trait (here, favouring the same party) automatically means agreement on other aspects too. As a consequence, it reduces humans to one polarised identity, absent of individual values and agency. However, when leveraged positively, it is a powerful tool, turning politics into duty and nationalism into ethnicity.

The controversial nature of politics stems from its inherent ability to encompass and fade out other parts of your personality. For example, there is a very stereotypical idea of what a Communist or a Republican looks and talks like. While these labels initially help followers gain a tag of belonging within a niche, it also instils the fear that any alternate (and non-similar) stances are unbecoming of a party member, resulting in a dangerous phenomenon called groupthink. Groupthink is a key factor behind populism, where leaders attempt to propagate a single “us vs them” narrative to further their political goals. Perhaps this is why, according to a survey by Pew Research Center in October 2021, two-thirds of Republicans still support Trump, even after the disastrous occurrences during his tenure like the Capitol Hill riots, because they associate being Republican with him.

In light of the recent news of Trump potentially running for president again, this statistic becomes

ever-important to both ends of America’s political spectrum. Furthermore, it also raises the question on what future Republicans and Democrats will look like. In the quest to conform to a political archetype, young leaders may neglect party-incompatible issues. Ultimately, this could result in a massive opportunity cost of formulating contextual progressive policies.

So what’s the solution? Do we just plug our ears and start chanting ‘La la la’ loudly every time somebody says the word “government”? Should we solely swipe right on “apolitical” gym bros?

Ideally, no. Political ideologies are so essential to identity that they can also increase your understanding of people around you, and by extension, the world. Speaking about the Roe v Wade case in a politically textured room can definitely end in a heated argument, but more so in self-reflection. It can lead you to realise that there is a meeting point between apparent and extreme political polarisation: not every stance has to be ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but could be a proud ‘maybe’. In a world where political centrism is the path less chosen, this could encourage politicians to enter parliament and create consensus instead of controversy, where the quest is not to win a debate but to deepen it.

THE PRISONER

Akanksha Das, Creative Writing

Hell. That was the only word that came to mind. The next two words? Escape. Now.

It had been months since I last tried to flee this city and here I am again, shivering with anxiety, knowing that I will probably fail again. I just need to get out of here. The slim chance of success outweighs the nightmare this city has turned into. I was never safe. The Council’s spies had found shelter in every nook and corner. Like a contagious virus, their influence had turned every innocent citizen into devoted fanatics. The disease started in the head with the imbued words that you hear on the public microphone everyday. It would spread down to the throat, which made people chant ridiculous atrocities like ‘Long Live the Council’ and like any other sickness, it ended with a very physical trait: the mark. I vividly remember my mother taking an iron rod with the symbol of the Council, the two circles, shoving it into a blazing fire and then onto her skin. Just thinking about the mark sent shivers down my spine. My husband was sick already – a few more months, and he would have the mark too.

© Kenny Flatten

A pinching ache ran across my heart as I realized that the hanging clock was striking three. I reluctantly left the bed and towered over my clueless sleeping husband, taking one last longing look that will be imprinted into my memory forever. I slowly dragged my feet across the floor, and my shaking hands slipped on the black jumper I had kept ready since last night. I hate this. I never thought a day would come where I would be desperate enough to leave my family in secrecy – betraying them. There was no other way. The conversation we had last week floated in my head. The last thing he told me was ‘The Council makes good points. You need to stop rebelling because next time you do, I’ll report you’.

Closing the door quietly, I placed my sleeve on my mouth in a pathetic attempt to muffle the trembling sobs escaping my lips. My vision blurred from the tears but the street was dark already from the lack of lampposts.

A few more minutes of struggle to power through, to reach the border post where my sister Amaya would be waiting as we had agreed. She was the only one I could trust to not fall into the Council’s propaganda. In fact, she was the one who inspired me to escape this time. I had been in hiding for so long that I haven’t seen her in over a year. We’ve been corresponding through letters and I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of excitement that I would get to see her, despite the circumstances.

Soon, the ashy sidewalk morphed into a grass plain filled with blooms. I had reached. Suddenly, I heard a swish behind me coming from the small bushes. Someone was here. As I turned around, my anxious heart came to a slower pulse as I realized who it was.

‘Amaya!’ I said, relieved. ‘I can’t believe we both made it here without alerting the spies! So what next?’ Her visage appeared pale, and her lips quivered in silence - it worried me that the once tall and confident woman merely stood before me looking frail and weak. What went wrong? Her bloodshot eyes motioned frantically at the sight of my face. Confusion engulfed me as I approached further, and it rapidly molded into panic as I noticed the thick leather rope making its way from her shoulders to her hips in a patterned cross. Her bruised hands had been pinned to her back, handcuffs covering her wrist. I perceived another horrifying detail - a Council badge. A man, hisbony complexion sliding into a short greasy ponytail, stood behind Amaya. His detached expression broke out into a crooked smile. My skin prickled with fear. The soles of my feet rooted themselves into the ground. I tried to reach for my emergency dagger but –Before I could even react, I felt a harsh tweak in

my right thigh, followed by a burdensome numb feeling spreading across into the left leg as well. The adrenaline was rapidly diluting as my head grew dizzy. Looking down, I realized a bullet with a pointed needle had punctured my skin. The same soles, which had been sternly grounded into the soil, started giving outmy body, which felt too heavy for me to carry, dropped onto the dry mud with a raucous thud.

I was lying face down - almost paralyzed. The agile fingers which were ready to grab my dagger had stiffened as I grasped onto the grass - not letting go. I watched the spy strut towards me, but my vision started limiting itself - his sharp features became increasingly faint as the colors and sounds of the world faded out into a dark abyss…

A buzzing noise awoke me. My eyes slowly opened their heavy lids to witness an innocent fly that had found shelter on the top of my nose. Trying to swat it away, I realized that my body, although conscious, could not function. Where am I?

Steel bars were attached from the ceiling to the floor. Silky webs spun by spiders had covered almost every corner in the cage. A damp stench made me choke as I tried to squeeze my nostrils shut. Then it hit me. I was in prison.

But where was Amaya? Is she in another cell? There was no clock for me to know how long I had been in here. It felt like eternity. A light tapping sound grew deafening as I noticed through the gap between the bars, a pair of disheveled sneakers walking pompously towards me. Looking up, a sea of satisfaction crashed into me as I looked at my sister - Amaya had come to save me! I would expect nothing less from someone as strong as her – of course, she managed to escape the spy. She smiled at me. It was followed by a grim cackle. I don’t understand. What’s going on? Why is she staring at me like an excited child at the zoo? Observing closely, I see that she doesn’t look wounded, nor frail like she did earlier. For once, her confident look scared me. That’s when I noticed it. NO! Her right wrist had the mark! ‘Well, you’re quite famous at the Council. More than 50 attempts at escaping the city this past year, brilliantly skilled at hiding – I almost can’t believe we finally caught you!’

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