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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.

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

Eszter Kováts

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

Sculptures of a gay and a lesbian couple

Ostrich politics and its alternatives

Eszter Kováts

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

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

identity politics,old white men,right to speak

Identity politics: in defence of ‘old white men’

Eszter Kováts

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

polarisation,trigger points

‘Trigger points’ and the polarisation entrepreneurs

Eszter Kováts

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

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

Delegitimising social critique and dissent on the left

Eszter Kováts

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

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

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The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).
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Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!

It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal. European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.

Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

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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. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the European Minimum Wage Directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50% of the average wage.

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Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

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