Europe & Central Asia Archives - Page 9 of 13

Democracy

The Mood Has Changed

From confrontation to subversion: the evolution of protest culture in Belarus

November 19, 2020 • by Ingo Petz

————— In a few short summer months, Belarus completely rewrote its role in world history. Became a part of it. This is about far more than who has formal sovereignty. It’s about our own style and our own place. Ihar Babkoŭ, 8.30.2020 ————— In an unprecedented and historic act of collective politicization, the Belarusian population has overcome ...

Democracy

Will the Pandemic Teach Us Democracy?

An interview with Axel Honneth

November 19, 2020 • by Axel Honneth

The more publicly governments articulate their difficulties in controlling the pandemic, the greater its democratic potential, argues Axel Honneth. But if people conclude that government measures have been unjustified, the result will be even greater distrust in democratic decision-making. Esprit: The coronavirus crisis has shown that political power and decision-making involve uncertainty, ...

Democracy

Mini-Trumps in the Wilderness

Trump’s loss of the presidency in 2020 may spell disaster for his fellow populists in Eastern Europe

November 18, 2020 • by Sławomir Sierakowski

Joe Biden’s election as president of the United States has seriously weakened authoritarian and populist governments around the world. For independent global powers like Russia, Brazil, and Turkey, Donald Trump’s departure need not amount to a complete tragedy. But for the current governments of Poland, Hungary, and Serbia -- and ...

Europe & Central Asia

France’s Tale of Two Secularisms

After terrorist attacks rattle France, where will the Republic go from here?

November 18, 2020 • by Hannah Leffingwell

In October, France experienced another spate of terrorist attacks over a span of two weeks. First was the gruesome beheading of an Évreux public-school teacher, Samuel Paty, after he showed a caricature of the prophet Muhammad in his class. The slaying received national attention and the French government responded swiftly, ...

Democracy

Will Women Defeat Poland’s Illiberal Regime?

Protests erupt in Poland over abortion restrictions

November 11, 2020 • by Sławomir Sierakowski

After weeks of watching massive peaceful demonstrations against neighboring Belarus's authoritarian regime, Poles have finally taken to the streets to confront their own illiberal government. As in Belarus, Poland's de facto ruler, Jarosław Kaczyński has overplayed his hand – and women have been the first to smack it away. WARSAW – Authoritarian ...

Will Women Defeat Poland’s Illiberal Regime?

Democracy

Poland’s Abortion Ban Protests Are a Harbinger of a Wider Social Movement

Channelling the grievances of women and of the LGBTQ community

November 10, 2020 • by Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer and Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz

The pro-choice protests that started on October 22, 2020 are the beginning of a wider social movement channelling the grievances of women and of the LGBTQ community, as well as other marginalized groups in Poland, write Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer and Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz. What’s more, the protests are not only taking place ...

Poland’s Abortion Ban Protests Are a Harbinger of a Wider Social Movement

Democracy

Strategies of Protests from Belarus

Dignity, solidarity, and the reclaim of public space

November 9, 2020 • by Karolina Koziura and Aliaksandr Bystryk

Almost three months have elapsed since the elections, but Belarusians haven’t been deterred from protesting peacefully. Every Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people march on the streets of Minsk and other cities across the country. The intensity, longevity, and creativity of the protests surprised everyone, including the Belarusians themselves. Yet, ...

Activism

A Halloween Uprising and Poland’s General Strike Over Abortion

A new generation of women rises up against an unholy – and sexist – alliance of church and state

November 6, 2020 • by Elzbieta Matynia

Poland’s Halloween has always been a solemn national holiday with pagan roots called All Souls Day, known long ago as Forefathers’ Eve, and immediately followed on November 1 by All Saints Day. Normally, it’s a contemplative period of reconnecting with those who are not with us anymore, whether grandparents, veterans, or ...

A Halloween Uprising and Poland’s General Strike Over Abortion

Democracy

Ghosts of Weimar

Is factual accuracy even the point when it comes to the discourse of antifascism?

October 15, 2020 • by Anton Shekhovtsov

Alexander Yanov, the emigré historian of Russia and Russian nationalism, was critical of major Western approaches towards post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s. He criticized the "devious simplicity" of the Western logic holding that, because a non-market Russia had been the West’s sworn enemy, a free-market Russia would become its partner. ...

Activism

Varieties of Antifascism

Russian notes towards a global debate

October 15, 2020 • by Mischa Gabowitsch

_____ A question may bе raised as to why, if we wish to explore new resources for combating fascism, we do not give as much attention to the "potential antifascist." The answer is that we do study trends that stand in opposition to fascism, but we do not conceive that they ...

Democracy

Digital Authoritarianism and Trolling in Turkey

September 22, 2020 • by Funda Başaran

In 2007, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) had its second election victory, increasing its vote share to 47,8 and consolidating power. In the same year, it imposed important regulations to ‘clean’ the Internet of undesirable content. Law 5651, On Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes committed ...

Digital Authoritarianism and Trolling in Turkey

Democracy

Donald Trump: Democracy’s Mirror image?

Modern liberal democracies can always cancel themselves

September 15, 2020 • by Philip Manow

______ In a modern representative democracy, power alternates via elections. Or, as one minimalist definition puts it: ‘democracy is simply a system in which incumbents lose elections and leave when they lose’.[1] But since they only leave after the event, democracy on this account of it can only ever prove itself ex-post. ...