Privatisation

For decades, a wave of privatisation has been rolling across Europe, making many investors, banks and consultancies rich but making few citizens happy. The great neoliberal promise of privatised utility companies providing water, power and transport more cheaply to their customers has regularly been shown to be deception and even, in many cases, a lie.

The approach of European states to the surrounding waters has so far been inscribed in a logic of colonisation and conquering new territories in the name of national interest.

The recent elections in Poland show some startling trends. A narrowing of the political landscape has all but eliminated progressive voices from the Left, and the principles of solidarity and social justice, which once defined political struggle in Poland, seem to have been discarded in favour of strict individualism.

In what kind of world does the political artist work? Sociologist Saskia Sassen spoke at the first Life Hack of the art project Hacking Habitat. Her theme for the evening: invisibility. This concept was explored in connection to a range of ideas including expulsion, complexity and violence in the global economy.

The UK faces a housing crisis. It is this crisis, and the growing number of evictions that are mobilising people to campaign on housing. A group of young mothers fights back with direct action.

It was just the four of us: all women, Mediterranean, and “differently green.” The purpose of our trip was to better understand the inner workings of the newly elected Greek government, and to see how the Greek Greens were faring as junior partner in the Syriza government.

In Serbia, there is an increasing sense among many citizens that prior to democracy citizens life was better and people felt more secure. Apart from certain minimum standards such as holding elections, democracy in Serbia still has a long way to go. Now the question is, should we so easily give up on our hard-won freedom?

TTIP and the other bilateral agreements of its kind are part of a political power struggle about influence and profits. But who are the players and the main winners in the distribution poker? A historical analysis demonstrates that, when transparency and reliable information are absent, citizens are usually the ones who lose out.

Traditional theoretical approaches to conflicts are inoperative.

In spite of the similarities between their constitutional and social welfare institutions, Brazil receives little consideration from the EU as a mediator between the global North and the global South. It is time for a re-think.