Focus: COVID-19 Political debates on the pandemic with a European focus Articles with a special focus on Greece Experiencing a new pandemic: mental imprint, gender- related social perspectives and... men ARTICLE the pandemic crises have been recorded in our individual and collective unconscious as health crises with an economic impact. But is that really the case? By Vagelis Kosmatos and Giorgos Nikolaidis Environmental policies in quarantine ARTICLE The pandemic crisis is a dramatic proof that public policies protecting the environment and people need to be based on solid science and not clientelist politics serving the business as usual status quo. The political perception that nature is a resource for over-exploitation is outdated and catastrophic. By Theodota Nantsou After the pandemic: A new beginning for Europe? ARTICLE "Don't listen to grand words: after the coronavirus pandemic, everything will be the same again soon”, some claim. Is it true? By Manos Matsaganis The pandemic as a mirror of labour. Is it the end of work as we know it? ARTICLE The pandemic has functioned as a peculiar mirror that reflected, reversed or magnified the disproportions of “work” as a social institution. By Maro Pantazidou and Paris Selinas After (?) the pandemic: democracy and (in)security the next day ARTICLE "It is much better to be feared than loved", we read in an apostrophe of the Prince by Machiavelli. Thus, fear ensures obedience. The conscious assignment of rights living space in the name of threat brought forward by freedom. If people are afraid, then even external compulsion is not that indispensable. By Dimitris Christopoulos A very predictable curveball ΑΡΘΡΟ For many, the current depression is expected to be harsher than the historical Great Depression of 1929. The simultaneous collapse of both offer and demand is causing an economic downtrend of indefinite duration, that is highly dependent on the course of the pandemic in the following months. By Christos Laskos Health above all? Current challenges and the belated day after ARTICLE The fact that movement was provided for exclusively listed reasons was criticized as unconstitutional, in view of the reversal of the relationship between the restriction that became the rule and the freedom that became an exception By Lina Papadopoulou Solidarity: an antidote to social exclusion and marginalisation ARTICLE In the midst of the health crisis, several initiatives were formed to address the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Taking action in many areas of Greece, their priority was solidarity and mutual aid. By Stavroula Poulimeni Assessing the immunity of democracy in Greece ARTICLE Throughout the world, most media outlets and pundits are so consumed by the public health and economic consequences of COVID-19 that they consistently fail to highlight the looming political and institutional risks ahead. Could in fact the biggest casualty of COVID-19 be democracy itself? By Stefanos Loukopoulos Articles, comments and analyses from HBS international network Divided we fail - Vaccine diplomacy and its implications BACKGROUND No country is safe from COVID-19 until all countries are safe from COVID-19. To state the obvious: To overcome a pandemic of this magnitude, vaccines must be made available quickly, cheaply, and fairly. By Barbara Unmüßig and Alexandra Sitenko Retraditionalization, Coronavirus Conspiracies, and Anti-Feminism ARTICLE On the relationship between anti-feminism and coronavirus conspiracies and how the coronavirus pandemic aids and abets anti-feminist trends. By Rebekka Blum Covid-19 pandemic shows how fragile the EU is COMMENTARY Not only has the new coronavirus catapulted us out of our everyday lives, but the way the EU is handling the Covid-19 pandemic has made its inability to take action in times of crisis painfully apparent. Just as people are stranded at airports and railway stations, any hope that Europe is capable of pulling together has also been stranded in the last few weeks. By Eva van de Rakt and Florian Christl “The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide" INTERVIEW The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economy are dramatic. The virus is shaking all major economies simultaneously. Rescue packages are being adopted, billions are being spent. Capital is being diverted away from the emerging economies. At the same time, the fight against the pandemic is increasing the national debt of many countries enormously and the crisis is acting as an accelerator for the developing countries that were already highly in debt. An Interview with Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on the latest developments. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rule of law in Central Europe: Turning Crisis into opportunity? COMMENTARY The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought about an extraordinary situation. Although the past decades have brought numerous challenges like terrorism or the climate change, the global spread of a disease for which there is neither a cure nor vaccination available is something that political leaders have no experience in tackling. By Pavlína Janebová 10 ways of thinking about crisis resilience COMMENTARY It is still too early to learn lessons from the coronavirus crisis. However, there is one term that comes to mind when addressing the inevitable directions of political thinking after the crisis: resilience. But what exactly does it mean and how will it influence the political agenda? By Dr. Ellen Ueberschär We need a democratic debate on tech, privacy and social rights COMMENTARY Tech will not free us from coronavirus, but it can provide us with helpful tools – if we foster an open and democratic debate on how to use it. By Alexandra Geese Europe's disinformation epidemic: Who's checking the facts? ANALYSIS Disinformation is out of control as malicious actors seek to capitalise on the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, EU schemes to tackle disinformation have focused on self regulation, but there are widespread concerns about how the EU is managing the crisis. By Jennifer Baker EU struggles to reconcile contact tracing with high privacy standards ANALYSIS As European countries turn to apps to contain the pandemic, the EU must weigh the public health emergency against its own data protection rules. Policymakers and experts on data protection and privacy in Brussels warn that tracing and monitoring technology can undermine fundamental rights. By Alexander Fanta Will Big Tech emerge as the big winner in the coronacrisis? Not so fast. ANALYSIS Big technology companies are getting a break from the “techlash,” but this does not mean that the monopolists are permanently off the hook. The crisis has highlighted privacy and security concerns and well as subpar labor standards in the industry. Social media face additional scrutiny for how they deal with COVID-19 related disinformation. By Sabine Muscat A Patient at Risk COMMENTARY We are living in difficult times and while the number of human COVID-19 infections continues to be on the rise, there is one patient that should not be forgotten: our parliamentary democracy. Judging from what we have seen in the past few weeks, the patient is in a serious condition and the prognosis is unclear. By Sergey Lagodinsky Leave no One Behind COMMENTARY Erik Marquardt got a first-hand impression of the inhuman conditions in the Moria refugee camp, where more than 20,000 people live in the most miserable conditions. An outbreak of coronavirus would be devastating. In order to draw more attention to this issue, he has co-created the Leave no One Behind campaign. By Erik Marquardt
Experiencing a new pandemic: mental imprint, gender- related social perspectives and... men ARTICLE the pandemic crises have been recorded in our individual and collective unconscious as health crises with an economic impact. But is that really the case? By Vagelis Kosmatos and Giorgos Nikolaidis
Environmental policies in quarantine ARTICLE The pandemic crisis is a dramatic proof that public policies protecting the environment and people need to be based on solid science and not clientelist politics serving the business as usual status quo. The political perception that nature is a resource for over-exploitation is outdated and catastrophic. By Theodota Nantsou
After the pandemic: A new beginning for Europe? ARTICLE "Don't listen to grand words: after the coronavirus pandemic, everything will be the same again soon”, some claim. Is it true? By Manos Matsaganis
The pandemic as a mirror of labour. Is it the end of work as we know it? ARTICLE The pandemic has functioned as a peculiar mirror that reflected, reversed or magnified the disproportions of “work” as a social institution. By Maro Pantazidou and Paris Selinas
After (?) the pandemic: democracy and (in)security the next day ARTICLE "It is much better to be feared than loved", we read in an apostrophe of the Prince by Machiavelli. Thus, fear ensures obedience. The conscious assignment of rights living space in the name of threat brought forward by freedom. If people are afraid, then even external compulsion is not that indispensable. By Dimitris Christopoulos
A very predictable curveball ΑΡΘΡΟ For many, the current depression is expected to be harsher than the historical Great Depression of 1929. The simultaneous collapse of both offer and demand is causing an economic downtrend of indefinite duration, that is highly dependent on the course of the pandemic in the following months. By Christos Laskos
Health above all? Current challenges and the belated day after ARTICLE The fact that movement was provided for exclusively listed reasons was criticized as unconstitutional, in view of the reversal of the relationship between the restriction that became the rule and the freedom that became an exception By Lina Papadopoulou
Solidarity: an antidote to social exclusion and marginalisation ARTICLE In the midst of the health crisis, several initiatives were formed to address the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Taking action in many areas of Greece, their priority was solidarity and mutual aid. By Stavroula Poulimeni
