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My essay illuminates the plights of those who live on the southern shore of the Mediterranean under the antagonistic forces of globalisation, according to which the free movement of capital between Europe and North Africa is matched by a criminalisation of immigrants from the southern bank. My analysis of the discrepancy between the borderless economics and the bordered movement of people explores the representation of clandestine immigration in Fawzi Mellah's Clandestin en Méditerranée/Clandestine in the Mediterranean (2000), which depicts illicit passages from North Africa to Europe. Criticising European democracies' containment of the heralded dynamism of the global age and their diffusion of a discourse feeding fear about migrants, I show that globalisation has turned into a 'globalization of punitiveness' [Barker, Vanessa. 2012. 'Global Mobility and Penal Order: Criminalizing Migration, A View from Europe.' Sociology Compass 6 (2): 113–121]. My exploration of the migrants featured in the text demonstrates that globalisation's failure to achieve the spatial decentralisation ideal on which it has based its flat-planet premise makes undocumented immigration the last resort of those to whom the Schengen Area closes its borders. My spatial analysis of the paperless migratory enterprise reads the irregular crossing as an attempt to construct defiant identities that resist the global structure of domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Europe and globally. The pandemic affects both individuals and the broader society across many domains, including physical and psychological health, the economy and general welfare. The measures taken to counteract the pandemic have significantly altered daily life and, along with the threat of contracting the coronavirus and uncertainties surrounding future developments, created a complex system of stressors with a negative impact on public mental health. This paper aims to outline the ESTSS strategy to address mental health issues related to COVID-19 and focuses on (1) trauma-informed policies, (2) capacity building, (3) collaborative research and (4) knowledge-exchange. To facilitate implementation of a trauma-informed approach and appropriate measures, ESTSS has developed a toolkit of recommendations on mental health and psychosocial assistance to be provided during the different phases of crisis and its aftermath. To promote capacity building, ESTSS offers a certification programme based on a curriculum in psychotraumatology and corresponding on-line training to the European community of mental health professionals. To assure evidence-based approaches and methods tailored to current circumstances, ESTSS has initiated a pan-European research project with international cooperation aimed at studying the mental health consequences of the pandemic, with a focus on psychological trauma and other stress-related reactions. To foster knowledge-exchange, the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT), the official journal of ESTSS, is publishing a special issue on COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines imaginative geographies of forced migration and refugee settlement in a BBC radio series that follows and gives voice to a Syrian family as they journey to Europe. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2015 and 2017, the episodes have since been repackaged as a podcast on BBC Sounds. The paper answers Horton's (2019) call for greater engagement with media and popular culture by foregrounding radio as an understudied medium with the capacity to shape listeners' geographical imaginations. It explores how this series, presented by Manveen Rana, broke new ground through its journalistic-ethnographic form, eyewitness reporting and amplification of refugee voices, and analyses how two imaginative geographies of journey and settlement are constructed through sounds and the spoken word. The paper concludes by theorising radio as a slow medium and demonstrating how Rana's journalism pushes beyond Toal's (1996, p. 171) 'anti-geopolitical eye' to evidence an anti-geopolitical ear: that is to say, Rana encourages a way of listening to Europe's migration 'crisis' that disrupts discursive framings of refugees as 'victims' or 'threats' by recasting the family as tangible and relatable human beings. This finding has significant implications for media reporting on migration and scholarship on journalistic storytelling and the construction of geographical imaginations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we think about European integration practices, we rarely consider how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new Space Age, with the European rocket program Ariane being at the centre of many debates about the future of Europe in space. Controversies about the future of the jointly built and heavily subsidised rocket entangle questions of innovation, in/security, and geopolitical power constellations. This paper traces which kind of space futures are projected onto and realised through Ariane, how the current geopolitical dynamics in the accelerating New Space Age are co-constitutive of how European strategic autonomy is envisioned, and how these futures relate to ideals and tensions of European integration. Mobilising work in science and technology studies (STS) on sociotechnical imaginaries and insights from the emerging social studies of outer space (SSOS), the paper offers unique and timely insights into how future visions of space shape forms of European collaboration in the present and how, conversely, geopolitical relations on Earth shape how and by whom these futures are imagined. The empirical part builds on two years of fieldwork in the European space sector, including interviews and participant observation. It presents three vignettes that highlight different aspects of strategic autonomy. The vignettes concern (1) the broader geopolitical dimension of the European rocket programme, (2) the issue of dual-use and the blurring of boundaries between civilian and military innovation, and (3) European technopolitical integration and the question of power in changing actor configurations. It is argued that the current emphasis on strategic autonomy in the European context represents a significant transformation of the role of space for European (security) integration and direct response to both the commercialisation and the securitisation of space. Moreover, it is shown how the securitisation of (access to) outer space has become a vital force to spur innovation – channelling resources, marshalling funds, and creating political legitimacy, entangling political economies of innovation with geopolitical transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, several private and political cloud initiatives emerged in Europe. This paper demonstrates how the sociotechnical