Northern Exposure
“I’m sure that our actions will not be popular in 20 years’ time when retirees realise what we have done.”
Göran Persson, leader of the Social Democrats and Prime Minister of Sweden was speaking with his characteristic candour during a visit to Australia in 2005.
It was only six years after the launch of the new national Swedish pension system. And the leader of the biggest party behind the reform was already certain that the outcome would be widespread misery for all ...
read more "How Sweden gave up the world’s most generous pension scheme to become a nation of unwilling fund brokers"
read more "How Sweden gave up the world’s most generous pension scheme to become a nation of unwilling fund brokers"
The European Union is currently negotiating several pieces of legislation to regulate the digital economy, to improve the EU’s digital sovereignty and make it “fit for the digital decade”. This new digital strategy brings the EU directly into conflict with the so-called “tech giants” – companies like Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, and Microsoft that don’t pay their share of taxes, stifle competition, steal media content and undermine democracy.
The struggle against the dominance of the tech giants is not a new one – the EU's ...
read more "How will the EU regulate the tech giants?"
read more "How will the EU regulate the tech giants?"
Will the COVID-19 pandemic drive further privatisation of the services sector and a new wave of austerity, or can we expect a departure from neoliberal orthodoxy, towards re-municipalisation and increased public investments? These were just some of the questions posed in an online debate with Dr Dieter Plehwe and Dr Mirjam Katzin on 11 November.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the injustice and inefficiency of the privatising, outsourcing and commodifying of vital public services. It has also exposed the inadequacy of the current system in ...
read more "Countering the neoliberal privatisation of services"
read more "Countering the neoliberal privatisation of services"
On 21 October, the Copenhagen-based Democracy in Europe Organisation (DEO), along with the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels Office, hosted a forum on the challenges of a socially just transition to clean energy, with former Copenhagen City councillor Ulrik Kohl. Kohl, a researcher on community energy in the Nordic countries and Southeast Europe with Malmö University and Roskilde University, spoke about the role of the left and communities in organising grassroots, working class alternatives to the capitalist Green Deal.
The idea of a ...
read more "Climate Neutrality and Democratic Ownership after COVID"
read more "Climate Neutrality and Democratic Ownership after COVID"
Analysis of the Danish Municipal ElectionsHuge windfall for the left in Denmark as the Red-Green Alliance picks up a quarter of the vote in Copenhagen. In the remainder of the country, the municipal elections show small gains for the left, while the ruling Social Democratic Party sustains heavy losses in the four biggest cities. A struggle for the far-right vote between the Danish People’s Party and the newer New Right party leaves the former with heavier losses than the gains of the latter. Overall, the Conservative People’s Party pulls the longest straw and comes out of the...
read more "Red Copenhagen"
read more "Red Copenhagen"
Interview with Eva Milsted Enoksen, Copenhagen by Andreas ThomsenAndreas Thomsen: The red- green Alliance achieved a very good result in Copenhagen with 24.6 per cent and 1st place. Can you briefly describe the political situation? What were the reasons for this success from your point of view?
Eva Milsted Enoksen: The Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten, EL) had the best election in our 32-year long history. With 24,6 % of the votes we are now by far the largest party in Copenhagen, the second largest being the Social...
read more "Danish municipal elections: Red-Green Alliance strongest party in Copenhagen"
read more "Danish municipal elections: Red-Green Alliance strongest party in Copenhagen"
Imagine leading a country where the northernmost point is in Oslo and the southernmost is in the Sahara. Imagine leading such a large country with a total of only 56,256 inhabitants. This is the challenge facing Greenland’s socialist party, Inuit Ataqatigiit (Community of the People – IA), which won a landslide victory in the election on 6 April 2021, taking no less than 37 percent of the vote and 12 of the 31 seats in the Inatsisartut (Greenlandic parliament).
The party's 34-year-old chairperson Múte B. Egede is now the youngest-ever head of ...
read more "Socialist Party Wins Greenland Election"
read more "Socialist Party Wins Greenland Election"
Voters from both right and left drifted towards Iceland’s centrist parties this weekend—but left-wing Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir still enjoys broad personal support and may yet retain her office.
Defying pollsters’ expectations, Saturday’s election result showed strong public support for Iceland’s governing parties: Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir’s eco-socialist Left-Green Movement (Vinstri græn), the right-leaning Independence Party ...
read more "Iceland’s centrist vote has resurged, but the left still has opportunities to govern and grow in a fragmented party system"
read more "Iceland’s centrist vote has resurged, but the left still has opportunities to govern and grow in a fragmented party system"
Labour will lead new government with a clear mandate for changeIn Norway’s parliamentary election on Monday, 13 September 2021, the country took a significant leftward turn, with candidates on the left of the political spectrum securing 100 out of a total of 169 seats in the national parliament. It is unclear who will form a government, but it will likely be a majority coalition bringing together the Labour Party (Ap), the Centre Party (Sp) and the Socialist Left Party (SV), or a minority coalition made up of just the first two of these parties. ...
read more "Breakthrough for Norway’s Radical Left"
read more "Breakthrough for Norway’s Radical Left"
Since Norway rejected European Union (EU) membership in a 1994 referendum, eurosceptic sentiment has remained strong, with a majority against joining for the past 15 years. EU membership is not an issue ahead of the parliamentary election on 13 September. What is up for discussion is the agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), making Norway part of the single market, and alternatives to this agreement. There is growing concern about Norway’s subordinate relationship with the EU, and trade unionists are critical due to ...
read more "Norway Is Moving to the Left – And Rethinking Its EU Relations"
read more "Norway Is Moving to the Left – And Rethinking Its EU Relations"