Articles

New COVID-19 variants keep the international public anxious, and this crisis, permeating all social, economic and political spheres, isn’t even in full bloom yet. Although impossible to contain, it also highlights many potential solutions, which had been lying around for a long time without the political will to act upon them. In gearing up for the much bigger turmoil of an ecological nature, we need to stop concentrating on global centres of power, and give more credit to young motivated people.

Thousands are accused of witchcraft and killed each year across the globe. The social and political roots of sorcery accusation-related violence are complex; those who survive are often shamed into silence. How can the violence be halted in places such as Papua New Guinea, African countries, India and the UK?

A virus and its impact described in closed terms: when under pressure, socio-political narratives often become divisive; perceptions can become negatively transfixed. To understand what has gone wrong right now, we need look at how the problem is framed.

Standing up for your country’s social and ecological wellbeing can be a desperately meaningful undertaking when deep-seated corruption lies behind the struggle: the exodus of many Romanian protesters attests to the high personal risks that have compounded solidarity both at home and abroad over decades of action.

In Poland, a weak democratic culture collides with unfamiliarity with the historical values of the European Union. Rebuilding the rule of law means explaining to citizens that the constitution is there to protect them. The alternative may be Polexit.

The migrant crisis at the Polish–Belarusian border is being used by Lukashenka to divert international attention from the repression of the democratic opposition. But it also suits PiS, which by staging the crisis as a battle for Polish sovereignty is shoring up support among its own electorate. Still, the rest of Europe cannot simply point the finger.

With infection rates on the rise, restrictions are newly coming into force. Experience suggests that lockdowns have a harsher impact on certain sectors of society: young adults, especially those who are already vulnerable, face some of the pandemic’s worst consequences. Yet their needs often go unmet. A Franco-Canadian study suggests a revised approach.

Petr Fiala’s replacement of Andrej Babiš as head of the Czech government is being seen as a refutation of the last four years of corruption, anti-Europeanism and populist instability. But this Manichean narrative, encouraged by the opposition during the campaign, ignores deeper tendencies within Czech politics.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, learning and teaching have come under additional strain both at school and in the home, exacerbating existing weaknesses in the system. How to move forward – to diminish rather than increase inequality, to question the labour market’s hold over education and to uphold academic freedom — is critical for students, parents, teachers and society as a whole.

Strategies for addressing unemployment rates often involve reforms in higher education. Yet bridging the perceived gap creates its own deprivations. Analysing discourse and policy in the European context points to a strong neoliberal agenda behind labour market-oriented changes at universities.

Disengagement from learning, social injustice, mental health issues, identity tensions – the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many problems in schools. How can the education system now kick-start recovery instead of acting as a millstone?

Now that Brexit has been ‘done’, the British government is refusing to talk about it. But the rapidly escalating crisis in the UK has everything to do with the country’s departure from the EU. The opposition, meanwhile, has gone awol.

COP26’s mandate focuses on averting the loss and damage caused by climate change. And technological solutions hold much promise. But high-tech and the environment aren’t always best matched: largely unregulated mega satellite projects are on the increase with space debris a real near-space threat.

Embezzlement, bribery and false testimony: Austria’s no-longer chancellor Sebastian Kurz is accused of serious crimes. He appears confident that legal charges will not stick; but the political judgement will be made by the Austrian public.

Poland is descending on a path toward more and more authoritarian tactics to curb independent journalism, while Belarus has long been enduring direct repression, especially since last year’s revolution. In Ukraine, however, the majority of mainstream media is owned by oligarchs, and public service is trying to gain ground to balance them out.

COP26 lists collaboration as one of its main objectives. All views are seemingly welcome. And yet environmental justice, the law-making that should speak for Indigenous people, isn’t explicitly on the table. If laws and legal action remain static, based on corporate culpability after the fact to the exclusion of motive and context, how will future environmental plunder ever be avoided?