European Social Policy And The Covid 19 Pandemic

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European Social Policy and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author : Stefanie Börner
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0197676200
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (976 download)

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Book Synopsis European Social Policy and the COVID-19 Pandemic by : Stefanie Börner

Download or read book European Social Policy and the COVID-19 Pandemic written by Stefanie Börner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-08-08 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access title available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It is free to read at Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and select open access locations. During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, social policy was one of the most important strategies used by governments to help mitigate the crisis. European Social Policy and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges to National Welfare and EU Policy provides an encompassing and longer-term analysis of the social policy responses of European countries, as well as the European Union (EU), to the challenges of the pandemic. The book asks in which direction the European welfare states, on the one hand, and EU social policy, on the other, are developing as a result of the pandemic with respect to polity, politics, and policy instruments. European Social Policy and the COVID-19 Pandemic addresses several questions, such as what medium- and long-term effects will the current social policy crisis responses have on the different welfare states? Will the partly improvised, partly only temporary but in every respect diverse and often unprecedented measures lead to novel reform trajectories or even a new welfare state model? What new forms of international cooperation and conflict resolution mechanisms may arise within the social policy domain of the EU? The questions raised not only concern the future of welfare states in Europe but also EU-level social-policy making and European integration in general. The chapters--written by experts on law, political science, social policy, and sociology--build on various methodological backgrounds and encompass single case studies, comparative policy analyses, and discourse-analytical perspectives.

Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2015

Author : David Natali (OSE)
Publisher : ETUI
ISBN 13 : 2874523747
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (745 download)

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Book Synopsis Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2015 by : David Natali (OSE)

Download or read book Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2015 written by David Natali (OSE) and published by ETUI. This book was released on 2015-09-23 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sixteenth edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play has a triple ambition. First, it provides easily accessible information to a wide audience about recent developments in both EU and domestic social policymaking. Second, the volume provides a more analytical reading, embedding the key developments of the year 2014 in the most recent academic discourses. Third, the forward-looking perspective of the book aims to provide stakeholders and policymakers with specific tools that allow them to discern new opportunities to influence policymaking. In this 2015 edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play, the authors tackle the topics of the state of EU politics after the parliamentary elections, the socialisation of the European Semester, methods of political protest, the Juncker investment plan, the EU’s contradictory education investment, the EU’s contested influence on national healthcare reforms, and the neoliberal Trojan Horse of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Public Policy and the Impact of COVID-19 in Europe

Author : Magdalena Tomala
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000619966
Total Pages : 82 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Public Policy and the Impact of COVID-19 in Europe by : Magdalena Tomala

Download or read book Public Policy and the Impact of COVID-19 in Europe written by Magdalena Tomala and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-05-08 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses Europe’s COVID-19 response provided by governments and societies, to assess its influence on the economy from both a short- and long-term perspective. The authors argue that there are three key factors that determine how successful a given country is. The first is the determination and effectiveness of the government. The second is the capacity of states and their healthcare systems in times of crisis. The third is society’s willingness to adhere to emergency measures and to cooperate with authorities. The book examines the government policy of EU states during the pandemic; studies the behaviour of EU societies; reveals the influence of the pandemic crisis on the economy of EU states and formulates a successful strategy to counteract the challenges wrought by the pandemic. The book will appeal to scholars and researchers engaged in the fields of economic and political science, global studies and international relations. Furthermore, it will also be addressed to policy makers of European States as it contains a complex analysis of their policy responses and the corresponding impact on European economy and society.

Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe

Author : Maja Gerovska Mitev
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031512324
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe by : Maja Gerovska Mitev

Download or read book Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe written by Maja Gerovska Mitev and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Coronavirus Politics

Author : Scott L Greer
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472902466
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (729 download)

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Book Synopsis Coronavirus Politics by : Scott L Greer

Download or read book Coronavirus Politics written by Scott L Greer and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2021-04-19 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: COVID-19 is the most significant global crisis of any of our lifetimes. The numbers have been stupefying, whether of infection and mortality, the scale of public health measures, or the economic consequences of shutdown. Coronavirus Politics identifies key threads in the global comparative discussion that continue to shed light on COVID-19 and shape debates about what it means for scholarship in health and comparative politics. Editors Scott L. Greer, Elizabeth J. King, Elize Massard da Fonseca, and André Peralta-Santos bring together over 30 authors versed in politics and the health issues in order to understand the health policy decisions, the public health interventions, the social policy decisions, their interactions, and the reasons. The book’s coverage is global, with a wide range of key and exemplary countries, and contains a mixture of comparative, thematic, and templated country studies. All go beyond reporting and monitoring to develop explanations that draw on the authors' expertise while engaging in structured conversations across the book.

