Welfare and Social Issues

Finland has just launched a basic income experiment. How is it different to other models. A critical yet hopeful look at its design & purpose.

The prison in the age of neoliberalism is examined in this analysis by sociologist Loïc Wacquant.

Leader of the Polish Greens, Małgorzata Tracz, talks to Eliana Capretti from the European Green Party about the ‘Black Monday’ protests and the fight for abortion rights in Poland.

A broad coalition seems to be gathering pace in Ireland, and extending far beyond the country’s borders, calling for a reform of Ireland’s abortion laws – the most stringent in Europe. A courageous campaign combined with a shift in public attitudes could mean real change is finally on the horizon.

The question of the future of European integration became especially important after the “Leave” vote in the referendum on UK membership in the European Union. Do we need just better common institutions – or do we need a new vision, as Dutch author Dick Pels, suggests?

Since the crash of Polish President Lech Kaczyński’s plane in 2010, a period of renewed nationalism centred around Catholicism, conservatism, and an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality has taken hold in Poland. This wave of populism has led to an increase in division and violence.

What has transpired in Britain since the Leave campaign won the Brexit has only shown how easily the veneer of civility and conviviality can be peeled back to reveal the virulence of racism and xenophobia seething under the skin of British social life.

This spring students in Amsterdam occupied their university, sparking similar protests in many other cities from the UK, to Canada, to Montenegro. What was the cause of this unrest and how did the protest come about? A reconstruction.

Although the reality is often forgotten behind the acronym, the four letters of TTIP represent a huge transatlantic free trade agreement. How can such a complex issue as a free trade agreement bring out the masses?

In a rational world, security threats might boost European integration, given their cross-border nature. Today’s Europe, however, is different.