Extending human and civic rights
The baloti.ch project shows the difficulties in engaging the disenfranchised in the political process using e-participation apps
Can a society be peaceful, prosperous, and happy when 25% of the population lack political rights on the national level? Uwe Serdült thinks not, and helped build an app to provide informal voting rights using an e-participation app for use in Swiss referendums. Although the app wasn’t a resounding success, it did provide an opportunity for disenfranchised […]
What would UK immigration policy look like after Brexit?
What impact would Britain leaving the EU have on UK immigration policy? Jonathan Portes writes that exiting the EU would not be a magic solution to immigration problems. For a start, the UK would have to accept an exit from the single market and make alternative plans. He argues that difficult policy questions would still remain, […]
Book Review: Injustice: Why Social Inequality Still Persists by Danny Dorling
The revised edition of Danny Dorling’s book Injustice: Why Social Inequality Still Persists provides an analysis of contemporary issues and practices underpinning inequality and a concise interpretation of the main causes of the persistence of injustice in rich countries, together with possible solutions. Gaja Maestri finds that despite touching only marginally on broader scholarly debates, the book remains […]
Trade union members did not shape the Labour leadership result as much as in past elections
Following changes to the Labour leadership election procedures under Ed Miliband, critics claimed that this election would be swamped by affiliated members from the trade unions who could opt in to get a ballot (unlike the old system in which they were capped at a one third share). However, Mark Wickham-Jones finds that trade unionists came nowhere near playing the […]
Why immigration controls resemble apartheid in their adverse consequences for freedom
The attempt to control some people can all too quickly escalate into an effort that depends for success on controlling everyone, argues Chandran Kukathas in comparing immigration controls with South Africa’s notorious apartheid laws. Similar PostsBook Review | Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers by David Scott FitzGeraldWhy don’t immigrants vote more?Book […]
The lack of collective will in Europe regarding refugees is indefensible
As the refugee crisis intensifies and pressure mounts for a pan-Europe strategy, Melanie Henwood examines the confused debate and argues that Britain must not stand by as a mere spectator to an unfolding tragedy. Similar PostsBook Review | Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers by David Scott FitzGeraldBook review | Asylum after Empire: […]
What to do about Calais… in 50 words
How should academics in the field of migration studies respond to the crisis in Calais? Bridget Anderson writes that viewing the crisis as a ‘migration problem’ misses the full picture: namely that those stuck in Calais are a symptom of a wider problem encompassing wars on the edges of Europe, an unequal economic system and the […]
There is a need to develop both a victim-led and victim-centred approach to dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s violent past
The conflict in Northern Ireland is now largely at an end, with violence only occurring infrequently. In its aftermath, argue John D. Brewer and Bernadette C. Hayes, it is important to develop an approach which is both led by, and centred around, the victims of conflict on both sides. Similar PostsThe quality of mercy: how […]
Book Review: The End Game: How Inequality Shapes Our Final Years
Corey Abramson’s book, The End Game: How Inequality Shapes Our Final Years, takes readers on a journey through geriatric inequality to show how on the west coast of the US the supposed golden years of post-employment for many individuals is an illusion, and in reality retirement is a corrosive quotidian struggle on body and soul, writes Michael Warren. […]
Attempts to dissuade potential migrants from coming to the UK are ineffective gimmickry
The UK has been criticised for its anti-humanitarian stance when it comes to the migrants camp in Calais, where conditions are appallingly bad. Defenders of the migrants point to the horrendous conditions from which many of them have fled, yet the Government’s rhetoric has been unfailingly caustic. However, the attempts – fences and security cameras […]
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