April 18, 2013 - In the south of Mexico people are regenerating the society from the bottom up. It is a new kind of revolution without leaders or vanguards, which goes beyond development and globalization. It is about displacing the economy from the center of social life, reclaiming a communal way of being, encouraging radical pluralism, and advancing towards real democracy. Gustavo Esteva more»

A Vision for a Social Citizen's Europe: The European Commonfare

- October 4, 2012 - The current crisis is not a crisis of confidence, nor is it purely financial in character. The current crisis is, above all, a device for domination, spoliation, and precarisation. What we witness today is the depredation and expropriation of common goods, of wealth, and of rights. What we need is a common social, fiscal, and budgetary policy. Aitor Tinoco i Girona more»

How Can the Internet Contribute to Civil Participation? The Case of Eurobloggers

- September 24, 2012 - The Euroblogosphere can be seen as a tool towards greater democratisation as i tconstitutes a community of individual citizens sharing information and ideas. Eurobloggers have the potential to become something like a popular lobby, giving voice to the interests and grievances of common Europeans. Javier Ruiz Soler more»

The new Education Act – regulation and centralisation

- September 6, 2012 - A chain of rapid and unprecedented changes in Hungary’s Higher Education Act have been adopted and implemented recently by the government of Viktor Orbán. The changes share the intention of centralising power and establishing supreme control over all levels of education. Zsófia Deák more»

Civil Society Goes Brussels

- August 9, 2012 - Businesses have long since grasped it – and now civil society is following suit: Whoever wants to make political gains can no longer afford to be solely active in their respective capitals. Whether it is about the environment, about consumer protection, about civil society in the digital age – increasingly Brussels is the place where the action is.  Falk Lüke more»

The European welfare state or the welfare states of the European Union?

- August 8, 2012 - Does the European Union (EU) safeguard the future of the welfare state in times of globalisation? Is the crisis intensifying the pressure to take action and could it even ultimately lead to more social policy integration – a European welfare state?  Uwe Puetter more»

A Fractious Relationship: Africa and the International Criminal Court

- August 6, 2012 - Although there continues to be widespread popular support across the African continent for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its mandate to prosecute high-level individuals accused of perpetrating international crimes, strong anti-ICC sentiments are brewing among parts of Africa’s political elite and state actors.  more»

Inside a Champion

- June 7, 2012 - The international community likes to see Brazil as a socially oriented, economically successful state that is sensitive to environmental and climate-friendly issues – a great power on its way to the top; a champion. But in Brazilian civil society, another perception of its own state and the politics it pursues prevails. This publication takes a closer look at this discrepancy between how Brazil is perceived by those outside of and within its borders. more»

"We have succumbed to some very weak arguments"

- April 17, 2012 - The British government is considering new Internet surveillance laws, which would allow investigation authorities to monitor users’ email traffic, visited websites, phone calls and text messages in real time and without court authorization. Civil rights activists fear a far-reaching intrusion into the privacy of British citizens. Heinrich Böll Foundation has talked to Nick Pickles, director of the privacy and civil liberties organisation Big Brother Watch, about the proposal.
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Solidarity and strength: The Future of the European Union

- November 8, 2011 - Economic and environmental challenges that threaten to overwhelm the European project. The Heinrich Böll Foundation has set up a commission to examine the future of the EU. This publication puts forward a series of proposals in areas such as foreign and security; agricultural; energy; economics and monetary and enlargement policy. more»

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