Focal Points

Digital technologies are increasingly seen as an antidote to the complaints of…

Fake news has become big news. Post-truth is the new paradigm. Respect for facticity is becoming, by all accounts, a commercial anachronism. And behind it all, the spectre of an illiberal international waging ‘info-war’ against western democracies.

In recent years, the possibility of a “grand narrative” that includes both East and West in a common European story has been discussed intensely. In a new Focal Point, Eurozine seeks to broaden the question beyond the East-West historical divide. How are contested interpretations of historical and recent events made active in the present, both uniting and dividing European societies?

Austerity policies have contributed to social fragmentation and the rise of populist nationalism across Europe. However, alternative inter-local forms of mobilization around the commons may yet revive solidarities and keep the prospect of a common Europe alive.