Sheri Berman argues that post-communist left embrace of economic as well as political liberalism allowed populists to target the latter.
Most popular
Amazon no longer absorbs carbon—has the world reached the point of no return?
The news that the Amazon rainforest is no longer a carbon sink puts a further big question-mark against the EU-Mercosur trade deal.
ECB strategy review: the mountain has given birth to a mouse
Peter Bofinger argues that the ECB strategy review represents a missed opportunity.
Climate crisis offers way out of monetary orthodoxy
The ECB’s strategy review, Adam Tooze writes, says more by its silences than its statements.
Politics
Despite all the international attention, Afghan refugees are not welcome
Nobody really knows what prospects await Afghan refugees when countries have yet to see human rights as rights for all humans.
Catalonia: a fraught dialogue begins
The leaders of the Spanish government and that in Catalonia have met across the table—but the gap between them remains large.
How democracy can win again
Democratic erosion in Hungary is symptomatic of structural problems afflicting most democracies, even threatening the future of civilisation.
Young people and planetary justice
Ultimately, resolving the collective-action dilemma of preserving a liveable planet will require a UN ‘constitution of the Earth’.
Economy
Minimum-wage directive: the case for a ‘social partners option’
Adding a ‘social partners option’ to the minimum-wage directive could unblock negotiations while protecting well-functioning collective bargaining systems.
Wellbeing at work—it’s time to up the ante
The new EU health-and-safety strategy risks being a missed opportunity to address workplace mental health and wellbeing.
Platforms put a spoke in the wheels of Spain’s ‘riders’ law’
The Ley de Riders, recognising delivery riders as employees, is now a reality. But is it a game-changer?
Europe gets back to the work … of getting people to work
The notion that active-labour-market policies are the solution to unemployment has long been an act of faith. That’s the problem.
Society
Rescuing the concept of precarity
The cause of the precariat isn’t helped by fuzzy thinking about who and what it is.
The story of European migration, in one tragedy
As the 65th anniversary of the Marcinelle mining disaster looms, has Europe forgotten its lesson, of social solidarity amid diversity?
A chance for a social future
Can the Conference on the Future of Europe be a turning point from a mere economic union to one of social rights?
The power of civil society in a post-pandemic world
A vibrant civil society is essential to the foundations of democracy—a lesson especially important when those seem under siege.
Ecology
Norway’s oil and money up for grabs in the coming election
Norway’s electorate has an existential choice to face about its Oil Fund, associated with domestic prosperity but looming climate catastrophe.
Not seeing the wood for the trees—the EU’s environmental blunder
Supporting a conversion to wood burning has unwittingly incentivised power plants to increase greenhouse gases.
National egoism versus planetary responsibility
Tackling the climate crisis is fundamentally incompatible with our understanding of sovereignty.
Climate change: labour’s neglected role
The Paris Agreement’s goals can not be fulfilled if neoliberalism prevails—which means only labour’s participation can bring success.