imaginaries of three European cloud projects reveal a performative coupling of innovation and political ideas of control, territoriality and sovereignty. I ascertain three elements of the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries (innovation, boundary making and material properties) guiding the empirical analysis. Taking technology in the making and its role in (geo)politics seriously, this paper shows how imaginaries shape and interact with current geostrategic and political developments in Europe. The analysis of Microsoft's cloud, Bundescloud and GAIA-X reveals that rising privacy and data security issues have been integrated into cloud imaginaries that traditionally highlight progress and innovation. More specifically, state actors and cloud providers link and sometimes merge allegedly opposing technological aspects of innovation and politicised ideas of control such as digital sovereignty. This shift constitutes a move towards erecting political borders and localising IT within a global infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of lack of control, a diffuse attitude closely associated with emotions, on support for radical populist parties of the left and right. Lack of control is the perception of not having control over one's own life. Although this is not political per se, it is hypothesized that underlying emotions and associated feelings shape political preferences. We argue that as populist parties offer a clear distinction between in – and out-group and promise order, less complexity, as well as economic protection for ordinary people, they have a greater appeal to such citizens. In doing so, the paper tests three hypotheses. The findings of two cross-country analyses carried out with data of the European Values Study 2017 lend empirical support for the theoretical arguments made. The two pooled analyses of 12 radical right populist parties and six radical left populist parties yield that lack of control increases support for radical populist parties of both the left and the right. An examination of interaction effects suggests that sensing a lack of control tends to have a reinforcing effect on voters with nativist attitudes in support of RRPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the analysis of the location of investments in theEuropean pulp and paper industry. Impact of raw material prices;Importance of the agglomeration coefficient indicated the power ofsunk costs; Comparison of the economic significance of changes inthe costs of input factors with changes in the market size.

The lack of accessibility to the information associated with European built heritage is a significant factor of exclusion that precludes many European citizens from appropriating a shared cultural heritage. Nowadays, three-dimensional scanning, modelling, and rendering technologies provide many highly effective tools to virtually access the available digital heritage of many European buildings in different historical periods through images, videos, texts, libraries, or specific databases of information associated with historical-scientific knowledge. However, several factors, such as the availability of human, economic, and technical resources, the heterogeneity of the standards and the lack of regulations, still hinder the possibility of translating data into usable content for a wider audience and the chances of creating collaboration between professional experts and scholars. Considering that, the paper focuses on defining the User Experience (UX) of INCEPTION's web platform, a European-funded multidisciplinary research project that has adopted new web technologies to develop open-source three-dimensional models of cultural heritage buildings for digital architectural conservation. The paper evaluates the importance of adopting a User-Centred Design (UCD) approach and involving stakeholders and end-users throughout the design development process, as they actively contributed to fostering more accessibility and inclusiveness for the final INCEPTION's web configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union has made the development of a circular economy one of the central ambitions of its Green Deal, in which plastics are a defined priority. Current policies, however, have drawn criticism that the narrow focus on techno-innovation opportunities and economic growth falls short of addressing multifaceted socio-ecological challenges, overlooks trade-offs between proposed solutions, and conceals conflicts of interest among different actors. This paper contributes to opening-up the critical political debate on the circular plastics economy using discourse analysis. Looking at how arguments are framed, which priorities are defined, and how actors take positions, we identify three circular plastics economy discourses in Europe: 'Plastic fantastic' (material-focused), 'Circular economy will fly us to the moon' (plastics economy-focused), and 'Even plastic flowers are dead in this system' (socio-ecological systems-focused). Our paper demonstrates that the circular plastics economy is inherently political and is actively imagined, built, and created through discursive mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanity is vividly witnessing the loss of life, the massive destruction, and human rights violations due to new authoritarian regimes and protracted wars that have intensified in the last few decades, particularly in countries of the Global South. Such conflictual situations have also resulted in devastating attacks against academic institutions and values and, in turn, the displacement of scholars, mainly to neighbouring countries and to Europe. In a pressing situation involving the radical disruption of scientists' social and academic lives in their homelands, international support networks, the history of which goes back to the 1920s, could quickly respond to the scholars' urgent needs. This paper analyzes the impacts of this recent migration flow of scholars on 'academic humanitarianism' in Europe, which is a form of humanitarianism and a regime of governing that emerged at the intersection of humanitarianism and academia. While analyzing the changing nature of this regime, the paper focuses on governing discourses, technologies, and strategies of the following organisations: Cara (UK), PSI (Germany), and PAUSE (France). It concludes that the flow of scholars from the countries of the Global South to Europe has resulted in important changes in their humanitarian approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the changing nature of pulp and paper trade patterns within the European Community as the pulp and paper industry responded to increasing global competition between the years 1960 and 1985. Internationalization of the industry during the 1980s; Specialization in the trade of individual pulp and paper products between European member states; Grubel and Lloyd's index.

