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Society


Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher. We use the values of freedom, sustainability and equality as the foundation on which we examine society’s most pressing challenges. We are committed to publishing cutting-edge thinking and new ideas from the most thought-provoking people. This archive page brings together Social Europe articles on society.

European social dialogue—can it be revived?

Darragh Golden 25th October 2021

The European Court of Justice has affirmed that agreements arising from European social dialogue need not be implemented by the EU institutions.

To end poverty, invest in children

Olivier De Schutter 20th October 2021

The author presents a report today to the UN General Assembly on the persistence of poverty, following dialogues with people in poverty around the world.

‘Social media’, market power and the health of democracy

Piergiuseppe Fortunato 19th October 2021

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

Sofia Fernandes and Klervi Kerneïs 14th October 2021

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?

Tobias Söchtig 12th October 2021

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

Kate Pickett 27th September 2021

‘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

Guy Standing 7th September 2021

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

Kate Holman 29th July 2021

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

Susanne Wixforth and Lukas Wiehler 21st July 2021

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

Hina Jilani 20th July 2021

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?

Béla Galgóczi 19th July 2021

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

María José Carmona 8th July 2021

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

Adam Rogalewski 6th July 2021

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 28th June 2021

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

Jan Willem Goudriaan 23rd June 2021

Strong public administrations and well-funded public services are needed to ‘build back better’ after the pandemic.

Public services and the common good

Rosa Pavanelli and Magdalena Sepúlveda 23rd June 2021

In these authoritarian times, defending and re-empowering public services is also defending democracy.

Child Guarantee—for most, but not all

Ally Dunhill and Enrico Paolo Tormen 21st June 2021

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

Estelle Huchet and Borja Arrue-Astrain 16th June 2021

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

Kurt Vandaele 10th June 2021

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

Oliver Roethig and Diego Naranjo 2nd June 2021

‘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?

Sara Saidi 28th May 2021

‘Housing first’ has become good practice in ending homelessness, in various European countries, especially for those with complex needs.

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