Solidarity in crisis? Community responses to refugees and forced migrants in the Greek islands

Organization ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 135050842110510
Author(s):  
Marianna Fotaki

This article examines the question of solidarity in light of recent refugees’ and forced migrants’ arrivals on Greek island shores as the first point of entry to the European Union. It focuses on various community solidarity initiatives emerging in 2015 and how they unfolded over time, until replaced by hostility and indifference following the EU–Turkey deal in March 2016. To account for this transformation, the study, carried out between 2016 and 2018, involved ethnographic work, interviews with local populations, activists, teachers and community leaders, and participant observations primarily in Lesbos, as well as Chios, Leros, and Samos. This article also sheds light on how Greece’s severe economic crisis has compounded anti-migration politics and securitization in recent migratory movements. Drawing on Judith Butler’s ideas of embodied vulnerability and intersubjective relationality, the article theorizes how solidarity evolves when border struggles intersect with deservingness, belonging, and refugees’ and forced migrants’ precarity. It concludes by proposing a psychosocial embodied notion of solidarity as a political strategy to counteract the neoliberal predicament that threatens all life with extinction.

Author(s):  
Jacek Zieliński

The necessity of the single migration- and terrorism-related legal policy development within the European Union is undisputed. It may turn out, however, that measures taken would not bring any improvement unless the priorities within such values as equality, respect for diversity, free movement of persons, solidarity and citizens’ security are previously established, sometimes – with a new content. The Author takes the position that the values considered now to be the core of the EU existence and its key achievement can underpin its disintegration. The escalation of migration stimulates centrifugal destructive movements reflected in the increasing impact of the renationalisation philosophy of thinking about Europe on the Community solidarity, fossilisation of social moods and expectations, growing popularity of right-wing parties. All these, in consequence, foster the fossilisation and restrictiveness of law. It is related in part to the fear of globalisation and in part to the excessive regulations at the macro level, therefore to the breach of self-identification security that is getting more and more apparent nowadays. From that perspective, the separation of the contradictions that have arisen between the basic EU values as regards providing single legal policy in the migration area seems to be cognitively valuable. Another issue is to answer the question how this wave of refugees has escalated and whose interest is currently in the destabilisation of Europe. The question is all the more important that the refugees are not heading towards other culturally closer Islamic countries or the USA but the pillar-states of the EU. Vienotas ar migrāciju un terorismu saistītas tiesiskās politikas nepieciešamība Eiropas Savienībā ir neapstrīdama. Tomēr var izrādīties, ka veiktie pasākumi neradīs nekādu uzlabojumu, ja vien kā prioritātes netiks izvirzītas tādas vērtības kā vienlīdzība, cieņa pret dažādību, personu brīva pārvietošanās, solidaritāte un iedzīvotāju drošība, kas jau ir paredzētas, dažreiz – ar jaunu saturu. Autors pauž nostāju, ka vērtības, kas šobrīd ir ES pastāvēšanas kodols un tās galvenais sasniegums, var veicināt tās sabrukumu. Migrācijas eskalācija stimulē destruktīvas centrbēdzes kustības, kas atspoguļojas pieaugošā ietekmē uz renacionalizācijas filozofiju, domājot par Eiropas Kopienas solidaritāti, sociālo noskaņu un vēlmju fosilizāciju, labējo partiju pieaugošo popularitāti. Tas viss var veicināt likuma fosilizāciju un modifikāciju, turklāt tas daļēji ir saistīts ar bailēm no globalizācijas un ar pārmērīgajiem noteikumiem makrolīmenī, līdz ar to pārkāpjot pašidentifikācijas drošību. No šī viedokļa raugoties, pretrunu, kas radušās starp galvenajām ES pamatvērtībām un attiecībā uz vienotu tiesisku politiku migrācijas jomā, nodalīšana ir neapstrīdami nepieciešama. Vēl viens jautājums, kas prasa atbildi, ir: kādēļ šis bēgļu vilnis ir eskalējies un kā interesēs pašlaik notiek destabilizācija Eiropā? Un kāpēc bēgļi nedodas uz citām kultūras ziņā tuvākām islāma valstīm vai ASV, bet gan tieši uz Eiropu?


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Wojciech Solarz ◽  
Małgorzata Wojtaszczyk ◽  
Maciej Zych ◽  
Anna M. Solarz

Every year, Gallup Inc. surveys the societal relationships that EU countries have with the USA, Germany, Russia and the PRC as well as the EU itself. The respondents furnish information on Europeans’ views regarding designated international political entities as international community leaders. This article examines the attitude of the European Union’s citizens to the above indicated potential and real leaderships in 2014–2016.


Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kużelewska

Abstract “Brexit” as a word entered the European language’s scene eight years ago as a term describing what seemed as a surrealistic scenario for the British. Since then, it has become the ‘political word of 2016,’ paved its way to the Oxford English Dictionary, and globally into the computer dictionaries which no longer underline it in red as an unknown term. ‘Brexit,’ as a political campaign motto, has also transformed into a realistic political strategy and eventually into a complicated, exhausting, dividing, yet finalized process. By the time it was accomplished, everyone in Europe was tired of it, but tiredness did not change the fact that Brexit was an historical period of turmoil of an unprecedented nature. Brexit occurred on a multitude of dimensions, including the EU language policy dimension. For the past 20 years, English has been by far the most commonly used language in the Union, not only as one of the 24 official languages of the Member States, but as a working language of all the institutions, all negotiations, and all political debates. This contribution aims to analyse the legal status and the practical dimension of the European Union working languages and to explore the position of the English language among them—both presently and with possible scenarios in the future Union, without the United Kingdom as the biggest English-speaking Member State. The initial assumption states that the geopolitical weight of the English language will diminish even if the Irish and Maltese will hold the language’s position as an official language of the Union. In mathematical terms, there will be more native speakers in Hungarian or Slovak than in English. In political terms, Germany and France will have a chance to improve their influences by advocating for more efficient use of their languages. ‘Quo vadis English?’ seems a timely question to ask.


Author(s):  
Elena Parubochaya ◽  
◽  
Anna Prygunkova ◽  

Introduction. Due to the destabilization of the situation in the countries of the South Caucasus in 2020, the region is of particular relevance today. At the present stage, it is an object of geopolitical competition for numerous international actors: the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the European Union, the Republic of Turkey. The article examines the EU policy in the process of implementing the Eastern Partnership program as part of the European political strategy. In relation to the South Caucasus region, the interim results of the EU’s activities on the implementation of 20 deliverables for 2020 in relation to the states of the South Caucasus are analyzed. Methods. Comparative analysis makes it possible to give a comprehensive assessment of European policy in the region by identifying priority areas and development prospects by comparing the intermediate results of 20 deliverables for 2020 in the South Caucasus countries within the framework of their bilateral relations with the EU. Analysis. The analysis of the activities of the European Union in relation to the South Caucasus countries is associated with the determination of the prospects for the development of the European strategy in the region. The analysis included tracking the dynamics of the implementation of the 20 deliverables for 2020 in relation to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, as well as options for developing a European strategy in the South Caucasus countries, taking into account the new policy in the context of the Eastern Partnership beyond 2020. Results. As a result of the analysis, the EU’s competitive advantages in the South Caucasus were determined by identifying areas in which the EU’s geopolitical interests intersect with other actors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Oleg N. Yanitsky

Drawing on the works of Russian and foreign scholars and using my own experience of communication with the EU migrants in the run of my long-term stay in Europe, I came to the following conclusions. Modern migration crisis should be analyzed within the frames of a current geopolitical transition conditioned by the Fourth Scientific and Technological Revolution (hereafter, the STR-4), by the dynamics of the EC political structure, ethno-confessional conflicts as well as by the wars far behind the EU, that is I consider this crisis as a moment of global geopolitical dynamics. In particular, mass migration to the EU from the Near East and Africa during last 5–7 years represents a geopolitical ‘echo’ of former European politics in that part of the world coupled with new opportunities produced by the STR-4. Actually, the EU migration politics is a politics of a’ soft colonialism’ burdened by international and local ethno-confessional conflicts. Then, the migration and following adaptation to a new sociocultural environment are always two-ways processes. The migration crisis has various scales: transcontinental, all-European, and ca particular country ones coupled with growing disagreements and conflicts inside the EU as well as between it and the US. The politics of all-European unity and allembracing tolerance failed and it has been replaced by the political principle ‘everybody each on his own.’ Current migration crisis has confirmed the U. Beck’s thesis that we are living in a society of the ‘sideeffects’, that is of the side-effects of decisions taken earlier. The main source of the above crisis is rooted inside the EU i.e. it’s the struggle for the deficit resources and geopolitical domination of the Brussels over the rest member-states as well as between them because their interests are permanently evolving.


