In Germany, climate protesters are demanding diesel bans in cities. Norwegian activists are calling for the abolition of urban road tolls. But in cities across the world, writes Mahir Yazar, populists are rising up to challenge these progressive climate movements The post How urban climate action is fuelling populist backlash appeared first on The Loop ..read more

Democracy is facing serious challenges. Some are contemplating whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help revitalise it. AI is, after all, heralded as the solution to a broad range of social and political challenges. Henrik Skaug Sætra argues that AI does indeed offer some hope, but also serious potential pitfalls Complex relationship The relationship between AI and democracy is complex, and the search for technological solutions to democratic challenges might be futile. While some promote the potential of AI to support democracy, a recurring criticism has been that AI systems exacerbate ..read more

Switzerland hosted the first Ukraine Peace Summit in June 2024. After several peace proposals, the Summit marked the first significant diplomatic step towards a 'comprehensive, just and lasting' peace in Ukraine. Davide Genini examines the main results of the Summit, placing them in the context of an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape Outcomes of the Ukraine Peace Summit The Ukraine Peace Summit concluded on 16 June 2024 with the adoption of a Joint Communiqué signed by 80 of the 100 delegations. Based on the Ukraine Peace Formula, the final declaration represents a firm commitment to ..read more

Eva Anduiza and Guillem Rico argue that the rise of the Spanish radical populist right is partly the result of sexist attitudinal backlash. The electoral consequences of changes in sexist attitudes seem to be related more to heightened feminist mobilisation than to the increasing visibility and normalisation of the radical right Backlash as a concept We generally understand backlash as a conservative reaction to progressive advances in society. The term is frequently used to explain the rise of the populist radical right. However, it functions mostly as a narrative tool rather than a theoretic ..read more

In the EU's most homophobic country, Poznań stands out as a beacon of queer acceptance and activism. Polish native Tomasz Gola explores the ways this city has become queer-friendly, highlighting the role of local NGOs, cultural receptivity, and proactive governance in its transformation For the LGBTQ+ community, queer spaces meet a mutitude of needs. Such spaces are 'the cultural centers of LGBTQ+ life and often provide the formative physical space for organizing in the ongoing fight in support of equality'. Of course, queer spaces are important for facilitating free expression in already-tole ..read more

In calling a snap election, Emmanuel Macron aimed to achieve 'clarity' on the will of French voters after defeat of his presidential list in the European Parliament elections by Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National. Giovanni Capoccia explores the pros and cons of this move in light of the outcome Electoral fragmentation Macron did manage to achieve some clarity from the French election results, but only in a narrow sense. It is now clear that the French electorate is fragmented into four blocs: the left-wing New Popular Front, the centrist Ensemble, the moderate-right party Les Rép ..read more

Majoritarian elections produce decisive governments that enact their policies with clear majorities. Hannah Bunting explains how parties competing in a winner-takes-all system secured a landslide for the UK Labour party with just a third of the popular support On 4 July 2024, it was the UK’s turn to vote in this worldwide year of elections. Six weeks earlier, sitting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the surprise announcement that the election would be much sooner than almost anyone had anticipated. With the party which had been in government for 14 years trailing 20 points in the polls, observe ..read more

The international university campus is a site of relationality, write Ruairidh Brown and Kerstin Tomiak. It is a space of cultural and political interchange, and the creation of co-constituted knowledge. This challenges the traditional view in international relations of higher education as a mere soft power tool Hard versus soft power  Under the hegemonic sway of political realism, the ontology of mainstream international relations (IR) holds fast on the prime importance of discrete sovereign states. How states exercise power remains a central focus of the discipline. Traditionally ..read more

Political neutrality in the face of injustice serves to maintain the status quo. Responding to Hana Kubátová’s blog piece, Adam Standring underlines the moral necessity of organisations like ECPR taking a strong political stance in the face of violence in Palestine and a crackdown on critical voices in the West If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. attributed to Desmond Tutu Crisis is political I appreciate the ..read more

Frederik Henriksen analyses anti-systemic populist movements during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, he explains how these movements rely on alternative news media to establish their own digital information environments, and shows how ideological partisanship evolved in these echo chambers Populism beyond the left-right spectrum This ? Future of Populism series has rightfully challenged the tendency to categorise populism and populists as exclusively left- or right-wing. Indeed, series editors Mattia Zulianello and Petra Guasti argue that populism transcends the left/right spectrum because it can ..read more