An observation from the Czech-British anthropologist Ernest Gellner: In societies where production expands rapidly—for example, industrial societies that quickly adopt new innovations, though not only those—people can improve their circumstances…
In Czech, people commonly speak of “daring” photographs. What they do not mean are photographs of someone balancing over a chasm, feeding a tiger, or posting an anti-immigration message on…
Karl Marx argued that when the gap between the relations of production and the means of production becomes too large, society undergoes a fundamental transformation, often through revolution. By that…
When we devote ourselves to something for an extended period and do it with real concentration, it improves the condition of our brains and leaves us feeling noticeably better. The…
This week I again had the opportunity to attend a gathering featuring a sociologist who specializes in Hungarian society and occasionally teaches seminars at my university. Since we both studied…
I am often described as a veteran of the anti-immigration movement, but that is not entirely accurate. I am a determined opponent of migration a) when people arrive whose culture…
