Focal Points

Digital technologies are increasingly seen as an antidote to the complaints of ‘post-democracy’. However, the impacts of digital media on democratic processes also need to be seen critically. Covering issues of digitization, disinformation and post-truth politics, this focal point, based on discussions that took place at the 28th European Meeting of Cultural Journals, asks whether internet technologies are saving democracy, or whether democracy is being delivered up to the forces of illiberalism.

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.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, questions of inequality and solidarity have become intertwined. Over the past year, however, questions of solidarity have also been central in connection to the treatment of refugees and migrants.

Follow the critical, informed and nuanced voices that counter the dominant discourse of crisis concerning Ukraine. A media exchange project linking Ukrainian independent media with "alternative" media in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The Snowden leaks and the ensuing NSA scandal made the whole world debate privacy and data protection. Now the discussion has entered a new phase - and it's all about policy. A focal point on the politics of privacy: claiming a European value.

The fate of migrants and refugees attempting to enter Fortress Europe has triggered a new European debate on laws, borders and human rights. A debate riddled with the complex, often epic, narratives that underlie immediate crisis situations.