Informed by existing gaps in the research of elder abuse and neglect (EAN) outcomes and very limited knowledge from Central-European cultural contexts, this paper analyzes the link between domestic-based EAN and three measures of well-being, namely subjective loneliness, sense of control over one's life, and a broader outlook on life. To do this, we used recently (2022) collected EAN survey fielded among home-dwelling residents of the Czech Republic aged 65 +. The results show that there is a clear relationship between EAN and these selected outcomes. Controlling for several sets of potential modifying or confounding factors further indicates that this relationship is substantial and direct, rather than weak and indirect. Among controls, only variables related to disadvantage (health, income, dependency, history of abuse) partly account for the link between EAN and its outcomes due to their relation to both heightened risk of EAN and lower well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does growing reliance on private military and security companies (PMSCs) lead to the re-configuration of the state as a security and defence actor in Europe? Building on the multiple-networks-approach in organisation theory (Padgett and Powell), the current paper develops an analytical approach for studying the rise of new organizational forms in interstitial spaces via mechanisms including extension and differentiation; fusion and hybridity; transposition and refunctionality; and multivocality. The empirical analysis focuses on the rules and practices of Vesper Group - a PMSC working closely with the Swedish government. Several findings are reported. First, a new organizational form seems to be emerging as a result of the ongoing multiple network dynamics – national defence entrepreneurial firm. This is a type of a firm different from mainstream PMSCs in that it is owned by venture capital companies from their home state and also in that it is closely associated with its respective state in terms of its personnel policies, expertise and operational goals and scope. Second, the case of Sweden's Vesper Group and its cooperation with the Swedish government indicates that some EU member states may also be in the process of structural and institutional mutation as providers of defence and crisis management capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to current debates on counterpublics and the applicability of the concept to various ideological contexts with a long-term historical perspective on structural changes in media and politics. It analyses problems of theory formation, offers an alternative approach and places current upheavals in the context of previous changes. Based on a literature review of current research in view of the increasing importance of right-wing actors' online communication, a shift in theory is identified. On the one hand, theories of hegemony are expanded to describe alleged exclusions and, on the other hand, by emphasising the discursive construction of counterpublics, actors' claims and perceptions are adopted as analytical criteria. As an alternative to approaches that focus on discursive construction of actual or alleged exclusions, this conceptual article presents a definition of counterpublics as opposed to structures of (hybrid) media systems and offers a framework to examine ideas and practices of counterpublics derived from classical approaches of counterpublics and adaptations based on findings of communication and media research. A sketch of transformations in communication history in the US and Europe from press under feudal rule to diversifications in hybrid media systems in liberal democracies is used to illustrate the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judicial and political power are inextricably linked, but at this point in time that link seems more important, more pervasive, and more fragile than ever before. Courts are now under stress in many, even consolidated, democratic countries, becoming one of the most stimulating topics for understanding European politics. Indeed, bringing Courts back to the centre of political analysis is a privileged perspective for understanding how and why democracies change. By highlighting the characteristics of the complex political context of conflicting actors, institutions and political processes, this special issue of European Politics and Society reveals the different dynamics and patterns of the role of Courts in contemporary European politics. This paper presents the phenomenon of 'Courts under stress' and the related research questions. In addition, it introduces the articles that make up this special issue, which are indicative of the maturation of Courts as a crucial topic in European political science. Indeed, each article emphasizes different aspects of their role, bringing out new perspectives and complementary theoretical approaches and methodologies, thereby advancing comparative studies of judicial behaviour and constitutional jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No detailed account is necessary for tracing the historical background of several football clubs and national football teams in Europe. While certainly not rejecting the obvious merits in detailing football's history at local and national level, it is of equal importance to identify that specific, but often undefined, element that so elaborately encapsulates the essence of any given football team in a profoundly symbolic manner. While also addressing concepts denoting to political culture, political symbolism, and political identity, this paper examines the often-ignored finer details of a team's crest, also decorating the sport shirt of football players, since the association between football fans and the iconic crest of the club and nation they support unreservedly are an integral part of their distinct football identity. The identity of a football team is effortlessly illustrated on its crest, thus succinctly expressing an abundance of historical and cultural evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European defence policy offers opportunities for spending more and better where better achieves more from existing resources. Increased defence spending needs to be justified by the threats to Europe which have to be identified and defined. Higher defence expenditure usually focuses on inputs rather than final outputs in the form of greater peace, protection, security and the safety of a nation's citizens. The task is to show the opportunities for applying economic analysis to the complexities of European defence policy and collaborative defence projects. Economic efficiency criteria identify the contribution of final outputs, substitution and competition to the formulation of European defence policy, but the final outcomes are likely to be determined by military-political factors rather than economic efficiency criteria. The paper provides a critique of European defence policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many European cities, railway stations have become urban hubs in which a variety of functions and uses are focused. These include retail, cafés, offices and housing. They are often also complemented by adjacent amenity open space, in both hard and