Introduction

Imre Márczi:
Zone
Thoughts on the increasing zone of emptiness and dullness in and around us and our longing for wholeness and unity.

Symbol

City
The different meanings of the city.
Extracts from the book entitled 'Dictionnaire des Symboles' by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant.

Zone and Identity

Gábor Czakó:
'Global Hamburger'
'What kind of order and culture, what kind of success is the burglary of our home, the exploitation of the Earth resources...?' The article presents a critique of the consumer society.

The Lost Garden of the Soul
In the November episode of 'Gaia' Ecological Film magazine experts spoke about the distortion of the soul caused by the separation from nature.
Extracts from the interviews.

László Fábián:
Melancholy
Thoughts on the eternal questions of life and death, joy and sorrow, fear and faith.

József Zelnik:
The Advent of the Zone
Congratulatory thoughts for Imre Makovecz on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday.

'Golem'
What is the role of man in the lower creation? Why is it so hard to find ourselves, our way, to accept and appreciate the gift instead of ruining it?

György Szegő:
Identity and Difference
Apropos on three exhibitions in Venice and Vienna the author analyzes the relationship of fine arts to psychology, self-knowledge and identity.

József Zelnik:
Cynical Thoughts from the Zone
Meditation on history, politics, the way to Europe and the origins of hostility.

'Zonology'
Theme with variants. The zone in our language, in a film directed by Andrej Tarkovszkij and in a novel written by George Orwell.

Pál Zöldy:
Stalker in the snack bar
Essay on the global zone and the strangers, the stalkers, who are threatening the world wide democratic emptiness by their mere existence.

Ashis Nandy:
Coca-Cola Culture
'Coca-Cola is a world-view, a philosophy of life...and the ultimate symbol of the market. Like many other elements of the presently dominant global mass culture -- such as pop music, jeans and hamburgers it reminds its consumer of the simple, innocent joys of living which have been almost lost in the modern world...'
(Resurgence No. 172)

Pamela Park-Curry -- Robert N. Jiobu:
The Electronic Pop God
Essay on our continuously changing relationship to the phenomenon of the computer. How does the computer turn from fetish to an everyday household device?

Eszter Götz:
What does Information Eat?
Curse or boon? Reflections on the social and psychological effects of computerization in connection with the American film entitled 'The NET'.

Evelyne Hong:
World Bank Meets NGOs
Report on the meeting of the World Bank staffers with the non-governmental organizations at the UN Women's Conference.
(Third World Resurgence No. 61-62)

Selected Passages from a 'Zone-Explaining' Dictionary
Entries from the 'Hungarian-Hungarian Great Dictionary' by Gábor Czakó.

Compositions on the Zone
How do the fourth-year students of applied arts think about the zone, cosiness and homelessness?
 

Pattern Language

Mosaic of Subcultures
This chapter of the book entitled 'Pattern Language' analyzes the relationship between the structure of the modern cities and their dwellers' character structure.

Message from Another Zone
The area becoming uncertain...
Thoughts on transition, the nature of progress, slum and emptiness, beginning and end...

'Panic City'
The authors explore the dark side of the cities, show the price the town-dwellers have to pay for living there.
Extracts from the book entitled 'Ville Panique'.
 

Ways and Ways out

Robert Eronn:
The Natural Step
A Social Invention for the Environment.
The aims, working methods and activity of a successful Swedish environmental organization named 'The Natural Step'.

Authentic Democracy
'People have realized that politics is about the well-being of the polis, it is not about people seeking power over others but about the power to determine events at the neighbourhood level, the level at which citizen control can be most effectively exercised.'
(Editorial, Fourth World Review No. 70-71)