‘Social media’, market power and the health of democracy
With the whistle blown on Facebook, Congress must allocate ownership of personal data to the person—not the platform—to allow competitive providers to emerge.
Making lifelong learning a reality in the EU
There was a time when education and training were for life. But amid today’s social transformations only lifelong learning will do.
Why a new University of Labour?
As workers’ representatives face the challenges of digitalised work and fragmented workforces, a ‘University of Labour’ in Germany offers support.
Coming second in the game of life
‘We don’t want to decapitate the tall poppies,’ said Boris Johnson in July. Yet for Kate Pickett his ‘levelling up’ ambitions will necessitate flattening the whole social gradient.
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.
Is Europe socially fit for the ‘Fit for 55’ package?
The centrality of market mechanisms to the European Commission’s climate package poses big questions as to its effectiveness and distributional impact.
How to prevent a mental-health pandemic
The huge toll of Covid-19 on mental health highlights the need for public investment to tackle the vast reservoir of distress.
Lessons learnt from the pandemic for long-term care
After privatisation and austerity, long-term care needs to be restored to resilience and readiness for an ageing population.
Pushed over the cliff-edge
Kate Pickett argues the pandemic has not only massively affected public health but compounded the unhealthy effects of years of job insecurity.
International Public Service Day—a day of celebration, action and resistance
Strong public administrations and well-funded public services are needed to ‘build back better’ after the pandemic.
Public services and the common good
In these authoritarian times, defending and re-empowering public services is also defending democracy.
Child Guarantee—for most, but not all
The adoption of the European Child Guarantee is a big step forward. It will take another, however, to end institutional care.
A Europe free of elder abuse
The European Commission’s Green Paper on Ageing has a blindspot—elder abuse.
‘Danger money’ bungs will not quell labour unrest in health and social care
The concerns of health and care workers go well beyond the pandemic and pay, touching on their human dignity.
Workplace, public space: workers organising in the age of facial recognition
‘Surveillance capitalism’ is increasingly threatening workers’ collective action and the human right to public protest.
Can rental intermediation improve the right to housing in France?
‘Housing first’ has become good practice in ending homelessness, in various European countries, especially for those with complex needs.
Does it take a pandemic to relaunch European social dialogue?
One of the unwitting effects of the crisis has been to remake the case for dialogue between social partners to solve major problems.
Work harder: the Porto Social Summit’s call to Europe’s welfare states
Welfare states are having to run harder to stand still. They need to act in mutual support to win the race against inequality and poverty.
