Jesi Carson
Feminist and justice-oriented design frameworks offer pathways to democratic transformations. Jesi Carson draws on her experience as design practitioner and researcher in collaborative projects including Participedia and the Global Classroom for Democracy Innovation to explore the transformative potential of design thinking Read more
Gábor Halmai
Hungarian universities are facing increasing interference from government. The recent dismissal of Zoltán Ádám from Corvinus University in Budapest thus signals a worrying erosion of academic autonomy. For Gábor Halmai, Balázs Majtényi, and Andrew Richard Ryder, Ádám's dismissal reflects a pattern. They argue that a broader political agenda is threatening academic freedom, and raising questions about Hungary’s democratic integrity Read more
Ivo Kesler
Ivo Kesler argues that Romania’s emerging role as a strategic asset in Eastern Europe will be compromised if the far-right party AUR wins the next parliamentary elections. Romania's role as Moldova’s most important supporter and promoter could come to an end Read more
Barbara Pisciotta
Barbara Pisciotta and Daniela Verena Huber explore how populism fuels societal divisions and provides fertile ground for democratic backsliding. This allows populist leaders to increase their own power at the expense of the opposition Read more
Zohreh Khoban
To achieve systemic change, it is essential to connect self-transformations. By exploring the recent protests in Iran, Zohreh Khoban makes the case for social bonds created through solidarity Read more
Francesco Spera
The European Union has built its normative concepts on Europe's postwar consensus, focusing in particular on Holocaust trauma. But Francesco Spera argues that through past and future enlargements, it is also adapting to Eastern European states' mnemonic paths as they move away from their communist histories Read more
Dimitra Mareta
'Democracy is in crisis'. We have heard this claim since the 1930s, and new terms regularly surface to describe democracy’s transformations through crisis. Of these terms, argues Dimitra Mareta, post-democracy and authoritarian neo/liberalism are the most challenging. While they describe either a strong or weak state, neither term captures the implications for the people living under such regimes Read more
Emilija Tudzarovska
The EU economic crisis revealed a clash between the EU and national authorities. This clash is, however, only one part of the story. Events in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Slovenia, writes Emilija Tudzarovska, also revealed a crisis of party politics. This crisis has triggered appeals to populism and technocracy – technopopulism – which weakens yet further the institutionalisation of politics Read more
