‘The battlefield is in Brussels’: Islamophobia in the Visegrád Four in its global context

ABSTRACT

A common popular and scholarly opinion of Islamophobia in the so-called ‘Visegrád Four’ or ‘V4’ (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) sees it as caused by circumstances unique to Eastern Europe. Specifically to blame, it is alleged, is a distinctive local history of intolerance, especially antisemitism, and the fact that under socialism these countries were exempt from the post-war soul-searching that took place in Western Europe. Kalmar’s paper, instead, decentres Islamophobia in the V4 by considering it less as a limited regional phenomenon, and more in terms of how it is linked to Islamophobia in other European Union member states and the United States. As elsewhere, foremost among the conditions that encourage Islamophobia in the V4 is the alienation of certain publics on the periphery, which is an effect of global neoliberal policies. These have generated, along with Islamism and Islamophobia, a reinvented, essentializing discourse of difference between Eastern and Western Europe. In spite of that alleged difference, however, Islamophobic populism in the V4 is not just a regional threat to liberal democracy, but targets all of the European Union and the world.     

The Stein Rokkan Lecture 2016 Mission impossible? Reconciling economic and social Europe after the euro crisis and Brexit

During the crisis, the European Union's ‘social deficit’ has triggered an increasing politicisation of redistributive issues within supranational, transnational and national arenas. Various lines of conflict have taken shape, revolving around who questions (who are ‘we’? – i.e., issues of identity and inclusion/exclusion); what questions (how much redistribution within and across the ‘we’ collectivities) and who decides questions (the locus of authority that can produce and guarantee organised solidarity). The key challenge facing today's political leaders is how to ‘glue’ the Union together as a recogniseable and functioning polity. This requires a double rebalancing: between the logic of ‘opening’ and the logic of ‘closure’, on the one hand, and between the logic of ‘economic stability’ and ‘social solidarity’, on the other. Building on the work of Stein Rokkan and Max Weber, this article argues that reconciliation is possible, but only if carefully crafted through an extraordinary mobilisation of political and intellectual resources. A key ingredient should be the establishment of a European Social Union, capable of combining domestic and pan‐European solidarities. In this way, the EU could visibly and tangibly extend its policy menu from regulation to (limited, but effective) distribution, reaping the latter's benefits in terms of legitimacy. The journey on this road is difficult but, pace Rokkan, not entirely impervious.     

Failed expectations: Quality of government and support for populist parties in Europe

This article addresses an issue previously neglected in the research on support for populist parties: How do perceptions of the local quality of government (QoG) and local service delivery affect voters’ propensity to vote for a populist party? It argues that personal experience with poor QoG makes voters more likely to support populist parties. The argument highlights the interplay between supply and demand factors in explaining populist support and discusses why populist parties have been particularly successful in certain regions in Europe. A unique dataset from the Quality of Government Institute that surveys citizens’ perception of QoG in their area is used to estimate both individual‐ and regional‐level models of the link between perceived local QoG and populist support in Europe. The empirical results show a strong and robust association between within‐country variation in QoG and support for populist parties.     

The Rise of the Far Right in Europe and the Refugee Crisis

The rise of the far right in Europe has captured the attention of the international community in recent years.Its specific features are:an unprecedentedly strong influence,an obvious trend towards the moderate line,horizontal collaboration to expand its reach,and a very adept use of social media networks.The refugee crisis has given the far right an historical opportunity.The rise has also had a profound effect on European politics;it has deepened the political divide inside EU member states,and shaken up the traditional political values and the foundation of the union.The rise of the far right will likely not change Europe's political landscape,but problems of EU governance over its handling of the refugee crisis cannot be ignored.     

破解西部民族地区教育与经济发展低水平均衡——以黔东南州为例

由于历史等方面原因,西部民族地区教育与经济发展长期处于低水平均衡状态,即“经济不发达——教育落后——人才匮乏——经济不发达”的恶性循环。破解这一低水平均衡陷阱,必须使“教育”成为内生变量并发生聚变,即坚持教育优先发展,提升教育对经济社会发展的功能性价值。强力支持西部民族地区优先发展教育,造就足够的人力资源,推动教育与经济发展达到更高层次的均衡水平,是统筹区域发展和实施西部大开发战略的重要内容,对西部民族地区发展具有“造血”意义。     

新时代协商治理:内在机理与基本立场

当前,学界仍然需要对“治理”做中国情境的整全性探讨以克服现有研究中存在的碎片化倾向。要树立规避低水平重复研究的学术立场,特别要进一步深化对新时代中国协商治理之本土化因素及其核心指归的梳理,凝练基于学术的中国协商治理之基本指导的理论精义,建构一种适应性的本土概念与理论体系,探索底线性的协商治理理解是学术研究的基本使命。基于此,以什么形式实践协商治理,应交由党领导人民去完成。同时,要科学把握西方治理嬗变、理论适用性及其困境,科学认识治理中国方案的定位、中西方治理的本质差异及其体现。对协商治理的理论与实践及其超越性之内在机理的研究,是解释与建构的尝试,是对情境的宏观考量,亦是阐明研究立场与实践立场的过程。     

Tony Crosland as I Knew Him

Anthony Crosland is the outstanding revisionist in the history of the British Labour party and is often said to have been its most influential thinker since the Second World War. His unusual personality is evaluated in relation not only to his political ideas but also to his personal career.     

Privatisation of urban water and sewerage services in Turkey: some trends

This article describes the experience of privatised urban water-supply and sewerage services in Turkey, focusing on the cases of three cities that have opted for such privatisation. The article opens with an examination of the management of urban water and sewerage services in Turkey and explores the development of water services and water policies in local government institutions. The second section introduces case studies of cities that have transferred the management, operation, and maintenance of urban water services to private operators.     

The Ethical Trading Initiative: Tenth Anniversary Conference

This article reports on the tenth anniversary conference of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), drawing attention to the irony that just as progress is being made on the situation of home workers (among the least protected of all working people) the two organisations that have done so much to raise awareness of these issues themselves face closure for lack of funding.