Social Movements

An interview with the philosopher, writer and activist, Lieven De Cauter.

Guerrilla gardening and local consumer-producer networks are redefining life in today’s Greek cities. While the crisis has shifted politicians’ attention away from the climate, “transition and recovery movements” work hard to keep the environment on the agenda.

What happened after the Gezi protests ended? Ever since the barricades were dismantled, the burnt out buses removed, and the world’s attention moved on to protests and unrest elsewhere, Istanbul seems to have become quiet.

The proposed airport project at Notre-Dame-des-Landes has become a landmark in the fight against useless mega projects. The so called “zadists”, who are fighting to defend the territory, became a symbol of those in search of another, fairer and humane world. Utopians with their feet on the ground.

The effective grassroots campaigning of Scottish communities, who have fought the Scottish government and unconventional gas companies, is an inspiring story for those across the UK and the rest of Europe.

Much to the surprise of everyone, the strongest protests in Romania’s late transition were related to environmental destruction.

In an interview with GEJ, Hungarian sociologist Agnes Gagyi explains why struggles differ from East to West, and why the educated middle class has become so prominent in today’s movements.

Introduction by the Editorial Board

Throughout his time in the European Parliament, Philippe Lamberts has been campaigning and working towards a fairer and more human system of financial regulation for the EU. Nevertheless, it appears the financial orthodoxy is still calling the shots in Europe. With the new parliament term underway, he gives his assessment of the progress made so far, and the outlook for the future.

After the social and economic transformation in 1989 Polish cities fell into chaos and decline. Many of them suffered from closures of industrial facilities, and crime was on the rise. After the EU accession in 2004, authorities decided to take use of the stream of money coming from the Union. The problem was that it came with a cost…