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Cosmopolitanism, which is often defined as openness to other cultures and individuals, is significant for understanding processes of stratification in contemporary, globalised societies that are home to increasingly diverse populations. In this paper, we broaden the perspective on cosmopolitanism to include cultural, interpersonal, and political dimensions. We test the associations between these types of cosmopolitanism and three types of correlates: socio-demographic characteristics, personal exposure to other cultures, and exposure to other cultures via various media. We analyse data from nine European countries that differ in the characteristics of their population, cultural traditions, and political models. Results indicate that differences between respondents in the nine countries are better explained by individual characteristics than by country characteristics. Furthermore, it is mainly personal and mediated exposure to other cultures, rather than socio-demographic variables, that play a significant role in influencing respondents' cosmopolitan tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional Organizations (ROs) have become a central pillar of governance beyond the nation-state. This paper investigates why European states turned into architects of regional regime complexity: they have created and joined numerous different ROs and equipped them with a broad range of different policy competencies. Thereby, European states – some more than others – have increasingly duplicated identical policy competencies in multiple ROs. The phenomenon is puzzling as it is potentially costly and might undermine the effectiveness of regional cooperation especially if incompatible regional rules trigger non-compliance. Therefore, we ask why states differ in the extent to which they cover identical competencies in different ROs. Drawing on a unique dataset and analyzing cross-sectional temporal variation, we show that both indirect factors, such as late accessions and the number of states in Europe, as well as direct factors, such as state power and democracy, drive regional regime complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the policy of austerity in three European welfare regimes with differing levels of social spending and fiscal balance: Italy; Sweden; and the UK. In spite of significant material differences between the three countries, the paper begins by illustrating that there is ultimately convergence in their responses to the economic crisis. These welfare regimes have justified the terms of austerity by suggesting that economic and welfare reforms address questions of ‘need’, ‘fairness’ and ‘sustainability’. Contrary to dominant political and policy rationale, the paper demonstrates that austerity measures in each country fail to meet policy objectives given their own conceptions of social and distributive justice. The three welfare regimes lack cogent strategies to safeguard their financial sustainability and this results in a neo-liberal paradigm that compromises the ethical and internal coherence of austerity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper aims to analyse past European legacies of colonialism, Orientalism and racism and show their contemporary influence on European encounters with and discourses on the 'other'. By showing some examples of European deep and historical implications in many contemporary disputes 'between cultures', we claim that Europe thus fails to recognize its hypocrisy and is therefore not able to approach and solve its 'problems' with the 'other'. Indeed Europe created its 'problematical other'. The paper thus analyses and problematizes general assumptions about the Islamic headscarf issue and its assumed oppression of women, and understandings of minority and immigrant cultures as immanently violent, especially towards women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its elusiveness and undefined boundaries, policy-makers and pundits have strived to pin down what ‘Europe’ as a territorial project actually represents and where it might (and should) be going. Two of the most intriguing arguments refer to Europe as either a ‘super-state in the making’ or a ‘neo-medieval empire.’ These models are typically presented as either mutually exclusive or in tension with one another. In this paper, I argue that the European territorial project's current trajectory is actually characterized by a mix of the two models. Such hybrid form of governance can be defined as ‘neoterritorial’ since it is based on the modern principle according to which freedom can only flourish in a clearly demarcated political space. Yet, this enclosed political space does not necessarily require the modern nation state's entire legal and institutional paraphernalia, but can instead be based on a ‘pooling’ of sovereignty and a flexible institutional framework and be spread out over a larger and more heterogeneous area than the traditional nation state. This hybrid model is epitomized by the Schengen regime, the institutional arrangement governing the management of Europe's borders. Despite its ongoing internal tensions and the challenges it has faced over the years, this model has become—and it is likely to remain in the foreseeable future—an established presence in Europe's political landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]