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In the last decade, there have been numerous studies on the rise, characteristics, and consequences of the emergence of populist parties in Western liberal democracies. However, most analyses of European populist parties have focused on the right-wing populist parties. Although some scholars have made valuable efforts to understand left-wing populism in Europe, these studies have paid attention to their ideological-organizational idiosyncrasies or the characteristics of their electoral bases. This paper aims to fill the gap in the economic and political contexts in which Radical Left Populist Parties have achieved significant electoral results putting into practice a fsQCA analysis and examining their uneven electoral performance in Europe. Following some previous work applying QCA techniques, this paper tests the theory on the importance of economic and political factors. Findings indicate that the electoral performance of radical left populism cannot be explained in a univocal way, highlighting the crucial role of equifinality in understanding this political phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how practices of counter-terrorism (CT) have been perceived by legally-operating groups labelled 'extremist'. Taking the cases of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain (HTB) and Hizb ut-Tahrir Scandinavia (HTS), the paper explores how two branches of the same Islamic activist organisation have experienced CT through interviews with party members and activists. Using existing models of repression, the paper maps how counter-terrorism is perceived by activist groups, revealing new information on Hizb ut-Tahrir and providing a framework for understanding the interaction of security with groups problematised as 'extremist' within a widening 'securitised lens'. The paper finds that, whilst there are similarities in how CT has been articulated in Britain and Denmark, it has impacted on HTB and HTS differently, creating different strategies of response. In tracking these, we highlight the prominent role played by civil society actors in the UK in creating a hostile environment for Islamic activist groups. By using mechanistic models of repression, we conceptualise the impact of counter-terrorism and newer patterns of countering violent extremism (CVE) on contentious activist organisations at a moment when the so-called 'risk' of extremism is increasingly being conceptualised and responded to throughout Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Mobility is one of the buzzwords in political discourse regarding solutions for youth unemployment in times of crisis. Young Spaniards are seen to be leaving en masse. However, there is no statistical basis to confirm this hypothesis, especially regarding the Schengen Area, and little is known about the predisposition of highly skilled young people to move abroad. This paper answers the research questions: (1) How many university students consider emigrating?; (2) What are their profiles?; (3) What are their motivations and expectations?; and (4) Where do they want to go? Our results were obtained through an online survey on Catalan university students and contrasted with data from different Catalan youth services. Our results show a high predisposition to emigrate for temporary stays. The EU, in particular the UK, is the favourite destination; however, this situation could change drastically with Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

What do we refer to when we talk about European borders? What, for that matter, do we mean when we talk about borders more generally? Asking the question ‘where are Europe’s new borders’ orients researchers to consider what important European bordering currently looks like, where these often contradictory bordering processes can be found and the implications of this bordering on the way we think about Europe more generally and its place in the world. At the same time, looking for new borders necessarily facilitates fresh insights into bordering more generally, particularly in relation to their symbolic importance/function/meaning, how they continually transform and how they are maintained in novel and less obvious or immediate ways. This introduction, and indeed special issue, frames and advances the general debate by staking a claim for the need to question the established importance of some European borders over others. To do this, we must continually offer multiple frames of reference upon which to understand and deconstruct Europe and European bordering (a broad approach reflected more specifically by the individual contributions). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

In 1957, European overseas territories became associated with the Common Market. Whereas this association was specifically demanded by France and Belgium, the United Kingdom refused to join the European Economic Community (EEC) precisely because of its Commonwealth. Paradoxically however, Britain had participated in post-war debates over Europe/Empire co-operation and had influenced the outcome of the final discussions. This article argues that while Britain did not join the EEC, the ideas of the British members of the transnational European League for Economic Co-operation (ELEC), and the Commonwealth policy developed by Britain, would inspire European countries and play a major role in shaping the Europe/Empire co-operation policy as it developed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Estonia and Portugal are small states located at opposite geographical fringes of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This article analyses how their NATO and EU memberships matter in escaping the anathema of periphery. We argue that the two countries can be comparable with each other because they share an experience of post-authoritarian democratization, a liminal geographic location with the ensuing geopolitical and security challenges. Our analysis is premised upon two correlative concepts of small states and marginality, whose meanings vary from geopolitical reasoning to constructivist accounts that put the emphasis on the relative notion of size as a product of self-perception. However, both approaches share at least one common point: 'by joining international organizations, small states increase their capacity to be influential', which is a central point in Noel Parker's conceptualization of the phenomenon of marginality. Arguably, small states can positively use their non-central location by aspiring to belong to political and security core(s) through policies of institutional inclusion, and by influencing and reshaping the core(s). Building on these arguments, we look at peripheral positions as negative and marginality as positive for dynamics/strategies of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introduction to the special issue, we present the general lines of particularistic tendencies in citizenship policies in Europe. Norms that establish special treatments for specific groups of people are increasingly important in the citizenship laws of European countries, but remain understudied in literature. We summarize the development of comparative citizenship legislation research in Europe and the social relevance of formal citizenship in contemporary societies, in order to contextualize the significance of particularistic tendencies in this field. We further underline how different definitions of ‘Europe’ (European Union, Council of Europe, Schengen Area, specific regional groupings of countries) are relevant for the study of citizenship legislation. Finally, we introduce the articles of the special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on one of the dominant interpretations of European integration, namely the reconciliation