Democracy

The European Union today is witnessing an ideological battle over its economy and politics. A cycle of austerity, fuelled by short-sightedness and irrationality, is creating a major setback for European integration and driving disillusioned citizens to turn away from the European project in even greater numbers. While dissenting voices and visions are silenced, this amounts to an attack on democracy and solidarity. An interview with Mar Garcia Sanz and Ska Keller.

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.

Instead of bringing regional officials to Brussels, the EU needs to bring Brussels to the regions. Local and regional bodies need to debate EU issues at home. Heather Grabbe and Stefan Lehne propose a solution to narrow the distance between the EU and the individual.

The idea of a European Community, based on a promise of shared peace and prosperity, was dealt a strong blow this summer, in a way that we couldn’t have expected even months before.

There are at least 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, and some of them know the EU institutions better than the institutions know themselves, partly because they are themselves former EU officials.

Paul Mason, economics correspondent for the UK’s Channel Four news, argues in his new book Post-Capitalism that capitalism is failing and will be replaced by a new system. Everyone should read this provocative and inspiring account of how, if we want to, we can transform our present economy to one based on sharing, democracy and participation.

Almost three months after the 2015 General Election, a feeling of disbelief at the Conservative majority result remains afresh in the UK. The results, which were a far cry from the outcome predicted by the polls in the run-up to the vote, have given rise to a heated debate about the system of voting in the UK, and calls for a more proportional system, though this transition remains an uphill struggle.

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?

Bashir Ahmad Fatehi has been busy with cultural and educational projects since completing post-graduate work in political science. Here he gives his impressions of the political scene in post-Taliban Afghanistan, the challenges which lie ahead and the important role of young politicians in the prospects for a stable and vibrant future.

Was Marx an environmental activist before the term even existed? According to John Bellamy Foster and Paul Burkett, he was. They claim the work of Karl Marx offers an insight into the relationship between the current ecological crisis and the historical crisis of capitalism.