Welfare and Social Issues

Against the backdrop of the Pegida protests, politicians in Germany must finally recognise that Islamophobia is a form of racism. Unfortunately, most decision-makers in this country are still a long way off doing that, says Armin Langer, co-ordinator of the Salaam-Shalom initiative in the Berlin district of Neukölln.

In the protest movements that have emerged since the financial crisis, from Occupy in the US to the Arab Spring, social media has gained new significance as a method of communication, both between activists and as a means of bringing the message to the rest of the world. The protests which took hold in Turkey last year were no exception – but how has the situation developed since then, and how have the authorities responded?

Green parties face major challenges ahead. How can we finance welfare in the future? How do we strengthen the third sector and the public sector in many countries? How do we find ways to regulate the private welfare market? How much of the wealth can be managed by non-profit organisations or volunteer work (the church or the family?) These are among the questions that are discussed in a new report by GEF and its partners.

The UK’s new ‘Tarpaulin Revolution,’ led by a revived Occupy movement and featuring many Greens, hopes to capture the imaginations of people across Europe – in cities and countries also suffering the impacts of inequality, austerity and ‘democracy’ weighted to benefit the 1%.

The New Deal for Europe is a European Citizens’ Initiative supported by a coalition of social and political groups. It emerged as a response to the economic crisis, and seeks to build a solid employment and sustainable development plan for Europe by relying on federalist ideas and mechanisms to enhance solidarity in the EU.

One of the most interesting consequences of the Scottish independence referendum is likely to be revision of how the UK ensures the economic welfare of its most vulnerable citizens through its currently highly centralised social security system.

How can we explain the shift in the prevailing attitude among the leadership of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Trade Unions at the beginning of World War I? In the space of a few days, a position of fervent opposition was replaced by patriotic support for the government’s military ambitions, and the reasons behind this change remain the subject of debate.

An interview with Austrian Green MEP Ulrike Lunacek, who addresses LGBT issues and EU enlargement to the Eastern European countries.

An interview with German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht on his struggles for digital rights in the European Parliament.

An interview with Jean Lambert, MEP for the United Kingdom.