Call for Pitches: Demographic Futures 

In Europe, fertility rates have been in long-term decline, well below replacement level. This is a reality now shared with a growing number of countries. Low fertility rates, combined with higher life expectancy, contribute to Europe’s ageing populations. Globally, the human population is projected to peak over the next few decades and start declining. Panic about overpopulation, once a trait of some strands in the environmental movement emphasising resource scarcity, has given way to the opposite fear: demographic decline.  

These changes have complex social, economic, and cultural causes and consequences. Addressing them requires vision and long-term thinking. Instead, our politics seems irredeemably stuck in an outdated present, with most public policies geared to a demographic reality that no longer exists. From education to work, pension systems, unemployment, and health care, demographic transformations force us to reimagine some of the very pillars of our democracies, already strained by decades of austerity in the neoliberal consensus.  

The movement of people – within or across national borders – can partly offset demographic imbalances and shore up a dwindling workforce. But it can also exacerbate problems by leaving entire regions depopulated and underserved, which in turn increases inequality and plays into feelings of abandonment and resentment.  

Demographic changes also reflect and feed political shifts. In many countries, age and gender have become prominent political dividing lines. The different attitudes and priorities associated with different stages of life are amplified in public discourse, fuelling generational conflicts and reinforcing stereotypes (“Boomers” have wrecked the climate, brought public finances on the brink of collapse, and inflicted lockdowns on younger generations; “Gen Zers” are spineless and hypersensitive; and so on). The great technological acceleration adds to these divides, changing how people, especially younger generations, think and act individually and collectively.  

The reactionary tide sweeping over Europe has its own answers to these shifts. It has successfully moved the dominant discourse on migration sharply to the right, stoking fears of “ethnic replacement” and now talking openly of “remigration”. It also wants to roll back gender equality and women’s reproductive freedom in the name of demographic revival, even if the only demonstrated effect of such measures is the tremendous suffering they cause.  

Are there other ways to address demographic change that would increase equality, freedom, and autonomy rather than eroding them in the name of the greater good?  

Fairer approaches to migration, more equitable burden-sharing between genders, and policies that reduce the opportunity cost of starting a family can go a long way, but existing demographic trends are here to stay. Coming to terms with this new reality will require, across all areas of society, deep adaptation on a scale and scope comparable to that required to live with climate change. 

What should you write about?  

Below are some topics and angles you could cover. Feel free to come up with different ideas. 

Demographic adaptation 

• Rethinking work, retirement, reproduction, care, and the welfare state through a social-ecological and ecofeminist lens 

• Technology, automation, and their implications for care, work, etc. 

• Social cohesion and civil preparedness 

• Post-growth approaches to managing demographic changes 

• Ecology and demography – relationship between population and land, rewilding, etc.  

Cultural divides and representation 

• Questioning and reframing the “clash of generations”  

• Gender divides: voting behaviours, reproduction, the education gap, … 

• Political and democratic consequences of ageing populations 

• The issue of future generations and their representation 

• Youth and technology (social media bans, political participation and organising, …)  

Movement of people 

• Immigration and emigration futures 

• The urban-rural divide, depopulation, urbanisation 

• Diasporas and how they affect politics and belonging 

The reactionary tide 

• The far-right vision of demographic revival along ethnonationalist lines 

• Case studies both present and past – failure of demographic management 

• Gender norms, “tradwives”, the “manosphere”, … 

• Surveillance and eco-authoritarianism 

• Overpopulation panic and shifting the blame to the Global South 

Global, technological, geopolitical aspects 

• The rise and fall of demographic powers 

• Case studies on the frontiers of demographic trends (South Korea, Japan, etc.) 

• Movements: Gen Z protests, birth strikes, … 

• The promise and perils of fertility tech 

Editorial requirements  

We are looking for all kinds of contributions that stimulate debate, reflection, and imagination. We are open to formats that work well on a printed page, from essays to interviews, photo essays, creative nonfiction, graphic journalism, visual art, and more.   

Pitches for the print edition should be sent to editor-in-chief Alessio Giussani at: alessio.giussani@gef.eu.  

Given the high number of pitches we receive, please note that we don’t have the capacity to share detailed feedback with contributions that have not been accepted.  

The Green European Journal strives to be an inclusive space, bringing together a diverse range of voices and perspectives. We welcome contributions from everyone. Contributions from those belonging to the following groups are especially encouraged: women, people of colour, people with a physical or mental disability, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. Contributions from southern and eastern Europe and from outside the European Union are particularly welcome.     

Before contacting us, check our editorial guidelines. Accepted submissions may be published in print and online, or online-only, based on editorial considerations.     

The deadline to send your pitch is Tuesday 24 March 2026.