soft landscaping, alongside a broader provision for other modes, such as public transport, walking and cycling. In this sense, large-scale transport hubs resemble small-scale city centres and, like other urban centres, the public space in stations should meet the needs of a wide range of users. The design and management of railway stations is highly complex and the risk of such nodes failing as quality public spaces is significant. In addition, railway stations play a pivotal role in encouraging public transport use and they have the potential to contribute to a modal shift from more polluting transport modes. We argue that the design and management of such spaces is a key variable in the modal choices many travellers make. Based on empirical research across Europe, this paper presents a set of indicators for assessing the quality of railway stations and their adjacent areas and summarizes our research findings to increase the attractiveness of rail journeys through enhanced public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a Polanyian frame to place the plight of Roma in Europe in the context of an age of crisis, as evidenced by faltering neoliberal economies and a corresponding rise in xenophobia and extreme manifestations of nationalism. The situation of the Roma remains precarious, a situation exacerbated by the 2008 economic crises and the COVID-pandemic. Despite a number of social inclusion measures in recent decades, at the national and European level which target the Roma, Roma exclusion remains a serious challenge. The paper assesses why previous policy regimes failed but also reflects on what is the way forward in terms of inclusive policy frameworks. The article seeks to provide some answers to these questions with a vision of a Polanyian countermovement in the form of a New Social Europe predicated on redistribution, recognition and community action but also a re-envisioning of integration and transformative change in structural and cultural terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to shed light on the link between 'onward migration' and 'onward precarity' as an experience of continuous precariousness by paying attention to crisis/post-crisis contexts and how these contexts have led to precarity becoming structurally embedded in migrant labour markets in Europe. Onward migration studies have centrally focused on crisis contexts, but very little attention has been paid to post-crisis contexts. Thus, this article contributes to complementing the previous research on onward migration and onward precarity. The paper follows a qualitative and multi-sited approach based on in-depth interviews and discussion groups with Latin American migrants living in Madrid, Lisbon, and London. Our empirical analysis elucidates that labour mobility and onward migration are embedded in intersectional dynamics of exclusion which entail a continuous experience of multifaceted precarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to advance the state of knowledge related to innovation and philanthropy, by exploring the emerging field of 'participatory grantmaking' (PGM) through the lens of innovation literature. While there are increasing amounts of European and global grantmakers utilizing more participatory methodologies in their grantmaking as a means to move power and increase the collective ability to create social good, there is yet to be any literature specifically exploring the links between these two fields. This conceptual paper, therefore, uses a broad reading of innovation literature to argue that it is most fruitful to consider PGM as innovation within four modalities: as a form of social innovation, process innovation, both radical and incremental innovation, and user-driven innovation. The paper ultimately finds that user-driven innovation (and in particular co-creation / co-production as a strategy to user-driven innovation) may provide the best examples of theory and practical relevance for those utilizing PGM as a means to democratize philanthropy in Europe and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction of the special issue on 'Global Challenges for Developmental Psychology' argues that although developmental science is international, a European perspective is important, for at least three reasons: developmental psychology stems from Europe, there are specific themes and issues within Europe that ask for evidence-based solutions, and research in Europe with its many languages and fault-lines can be exemplary for global research. Global challenges are asking for future-oriented, cooperative, and collective efforts. Futureorientation can be found within the papers of this special issue on two levels: (1) when future developments guide the choice of research topics, and (2) when children need to be prepared for the future. The first level describes to which future challenges researchers aim to contribute knowledge, e.g., when investigating climate change, social inequalities, or digital technologies. On the second-level researchers aim to develop means to prepare children for a positive future, e.g., by fostering democratic and political competencies, by understanding children's rights, by offering interventions to prevent bullying, or by stimulating school engagement. Tackling global challenges also asks for cooperative and collective efforts. This implies that research should be considered as teamwork. The papers in this issue offer very nice examples of precisely that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the future challenges of strategic spatial planning in Europe in the coming decades. The paper argues that one of the core challenges for strategic spatial planning is to regain its political legitimacy. Strategic spatial planning has increasingly lost its political support after the global financial crisis in 2007–2008 and a decade of austerity policies. Strategic spatial planning must make itself relevant again by addressing the most prominent challenges for contemporary urban areas, such as the current energy crisis. The energy crisis has demonstrated the need for an even faster transition to renewable energy sources, which requires large areas for energy infrastructures on land. The paper argues that strategic spatial planning could play an important future role in supporting the sustainable energy transition by identifying appropriate spaces of production and building support for such production facilities among local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the political origins of diverse peripheral growth models in Europe, focusing on debt-based consumption-led growth model in Southern Europe and FDI-based export-led growth model in Central and Eastern Europe. Contrary to existing approaches that attribute this East-South divergence to their geographic position and systemic features of European monetary integration, the paper argues that these growth models stem from different national and EU-level policy responses to the challenge of core-periphery market integration. While the Southern states sought to protect domestic firms, allowing for, or even directly contributing to deindustrialisation in the face of competition with the European core economies, Central and East European states aimed