Crises and left solutions
On 27 and 28 May, the Bloco de Esquerda (the Left Bloc) held its 13th National Convention in Lisbon. The meeting discussed the party's strategy for the next two years and reaffirmed the commitments made in the approved political agenda. The motion, led by Mariana Mortágua, who took on the national coordination of the party, obtained 439 votes in favour, with 78 votes opposed. The delegates attending the Convention also elected a board of 80 members, with absolute parity. It is worth noting the large participation of young people at...
read more "The Portuguese Left chooses Mariana Mortàgua as new leader"
read more "The Portuguese Left chooses Mariana Mortàgua as new leader"
On May 22, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Brussels to defend the right to strike and support the workers of Delhaize, one of Belgium's largest supermarket chains. Delhaize employees have been on strike for months against the implementation of a franchise model expected to lead to layoffs, precariousness, and lower wages. Meanwhile the Belgian government is discussing legislative measures to curtail the right to strike - yet the ’Delhaize case’ is not a European exception.
In early March,...
read more "Defending the Right to Strike: the ‘Delhaize Case’ is not a European Exception"
read more "Defending the Right to Strike: the ‘Delhaize Case’ is not a European Exception"
Italy received the largest allocation of funds ever for a member state at European level as part of the Recovery program. The €235 billion Italian Recovery Plan (NRP) are to grow the aims to revive the economy after the shock caused by Covid-19. This unprecedented European investment program is also supposed to drive the energy transition and help achieve Italy’s climate objectives. One of the first consequences of the recovery program was political instability that has already consumed to two governments and put in place an ...
read more "Italian Recovery Plan: a short sighted plan guiding the future"
read more "Italian Recovery Plan: a short sighted plan guiding the future"
Event report on the launch of our new volume «The Crisis and Future of Democracy»How can the left mobilise in times like these? What lessons to draw from earlier protest movements? Those were the questions put to a panel of authors of the recently published volume “The Crisis and Future of Democracy”, published by the Brussels office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung.
Is democracy in jeopardy?
Starting point of the discussion was a brief examination of the most important challenges to democracy today. David Bailey of ...
read more "What role for democracy in progressive mobilisation in Europe today?"
read more "What role for democracy in progressive mobilisation in Europe today?"
About the anthology
Democracy is in jeopardy. The rise of authoritarian populism, the polarisation of politics and the attacks on the foundations of liberal representative democracy leave little doubt about it. The fallout of the COVID-19 crisis has only reinforced these tendencies. Yet, we also see a revitalisation of radical demands for democratic renewal. Societies are once again acknowledging that inequality is hurting democracy. Calls for democratic regulation of key sectors are getting louder.
Demands for inclusion, equality and redistributive ...
read more "The Crisis and Future of Democracy"
read more "The Crisis and Future of Democracy"
Yolanda Díaz’s new coalition seeks to unite a broad front for transformational change
Abstract
On 8 July 2022, Yolanda Díaz, Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Spain and Minister of Labour, announced the launch of a new political project, an electoral platform known as Sumar (Spanish for “to add”), with a clear message: Sumar is neither a political party nor a coalition; it is a “citizen movement” whose goals are to “expand democracy” and “build a country for the coming decade”.
The project was ...
read more "Building a Strong Democratic Left in the Spanish State"
read more "Building a Strong Democratic Left in the Spanish State"
As in other European countries, the Russian attack on Ukraine provoked a lot of emotions in Belgium.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, immediately condemned the aggression as “one of the darkest moments since the Second World War”. On February 24, the day Russian tanks rolled into their neighbouring country, De Croo (from the Dutch-speaking liberal party ‘Open VLD’), addressed the federal parliament: “What is at stake today is nothing less than peace and security in Europe […] Together with our allies we will ...
read more "Belgium’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine"
read more "Belgium’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine"
Anna Schröder in conversation with MEP Özlem DemirelThe Russian invasion of Ukraine calls many political certainties into question, also for the European left. Can we still argue for disarmament in light of this war that violates international law? Or does Europe even need its own army after all? And how can there be peace with Russia in the future? Anna Schröder, Head of Office of the Brussels Office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, spoke about these and other pressing questions with Özlem Demirel, who has been Member of the European Parliament ...
read more "“Militarisation does not guarantee peace”"
read more "“Militarisation does not guarantee peace”"
Russia’s invasion of large parts of Ukraine not only marks the sad culmination of the end of all peace policy efforts in Eastern Europe since 1990, but also confronts left-wing forces around the world with a challenging test. As important as it is to adhere to the basic values of left-wing politics by calling for diplomacy over war and including Russia in a new European security architecture, we must acknowledge that the current Russian government has nothing to do with these basic values. The war against Ukraine with all its consequences ...
read more "No to War — Solidarity with the People of Ukraine!"
read more "No to War — Solidarity with the People of Ukraine!"
New comic book in English, German and FrenchAbout the book
It is impossible to determine the number of firearms in circulation in the world, but one thing is certain: there have never been so many! According to recent estimates, there are now more than one billion firearms in existence. And if you consider the number of guns leaving the arsenals each day, this flow is not about to decrease.
European states bear a great share of responsibility for this situation. Weapons made in Europe are used to kill, harm and displace people around the globe. While ...
read more "Europe’s Deadly Trade: Arms Exports"
read more "Europe’s Deadly Trade: Arms Exports"