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"A Social History of Twentieth-Century Europe offers a systematic overview on major aspects of social life, including population, family and households, social inequalities and mobility, the welfare state, work, consumption and leisure, social cleavages in politics, urbanization as well as education, religion and culture. It also addresses major debates and diverging interpretations of historical and social research regarding the history of European societies in the past one hundred years. Organized in ten thematic chapters, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach, making use of the methods and results of not only history, but also sociology, demography, economics and political science. Béla Tomka presents both the diversity and the commonalities of European societies looking not just to Western European countries, but Eastern, Central and Southern European countries as well. A perfect introduction for all students of European history."--Publisher's website.

In vielen Ländern findet eine lebendige innerstaatliche Diskussion über die Situation und die Zukunft des jeweiligen nationalen Kinderschutzsystems statt. Was bei uns Kevin, Lea-Sophie oder Lara sind, sind Victoria Climbié, Savanna oder Baby P. bei unseren europäischen Nachbarn. Die Namen dieser Kinder stehen für tragische Fälle von Misshandlung und Vernachlässigung, die die Berichterstattung der Medien und die Fachdiskussionen in zahlreichen europäischen Ländern in den letzten Jahren geprägt haben. Als Reaktion darauf entstand eine Vielzahl von durch Politik und Praxis initiierten Initiativen und Programmen.Die internationalen Ansätze machen deutlich, dass die Herausforderungen im Kinderschutz insbesondere im Spannungsfeld von Prävention und Intervention, von parteilicher Hilfe und ordnungsrechtlicher Kontrolle liegen. Zu einigen nationalen oder regionalen Programmen und Initiativen liegen mittlerweile einschlägige Erfahrungen und vor allem Ergebnisse in der Begleitforschung vor. Dabei geht es etwa um systematisches Wissen darüber, wie niedrigschwellige und diskriminierungsfreie Zugänge zu Maßnahmen im Kinderschutz geschaffen werden können, oder um die Frage nach erfolgversprechenden Organisationsformen und Kooperationsbeziehungen der jeweils beteiligten Akteure.Dieses Wissen auch für den deutschsprachigen Raum offenzulegen und die Relevanz internationaler Forschung zu verdeutlichen, war das Ziel der internationalen Tagung Child Protection in Europe, deren Beiträge hier versammelt sind. Der Band vermittelt dank seiner internationalen Ausrichtung eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Kinderschutz-Philosophien, die vor dem Hintergrund wechselseitiger Lernprozesse im Kontext der rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen diskutiert und auf ihre Potentiale und Risiken für einen zeitgemäßen Kinderschutz untersucht werden können.

In the last twenty years, immigration has become one of the most contested issues in Western Europe. The arrival of Africans, Asians, Eastern Europeans and others in Italy has reversed earlier trends of emigration. Debate, political activity and violence have raised questions of rejection and integration, of anti-racism and the new racism. Studies of these issues commonly focus on political activity and the plight of minorities, but this book breaks new ground in its emphasis on the everyday reactions of Italians to immigration and related issues. Drawing on research carried out in Palermo, Jeffrey Cole considers the role of class, culture, local history and political economy in the ambivalent responses of Sicilians to immigrants. He places Italian attitudes in a European context, and investigates why anti-immigrant politics are concentrated in the wealthy Italian North

Marriage and cohabitation are the two most common forms of partnership in Europe. We examined the extent to which marriage and cohabitation are studied from a demographic perspective and to identify differences across European countries. The methodology was established on a keyword search and four phases of preference indicator, based on which we selected 85 articles and incorporate them into the literature review. As determined by the literature review, we identified seven areas: Cohabitation, Marriage, Union Formation, Migrant Partnership Behavior, Fertility, Divorce, and Second Demographic Transition. The influence of society plays a significant role in forming the attitudes and aspirations of individuals in each area of life, and for some, even in the most important, which is starting a family and getting married or not, and on the other hand, in individual aspirations and modern lifestyles.

This article seeks to discuss and illustrate how employing theoretical elements and interpretative frames from Lacanian psychoanalysis might help to conceptualize and analyze the affective dimension of European identity. European identity, as constructed in the discourses of European institutions, is believed to be crucial in legitimating the political project of European integration. It is argued that in order to understand how "desire" and jouissance ("enjoyment") are active in this construction of European identity, we need to focus on the plotlines of the dominant narrative about Europe as articulated in official discourses. Using such an approach, I show that the EU's preferred construction of a European identity, which narrates the EU as a grand peace project, is structured around the sacrifice of "national" jouissance, which in turn becomes a site of political enjoyment through the mediation of an external gaze.

Since 1984, the European Union's Framework Program for Research and Innovation has been the main instrument for funding research. Specific priorities, objectives and types of funded activities vary between funding periods. Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly € 80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014–2020). H2020 is based on three pillars: (i) Excellent science, (ii) Industrial leadership, (iii) Societal challenges. The current economic crisis in Europe and elsewhere leads to extended shortage of research budgets in national levels, which in turn leads researchers to search funds in the highly competitive transnational research instruments, as H2020. This paper : - draws the overall picture of Horizon 2020 - investigates the position of close-range imaging technologies, applications and research areas - presents the research challenges in H2020 that offer funding opportunities in close-range imaging

Relying on internal sources, Wilfried Loth analyses the birth and subsequent development of the European Union, from the launch of the Council of Europe and the Schuman Declaration until the Euro crisis and the contested European presidential election of Jean-Claude Juncker. This book shines a light on the crises of the European integration, such as the failure of the European Defence Community, De Gaulle`s empty chair policy, or the rejection of the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, but also highlights the indubitable successes that are the Franco-German reconciliation, the establishment of the European common market, and the establishment of an expanding common currency. What this study accomplishes, for the first time, is to illuminate the driving forces behind the European integration process and how it changed European politics and society.