2017 ◽  
pp. 114-127
Author(s):  
M. Klinova ◽  
E. Sidorova

The article deals with economic sanctions and their impact on the state and prospects of the neighboring partner economies - the European Union (EU) and Russia. It provides comparisons of current data with that of the year 2013 (before sanctions) to demonstrate the impact of sanctions on both sides. Despite the fact that Russia remains the EU’s key partner, it came out of the first three partners of the EU. The current economic recession is caused by different reasons, not only by sanctions. Both the EU and Russia have internal problems, which the sanctions confrontation only exacerbates. The article emphasizes the need for a speedy restoration of cooperation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56
Author(s):  
Milan Palat

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’den göç ve Almanya’nın ekonomik göstergeleri arasındaki ilişkiyi, nicel metot yöntemleri kullanarak değerlendirmektir. Türkiye’nin belirsiz Avrupa ile bütünleşme beklentilerine rağmen  Avrupa Birliğinin köklü üyelerine olan Türk göçü devam edecektir. Çok sayıda Türk azınlığın yaşadığı ve hayat standartlarının yüksek olduğu Almanya, Hollanda ve Fransa’ya  büyük bir göç dalgası gerçekleşebilir. Çalışmanın istatistiksel bölümünün sonuçları, toplam göç ile gayri safi yurtiçi hasıladaki büyüme arasında pozitif, toplam göç ile işsizlik arasındaki negatif ve tahmin edilen bağımlılık yönüyle uygunluk içerisinde olan toplam göç ile aylık gelir arasında pozitif ilişki olduğunu göstermektedir. Türkiye’den göçle işsizlik arasındaki ilişki, toplam göçle olan ilişkiden daha düşüktür. Ancak, Almanya’daki yabancı mevcudiyeti ile Türkiye’den göç arasında bir ilişki bulunmaktadır. Bu durum, var olan göçmen topluluğunun olduğu yerin, yeni göçmenleri, köken bağlarına dayanarak cezbetmesi ve maliyet- riskler sebebiyle göçün düşük seviye de olduğuna dayanan kuramsal Ağ teorisi görüşü ile uygunluk göstermektedir. Göç ve işsizlik arasında gözlenen ilişki, Almanya’ya göçün  işgücü piyasasında talepte meydana gelen değişime karşılık geldiği gerçeğini göstermektedir. İşsizlik ve göç olgularının meydana geliş zamanlarında bir aralık  olsa bile  göç, Alman emek pazarında var olan dengesizliklerin azaltılmasında nispeten etkili bir mekanizma gibi görünmektedir. ENGLISH TITLE & ABSTRACTTurkish Immigration to the European Union: The Case of GermanyThe objective of the paper was to evaluate the relationships between immigration from Turkey and economic indicators in Germany using  quantitative methods. Despite Turkey’s unclear European integration prospects, it is predicted that Turkish immigration to  established member countries of the EU will continue. The strongest waves may flow to Germany, Netherlands or France, where numerous Turkish minorities are already present and where the living standards are high. Results from the statistical analysis of the paper showed a positive correlation between immigration total and the growth of gross domestic product. On the other hand, a negative correlation of immigration total and unemployment was found and a positive relationship between immigration total and income total which is in agreement with the expected dependency direction. With regards to  immigration from Turkey it is less correlated to unemployment than immigration total. But there is a correlation between immigration from Turkey and the stock of foreigners in Germany This is in accordance with the theoretical concept of network theory where an existing community of migrants keeps attracting new migrants because the costs and risks associated with migration are lower, thanks to established linkages to the country of origin. The observed correlation of migration and unemployment points to the fact that immigration to Germany responds to changes in demand in the labour market. Even though a time lag may occur in the case of unemployment and immigration, migration appears to be a relatively effective mechanism to offset existing imbalances in German labour markets. 


Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (6) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Zhang DONGYANG ◽  

The status and prospects of development of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and China are considered. It is proved that bilateral cooperation in the trade and economic sphere has made significant progress. In 2012–2017, China was the second largest trading partner of Ukraine after Russia. However, the problem of imbalance in imports and exports between Ukraine and China has not yet been resolved. In addition, the scale and number of projects in which Ukraine attracts Chinese investment is much less than investments from European countries and the United States. It is justified that trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and China is at a new historical stage. On the one hand, Ukraine signed the Association Agreement with the European Union, and on January 1, 2016, the rules of the free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU entered into force. This helps to accelerate the integration of Ukrainian economy into European one. On the other hand, the global economic downturn requires the introduction of innovations in the model of cooperation. The Chinese initiative “One belt is one way” is one of the variants of the innovation model of cooperation. Its significance is to unite the Asia-Pacific region with the EU in order to join the Eurasian Economic Union, create a new space and opportunities for development and achieve prosperity with the Eurasian countries. All this forms unprecedented opportunities for development of bilateral economic and trade relations. It seems that to fully open the potential of Ukrainian economy and expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation, it is necessary to take into account such proposals as the establishment of the Sino-Ukrainian industrial park, the promotion of cooperation in the field of electronic commerce, the formation of the Sino-Ukrainian free trade zone and enhanced interaction within multilateral mechanisms (for example, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the interaction of China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the 16 + 1 format).


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