Contemporary States and the Pandemic

Author : Jolanta Itrich-Drabarek
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000814696
Total Pages : 131 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Contemporary States and the Pandemic by : Jolanta Itrich-Drabarek

Download or read book Contemporary States and the Pandemic written by Jolanta Itrich-Drabarek and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-30 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume elaborately studies the challenges posed and impact made by the Covid 19 pandemic. Through detailed case studies, it presents ethical, political, economic, medical, logistical and social impediments faced by contemporary states in the EU. The book focuses on the short and long-term consequences of the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and covers issues concerning the world economy, the EU economy, as well as the Visegrad economies. The essays in this volume: Probes into the response of states to the economic phenomena resulting from the pandemic and analyses the institutional framework of the resulting crisis, lapses in social communication, social protests and the decline in democratic standards in countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary; Discusses issues related to state security under conditions of the pandemic, the effectiveness of state and self-government administration, the transition of states from an external controllability to an internal controllability model of power, as well as challenges related to security in the digital space; Presents policy actions at three basic levels, i.e. at the global, regional and sub-regional, and investigate strategies of the UN, WHO, the EU and the Visegrad Group as they play the most important role in the fight against COVID-19; This insightful and timely volume will be of great interest to scholars, researchers and anyone inquisitive about political theory, public policy, public health and social care, international relations, governance, security studies, and public administration.

Social Policy Review 33

Author : Pomati, Marco
Publisher : Policy Press
ISBN 13 : 1447359739
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (473 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Policy Review 33 by : Pomati, Marco

Download or read book Social Policy Review 33 written by Pomati, Marco and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2021-07-30 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the annual Social Policy Review even more critical than before. This comprehensive volume addresses critical debates throughout the international social policy field over the past year with a key focus on responses to COVID-19 and implications for social policy. Expert contributors address important issues including foodbanks, caring for older family members, lockdowns around the globe, gender, technology and migration during a pandemic. Published in association with the Social Policy Association, this annual review is fundamental reading for students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Author : Christian Aspalter
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9819924979
Total Pages : 307 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (199 download)

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Book Synopsis Covid-19 Pandemic by : Christian Aspalter

Download or read book Covid-19 Pandemic written by Christian Aspalter and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-01 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents an overview of social problems and health problems that arose out of, or were flared up by, the global COVID-19 pandemic. It addresses most vital problems in developed and developing countries from literally around the world, by top country experts in their respective fields of study. The book debates first certain overall thematic topics and then analyzes a number of key country case studies. Apart from a set of key theme/problem-based chapters, the country case studies from major-hit countries in the world are yet another highlight of the book. They also feature, in addition to analyzing the pandemic and policy responses per se, one extra special focal point each. The book hence covers the core of most severe social problems, including health problems, that have been spurred or set off by the COVID-19 pandemic. An overall theory chapter that uses a global data analysis and a short theoretical appraisal on the 'human face' of the Pandemic is also offered at the beginning of book, to bring back humanity and human decency (i.e. decency of the human condition) into the scientific debate as well as policy making arena, which is utterly needed at this point of human development.

The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development

Author : Maria do Carmo dos Santos Gonçalves
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030846784
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (38 download)

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Book Synopsis The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development by : Maria do Carmo dos Santos Gonçalves

Download or read book The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development written by Maria do Carmo dos Santos Gonçalves and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-03 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a novel contribution to academic discourses on the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and how it has impacted societies globally. It proffers an overview on the social development and political measures, from both the Global North and Global South, to prevent COVID-19's spread. It illuminates major social, political and economic challenges that already existed in different contexts and which are also currently being amplified by COVID-19. Curiously, this global pandemic has opened spaces for different actors, across the globe, to begin to fundamentally question and challenge the hegemony of the Global North, which sometimes is evident in social work. Linked to the foregoing and while reflecting beyond the pandemic and into the future, the book proposes that social work must become more political at all levels, and strive to transform societies, global social development efforts, and economic and health systems. This contributed volume of 38 chapters discusses and analyses ethical, social, sociological, social work and social development issues that complement and enrich available literature in the socio-political, economics, public health, medical ethics and political science. It provides various case studies which should enable readers to gain insights into how countries have responded to the pandemic and learn how COVID-19 negatively impacted countries in different parts of the world. This book also provides a platform for the articulation of neglected and marginalized voices, such as those of indigenous populations, the poor, or oppressed. The chapters are grouped according to three main themes as they relate to research on the COVID-19 pandemic and social work in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America: Analysis: Social Issues and the COVID-19 Pandemic Strategies and Responses in Social Work: Globally and Locally Outlook: Looking Ahead Beyond the Pandemic Intended to engage a global, diverse and interdisciplinary audience, The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development is a timely and relevant resource for academics, students and researchers in inter alia Social Work, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, and Development Studies.

