Thinking global, living local: Voices in a globalized world

Read all posts from ‘Relationship trouble’

  • The Western Balkans: A social contract in transition

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    In the middle of March in Brussels about 40 representatives of civil society from European Union candidate countries (South-East Europe, Turkey and Iceland) attended the European Commission study tour “Direct democracy and e-democracy as a means for fostering transparency, civic engagement and participation” as part of People 2 People program. […]

  • Don't panic: organize! Image in the public domain

    Governments and citizens status: it’s complicated

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    I have been mulling over how to frame my thoughts about the ‘relationship trouble’ between the people and the institutions that govern them. On FutureChallenges, Corina Murafa phrased a very interesting perspective; I, however, disagree with her main proposition: “governments, be they local, regional or national, are no better than […]

  • Roma in Bulgaria: a neglected abandoned minority

    At the moment Bulgaria is governed by a caretaker government appointed by the president because the ruling party GERB resigned at the end of February after a series of country-wide protests. They started innocently enough against the unexpectedly high electricity bills people were unable to pay. All that citizens wanted […]

  • The Ballad of Warm Tap Water

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    Young Poles do not seek to redefine their relationship with the state. At least not all of them and not fundamentally. As Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said in an interview with the Wprost weekly in late summer 2010: “(…) Editor: But politicians ought to have more ambitions to change […]