American traumas
Karin Pettersson explores the deep faultlines of unexpurgated racism tearing the United States apart.
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.
Artificial intelligence, healthcare and the pandemic
The coronavirus crisis demands a regulatory framework for the application of AI to protect public health without jeopardising human rights.
A citizens’ conference on the future of Europe
With agreement lacking on the future of Europe—even about the conference on that theme—it’s time to look to a European Citizens’ Assembly.
Relaunching Europe by transparency
Myriad lobbyists in Brussels advocate for private interests, especially big corporations. European citizens need a less patchy framework for transparency.
There is no recovery without migration
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the essential role of migration in a globalised economy. The recovery must not be jeopardised by self-harming xenophobia.
Lessons from the pandemic for the conservative welfare state
The economic crisis induced by Covid-19 has revealed the breaking points of the conservative welfare state. It is time for a reorientation.
America’s unhappy middle
Branko Milanovic unpacks the malaise of the US middle class and its implications for Democratic strategy towards the presidential election.
History repeating itself? The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on youth
Young people are anxious about the effects of the crisis yet also more trusting in the European Union—an asset which should not be squandered.
Digital welfare states: boundaries and opportunities
A Dutch court case has set out a framework within which the emergent digital welfare state can respect the right to privacy.
Machine learning should increase human possibilities
Sociologist Elena Esposito suggests shifting the focus of artificial intelligence to machines as communication partners. Interview by Florian Butollo.
A federal budget for European citzens
The proposal by the French president and the German chancellor for a €500 billion recovery fund refocuses attention on the EU budget—but that raises wider issues.
Brexit: deaths, more deaths… and no-deal calculations
In a nightmare-scenario 'Brexit' denouement, the UK government provokes no-deal chaos from which it hopes to profit after its Covid-19 shambles.
Health policy after the crisis: more of the same or a new path?
Years of pre-crisis adhesion to ‘new public management’ in health policy have seen public provision eroded. Now is an opportunity to change course.
What when there’s a vaccine?
Amid the accelerated scientific quest for a vaccine against the coronavirus, crucial ethical and social questions have not yet been addressed.
Robots won’t make us redundant
Globalisation, digitalisation, artificial intelligence—it’s time to stop debating work in a fear-laden way.
Trade unions are key to a safe exit from the pandemic
There can be no return to ‘business as usual’ after the crisis: the ‘new normal’ must entail a profound political and social transformation.
The ecological transition is the new mission for Europe
If once a peace project, the mission for Europe today is a safe ecological transition—the Green Deal the antidote to a malaise apparent long before the pandemic.