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Bo Rothstein


Bo Rothstein is Senior Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg.

Bo Rothstein

Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One Admits

Bo Rothstein 2nd April 2025

Anger, not just inequality, drives white working-class voters—progressives must face uncomfortable truths to push back.

Totalitarian Democracy: How Populist Leaders Are Undermining Democracy

Bo Rothstein 13th February 2025

Populist leaders exploit democracy to consolidate power, dismantle institutions and sideline expertise.

Nobel Prize in Economics: Do Democracy and Prosperity Really Go Hand in Hand?

Bo Rothstein 1st November 2024

This year’s Nobel laureates link democracy to economic success, but their theory ignores autocratic growth and rehashes old ideas.

What is the ‘free’ in ‘Palestine should be free’?

Bo Rothstein 7th May 2024

The left has often been embarrassed by association with ‘liberation’ movements which became custodians of authoritarian states.

What works for the left? Liberal socialism

Bo Rothstein 20th February 2024

As the European Parliament elections loom, with the populists rising, progressives need a liberal-left narrative.

The idea of a liberal socialism

Bo Rothstein 11th December 2023

Liberalism and socialism have been wrongly counterposed. Connected, they represent a hegemonic alternative.

Israel-Palestine: a comparative perspective

Bo Rothstein 18th October 2023

An enduring refugee crisis, the conflict is unlike any similar episode from World War II and its aftermath.

Europe and the future of US democracy

Bo Rothstein 10th February 2022

Europe needs to address the risk come 2024 of facing not only a non-democratic superpower to its east—but to its west too.

When capital relinquishes ownership

Bo Rothstein 25th June 2021

As the ownership of firms becomes transferred to algorithmically-controlled index funds, why not put their human employees in charge instead?

What saved American democracy?

Bo Rothstein 13th January 2021

Democracy in the United States survived the assault by Donald Trump and his supporting mob. But why it survived raises questions awkward for some.

What to do about economic inequality?

Bo Rothstein 9th January 2020

Economic inequality has burgeoned as income from capital has risen faster than growth. Time to change the owners of capital.

Politics Of Fear Versus Politics Of Hope

Bo Rothstein 12th June 2018

There are many different ways to understand the dimensions of politics. The classic right-left scale has dominated most European politics for over a hundred years and is mainly about redistribution. Another dimension that has recently gained attention is about the difference between those who are geared toward environmentalism, internationalism and the extension of civil liberties […]

Strange Bedfellows Undermining Liberalism: Trump And Academia

Bo Rothstein 2nd May 2018

For people like myself, working as a social science researcher, these are very strange times. Almost any colleague, in whatever discipline you talk with, will quickly turn the conversation onto one and only one question – the election and politics of Donald Trump. Since his election as US President, the academic community appears to have […]

UBI: A Bad Idea For The Welfare State

Bo Rothstein 23rd November 2017

In its admittedly noble striving for increased social justice, the political left has historically had several ideas that, one might dare claim, were not particularly well thought out. For example, the idea of ​the centrally planned economy, the nationalization of all the means of production, forced collectivization of agriculture and, I can add, the Swedish […]

Reinventing Social Democracy: An updated Swedish model

Bo Rothstein 13th September 2017

Well, Bo, thank you very much for joining us today to do a SWOT analysis of the Swedish Social Democratic party SAP. What is the historic position of the SAP in the Swedish political system and where does it stand currently? Well, the Swedish Social Democrats have I think forever, at least since back in […]

Immigration And Economic Growth: Is Keynes Back?

Bo Rothstein 20th June 2017

There is something very strange going on in the current debate on refugee immigration. There is a lot of alarmist talk about youth gang criminality, problems related to labor market integration, falling results in school, honor-related violence and oppression, increased social tensions, housing segregation, recruitment to various terrorist groups, ethnic discrimination and lack of respect […]

Macron And The Nordic Model

Bo Rothstein 22nd May 2017

Emmanuel Macron’s political success has surprised many political commentators. The fact that in a large country like France with long-standing political traditions and within a very brief period he has succeeded in building a whole new political movement outside the traditional parties and then getting two thirds of the votes cast in a presidential election […]

The Long Affair Between The Working Class And The Intellectual Cultural Left Is Over

Bo Rothstein 10th February 2017

Sometimes love comes to an end. The glow fades, the couple has grown “apart” or suffered what used to be called “irreconcilable differences”. This occurs not only between individuals but also in politics. The Brexit referendum in the UK, Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States and the success of all sorts of nationalist-populist […]

Why Has The White Working Class Abandoned The Left?

Bo Rothstein 19th January 2017

Maybe the most surprising political development during this decade is why increased inequality in almost all capitalist market societies has not resulted in more votes for left parties. Especially telling is the political success of Donald Trump and why such a large part of the American working class voted for him. In a country with […]

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

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HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

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Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

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Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

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