Library of democratic content

Advancing Universal Representation: A Toolkit Module 2 - Building the Movement

“This report is the second component of a three-part toolkit... informed by CPD, NILC, and Vera’s experiences advancing the universal representation movement. These experiences have been guided by the expertise of advocates, organizers, legal service providers, and policymakers... who have led publicly funded deportation defense efforts” (Berberich et al., 2018).

Migrants with irregular status during the Covid-19 pandemic: Lessons for local authorities in Europe

This paper shows “how the pandemic impacted irregular migrants residing in European cities”, analyses “the new policy scenarios impacting irregular migrants” and explores “initiatives and practices addressing the social challenges posed to this group of migrants by the pandemic and related lockdown measures and economic fallouts” (Mallet-Garcia and Delvino, 2020).

Is France Fueling Muslim Terrorism by Trying to Prevent It?

President Macron’s “notion of “separatism” seems to assume that a significant minority of Muslims are tempted to set themselves apart somehow from the rest of French society...but this diagnostic is questionable, and it risks being self-defeating: It, itself, may endanger social cohesion” (Vincent Geisser, 2020).

The Young's Discontent with Democracy is Worrying

“The young are dissatisfied with democracy. More worryingly, they are more dissatisfied with democracy than previous generations were at the same age. This makes them inclined towards extreme politics of the left or right — which may, in turn, actively threaten democracy in future” (The Financial Times Editorial Board, 2020).

Pandemics, Collective Action and Human Rights

Experts and students discuss the main points raised during the day’s sessions on business, migration, and climate change, and propose ideas for policy recommendations. Many of the points raised focused on the effect of COVID-19 exposing and exacerbating the existing problems concerning human rights.

Climate Change, Covid19 and Human Rights (with Council of Europe)

When the world came grinding to a halt this year, climate change – and its causes – were brought into even starker relief. The panel will discuss the importance of climate change as a global event with a global impact. What lessons has the pandemic taught us about what progress might be possible? And what are the implications for human rights?

Migration and Human Rights (with Council of Europe)

Wars, economic dislocation and climate change have pushed people from their homelands,

shifting migration patterns along the way. What has the impact been on social cohesion and

human rights, especially for children and youth? How does (or could) education come into play?

Youth and Satisfaction with Democracy

The report “finds that “younger generations have become steadily more dissatisfied with democracy – not only in absolute terms, but also relative to older cohorts at comparable stages of life” and that “countries that have elected populist leaders have seen a recovery in youth satisfaction with democracy.” (Foa, 2020)

Fighting inequality in the time of COVID-19: The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2020

"This third edition of the CRI Index report recommends that all governments adopt strong anti-inequality policies on public services, tax and labour rights, to radically reduce the gap between rich and poor. The international community must support them with Special Drawing Rights, debt relief and global solidarity taxes" (Martin et. al., 2020).

The real common interest

"The EU’s migration policies have ignored the priorities of the countries it partners with for the sake of its own border security and domestic priorities. These have permeated the domestic migration and asylum policies of the Maghreb countries it supports… at the cost of people’s interests" (Uzelac, 2020).