to preserve their industrial legacy even at the expense of FDI-dependency. These policy responses were, in turn, shaped by distinct patterns of interaction and accommodation between segments of state elites and domestic economic groups, as well as by dramatically different EU strategies of governing integration. In contrast with society-centred perspectives on the politics of growth models, the paper highlights the autonomous role of the state as a key actor balancing between the demands and accommodation of domestic economic groups, and the constraints and opportunities created by regional institutions governing market integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on political conflict often overlooks the role of visual-based platforms like Instagram in expressing political discontent, focusing primarily on textual content from newspapers and social media. This paper examines the practicalities and challenges of conducting visual research on Instagram, particularly in the context of comparative studies. We highlight the difficulties associated with sampling representative visual content. Through a small case study, we illustrate how hashtags associated with a single country can generate multiple conflicts, using indicators developed in political protest research and contentious politics. The existence of diverse debates within and across hashtags complicates cross-country comparisons of Instagram content and conflict dynamics. To address this issue, we propose an analytical tool for cross-hashtag analysis, allowing for the assessment of degrees of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stuart Hall's concept of "new ethnicities" theorizes (post)migrant belonging by centering not on the power of othering, but rather on the agentive force of diasporic groups to contend with their essentialization and marginalization. While rooted in Black transatlantic experiences of colonialism and slavery, "new ethnicities" provides a conceptual platform from which those more broadly marginalized in the diasporic context of Europe may speak and act. In this paper, Becker argues that Hall's theory of "new ethnicities" provides a productive lens through which to rethink the knot of religious-racialized-ethnic othering that has served to set both Muslims and Jews apart from the European mainstream. She does so by tracing the historical differentiation of Muslims and Jews, both together and apart, as well as the contemporary politics of difference enacted by Muslim and Jewish Berliners who contest essentialized understandings of their identities and marginalized sociocultural locations in Europe, today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document was developed by a group of over two dozen pain clinicians and investigators from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany Ireland, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway. Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and funded by an educational grant form Mundipharma International, Limited. The stated aim of the White Paper is to identify inequalities in government policies towards opioids that contribute to inadequate treatment of pain. It calls for their replacement with policies that will support doctors and patients in their efforts to relieve pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent surge in energy prices in Europe and their high volatility, have a very large impact on its economy. Policymakers have sought to counteract the impacts of the unprecedented energy price shock with a plethora of measures albeit with limited success. This paper proposes a dynamic, flexible system of energy price regulation at the retail level. The mechanism is simple, automatic and has a number of parameters that can be adjusted to fine tune its execution. It is shown how the mechanism leads to toppling of energy prices and reduces their volatility. At the same time, it does not prevent energy prices to absorb long-run fundamental/ market-conform price trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that, in principle, better public control in planning tends to contain land consumption in the medium-long term, thus confirming the reliability of the typology of spatial governance and planning systems in Europe recently proposed in this journal. That typology, covering 39 countries classified into five types of system by decreasing capacity for public control, is here related to the variation of land consumption in the respective countries over approximately 20 years. The result of the quantitative comparison is interpreted and refined through a qualitative analysis aimed at explaining the apparent anomalies. The results of the analysis generally verify the investigated correlation. Ultimately, to give substance to the declared commitment to curb or reduce land consumption, political attention should also be paid to the quality of the institutional technologies that can work to this end. [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]

This article aims at assessing whether party organizational profiles and policy issue saliency converged in 7 European democracies (Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK), from the 1970s to the 2010s. Building on the theoretical premises of the cartel party thesis and historical new-institutionalism, the paper argues that general tendencies in party policy issue saliency and organizational evolution driven by contextual factors have been taken for granted by party literature based on ideal-typical models. We maintain that party convergence is mainly associated to higher levels of socialization to government. Our empirical analysis shows that patterns of cross-country convergence among parties actually emerge concerning the saliency of the issues placed on the classical left-right divide, as well as party resources, while higher variance characterizes all the other organizational dimensions and post-materialist/value-based policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voluntary-based initiative Covenant of Mayors (CoM) focused on the active role of local authorities and increased its targets by 2016, through the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) in terms of GHG reduction from 20% to 40% by 2030. In actual fact, the SECAP, intended as an urban planning tool, has the potential to improve the resilience of the EU Municipalities to climate-change, developing adaptation/mitigation actions and increasing the 'environmental awareness' of the involved actors. From a planning point of view, we affirm that the CoM started a new season of urban planning in Europe that covers the planning demand in the domain of implementing sustainable territorial development objectives. It unlocks the current ineffective planning systems and represents a remarkable practice promoting feasible framework projects for public and private investments. This paper proposes a methodological proposal to exploit this spread of SECAPs in the EU, including the systemic strategic planning approach in the process of SECAP design and ensuring an integrated vision of city development over the list of actions per sector required by the Global CoM procedures. Besides the methodological proposal, a review of the major EU