Everything you always wanted to know about gender (but were afraid to ask)—in this issue you can find the answers.
For more than four years, the research project “QUING – Quality in Gender+ Equality Policies” studied discrimination against woman in the 27 member states of the European Union as well as in Croatia and Turkey, developed anti-discrimination strategies and formulated recommendations for an improvement of the implementation of equal treatment policies. The project was headed by political scientist Mieke Verloo and coordinated by the IWM. 63 researchers from 12 countries took part in it. QUING was completed in March this year and you can now read on pages 5 to 7 about the state of the art of gender equality in Europe.
Democracy, at first sight, seems to be doing quite well. After Eastern Europe experienced a democratic awakening with the fall of the Berlin Wall more than twenty years ago, it is now the “Arab Wall”—that is, the one separating the Near and Middle East from freedom and political participation—which is being torn down. Yet, while people are fighting for democracy in the ongoing Arab Spring, it seems that the economic crisis and political populism have led to a backlash against democracy in Europe: trust in democratic institutions as well as voters’ turnout is decreasing, the common public space is fragmenting, xenophobia is gaining ground. What “The Future of Democracy” could look like under these circumstances will be on the agenda of a new iwm research focus headed by Ivan Krastev. More on that on pages 3 and 4.
The relationship between Russia and democracy has always been a difficult one. Presidential elections will be held in 2012 but the alternatives for voters are rather limited: they can either vote for Putinism with or without Putin. On pages 13 and 14, Nina Khrushcheva and Daniel Treisman analyze whether the elections will change the country and what has to be done for the country to change. In addition, Timothy Snyder takes a look onto Russia’s past. With a comparison between the murderous regimes of Stalin and Hitler he finally reminds us of one of the biggest advantages of democracies: they don’t go to war with one another.
Sven Hartwig
Download the IWMpost 106 as a PDF
Contents
News
Democracy in the Age of Populism / by Ivan Krastev
Quing-Project
Are We All Equal? / by Mieke Verloo
Mind the Gap! / von Lisa Wewerka
From Insiders to Outsiders / by Andrea Krizsán
Lectures and Discussions
Russian Politics, Green Capitalism, Hungary’s Far-Right—Monthly Lectures
Russia 2012—Panel Discussion
Crisis of Culture, Embattled Euro— Debating Europe at the Burgtheater
Essays on Gender
The Construction of Gender / by Peter Hanns Reill
The Gender Police / by Maren Behrensen
Essays on Russia
Change Nobody Believes in / by Nina L. Khrushcheva
Russia’s Tom Sawyer Strategy / by Daniel Treisman
Hitler vs. Stalin: Who Was Worse? / by Timothy Snyder
From the fellows
Banking with Allah / by Sarah Tobin
Fellows and Guests, Varia
Publications
Guest Contributions
Gagging the Messenger / by Miklós Haraszti
The Story Behind the Story / by Thomas Schmid
