On February 9, Swiss voters narrowly approved the reintroduction of quotas on immigration, damaging Swiss-EU relations in the process. Why did the Swiss vote this way? Does it have anything to do with Robin Hood? And will this impact on the EU membership debate in the UK?
The factors that contribute to the inexorable rise of fascism in societies, described here, have to be identified, understood and undermined by critical theory as soon as they occur, so that political action can confront them.
Scepticism is healthy for democracy, but not when it degenerates into belief in conspiracy theories. Dieudonné and Jobbik are but two recent examples that the conspiratorial mindset is alive and well in Europe.
Marian Kotleba, a well-known figure of the Slovak neo-Nazi scene, was recently elected as governor of the central Slovak region of Banská Bystrica. Is this the mere consequence of a protest vote, or the indicator of a much more disturbing trend?
The polarising strategy of the Flemish movement’s biggest political party places next year’s “mother of all elections” in Belgium on a knife-edge.
Most Poles agree that far right attacks are on the rise in their country, but the government and police are unable, or unwilling, to challenge it.
The only electoral promise Fidesz has fulfilled has been the “restoration of order”, through a myriad of laws, decrees and regulations, a particularly harsh new Penal Code and several new organizations.
Over a week has passed since the arrest of several Golden Dawn MPs. So much has changed, and yet much remains the same.
It is only a broad anti-fascist alliance which will actively condemn and oppose any form of violence, focusing on the defence of democratic institutions to reenergize democratic practices, that will disarm Golden Dawn politically and culturally in the longer term.
The Council of Europe has long been putting pressure on the Greek government to suspend the operation of this organisation. But it has taken a long time and much grief before this preventive action was taken.
Ten days after the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, the ND-PASOK pro-austerity government arrested most of the Golden Dawn leadership on the grounds of being a criminal organization. Yet, for a combination of economic and political reasons, democracy in Greece is in more danger today than ever before.
The Greek government has finally launched action against Golden Dawn, a far-right party long tainted by its association with violence. But the timing of this action casts doubt on the depth of the government’s commitment to countering far-right violence in the country.
