Loughborough University’s Centre for Research in Communication and Culture partnered with The New York Times and the Open Society Foundations to organize a Central and Eastern European Symposium, a special side event to the 5th Athens Democracy Forum which took place on 13-17 September 2017.
Read moreWhether British citizens with Muslim beliefs are sufficiently committed to “British values” and to a “British way of life” is a topic of intense political and media debate. Now a new report on “Missing Muslims” launched by the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation and Public Life on July 3 has challenged the allegation that Muslim […]
Read moreOn May 15 2017, the Italian Court of Cassation, the highest court of appeal, issued a verdict ruling that Sikh men in Italy cannot carry the kirpan, the sacred dagger that represents one of the five holy customs Sikhs must observe.
Read moreFollowing the recent legislative action by the Hungarian government, we would like to express our deep concern over the impact of the proposed law on Central European University (CEU), endangering its further operations in Hungary. Together with many academics in Hungary and around the world, we perceive this action as an assault on an independent […]
Read moreThe parliamentary election in the Netherlands on March 15 is approaching rapidly. And with an incredibly fragmented field, it looks as though attempts to form a coalition government after the vote will prove a challenging task, to say the least.
Read moreAround this time of year, many people seek to reduce, reform or moderate their drinking habits. However, the idea of what is considered “safe”, “sensible” or “responsible” drinking varies significantly at different points in time and across different countries. Public health advice once recommended that male alcohol consumption should be limited to less than 21 […]
Read moreWe blame the internet for a lot of things, and now the list has grown to include our politics. In a turbulent year marked by the U.K.‘s decision to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump, some have started to wonder to what extent the recent events have to do with the […]
Read moreThe populist radical right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders was found guilty on December 9 of insulting a group of people (Moroccans) and “inciting discrimination”. Wilders, founder and leader of the Freedom Party (Partij voor de Vrijheid or PVV), has been the most prominent critic of Islam, immigration and multiculturalism in Dutch politics in the past […]
Read moreCannabis is hugely popular. 182m people use cannabis across the world and, with this level of exposure, the way cannabis is regulated matters. As does the evidence of risks and benefits to health which underpins regulation.
Read moreBrexit. Trump. Climate change. The financial system. The arms trade. Hardliners. You name it, it’s causing anxiety. The state of the world upsets you, but what can you, a poor little meaningless individual lost in a powerful and complex system, do to change anything? How can you make any difference?
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