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Eszter Kováts


Eszter Kováts (eszter.kovats@univie.ac.at) is Marie Skodłowska-Curie postdoctoral research fellow in the Institute of Political Science at the University of Vienna and a research affiliate of the Central European University. She was formerly responsible for the East-Central-European gender programme of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Budapest.

Eszter Kováts

What Austria’s election teaches us about the far right’s rise and migration fears

Eszter Kováts 14th October 2024

Austria’s election results highlight key lessons on the far right’s enduring appeal.

Ostrich politics and its alternatives

Eszter Kováts 15th July 2024

In lieu of comforting, self-righteous myths, Eszter Kováts argues, progressives should take the ‘anti-woke’ challenge seriously.

Hungary’s unedifying political wordplays

Eszter Kováts 25th March 2024

The opposition, Eszter Kováts writes, should not succumb to Orbán’s friend versus foe politics in the European elections.

Identity politics: in defence of ‘old white men’

Eszter Kováts 15th January 2024

Arguments over who has a right to speak, Eszter Kováts writes, should give way to discussing what they say.

‘Trigger points’ and the polarisation entrepreneurs

Eszter Kováts 16th October 2023

Progressives, Eszter Kováts writes, need to avoid the trap of a politics which only knows friends and foes.

Seeing through Orbán’s anti-‘woke’ smokescreen

Eszter Kováts 3rd July 2023

Western liberals, Eszter Kováts writes, should avoid being seduced by Hungary’s authoritarian mouthpieces.

Delegitimising social critique and dissent on the left

Eszter Kováts 24th April 2023

Eszter Kováts writes that censoriousness is not the way to deal with legitimate concerns about social-justice claims.

When radical zealotry meets the polarising populists

Eszter Kováts 27th February 2023

Some activist-scholars, Eszter Kováts writes, have turned social justice into a latter-day religion, with perverse effects.

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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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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

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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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