Category: Writing

Article: Discourse Magazine [Issue 6, 27 September 2012]

Posted 27 September, 2012 by Lianne in Writing / 0 Comments


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Slightly late this week but I hope everyone wasn’t waiting too long for it ^_~ This week’s issue of Discourse Magazine is available to check out now and it’s chock full of interesting topics around the world.

My article this week is entitled “The Crisis in Spain Turns Political”, p. 21 (or p. 23 if you’re reading the page count through Adobe Reader), focusing on the tensions intensifying between the Spanish national government and the region of Catalonia and their opposing views about the fiscal pact and the direction that’s being taken with the current economic crisis. I’m personally not convinced that independence is the answer (it’s like when observers were calling for the break-up of the euro–it’s highly unlikely at this point because everyone’s economies are so tightly interconnected to each other that I think it’ll be a bigger mess to extricate everyone from the union) but I am surprised that Mr. Rajoy did not entertain the idea of re-visiting and re-negotiating the current fiscal pact as a concession. Part of me thinks that he does have some kind of plan but given what happened this week in Madrid, he cannot afford to stay the present course.

On a related note, as you may have read this week there’s been protests erupting through Greece, Portugal and Spain telling their government enough is enough with the austerity measures and it’s not only heartbreaking to see what the population is going through with these austerity measures, how much they’re sacrificing, but it makes me so frustrated that a) so much mismanagement was going on prior to the crisis and b) there hasn’t been much talk about the governments’ plans to stimulate economic growth. You can only cut so much and the events of this week is a testament to that fact. Watch out for my column in the next issue as I may (likely–hasn’t been finalised yet) be looking at this further.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the latest issue! You can download the .pdf copy of the magazine (or one for your mobile) over at the website, discoursemagazine.ca. Additionally you can subscribe to the magazine so that you can receive upcoming issues directly to your inbox =)

Article: Youth Speak News [20 September 2012]

Posted 21 September, 2012 by Lianne in Writing / 0 Comments

So some time ago I mentioned here that I’m currently contributing work to a number of different publications: Femnista, Discourse Magazine and soon at one other place. Well, starting this month I’ve started at this other place: Youth Speak News, a section of The Catholic Register, Canada’s national Catholic newspaper. I will be writing on youth events and issues and on occasion will also be contributing column articles; you can see me listed here ^_~


The Catholic Register: Youth Speak News

Anyways, so my first column has been posted this week (!!!), entitled “Church is a Refuge”. In this column I am focusing on the topic of new beginnings and how the church is place to find comfort and refuge when facing new challenges. Given the time of year, it’s an experience that many young people are going through. It’s interesting because no matter where I end up or how much things have changed, my faith and going to church always stays the same =)

Anyways, you can read my column over here. The section of the website is pretty cool with links to the news articles, columns and the YSN blog. Like the other two places, I will be posting here whenever my work is posted =) Hope you enjoy the article, let me know what you think!

Article: Discourse Magazine [Issue 5, 11 September 2012]

Posted 12 September, 2012 by Lianne in Writing / 0 Comments


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All right, so the latest issue of Discourse Magazine is out this week! This issue is a special focusing on the status of women around the world; I wrote the article “Abolishing the Practice of Female Genital Mutilation” (p. 29…p. 30 if you’re using the page count on Adobe Reader). It’s a serious issue affecting women particularly in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia but because of immigration, it is a growing issue in the European Union and I was surprised to learn at how, for the most part, little is being done to stop the practice altogether and deter communities from continuing the practice. I hope that despite of the ongoing economic crisis in Europe that the institutions will put aside time and resources towards clamping down on this practice.

Anyways, I hope the latest issue is interesting and informative for you all! You can download the .pdf copy of the magazine (or one for your mobile) over at the website, discoursemagazine.ca. Additionally you can subscribe to the magazine so that you can receive upcoming issues directly to your inbox =)

Article: Discourse Magazine [Issue 4, 21 August 2012]

Posted 23 August, 2012 by Lianne in Writing / 0 Comments


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So the latest issue of Discourse Magazine is out this week! For this issue I wrote the article “The Sicilian Question” (p. 38…p. 40 if you’re using the page count on Adobe Reader). It’s an interesting development that emerged in late July when their technocrat prime minister, Mario Monti, ordered Sicily to clean up its finances and governance or risk defaulting. It’s intriguing because relations between the island and the national government, as you will read from the article, has been a strange one pinged with neglect and demands for autonomy. Despite being a member of the Italian Republic since the late nineteenth century, Sicily has never developed to the same levels as the northern regions, revealing at the same time this sort of north-south regionalism within the country; if you read books about the country (Luigi Barzini’s classic The Italians and David Gilmour’s The Pursuit of Italy come ot mind) references are made to these dividing attitudes between the regions and the question of the overall unity of the country.

Anyways, it’s a fascinating subject and I hope you enjoy the issue! You can download the .pdf copy of the magazine (or one for your mobile) over at the website, discoursemagazine.ca. Additionally you can subscribe to the magazine so that you can receive upcoming issues directly to your inbox =)

Article: Discourse Magazine [Issue 3, 7 August 2012]

Posted 10 August, 2012 by Lianne in Writing / 2 Comments

I mentioned a few posts ago that I’ve recently started contributing to another online (and new!) publication, Discourse Magazine. It’s a bi-weekly magazine that focuses on various Canadian and international news, presenting a wide range of issues and contributing to the public debate. Yours truly is contributing as the columnist for the European Politics segment of the magazine. It’s an exciting opportunity for me, utilising my education and some of my academic interests for a larger audience.


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For my first article to this publication, I wrote the article “Have they found a solution to the Euro Crisis?” (p. 39…shameless pluggage =P) It’s obviously one of the hot topics if you flip over to the World segment (and finance section) of a newspaper and is the issue preoccupying the European Union at the moment. It definitely raises the question of how the EU functions and how they approach large problems such as the current economic crisis that has plagued a number of countries now. It also challenges them, both the EU institutions and the member states, to work even closer together and (in the case of this article) make some adjustments to their current mechanisms to handle the situation.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the issue and spread the word! You can download the .pdf copy of the magazine (or one for your mobile) over at the website, discoursemagazine.ca; additionally there are bloggers contributing on a number of different subjects over there so be sure to check it out!