The Economic and Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author : Valentina Vasile
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031477804
Total Pages : 332 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (314 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economic and Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic by : Valentina Vasile

Download or read book The Economic and Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic written by Valentina Vasile and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Post-Pandemic Welfare and Social Work

Author : Goetz Ottmann
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000921573
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis Post-Pandemic Welfare and Social Work by : Goetz Ottmann

Download or read book Post-Pandemic Welfare and Social Work written by Goetz Ottmann and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-08-04 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a critical juncture in the development of the welfare state affirming its importance for its citizens’ economic, health and wellbeing, and safety, especially for its most vulnerable populations. It demonstrated that the crisis preparedness that is crucial for an effective protection of its citizens, the ultimate purpose of the welfare state, unquestionably exceeds the narrow horizon of a corporatised welfare industry with its singular focus on the maximisation of profit for the elites and cost containment for the government. Social workers need to engage with the contradictions and tensions that spring from underfunded welfare services and engage in the political struggle over a well-resourced welfare state. Contributors to this book take on this challenge. By tracing the various contradictions of the pandemic, the contributors reflect on new ways of thinking about welfare by exploring what to keep, what to challenge and what to change. By highlighting important challenges for a social justice-focused response as well as exploring the many challenges exposed by the pandemic facing social work for the coming decades, contributors critically outline pathways in social work that might contribute to the shaping of a less cruel and more capable welfare state. Using case-studies from Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Canada, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, China and the United States, the book features 19 chapters by leading experts. This book will be of interest to all social work scholars, students and practitioners, as well as those working in social policy and health more broadly.

Social Policy and EU Polity-Building Through Crises and Beyond

Author : Stefano Ronchi
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 9781032545141
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (451 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Policy and EU Polity-Building Through Crises and Beyond by : Stefano Ronchi

Download or read book Social Policy and EU Polity-Building Through Crises and Beyond written by Stefano Ronchi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2024-07-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume sets out to explain the conditions that have favoured the expansion of the European social dimension during the turbulent decade of 2010-20, when Europe was confronting strong countervailing pressures, including the euro crisis, the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The study begins by diagnosing a widespread, although slow-burning, crisis across the European Union (EU) resulting from the cumulation of social problems and the systemic tension between EU market integration on the one hand and nationally bounded welfare states and the other. Eight in-depth case studies analyse the political dynamics behind a variety of EU social initiatives aimed at addressing the consequences of free movement of workers, youth unemployment, poverty, eroding wages, environment and climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. To identify the specific drivers of EU social policymaking empirically, the authors have reconstructed the struggles over concrete policy proposals as they unfolded in the European multilevel setting. The volume introduces a novel analytical framework for interpreting the transformation of the EU social dimension in times of crisis, when some degree of social co-ordination becomes crucial to bond deeply different (welfare) states together. This in-depth study offers an invaluable analysis for researchers, academics and professionals interested in the functioning of the European polity.

Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union

Author : Linda Hantrais
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000330206
Total Pages : 119 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union by : Linda Hantrais

Download or read book Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union written by Linda Hantrais and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union challenges the use of uncontextualised comparisons of COVID-19 cases and deaths in member states during the period when Europe was the epicentre of the pandemic. This timely study looks behind the headlines and the statistics to demonstrate the value for knowledge exchange and policy learning of comparisons that are founded on an in-depth understanding of key socio-demographic and public health indicators within their policy settings. The book adopts innovative, integrated, multi-disciplinary international perspectives to track and assess a fast-moving topical subject in an accessible format. It offers a template for analysing policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and for using evidence-based comparisons to inform and support policy development.

Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy

Author : Bent Greve
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1035306492
Total Pages : 343 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (353 download)

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Book Synopsis Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy by : Bent Greve

Download or read book Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy written by Bent Greve and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2024-05-02 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research in social policy has been greatly influenced by the emergence of modern political economy in the late 1970s. The Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy offers a systematic, yet comprehensive, framework for understanding how concepts, theoretical standpoints and methodological approaches stemming from political economy have been applied to the study of social policies, and models of welfare provision. The authors also signpost current developments and discuss their likely impact on future research.

Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe

Author : Maja Gerovska Mitev
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 9783031512315
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (123 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe by : Maja Gerovska Mitev

Download or read book Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe written by Maja Gerovska Mitev and published by Springer. This book was released on 2024-03-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a picture of recent developments in social policy and social work in Central and Southeast Europe, especially trends after the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated significant welfare modifications. Through a comparative method, the book draws analytical conclusions about the interdependence between welfare state reforms and social work practices in Central and Southeast Europe and provides an overview of future perspectives regarding social policy and social service provision in this region. The book covers four EU member states (Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia) and three EU candidate countries (North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). By critically contextualising existing welfare state categorisations, the book aims to examine the link between the welfare state reforms and implications for social work in Central and Southeast Europe. The country-based chapters of this contributed volume: outline the context in which social policy and social work have developed and map the main changes in the welfare state since the transition from socialism; elaborate the country-specific welfare state discourse and discussions, which through literature review depict the conceptual debates about the welfare state, social justice, equality, poverty, entitlements for cash transfer and services, privatization, and accessibility; indicate the key challenges in social policy and social work; and provide indications about the future perspectives of social policy and social service provision. Social Work and Social Policy Transformations in Central and Southeast Europe addresses the scarcity of literature on social policy and social work in this region. The book is primarily intended for social policy researchers and scholars, and students in social work, social policy, political science, and sociology. It is an invaluable resource for researchers from all fields of social sciences and should provoke wider academic and professional interest.