Since 1984, the European Union's Framework Program for Research and Innovation has been the main instrument for funding research. Specific priorities, objectives and types of funded activities vary between funding periods. Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly € 80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014–2020). H2020 is based on three pillars: (i) Excellent science, (ii) Industrial leadership, (iii) Societal challenges. The current economic crisis in Europe and elsewhere leads to extended shortage of research budgets in national levels, which in turn leads researchers to search funds in the highly competitive transnational research instruments, as H2020. This paper : - draws the overall picture of Horizon 2020 - investigates the position of close-range imaging technologies, applications and research areas - presents the research challenges in H2020 that offer funding opportunities in close-range imaging

La sécurité privée est exclue du champ de compétences de la directive Services adoptée en 2006. Cela signifie-t-il pour autant que la sécurité privée ne concerne pas l'Union européenne ? Cédric Paulin, chargé de mission à la Délégation Interministérielle à la Sécurité Privée (DISP), soutient dans cet article l'idée d'une « Europe de la sécurité privée » en devenir. Cette tendance se lit à la fois à travers une dynamique de réformes de la sécurité privée en cours parmi les États de l'UE, et via un rôle trop méconnu de l'UE en tant qu'institution. L'organisation du premier Sommet européen sur la sécurité privée en 2008 a également permis d'initier une nouvelle dynamique de réformes nationales qui convergent à bien des égards : élargissement du périmètre de la sécurité privée, coopération renforcée avec les forces publiques, renforcement du contrôle des agents.

Almost none of the conditions that, according to the latest research, favor democratic durability were present in Western Europe between the world wars. Yet only four Western European states became dictatorships during this period, whereas the others remained democratic despite economic crisis, an unhelpful international system, and the lure of nondemocratic alternatives. Several recent works offer new explanations for this pattern of interwar outcomes. Insofar as these works analyze the entire universe of Western European cases, they represent an important methodological advance. However, they remain too wedded to a class-coalitional framework to provide both a parsimonious and a historically accurate account of why democracy collapsed in some states but not in others. This article proposes an alternative explanatory framework that focuses on how political parties can shape association life in such a way as to support or undermine democracy.

One of the important factors influencing the development and competitiveness of economies is creative capital. It differs significantly among European countries, which has an influence on income and quality of life. The aim of the research discussed in this article is to determine the level of creative capital in Europe and to identify its determinants. The starting point of the analysis is the 3T theory (talent, technology, tolerance), formulated by Richard Florida, and the concept of a creativity index, which derives from the theory. The concept does not define creative capital precisely, therefore, this article proposes its measures based on statistical data obtained from Eurostat and a synthetic measure of creative capital. Data relating to European countries and covering the period of 2011–2018 were used. Moreover, an attempt was made to determine the level of creative capital by means of socio-economic factors (e.g. the number of people working in creative professions, the structure of the population by age and income, and expenditure on culture). Empirical analyses indicate significant differences in the level of creative capital in Europe. This is mainly influenced by the level of the wealth of economies and the number of people working in creative occupations, while cultural expenditure is less important for the development of creative capital.

Despite successful democratic processes & vigorous economic growth in the region, democracy is a work in progress. Governments are often despised partly because of the implementation of economic austerity programs to prepare for EU membership, the arrogance of the politicians, & corruption. This article briefly outlines democracy in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, & Slovenia, countries that have joined NATO &, except for Bulgaria & Romania, the European Union. It discusses elite behavior, political party system stability, & civil society development. The author offers assessments of these & other characteristics of democratization in these countries. He concludes that Central & Eastern Europe has made good progress toward democratic consolidation since the end of the Cold War, even though transparency remains a problem & the boundaries between politics, business, & even organized crime are sometimes murky. E. Sanchez

Despite the euphoria surrounding the 1989 revolutions, over the past 15 years voices have warned that resurgent nationalism may bring "democracy in dark times" (Isaacs, 1998; Tismaneanu, 1998; Ramet, 1997). Reflecting this fear, a stream of articles has asserted that nationalism in the East is different from the more civic nationalism of the West (Vujacic, 1996; Bunce, 2001; Schöpflin, 2003). If true, these sentiments should be reflected in the constitutions, documents that define the polity and the foundational values of the state in addition to creating the basic institutional order. Debates over religious references in the European Union constitution and the focus on constitutional change by Albanian forces in Macedonia in 2000 serve as reminders of the centrality of constitutions in contention over identity. However, as all constitutions in East Central Europe and the Balkans set out a democratic structure informed by a tangle of national and liberal ideas, they cannot be neatly divided between those which are nationalist and those which are civic, between those which respect minority rights and those which do not. In fact, what is striking about the constitutions is how they combine ideas of liberal individualism, strong democracy, and pluralism.