What might it mean, in our respective fields and lines of work, to act as “a catalyst who sets the wheels in motion”? Seck discusses a quote by Senegalese writer and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène about the role of the artist or intellectual in times of revolution.

Toussaint Louverture is celebrated by some as a saint worthy of his namesake. Recent work by historian Philippe Girard paints a less saintly portrait of this seminal figure of the Haitian Revolution. 

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That still sums up the way we view culture today. We undervalue its place in the world, always elevating the importance of the economy as a factor in social change. Culture, to change the metaphor, still plays second fiddle, following the lead of the economic conductor.

You’d think from current writing on transnationalism that our interconnected society is an exceptional time in human affairs. Reading work on globalization, by either academics or journalist, you get the impression that we are experiencing a unique phenomenon. Writers are so taken by contemporary developments that they forget to set them in a historical context.