energy policies is provided and relevant Best Practices are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present Derrida's reflections on Europe, which criticizes Europe's actuality while recognizing its promise to-come. Europe in modernity has been conceptualized as sovereign heading, the only one capable of governing the world. Derrida hopes for a Europe other than a super-state, closed within its borders, and an economic alliance. He works on today's Enlightenment, that is, on a new shape of Europe as a shoreline fit to welcome the other, following in the footsteps of Kant, who redefined the right of hospitality and drafted a cosmopolitan order, but going beyond his sketch. In the global age Europe must exemplarily assume The law of hospitality as its key principle, constantly seeking to translate it into political and legal acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the tools, priorities and organisation of cultural policies? And did the pandemic enhance the digital aspect of these policies? This paper compares pandemic cultural policy measures in seven European countries to answer these questions. The countries all installed a plurality of mitigating measures, combining grants and subsidies, compensation of lost income, income support and financial flexibility, creating a tendency towards cultural policy turning into economic policy, fiscal policy, and labour market policy. Cultural policies have not been fundamentally challenged by the pandemic, in the sense that it has affected the essential political tools, divisions of labour, or core goals. The responses have confirmed an existing policy structure or enhanced existing developments. The importance of a state-centred or a federalist cultural policy system has not been challenged in a substantial way. Secondly there is little evidence to show a general acceleration of national digital cultural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development discourses have been widely criticized for creating hierarchical dichotomies, such as "developed" (the global North) and "developing" (the global majority), with the former being the ideal standard to which the rest must catch up. The development paradigm has infiltrated academic spaces globally, including international research collaborations, creating various categories such as (non)scientific (local) expertise. We see such hierarchies as mechanisms of legitimation to maintain the ongoing subjugation of African scholars based on the historical and contemporary asymmetries in global knowledge production. Informed by the experiences of five female African doctoral researchers in the Netherlands, this paper problematizes and disrupts the concepts of "Expert" and "local expert". We question the relevance of these concepts in a context where global knowledge production continues to feed from coloniality and also question the old power relations that continue to enable knowledge inequalities between the global North and global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the publication of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, the rights and situation of people with disabilities have once again become a focus of national, European and international policy and advocacy. Mansell et al., (2007) identified that there were over 1million people with disabilities in Europe living in institutions of over 30 places in size and almost 1.4 million in some form of residential care. This paper reports findings from a review of national and international sources of data on living situation for 27 European countries as of 2019. Although there had been some changes, especially for children and especially in countries where EU structural funds had been used, there were still 1.4 million people living in residential care, with many still for more than 30 people. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities were those who were most likely to still be in residential services. We consider some of the potential reasons for these findings and discuss what might be needed to really advance deinstitutionalisation. People with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else to live in the community. This paper looks at where people with disabilities live and how this has changed over time. We found that many people with disabilities still live in institutions and that the number had not changed much since 2007. There have been more changes for children than adults. Fewer children now live in institutions. People with intellectual disabilities are most likely to still live in institutions and least likely to be living and participating in the community. Many countries in Europe still do not have good information about where people with disabilities live and whether they have choice and control or are active citizens. There was more change in countries which had received money from the European Union. However, in many countries, there were no plans for how to help more people to live in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital connectivity of queer migrants on the move to Europe plays a crucial role in confronting border regimes, heteronormativity and racist oppression. ICTs at the disposal of queer migrants interrupt the material politics of silence and violence. However, digital technology also implies serious hazards. Queer migrants use digital space to empower themselves, to build networks, and to trace, reach and create safer spaces of care. This paper conceptualises how care is materialised in self-organised actions and horizontal relationships that question power regimes and commodification practices while introducing the notion of radical digital care. Digital spaces of (radical) care constitute safe spaces of compassion where people can be heard and believed. They act as points of reference for queer people seeking recognition and care. Moreover, queer migration constitutes constant shifting between subject and care positions that redefine the notion of home and safety and the material ordering of migration itself. Based on a qualitative study of ten semi-structured interviews with solidarians and migrants, this paper reveals how the appropriation of digital media by queer migrants re-arranges the material politics of the borderland by contesting border technologies, and through radical care, allows communities to live through hardship, fear, and abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade we have witnessed the rise of radical left parties (RLPs) in several European countries. According to the prevalent definition in the literature, the key feature of this party family is the goal to overcome capitalism. However, based on content analysis of party and governmental documents, this paper argues that the two most prominent RLPs today, SYRIZA (Greece) and Podemos (Spain), fall short in their socio-economic policies of that definition. Why are they still classified as radical left then? In addressing this puzzle, the paper critically revisits the established notion of the "party family" coined by Mair and Mudde, arguing instead that parties are what they choose to do and should therefore be classified according to their policy. Based on this, it is argued that parties such as SYRIZA and Podemos