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Excellent review of The Light That Failed by Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes by Esther Kovats & Katerina Smejkalova
https://www.ips-journal.eu/regions/europe/article/show/east-central-europes-revolt-against-imitation-4205/
A thread
https://www.ips-journal.eu/regions/europe/article/show/east-central-europes-revolt-against-imitation-4205/
A thread
1. Krastev & Holmes under-conceptualized liberalism - beyond a set of values & norms, liberalism has a significant economic dimension; the rise of populism has some autocratic roots, but is mainly a backlash against the transition era neoliberalism; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0888325418791723?casa_token=AruTA84rsXUAAAAA:b5l2tVGxmW-iqVVrQ3Z67xoXRzoc9tJSzepwYySQGnydgYMJpMfFqK4miss0qOOz1VwHqNRCD1aPkQ
2. Behind the great CEE macroeconomic indicators - GDP growth and low unemployment are low wages & poverty; this more than 'illiberalism' shapes negative attitudes to migration and refugees - inward migration benefits West. companies, but not CEE workers; https://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/75837158/Democracy_under_stress_2018.pdf#page=71
3. Westward migration is often the only option, but the price is brain drain (university graduates especially medical professions) and undignified working conditions (seasonal workers);
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/apr/16/western-europe-food-east-european-workers-coronavirus https://www.ft.com/content/15dba9f8-5184-11ea-90ad-25e377c0ee1f
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/apr/16/western-europe-food-east-european-workers-coronavirus https://www.ft.com/content/15dba9f8-5184-11ea-90ad-25e377c0ee1f
4. The primary cause of the demographic 'crisis' is not the mass West-ward migration (with some key exceptions such as Bulgaria and perhaps to a lesser degree Poland), but by economic conditions of young families, and lack of work-life balance; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0266242618825260?casa_token=ctM4-XiX39IAAAAA:KzoHCGfnWwwfpFdkX_oi7tpVlzNnb30oiu0U1FUk5KvFBcsahfDl6-xlv5IVQlhSlNZb6wbHGWQdVA
5. Illiberal backlash (anti-LGBT, anti-gender equality) does not only happen in the 'backward East'; it is a worldwide phenomenon; the fumes are fueled by US money; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21599165.2019.1705282
6. Progressive politics needed to move beyond the post-communist neoliberal paradigm - reducing gender gap; bridging the East/West divide in the EU especially improving dignity (& wages) of the CEE workers at home and in the West;
https://verfassungsblog.de/covid-19-and-disposable-migrant-workers/?fbclid=IwAR1uURAKfk6DbjOC7B4jXNRf6rQelBQFyY36Y7q0ShZy-v0q37VQXblt-p8 The End
https://verfassungsblog.de/covid-19-and-disposable-migrant-workers/?fbclid=IwAR1uURAKfk6DbjOC7B4jXNRf6rQelBQFyY36Y7q0ShZy-v0q37VQXblt-p8 The End
P.S.: An outstanding article on CEE migrant workers by @ManesWeissk @JuliRone and @MarianaSeMendes
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/only-frequent-flyers-left-migrant-workers-eu-times-covid-19/ workers need dignity, wages, PPE, health & social insurance, NOT chocolate bunnies #Fairness #PriceOfAsparagus
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/only-frequent-flyers-left-migrant-workers-eu-times-covid-19/ workers need dignity, wages, PPE, health & social insurance, NOT chocolate bunnies #Fairness #PriceOfAsparagus
