Social Europe articles on politics

Every year the State of the Union speech (SOTEU) serves a certain purpose. This year it was all about encouragement and promise. It was all about promising ‘big things’ – more Schengen, better enforcement of the rule of law, fighting discrimination of consumers in Central and Eastern Europe, introducing an economy and finance minister for […]

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will not enter the history books as an enlightened leader. However, when in 2014 he had to decide to allow the Scottish referendum, he used his brain and opened the door for the referendum. It took place on October 14, 2014. Only 45% of the Scots voted for independence. […]

A very important and instructive lesson that politicians and those in governments, the world over, should learn from the outcome of the latest German elections is that the seeds of nationalism and populism also flourish in the garden of wealth and economic prosperity. The election results question a common narrative theorists and analysts frequently use […]

Watching the Emmys, where the major awards went to the TV version of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”, I was struck by contrasts between the reactions in the United States and Britain to the dystopian realities into which the two countries entered last year – the election of Donald Trump as US President […]

Angela Merkel’s immigration policies may be the ticket that propelled the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) into the Bundestag on September 24 with a stunning 12.5 per cent of the vote nationwide. The extremists’ entry into prime-time German politics shattered a post-war taboo in a country ever mindful of its Nazi-tainted past. In the eastern […]

The critical question after Sunday’s Catalan referendum and the violent response of the (Spanish national) police now is: how long will the Catalan people resist peacefully the police attacks? Someone in Madrid is maybe dreaming that terrorism will wake up in Catalonia in order to transform a political problem into a public order problem? Instead, […]

The key question now is: What happens next? After the social democrats have (wisely, I think) opted for a role in the opposition, there will be an extended period of bargaining on coalition formation, with only one majority option remaining on the table: the black-yellow-green “Jamaica”. That option is likely to fail. Differences among the […]

The White Paper on the future of Europe presented five forward scenarios: (1) delivering a positive reform agenda, (2) focusing on the single market, (3) making additional arrangements for deepening cooperation, (4) focusing on selected policy reforms, and, (5) fostering further reforms in all areas. But there is also a sixth scenario that includes the […]

Just days away from the referendum promoted by secessionist forces, Spanish police arrested over a dozen senior officials from the Generalitat and carried out over forty raids in the Catalan government’s headquarters. Social and political tensions have reached a new height as the unified state’s repressive machinery has been set in motion. Protests are being […]

The distinction between those in permanent, full-time jobs and those in temporary and flexible employment is one of the major divides in contemporary labour markets. This distinction is often justified by the need for flexibility. But who needs flexibility and why? A prominent interpretation is that flexibility is demanded by capital. As capital underwent fundamental […]

A romantic framing of foreign crises where self-determination is involved is a common trap. The imagery of “oppressors” vs “freedom fighters” is appealing and, to their credit, the leaders of Catalonia have been successful in promoting their agenda abroad in just such terms – sometimes going as far as referencing Nelson Mandela’s struggle against apartheid. […]