would be more accurately described as "neo-reformist left," as a sub-type of the social democratic party family. Clarifying the character of these parties is not only important for conceptual consistency. By labelling "radical" parties that are not so, political scientists risk reinforcing the legitimacy of the neoliberal status quo, not the least by excluding from the conversation the actual radical alternatives. This is particularly relevant today, with the resurgence of anti-capitalist ideas among younger generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of a set of shared or common values constitutes a substantial component of EU-discourse. Values are mentioned at the beginning of the Lisbon Treaty, and can be easily found in any communication material produced by the European Union. This paper argues for the relevance of studying from a semiotic perspective the link between values, the European Union and the broader idea of "Europe". Specifically, it discusses the place of values in the discursive construction of the European Union and "Europe" as distinct cultural units of meaning. As it is argued, values have a salient place in the discourses, narratives and social imaginaries about what "Europe" is and who and what "is" "European". The paper draws on Fornäs (2012) study of the symbols of Europe and argues that values constitute a central nodal point in the discursive articulation of the EU – and with it, of the idea of Europe – in the level of the "forms of life". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the interwar period in Europe, cacti emerged as significant architectural devices that challenged traditional notions of architecture, offering an alternative understanding of the discipline while embodying the politics of their time. Investigating the overlooked prevalence of cacti in early modernist writings, photographs, artwork, and spaces, this paper reveals a European obsession with the desert plant in the early twentieth century that has been hidden in plain sight. The transmaterial entanglements of cacti with the architecture of the Bauhaus and its other human, vegetal, and material occupants forged a biochemical interspecies contract, signaling shifting attitudes toward gender inequities and industrialized labor. Celebrated for their machinic qualities, their mind-altering and time-bending chemical properties, and their sexual suggestiveness, many species of cacti—while objectified—were instrumental witnesses and silent provocateurs of the period, offering whimsical and exoticized additions to the modern aesthetic. They represented a different aesthetic realm coming from the desert, and spurred radical new imaginaries concerning gender, economics, and politics. Cacti emerged as trans-geographical agents, instrumentalized as both symbols of the modern environment in Europe and of the arid geographies from which they originated—shaping a new media ecology. Further, the ingestions of cactus-based chemicals in this period transformed the consciousness of early modernists, instigating lysergic experiences that challenged linear conceptions of time, fostering queer temporality and novel futurities. By examining the role of environmental elements in shaping architectural modernism, this paper suggests correspondences between the built environment and the natural world, offering a new perspective on a significant period in architectural history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With immensely growing pressure on land and its scarcity, conflicting societal expectations concerning land use increasingly result in land use conflicts (LUCs). In this paper, we explore local LUCs, which we define as the complex situations, where fragmented planning policies encounter place-based societal conceptions and perceptions of site-specific developmental priorities. The paper adopts a dynamic approach and introduces a theory-driven typology of potentially conflicting planning decisions. The typology is employed as an analytic framework to reveal the open-ended successive planning decisions that lead to complex local LUCs. Two case studies from Central Europe are explored to narrate the evolutionary complexity of LUCs. Our results show that local LUCs emerged as the past planning decisions lined-up into a sequence creating lock-in situations, where different planning policies can be hardly reconciled. Finally, we discuss applicability, transferability and limits of the proposed typology as an analytic framework advancing management of planning conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many papers on international student mobility have analysed different macro factors influencing the decision making of international students. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the role of language distance on international educational choices. This paper aims to fill that gap by identifying the role of language proximity in international degree seeking student flows among 21 countries of the European Economic Area in the years 2005, 2010 and 2015. Our gravity models reveal a statistically significant influence of language proximity on student flows within these 21 countries. We argue that language proximity simplifies academic, cultural and socio-economic integration of international students in the destination country and as a result makes the process of their adaptation to a new environment easier and smoother. Future research should expand on the mechanisms of that influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on how the state sets up discriminatory structures, how immigrants work out ways of managing those structures and how in this process they construct flexible and innovative identities. Two main issues are explored. The first is the relationship between state control and exclusion and immigrant resistance. The paper shows how, despite increased surveillance and digital nets mounted by European states to keep immigrants out of their territory, the British state is ambivalent towards irregular immigrants. At the same time, it is in the interstices of ambiguity that immigrants, by buying, renting and borrowing documents, have found ways through their networks and communities to resist or get around exclusionary and contradictory regulations. Second, the paper is concerned with the construction of innovative and flexible identities. The research reveals how immigrants occupy rebellious spaces and construct identities in difficult situations at the intersection of self and structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the White Paper on damage actions for breach of Articles 81 and 82 EC published by the European Commission in Europe on April 2, 2008. The published White Paper features a comprehensive recommendation to help victims of competition law infringements abuses in claiming full compensation for the damages that they suffered. The White Paper aspires to strengthen and improve the private implementation of Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty. It also tries to simplify the primary goals of antitrust enforcement framework and facilitate whether the antitrust enforcement framework in the European Union (EU) obtain those goals, if not, it offers an optimal and effective substitute.

