Georgios Karyotis
European Migration Policy in the Aftermath of September 11
Abstract
Many studies have explored the security logic of EU policies on migration and asylum, which served as the legitimizing factor for adopting restrictive measures and for cutting back the rights of third-country nationals. The involvement of the European Commission in this policy area after the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force signalled a move towards more liberal immigration policies, which recognized the positive contributions made by labor immigrants. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11 brought the liberalization of European migration policy to a halt. In the context of these developments, this paper aims to readdress the security–migration nexus, utilizing but also extending the concept of ‘securitization’, developed by the ‘Copenhagen School of Security Studies’. By analyzing institutional developments in the area of internal security in the EU, it demonstrates that the events of September 11 did not initiate the insecurities, uncertainties, ambiguities and complexities in regards to migration policy; rather they accelerated dynamics that were already deeply rooted in the emerging European internal security regime. The paper concludes that the discourse that links migration to security is a construction that is both exaggerated and problematic, yet it has been further reinforced in the post-September 11 context.
Kingsley Dennis
Technologies of Civil Society
Abstract
Emerging technologies of communication and cooperation are increasingly mediated through flows of connectivity and information, leading to distributed forms of civil participation. In this article I discuss ‘technologies of civil society’ whereby people who are investing in information-access, increased mobility and knowledge-sharing contribute to multiple networks of co-participation and cooperation. Civil society is increasingly becoming visible through the technologies used to receive, organize and utilize the information flows. In order to sustain cooperation, complex interrelations between individuals and their technically mediated communications must of necessity be deliberate and intentional strategies. I argue that communication technologies are informing strategies of civil participation and cooperation at ever more accelerated rates, aiding bottom-up strategies of organization.
‘A society's fitness is determined by its social cognitive map’ (Robert Artigiani)
Brent S. Steel, Sarah Henderson, Rebecca L. Warner
NGOs and the Development of Civil Society in Bulgaria and the USA
Abstract
This study examines the development of civil society and its ability to facilitate stronger democratic practices in Bulgaria using the USA as a comparison. Using data gathered from surveys of NGOs in 2006, we examine three sets of questions. First, what is the level of NGO organizational capacity? Second, to what degree are NGOs performing their mediating roles? Third, how do NGOs perceive their effectiveness in working with the state and its citizens. Our findings suggest that Bulgarian NGOs face a number of challenges when compared with US NGOs, which affect their ability to engage in civil society activities such as establishing horizontal ties with citizens and other groups.
Maria Hadjipavlou
Multiple Stories
Abstract
This article discusses the dynamics of ‘crossings’ across the Green Line in Cyprus from a social–psychological and reconciliation perspective. I will present individual stories of crossing the divide and meeting the Other after 30 years of mutual isolation in order to illustrate the Cypriot experience. In ethno-national conflicts and in divided societies, maintaining contact across ethnic, religious or geographical barriers is important because it helps soften stereotypes and misperceptions and gradually complicates the ‘enemy image’; however, without institutional support these contacts can reconfirm old stereotypes or misperceptions. The opportunity to cross the Green Line and establish contacts between the two communities has been given to Cypriots since April 2003 and has been welcomed by the European Union and the international community. In this article I argue that, whereas these contacts form part of the public reconciliation process and constitute an element of informal peace education and narrative, they will not suffice to bring about sustainable peace and reconciliation unless supported by the political level—symbolically as well as institutionally. I define reconciliation as the capacity to reach to the Other, feel empathy for the Other's suffering and, by engaging in shared social activities, challenge the bipolarity of ‘us and them’. The challenge remains of how to incorporate these ‘new realities and stories’ in the information that makes up the master narrative. To do this it would entail official engagement in a new dialogue about history making.
Andreas Follesdal, Liana Giorgi, Richard Heuberger
Envisioning European Solidarity between Welfare Ideologies and the European Social Agenda
Abstract
This article uses the debates of the Working Group ‘Social Europe’ of the European Convention for the Future of the European Union that drafted the Constitutional Treaty to explore the views on the European social model among representatives of the European political class. The debates within the European Convention on basic social values, social objectives, the Union's competences, the open method of coordination, the coordination of social and economic policies as well as the role of social partners provide insight into the emerging visions of European solidarity at the crossroads between welfare regime ideologies and Europeanization. It is argued that, despite an overall consensus regarding a greater future role of the European Union in social policy, the contours of the European social model and the scope of the Union's competences remain contested. However, the observed cleavages are to be found mainly on the left–right political scale, and this suggests that we might gradually be observing a re-politicization of the social policy discourse at European level. Nevertheless, the holding on to arguments of subsidiarity and especially sovereignty represents a barrier to envisioning European solidarity and developing a stronger European social agenda.
