Who among us doesn't feel afraid today? And where do these fears lie? ‘Fear’ is the theme of the central dossier of Electra 30. An omnipresent subject in today's political and cultural discourse, it is analysed here in terms of the intentions behind it, its functions, and its effects. Renowned authors have studied the multiple dimensions of this topic, which today occupies a fundamental place in everyday life. Its power stems not only from objective and uncontrollable causes — be they war, environmental crisis, or economic instability — but also from its deliberate use as an instrument in government practices. Over the history of Western thought, fear has been a structuring element of various philosophical anthropologies. It is also one of the raw materials of history, characterising eras, shaping regimes, and fuelling collective dynamics over the centuries. This dossier brings together texts and interviews that seek to reflect on the specific fears of our time, born of current historical, social, political, and cultural conditions, with contributions from authors such as Frank Furedi, Miguel Benasayag, Frédéric Neyrat, Pedro Levi Bismarck, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and António Guerreiro.
Two interviews feature in the ‘In the First Person’ section: one with French writer Pascal Quignard, author of an immense literary work that spans several genres, dialogues with other arts, and is marked by his cultural and historical incursions, with an emphasis on Roman Antiquity; another with American academic W. J. T. Mitchell, one of the leading figures in the field of visual studies, who talks to us about the new challenges posed by digital machines and artificial intelligence, and about the difficulties of envisaging the very survival of the human species in the current political climate.
Acclaimed American artist Julia Wachtel is the author of this edition's portfolio, representative of a work of great visual seduction underpinned by a critical thinking that questions images and their incessant proliferation. This work is accompanied by a text by poet and essayist Arthur Solway.
Tilmann Lahme, a renowned expert on the Mann family and its notable members, writes an interpretative essay for Electra that reveals the figure of the great writer Thomas Mann, who became a symbol of a time and a world, of its conflicts and tragedies.
In the section ‘Noah's Ark,’ writer and curator Thomas Dylan Eaton tells us about filmmaker Kenneth Anger's relationship with biologist Alfred C. Kinsey and the research institute he founded, which revolutionised our understanding of human sexuality.
Also in this edition, researcher Anne Clerval reflects on the gentrification of cities, examining the case of Paris; historian Yannick Ripa recalls the 50th anniversary of the UN's creation of International Women's Day and the passing of the Veil Law in France, which decriminalised voluntary termination of pregnancy; curator Frederico Duarte visits Chemnitz, named European Capital of Culture 2025, also travelling through the cities that over the years have been successively chosen to embody this ambitious initiative; and journalist José Vítor Malheiros writes about the word ‘Stability.’