Pandemics, Politics, and Society

Author : Gerard Delanty
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110713357
Total Pages : 278 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Pandemics, Politics, and Society by : Gerard Delanty

Download or read book Pandemics, Politics, and Society written by Gerard Delanty and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is an important contribution to our understanding of global pandemics in general and Covid-19 in particular. It brings together the reflections of leading social and political scientists who are interested in the implications and significance of the current crisis for politics and society. The chapters provide both analysis of the social and political dimensions of the Coronavirus pandemic and historical contextualization as well as perspectives beyond the crisis. The volume seeks to focus on Covid-19 not simply as the terrain of epidemiology or public health, but as raising fundamental questions about the nature of social, economic and political processes. The problems of contemporary societies have become intensified as a result of the pandemic. Understanding the pandemic is as much a sociological question as it is a biological one, since viral infections are transmitted through social interaction. In many ways, the pandemic poses fundamental existential as well as political questions about social life as well as exposing many of the inequalities in contemporary societies. As the chapters in this volume show, epidemiological issues and sociological problems are elucidated in many ways around the themes of power, politics, security, suffering, equality and justice. This is a cutting edge and accessible volume on the Covid-19 pandemic with chapters on topics such as the nature and limits of expertise, democratization, emergency government, digitalization, social justice, globalization, capitalist crisis, and the ecological crisis. Contents Notes on Contributors Preface Gerard Delanty 1. Introduction: The Pandemic in Historical and Global Context Part 1 Politics, Experts and the State Claus Offe 2. Corona Pandemic Policy: Exploratory Notes on its ‘Epistemic Regime’ Stephen Turner 3. The Naked State: What the Breakdown of Normality Reveals Jan Zielonka 4. Who Should be in Charge of Pandemics? Scientists or Politicians? Jonathan White 5. Emergency Europe after Covid-19 Daniel Innerarity 6. Political Decision-Making in a Pandemic Part 2 Globalization, History and the Future Helga Nowotny 7. In AI We Trust: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Pushes us Deeper into Digitalization Eva Horn 8. Tipping Points: The Anthropocene and COVID-19 Bryan S. Turner 9. The Political Theology of Covid-19: a Comparative History of Human Responses to Catastrophes Daniel Chernilo 10. Another Globalisation: Covid-19 and the Cosmopolitan Imagination Frédéric Vandenberghe & Jean-Francois Véran 11. The Pandemic as a Global Total Social Fact Part 3 The Social and Alternatives Sylvia Walby 12. Social Theory and COVID: Including Social Democracy Donatella della Porta 13. Progressive Social Movements, Democracy and the Pandemic Sonja Avlijaš 14. Security for Whom? Inequality and Human Dignity in Times of the Pandemic Albena Azmanova 15. Battlegrounds of Justice: The Pandemic and What Really Grieves the 99% Index

Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe

Author : Neven Andjelic
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030910733
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (39 download)

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Book Synopsis Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe by : Neven Andjelic

Download or read book Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe written by Neven Andjelic and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-03 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the current state of society in Europe in general and the regimes and societies of the Western Balkans in particular. The pandemic and near-universal lockdown have provided an ideal cut-off date for the collection of indices from reputable academic sources that cover the nature of these regimes, individual human freedoms, economic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights and media freedoms. The aggregated findings from the 20 individual indices provide comprehensive data to support original findings and the characterisation of societies in 45 European states. Admittedly, there are differences in the methodologies and samples among the indices consulted. Nonetheless, taken together they offer a solid basis for developing arguments concerning the diversity of regimes, governance and societies in Europe and drawing well-founded conclusions on the nature of society in various parts of Europe. Though the book’s main focus is on the Western Balkans, the region is put in a pan-European context. The issues of migration, minorities, global geopolitics, the crisis of liberal democracy – they all play into developments that are specific to the Western Balkans. The book answers the question of whether the pandemic has allowed local regimes to strengthen their power and exert greater control over society, making it possible to formulate arguments regarding the future of Europe and its integrative processes. In closing, the book investigates Western Balkan regimes’ reactions to the pandemic in the context of governance, society and state power, before addressing the question of whether the future of the Western Balkans lies in the “liberal club”, or whether local hybrid regimes will become even more influential in the near future.