The article presents the authors' views in response to a comment on their paper "Patterns of Low and Lowest-Low Fertility in Europe," published in a 2004 issue of the journal "Population Studies." In their comment, the critics have argued that the cohort-fertility analysis in the aforesaid paper is weak on theoretical grounds and the empirical analysis is incomplete. The authors affirm that they agree with the comment that, as a society, the Netherlands differs from Southern Europe and even more from Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, from a contemporary global perspective, these differences should not be overemphasized. They say that in their analyses, they used the Netherlands as a reference case of a country with an extraordinary pattern of late childbearing that is not associated with lowest-low fertility levels. However, the critics believe that these unusual characteristics invalidate the use of the Dutch example in the paper. So, this criticism is misconceived. It is precisely the unusualness of the fertility pattern in the Netherlands that makes it a useful reference point in the study of low and lowest-low fertility.

Feminist Economics invites submissions of papers, short discussions, and book reviews for a special issue on ''Gender and Aging'' to be published in 2005. The deadline for submission of abstracts is May 1, 2003. The editors hope to publish essays by both established scholars and young researchers. While individual papers may be narrowly focused, the scope of the special issue will be broad and include work from a variety of analytical and methodological approaches. Feminist Economics invites submissions of papers, short exploratory discussions, and book reviews for a special issue on ''Women and the Distribution of Wealth,'' to be published in 2006. The deadline for submitting abstracts is July 30, 2003; complete manuscripts are due March 30, 2004. Over the last decade the transition of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) economies has altered the economic position of women. In most of these countries, increased unemployment, pension reforms, cuts in public spending on health and childcare, and changes in working conditions have led to greater hardships for women and more labor market inequalities.

This paper discusses the recent European Commission White Paper on European Governance, arguing that the document offers interesting possibilities for the future development of the European Union (EU), how it is governed and more particularly for 'European Urban Policy'. However, the paper argues there are problems with its use of the term governance as a strategy for reform and with a number of its proposals to widen access to the European Commission (EC) and the policy process. With regard to urban policy it is suggested that the White Paper's emphasis on a greater role for sub-national government and citizens' is to be welcomed. Although once again it is unclear whether the Commission has fully thought through the implications of its proposals both for itself and the groups it wishes to engage with. More specifically it is argued that the Open Method of Coordination is broadly similar to the methods whereby both current urban (and spatial) policy have been developed and should be embraced. Overall the White Paper is something of a mixed bag; however, this is to be expected of a document which is primarily intended to stimulate discussion about the future of EU governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a 'position paper' elaborated by Working Group 2 (wg2) 'Quality and Recognition in Engineering Education' of the EU-supported Thematic Network 'Higher Engineering Education for Europe' (H3E), operative from January 1997 to July 1999. G. Heitmann was the Rapporteur, and G. Augusti the Chairman of wg2. Before approval at the H3E final Congress in Budapest (July 1999), the paper had been discussed at several wg2 and public meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From his Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy (1953–4) to the address given on the fiftieth anniversary of Le monde diplomatique just before he died in 2004, Derrida made constant reference to the subject of Europe. A recent volume of essays, Europe after Derrida: Crisis and Potentiality, seeks to explore this work and the current paper gauges the extent to which it correctly accounts for it. It is suggested that many of the chapters are seriously flawed in failing to note how Derrida's interest in Europe follows that of a long line of philosophers from the phenomenological school, going back to Husserl and including Heidegger and Patočka. Consequently, many of the contributors resort to ideas of identity current in sociology and cultural studies and appear not to understand that central to Derrida's thought is a challenge to such notions. Unlike Gasché's Europe, or The Infinite Task, the only single-volume treatment of Derrida's work on Europe and a text mentioned by only two contributors, they overlook the way in which he proposes that Europe could be precisely a project of pioneering the rethinking of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the perspectives of lawyers and economists on the CRA paper, which focuses on the use of selective distribution by luxury goods suppliers in Europe. It states that the goals of vertical restraints is enacted with geographically segmenting the market, raising barriers to entry for competitors and reducing competition between suppliers. It indicates that vertical restraints can be a tool for better exploitation of monopoly power and anti-competitive zeal. It emphasizes that vertical restraints must be enacted in the form of either retail price maintenance or selective distribution agreement to effectively tackle the alleged free-rider problem.