narrative that defines European integration as a peacebuilding process. The study is divided into three main parts. The first clarifies the various conceptions of reconciliation as a political process. The second examines the reconciliation narrative as a discourse. The analysis of the references made by EU representatives shows that this narrative can be either backward-looking (anex postrationalisation of ‘what Europe was’) or future-oriented (a description of ‘what Europe should be’). The third part emphasises the reconciliation narrative as a guideline for action in regions as diverse as the Balkans, East Asia, the African Great Lakes and the Middle East. The aim of this article is to determine whether the EU experience, captured by the reconciliation narrative, can – and should – be replicated. Its main conclusion concerns the need for a polyphonic attitude within the EU, and the need for a modest attitude towards third parties, in terms of both timing and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant journeys are often conceived as linear movement from a sending country to a receiving country. However, a recent work suggests that the notion of linear migrant journeys is a misrepresentation. I argue that European regulations that standardise immigration policy around a common goal of ‘burden-sharing’ such as the Dublin II Regulation interact with the journeys of migrants to create paths that are not linear, circular or guided solely by intent. Rather migrant journeys can be conceived as a series of negotiations with state policies that shape experiences, choices and destinations through constructions of illegality. Mobility becomes an on-going condition rather than a temporary one. Borders then are reproduced as phenomenological rather than physical. I illustrate my argument through an ethnographic case study of a Sudanese man seeking to join his wife and child who had filed an asylum application in France. He interacts with the borders of Europe throughout his journey; however, as he becomes known as an undocumented migrant he moves further from the possibility of entering Europe with immigration status despite being within the territorial boundaries. Conversely, as his physical proximity to Europe increases and is established, his legal proximity decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inspired by World Society scholarship, I use examples from the Romanian educational sphere to examine Europeanization in relation with worldwide developments. Instead of seeing Europeanization broadly as the process of becoming more ‘European’ (an approach that encounters the difficulty of defining ‘Europe’), or narrowly as a process of ‘EU-ization’ (an approach that suffers from EU-centric blindness to the rest of the world), I propose to define Europeanization as a process of institutionalization of world culture that is particularly visible in post-socialist contexts characterized by an emergence from relative totalitarian isolation. The main finding presented here is an increasing cosmopolitanization of the nation emerging from the way in which the category ‘Europe’ permeates schooled content: the nation is tamed down through discursive association with Europe (asignificant other) rather than through elimination or discreditation. By expressing educational scripts that legitimize it as a nation-state in the post-1945 redefined sense of the term, Romania's compulsory education displays signs of becoming more like the rest of the world rather than more like ‘Europe’. Europeanization, in this sense, exemplifies less the goal of catching up with Europe or of joining the EU and more the means to insert Romania into world society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Europe's leaders battle to solve the Eurozone debt crisis, Europe's ‘communication deficit’ becomes ever more pertinent. So does the role of national media, which, in the case of Britain, are often accused of fuelling Euroscepticism among the public. This study aims to contribute to this debate and explore the UK media's performance in the early stages of the Greek financial crisis. We address how the British press makes sense of Europe through an issue that pertains in a small economy but entails risks for the whole of Europe; and we ask to what extent this coverage conforms to the allegation that European politics is portrayed through domesticised media frames and polemical language. Although our findings validate existing concerns pertaining to journalists' professional practices that shape the reporting of Europe, they also show evidence of an effort made by British newspapers—albeit mostly broadsheets—to overcome stereotypical interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the dangerous, indeed poisonous, nature of the current debates on immigration and multiculturalism in today's ‘omniphobic’ Europe, plagued not only by a severe economic crisis, but also a more general normative crisis, a ‘crisis of values’ so to speak, which has been consistently overlooked or manipulated by politicians and academics alike, or reduced to an epiphenomenon bound to disappear when financial balances are restored. I will argue in this context that nationalism (in some cases even outright racism) is key to understanding this crisis, a catalyst acting either as a cause or a symptom, and almost always as a profound source of legitimacy. Following a brief critique of the literature on the purported ‘death’ of multiculturalism—the academic side of the same coin—the article concludes by sketching the normative contours of an alternative model of multiculturalism, one that stresses the importance of the ideas of recognition, redistribution and participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the interaction between Europeanization and regionalization in France, as reflected in recent rail transport reform, through which responsibility for the organization and funding of regional rail passenger services, hitherto exercised on behalf and under the authority of the central state by the national rail company, has been transferred to regional councils. The evidence presented here suggests that the underlying logic of policy change has been provided by regional input into norms and substance, generating a highly pluralistic pattern of Europeanization from below. Significant convergence may nonetheless be observed in the regions' commitment to the regional rail system as a public service and their resistance to pressures in the direction of economic neo-liberalism. Core residual features of the traditional French rail service ideology have been incorporated into distinctive regional strategies, bringing together elements of regional and national path dependency in a selective process of Europeanization through regionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the development of television in Europe in the context of commercialization and the complex global-local nexus defining contemporary cultural spheres. It is argued that since the mid 1980s the trajectory of European television, notwithstanding local particularities, has been defined by an underlying trend towards transnationalization and approximation. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that this also includes audiovisual content, the most contended area of debate. Since the mid 1990s both the success of local productions across channels and continuous effort by international television channels to localize their offerings have been used to contest the transnationalization of television across Europe. This view is disputed, with trends in entertainment programming being used to reveal the content, together with ownership structures and channel offerings, is increasingly shared and assimilated across borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]