Extending human and civic rights
Evidence from Latin America: Governments increase human capital investment in response to social violence
Mauricio Rivera and Bárbara Zárate-Tenorio argue that democratic governments have incentives to advance human capital since the youth population is overrepresented in acts of social violence. Drawing on data from eighteen Latin American countries, they show that governments increase spending on education in response to increasing levels of social violence. They also find that political […]
Book Review: Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay by David Alderson
If corporate backing for Pride events is one example of queer subcultures becoming increasingly commercialised, does this threaten the capacity to resist or might capitalism be progressive for queer subjects? In Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay, David Alderson draws upon the work of Herbert Marcuse and Raymond Williams to examine processes […]
A ‘one-language’ EU policy would foster elitism and hit disproportionately the least advantaged
In an increasingly anglo-centric world, is multilingualism still needed in the European Union? The answer is a resounding yes, according to a study by Michele Gazzola. Analysing Eurostat data, he finds that making English the only official language of the EU would exclude approximately four out of five EU citizens from having a deep understanding […]
Looking beyond household income: How do we decide who is poor?
Recently, there was some criticism of the government’s attempt to introduce a new child poverty measure in the UK. Here, Rod Hick looks at comparing multidimensional and poverty-based measures of income and argues that the distinctiveness of multidimensional analysis depends on whether we are interested in identifying vulnerable individuals or vulnerable groups and whether we […]
The dark side of economic freedom: Neoliberalism has deleterious effects on labour rights
The common criticism is that market-liberalising policies sacrifice social and political rights. Robert Blanton and Dursun Peksen adopt a novel approach, finding more nuanced insights concerning the dynamics between neoliberalism and labour rights. Overall, their findings confirm that the relationship between the two is markedly negative, in spite of the mounting empirical evidence that worker […]
How will we decide who can stay? The fate of EU migrants post-Brexit
Uncertainty about the fate of EU nationals living in the UK continues. Jonathan Portes points out that the definition of “legal residency” is fraught with problems, and the administrative burden of establishing who can stay in Britain on that basis will be enormous. He proposes granting residency to those with a National Insurance number – […]
Brexit should be a wake up call in the fight against inequality
In the UK’s Brexit referendum, income inequality and poverty boosted ‘leave’ votes, in addition to geographical differences and larger shares of uneducated and older people in UK regions, according to regression analyses carried out by Zsolt Darvas. The study points at a key lesson politicians all over the world can learn from the referendum: high inequality and poverty undermine […]
Thanks to the referendum, the tyranny of the majority has prevailed
Many people living in the UK, and some Britons outside it, had no vote in the referendum. Scotland and Northern Ireland chose to Remain but will be forced to leave. Arash Heydarian Pashakhanlou argues the UK has succumbed to the tyranny of the majority thanks to the decision to put EU membership to a referendum. […]
Why applying for citizenship is an anxiety filled process – and not just for applicants
As we consider what post-Brexit citizenship might look like, it is crucial to understand the pervasiveness of anxiety and its integral role in shaping policy processes. Here, Anne-Marie Fortier discusses how anxiety is attached especially to English language ability for applicants, whilst also highlighting the role it plays for those on the other side of the process: the registrars checking applications for […]
The rise of English nationalism is something British politicians can no longer ignore
Britain’s vote to leave the EU was supposed to help settle Britain’s ‘European Question’ – Tim Oliver argues that instead it has thrown up more questions than answers. This piece was first presented at the LSE IDEAS post Brexit vote event. When in 2013 David Cameron committed to calling an in/out referendum, he declared: “It […]
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