Current Challenges in Europe
Section outline
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Introduction + Cleavages in Europe: religious, ethnic, economic, social
Discussion about main cleavages in European society and their changes in recent years
Kriesi, H., Restructuration of Partisan Politics and the Emergence of a New Cleavage Based on Values, West European Politics, 33:3, 2010, pp. 673-685.
Minkenberg, M., Religion and Euroscepticism: Cleavages, Religious Parties and Churches in EU Member States, West European Politics, 32:6, 2009, pp. 1190-1211.
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Green Politics of the EU
Where has the European Green Deal (EGD) its origin? What is so revolutionary about the EGD (if any)? What are the challenges related to EU climate policy?
Jordan, A., Gravey, V. and Adelle, C. (2021). EU Environmental Policy at 50: Retrospect and Prospect. In Jordan, A. and Gravey, V. (eds) Environmental Policy in the EU: Actors, Institutions and Processes. (Routledge), pp. 357-374.
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Democratic Consolidation and Backsliding
This session aims to theoretically and empirically explore and understand the dynamics and changes in European democracy.
Bogaards, M. (2018). De-democratization in Hungary: Diffusely Defective Democracy, Democratization. 25(8), 1481-1499.
Lührmann. A & Lindberg, S. I. (2019) A third wave of autocratization is here: what is new about it?, Democratization, 26(7), 1095-1113.
Norris, P. (2017). Is Western democracy backsliding? Diagnosing the risks, Harvard Kennedy School.
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Special lecture on China's information operation delivered by Chen-Ling Hung (National Taiwan University)
Reading:
Jaw-Nian Huang. 2020. China’s influence on Taiwan’s media. A model of transnational diffusion of Chinese censorship.
Wu Jieh-min. 2021. "More than sharp power: Chinese influence operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and beyond".
Jian Xu, Qian Gong. 2024 "Telling China's Story Well' as propaganda campaign slogan: International,
domestic and the pandemic". -
European Left: what happened after the end of the welfare state?
Discussion about the development of left-wing ideologies in the 21st century.
Císař, O., The Left in the beginning of the 21st century, in Kopeček, L., Trajectories of the Left. Social Democratic and Ex-Communist Parties in Contemporary Europe: Between Past and Future, Brno: CDK, 2005, pp. 11-28.
March, L., Radical Left Success before and after Great Recession, in March, L. and D. Keith, Europe´s Radical Right: From Marginality to Mainstream?, London: Rowman, 2016, pp. 27-50.
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Current Populism in Europe
Discussion about main populist topics and actors in contemporary Europe
Kriesi, Hanspeter. 2014. "The Populist Challenge". West European Politics 37, 2, 361-378.
Mudde, Cas. 2004. „The Populist Zeitgeist“. Government and Opposition 39, 4: 542-563.
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Post-communist countries: a successful transformation?
Discussion about how the post-communist countries performed during the process of transformation towards democracy and how they are doing now.
Kitschelt, H., Mansfeldová, Z., Post-Communist Party Systems, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 19-42.
Ágh, A., Increasing europopulism as a megatrend in East Central Europe: from facade democracies to velvet dictatorship, Baltic Journal of Political Science, Vol. 5, 2016, pp. 21-39.
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Climate and related securities and Europe
What is the climate security? What kind of climate security and related risks does Europe concentrate on? How does the climate security of the EU influence the climate security of the world?
Kuzemko, C. et al. (2022). Russia's War on Ukraine, European Energy Policy Responses & Implications for Sustainable Transformations. Energy Research & Social Science 93, pp. 1-8.
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Guest lecture from Maxine David (Leiden University)
Russia’s War on Ukraine: Unbottled Emotions and the Conditioning of the EU’s Russia Policy
Reading:
David, M., & L.D. (2024). Russia’s war on Ukraine: unbottled emotions and the conditioning of the EU’s Russia policy. Journal of European Integration, 46(5), 661–684.
Plus recommended article:Marco Siddi (2022) The partnership that failed: EU-Russia relations and the war in Ukraine, Journal of European Integration, 44:6, 893-898
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Migration to Europe: challenges and opportunities
Discussion about main national and EU approaches towards different types of migration to Europe
Mathias Czaika, Marta Bivand Erdal & Cathrine Talleraas (2023) Exploring Europe’s external migration policy mix: on the interactions of visa, readmission, and resettlement policies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49:12, 3140-3161
Erik Snel, Özge Bilgili & Richard Staring (2021) Migration trajectories and transnational support within and beyond Europe, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47:14.