Civil Society

In a reinvigorated debate, a political reading of proposals put forward to confront the climate emergency is necessary.

After 40 years of neoliberalism tearing at the social fabric, what form will the 21st-century counter-movement take?

The Green European Journal turned to young activists to ask how they envisage political change in this time of climate crisis.

Rather than insisting on external limits, environmentalists should call for society to make its own. The way forward is to organise an alternative project based on different view of the good life.

This gargantuan project has aroused public enthusiasm and anger in equal measure, and continues to hold lessons for understanding people’s relationships with cities.

Viewed with suspicion, TTIP hangs over us like a dark cloud. Deemed as a threat to social rights, welfare, the environment and constitutional sovereignty, a civil society resistance movement continues to gain traction. In light of a recent leak by Greenpeace Netherlands further exposing these threats, it is time now to reassess the state of play.

Green Parties in Europe have undergone astonishing growth and development over the past decades, but has the time now come to ask ‘Quo vadis’? An interview with Reinhard Bütikofer and Catherine Larrère by Michel Genet.

In November 2015, Romanians protested to take down a corrupt national system, and the Prime Minister with it. The tragedy of the fire at a concert in Bucharest that killed 62 and seriously injured many more has been largely blamed as the fault of the system of corruption that rots the country. In turn, it triggered massive protests, signalling that Romanian society has had enough.

The EU cannot be a credible leader on climate change when its decision makers are aware of the risks and the alternatives available, yet still refuse to take the actions needed. How much longer can we wait for politicians to catch up to the mood among civil society? An interview with Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout.

An interview with Danielle Paffard and Melanie Mattauch from the UK and EU branches of 350.org.