It’s the political economy, stupid!
The coronavirus crisis is an opportunity to shake up the social formation.
Politics
Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher driven by the core values of freedom, sustainability, and equality. These principles guide our exploration of society’s most pressing challenges. This archive page curates Social Europe articles focused on political issues, offering a rich resource for innovative thinking and informed debate.
Minimum wage: a success story with scope for improvement
Peter Bofinger argues that regionally-differentiated minimum wages should be considered for the post-coronavirus period.
One virus, diverse impacts: the pandemic and women in central and eastern Europe
Against the backdrop of its specific histories, the impact of the pandemic on women particularly in the Balkans also demands specific attention.
The Green Deal may not be green enough
The European Green Deal is unlikely to be sufficient to reach the Paris agreement climate goals.
A ‘Hamiltonian moment’ for Europe
Invoking Alexander Hamilton in the context of the sensitisation achieved by Black Lives Matter could not be more inappropriate.
The woman Roosevelt relied on to put America back to work
Roosevelt is invoked more than ever amid talk of a ‘new deal’ for today’s crisis. Rather fewer, however, recall the woman at the heart of his programme.
How women can power the green transition
The shift to sustainable energy gives societies a chance to tackle systemic gender discrimination.
Bidding for political immortality
Branko Milanovic contends that historic decisions by authoritarian leaders today will leave a legacy nigh impossible to reverse in the future.
AI: those are citizens marching, not robots
Artificial intelligence, usually thought of as substituting human endeavour, should be conceived as a way of enhancing it for all.
For a law of ‘algorithmic justice at work’
Workers must be protected from adverse decisions where responsibility is displaced to apparently anonymous algorithms.
Collective bargaining—a legal right unrecognised in Ireland
The EU recovery plan must link company bailouts to enforcement of collective-bargaining rights.
Carbon pricing and the exit from fossil fuels
Adam Tooze argues the European Green Deal and young Europeans’ activism are fostering a virtuous circle favouring more rapid decarbonisation.
Challenging patents key to make Covid-19 vaccine work for all
Finding a vaccine against the coronavirus is a biochemical challenge. Ensuring universal access to it, however, is a political choice.
The EU is muddling through another crisis—which may be good enough
The divisions exposed by the coronavirus have reopened fundamental questions about the ultimate aims of the EU. But now is not the time to answer them.
Technological sovereignty—and a sepia-image Britain
Paul Mason bemoans how ‘Brexit’ has left the UK a beached whale in a world in need of technological regulation driven by European values.
The Main Street manifesto
The historic protests which have swept America were long overdue, not just as a response to racism and police violence but also as a revolt against entrenched plutocracy.
A new social contract
The 2020 ITUC Global Rights Index exposes the failings of the world’s economic model—a new social contract can help us build a new one.