Towards a new European polity? Social Democrats and the 2014 EP elections (original) (raw)

Millennials and Gen Z in Europe. Political participation and left-wing politics

Her research focuses on political participation, social representations of politics, and the relation between subjective perceptions of politics and political behavior in contemporary Greece. She holds an MA in Research in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick, and an MA in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Athens. She has also spent an academic term as a Visiting Research Student at the LSE. Alongside her studies, she has worked on various research projects, including European programmes such as Erasmus ACT and SoDaNet in Action. She has also presented her work in international conferences like ISPP and ECPR, and published papers in peer-revied journals. Dimitris Papanikolopoulos is a PhD in Political Science and a researcher. His research mainly focuses on issues of collective action and social movements. For some years, he has contributed articles to newspapers and the online press, while his scientific articles have been published in Greek and foreign journals and edited volumes. He has written many essays for the Research Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE/GSEE). He has also authored the books: The '60s Protest Cycle. Collective action and democracy in pre-dictatorial Greece (Nissos Publications), December 2008. Analysis and Interpretation (Synadelfon Publications), Inside Movement. Aspects of intra-movement life in crisis-ridden Greece (Synadelfon Publications), 1821 as a revolution. Why it erupted and why it succeeded (ENA Institute for Alternative Policies). Together with Costas Galanopoulos he co-edited the collective volume What is to be done. Reflections on the reboot of radical politics (Themelio Publications). His book Millenials on the streets. The role of generations in social movements of contemporary Greece is currently in preparation for publication, in collaboration ith the Nicos Poulantzas Institute (Themelio Publications). 6 NTROD ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen gave her "State of the Union" speech to the European Parliament. One of the visions she described for the EU's future was to put young people in the spotlight. The EU institutions have clearly understood that young people are becoming more and more detached from the EU as a project, but also as an institution that has implications in their everyday lives. The younger generation of European citizens is made up of precarious, flexible, underpaid, and insecure workers, even though they are highly educated and skilled. In particular, the youth in the countries of the European south (people between 25 and 35 years old) are struggling to access an autonomous, adult life and the capacity to plan their own future. For this reason, young people have lost trust not only in European institutions, but also the whole European integration project. Von der Leyen heralded 2022 as the "Year of the European Youth", adding that "young people should lead the debate on the Future of Europe" and characterizing the young generation as a "generation with consciousness". Parallel to that, in March 2022, the European Commission released a report called "Youth and Democracy in the European Year of Youth" aiming to put youth at the heart of EU's vision, as well as to prove that the main pillars of the EU are indeed harmonized with the views, the awareness and the expectations of the younger generations of Europeans.

Young Europeans: A New Political Generation

Young people in Europe are often described as apolitical non-participants in the civic culture of their own states and the European Union (EU). Using empirical data based on group discussions (n = 324) in 29 European states (104 locations; 2000 young people aged between 11 and 19), this paper challenges this, and suggests that many young people have distinct political views and are motivated to participate in both political discussions and traditional and non-traditional forms of participation. They are particularly interested in a range of current issues, largely around human rights, migration and (anti-)nationalism, and the article illustrates this with examples from a range of countries. Human rights issues raised concerned their perception of contemporary injustices, which were constructed as European values and formed a significant element in their self-identification as Europeans, and a general unwillingness to be identified with 'the nation'. This broad pan-European analysis suggests that young people see themselves in many ways as a politically distinct cohort, a generation with different political values than those of their parents and grandparents.

Rising Populism and European Elections. Collection of selected contributions

2014

The primary goal of the Institute of European Democrats (IED) is to promote an in-depth discussion on the core aspects of the European integration process. Last year, in an attempt to shed some light on the challenge of the upswing of populist parties in the upcoming European elections and better understand the solutions ahead, the Institute of European Democrats set to launch a research project on "The Risks of growing Populism and the European elections". The aim of the project is to give our contribution to the European-wide debate on populism and to broaden and support the part played by the youngest generation in this debate. It was with this idea in mind that we awarded 15 research fellowships to young researchers. The results of these researches are collected in the publication "Rising Populism and European Elections. Collection of Selected contributions", presented at the IED conference held on the 24th of April 2014 in Bratislava.

Understanding Populist Party Organisation. The Radical Right in Western Europe

Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology addresses contemporary themes in the fi eld of Political Sociology. Over recent years, attention has turned increasingly to processes of Europeanization and globailzation and the social and political spaces that are opened by them. Th ese processes comprise both institutinoal-constitutional change and new dynamics of social transnationalism. Europeanization and globalization are also about changing power relations as they aff ect people's lives, social networks and forms of mobility. Th e Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology series addresses linkages between regulation, institution building and the full range of societal repercussions at local, regional, national, European and global level, and will sharpen understanding of changing patterns of attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups, the political use of new rights and opportunities by citizens, new confl ict lines and coalitions, societal interactions and networking, and shifting loyalties and solidarity within and across the European space. We welcome proposals from across the spectrum of Political Sociology including on dimensions of citizenship; political attitudes and values; political communication and public spheres; states, communities, governance structure and political institutions; forms of political participation; populism and the radical right; and democracy and democratization. Commas or similar between the names of the editors would be helpful to decipher the names. Editorial Board Carlo Ruzza

Young people and politics in Eastern and Western Europe

"Basierend auf einer Analyse des World Value Surveys 1995-97 beschäftigt sich dieser Artikel mit verschiedenen Formen politischen Engagements 16- bis 25-Jähriger in Ost- und Westeuropa. Dabei wird der Begriff des Politischen sehr weit gefasst, um politisches Interesse, politische Aktivitäten, zivile und politische Partizipation, Demokratiebewusstsein, Vertrauen in politische Institutionen sowie neue Formen von Politik miteinzubeziehen. Der Artikel untersucht, von welchen Faktoren diese Aspekte beeinflusst werden und wie die einzelnen Aspekte zusammenhängen. Die Analyse zeigt, dass Jugendliche nicht generell von Politik entfremdet sind, wie viele behaupten. Vor allem Jugendliche mit höherer Bildung, aus höheren sozialen Schichten und männliche Jugendliche sind involviert. Eine Ausnahme besteht bei Umweltschutz und -politik, wo Frauen aktiver und besorgter sind als Männer. Ein weiteres Ergebnis ist, dass Jugendliche in Osteuropa weniger in Politik involviert sind als in Westeurop...

"A Youth strategy for Europe's future"

“A Youth Strategy for Europe’s future'', 2018

Unemployment in the European Union continues to plague Europe, threatening the fragile economic growth experienced over the recent years; a drastic difference is emerging between North and South, with countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Croatia having an alarmingly high youth unemployment rate consistently for years. This disparity concerns the European Union as it puts a huge strain on the shoulders of the whole Euro system, the European Central Bank quantitative easing enabled citizens to borrow easier thus creating more opportunities subsequently more employment whilst the austerity measures had mix results, measures that worked in countries such as Ireland and Cyprus but failed in Greece. The European Union’s Commission adopted a transparent approach in dealing with matters within the Union and it has established the 2015-2019 political objectives roadmaps which include a substantial investment in creating jobs and dealing with unemployed individuals, especially young persons finishing school, university or training. Looking at Cyprus, a lot has changed since the country ascended within the European Union- changes include legislation and enhanced protection for employees but also success stories of young people who benefited from EU’s programmes, however there is still a long way to go and Europe should continue its efforts through strategic thinking mentality and planning. This research paper will outline the current situation both at European and national level, discuss future development and suggestions of economic empowerment and finally political objectives and relative strategies at the European level.