Noema Magazine

Noema is a magazine exploring the transformations sweeping our world. We publish essays, interviews, reportage, videos and art on the overlapping realms of philosophy, governance, geopolitics, economics, technology and culture. In doing so, our unique approach is to get out of the usual lanes and cross disciplines, social silos and cultural boundaries. From artificial intelligence and the climate crisis to the future of democracy and capitalism, Noema Magazine seeks a deeper understanding of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.

ANICKA YI

Noema Magazine • SPRING 2020 — ISSUE Nº 1 PUBLISHED BY THE BERGGRUEN INSTITUTE

THE GREAT ACCELERATION

PANDEMIC TIME: A DISTRIBUTED DOOMSDAY CLOCK • The distorted experience of time through the COVID-19 pandemic reveals it to be an atemporal liminal passage between two great historic eras.

FROM THE ANTHROPOCENE TO THE MICROBIOCENE • The novel coronavirus compels us to rethink the modern concept of the political.

THE LONG SHADOW OF THE FUTURE • The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how valuable it is for governments to have operational expertise, plan for the long-term and socialize certain risks.

Noema Insights: How Will COVID-19 Change The World?

MEDICAL APARTHEID 2.0 • A deadly synergy of environmental racism and infection-driven xenophobia has escalated the risks of COVID-19 among people of color.

SHARE THE WEALTH AS WE RECOVER HEALTH • Noema recently sat down with Joseph Stiglitz and Ray Dalio to discuss a new inequality-reducing opportunity presented by the massive government intervention aimed at recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

DON’T LET THIS CRISIS GO TO WASTE • Since the Great Recession, the redistributive agenda has experienced a renaissance, especially among the young. All that was missing was a shock powerful enough to sway the majority.

CATERING TO A CONTRACTING MIDDLE CLASS • The idea of a home-owning middle class is broken.

TIANXIA: ALL UNDER HEAVEN • Does the ancient Chinese philosophy of “tianxia” offer a vision for the future of globalization?

THE ATTACK OF THE CIVILIZATION-STATE • A world society seemed to be advancing. But then the civilization-state struck back.

CHINA: THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY? • If great power contests are determined by domestic “spiritual vitality,” China is winning.

SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM VS. THE SURVEILLANCE STATE • Surveillance technology is the surrogate for the communities Western capitalism has destroyed.

A MISDIRECTED APPLICATION OF AI ETHICS • The debate about robot rights diverts moral philosophy away from the pressing matter of the oppressive use of AI technology against vulnerable groups in society.

AI MUST EXPLAIN ITSELF • A field of AI research called “explainability” has emerged to change the “black box” of artificial intelligence so that it’s more transparent.

AN INEQUALITY OF BEING SEEN • Connective labor provides people with dignity, but it’s becoming increasingly unequal.

GODS AND ROBOTS • Time-traveling back to antiquity might help us think about the human transformations of the future.

EATING AS DIALOGUE, FOOD AS TECHNOLOGY • Food is being reconceived as a currency of communication.

Mara Eagle “Théâtre De l’Inconnu” • Contemporary research in biotech has destabilized the traditional nature-culture dichotomy, which has structured the human and the natural in modern thought.

THE NEW AXIAL AGE • The advances of science are resurrecting the religious imagination. Human history will end when men become gods — or dust. The alternative is an ecology of existence.

CO-IMMUNISM IN THE AGE OF PANDEMICS AND CLIMATE CHANGE • German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk speaks with Noema’s editor-in-chief, Nathan...