Can Italy survive its self-inflicted wounds?
Italy’s populist government has been keen to blame Brussels for its fiscal-policy constraint. But its own choice of crowd-pleasing spending over public investment and reform should be scrutinised.
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.
Politics in Poland: eternal duopoly or refreshing breeze?
While the European Parliament elections near, politics in Poland is at such a crux that the later parliamentary polls there will have wide reverberations.
Inequality and unions—Brexit, Trump and ‘yellow vests’
Those on modest incomes used to compare themselves only with those around them, muting their anger. Globalisation has raised awareness of the inequality it has fostered but has weakened the unions best placed to fight it—with inchoate rage the result.
A human-centred agenda for the future of work
Much discussion of the future of work suggests it can only be a dystopian, robotic world. But the report of an ILO commission shows how humans, not algorithms, can be in charge.
European Parliament elections: prospects for the left?
Following a string of national defeats, social-democrat parties are ill-prepared as the European Parliament elections loom. Success for the left in May will depend on its ability to reframe the political argument.
For a democratic European government
The election to the European Parliament in May has one major flaw: it cannot lead to the election of a democratic European government.
The Swedish face of inequality
Sweden used to be revered for stemming inequality through progressive taxation and universal welfare. Now tax breaks for the wealthy and 'free choice' in public goods such as education cocoon the rich from the rest.
Tackling insecure work in Europe—a critical moment
The good news is that employment in the EU is at a record high. The bad news is that so much of it is insecure work—and a directive currently in train needs to be tough enough to fix that.
Precarious work leads to precarious lives
In Ireland the absence of universal health- and childcare makes the insecurity of precarious work even greater.
Why Alexis Tsipras is still not a social democrat
Social democracy is not the same as populism, argues Dimitrios Kotroyannos. And Alexis Tsipras remains a populist.
The crisis of globalisation: interview with Mark Blyth
Towards the end of 2018, Henning Meyer, editor-in-chief of Social Europe, spoke to the expert on international political economy Mark Blyth, about the crisis of globalisation, populism, Brexit and other political disasters waiting to happen.
The Left must respond to grievances over immigration
Sheri Berman contends that the the left needs to develop distinct and feasible responses to immigration to counter the populists' dystopian visions.
Mass immigration and the growth of inequality
James Wickham looks at mass immigration and the growth of inequality and shows why it is important to link immigration to changes in an economy's occupational structure.
Averting the death of social democracy
Reformist social democracy has just two problems that result in its crisis. The first is that it’s heading in the wrong direction. The second is
Migration and forgetting in central Europe
The global financial crisis has had a profound effect on European politics. As often happens in such hard times, these events have resulted in an
Social democrats must say another Globalisation is possible
Social democratic parties across Europe are now paying the electoral price for their uncritical embrace of globalisation in the 1990s. Then, responsible politics was equated
If Biedroń is to help rebuild the Polish left, he has to be the opposite of Macron
In any article published in the international press about Robert Biedroń, it seems almost obligatory to describe him as the new ‘Polish Macron’. Biedroń recently