Assessing the immunity of democracy in Greece ARTICLE Throughout the world, most media outlets and pundits are so consumed by the public health and economic consequences of COVID-19 that they consistently fail to highlight the looming political and institutional risks ahead. Could in fact the biggest casualty of COVID-19 be democracy itself? By Stefanos Loukopoulos
Divided we fail - Vaccine diplomacy and its implications BACKGROUND No country is safe from COVID-19 until all countries are safe from COVID-19. To state the obvious: To overcome a pandemic of this magnitude, vaccines must be made available quickly, cheaply, and fairly. By Barbara Unmüßig and Alexandra Sitenko
Retraditionalization, Coronavirus Conspiracies, and Anti-Feminism ARTICLE On the relationship between anti-feminism and coronavirus conspiracies and how the coronavirus pandemic aids and abets anti-feminist trends. By Rebekka Blum
Covid-19 pandemic shows how fragile the EU is COMMENTARY Not only has the new coronavirus catapulted us out of our everyday lives, but the way the EU is handling the Covid-19 pandemic has made its inability to take action in times of crisis painfully apparent. Just as people are stranded at airports and railway stations, any hope that Europe is capable of pulling together has also been stranded in the last few weeks. By Eva van de Rakt and Florian Christl
“The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide" INTERVIEW The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economy are dramatic. The virus is shaking all major economies simultaneously. Rescue packages are being adopted, billions are being spent. Capital is being diverted away from the emerging economies. At the same time, the fight against the pandemic is increasing the national debt of many countries enormously and the crisis is acting as an accelerator for the developing countries that were already highly in debt. An Interview with Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on the latest developments.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rule of law in Central Europe: Turning Crisis into opportunity? COMMENTARY The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 disease has brought about an extraordinary situation. Although the past decades have brought numerous challenges like terrorism or the climate change, the global spread of a disease for which there is neither a cure nor vaccination available is something that political leaders have no experience in tackling. By Pavlína Janebová
10 ways of thinking about crisis resilience COMMENTARY It is still too early to learn lessons from the coronavirus crisis. However, there is one term that comes to mind when addressing the inevitable directions of political thinking after the crisis: resilience. But what exactly does it mean and how will it influence the political agenda? By Dr. Ellen Ueberschär
We need a democratic debate on tech, privacy and social rights COMMENTARY Tech will not free us from coronavirus, but it can provide us with helpful tools – if we foster an open and democratic debate on how to use it. By Alexandra Geese
Europe's disinformation epidemic: Who's checking the facts? ANALYSIS Disinformation is out of control as malicious actors seek to capitalise on the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, EU schemes to tackle disinformation have focused on self regulation, but there are widespread concerns about how the EU is managing the crisis. By Jennifer Baker
EU struggles to reconcile contact tracing with high privacy standards ANALYSIS As European countries turn to apps to contain the pandemic, the EU must weigh the public health emergency against its own data protection rules. Policymakers and experts on data protection and privacy in Brussels warn that tracing and monitoring technology can undermine fundamental rights. By Alexander Fanta
Will Big Tech emerge as the big winner in the coronacrisis? Not so fast. ANALYSIS Big technology companies are getting a break from the “techlash,” but this does not mean that the monopolists are permanently off the hook. The crisis has highlighted privacy and security concerns and well as subpar labor standards in the industry. Social media face additional scrutiny for how they deal with COVID-19 related disinformation. By Sabine Muscat
A Patient at Risk COMMENTARY We are living in difficult times and while the number of human COVID-19 infections continues to be on the rise, there is one patient that should not be forgotten: our parliamentary democracy. Judging from what we have seen in the past few weeks, the patient is in a serious condition and the prognosis is unclear. By Sergey Lagodinsky
Leave no One Behind COMMENTARY Erik Marquardt got a first-hand impression of the inhuman conditions in the Moria refugee camp, where more than 20,000 people live in the most miserable conditions. An outbreak of coronavirus would be devastating. In order to draw more attention to this issue, he has co-created the Leave no One Behind campaign. By Erik Marquardt
