Sky-high energy prices are testing what different European states mean by solidarity, writes Catherine Fieschi.
[Report] Looking back to COP26, the planet’s most important climate gathering, it seemed to barely figure on people’s radars. The disconnection between the tangible climate emergency all around us, and the relative silence concerning the event where the world’s leaders would be measuring their scant progress on the Paris agreements, was striking. This is when we decided to investigate this disconnection.
Catherine Fieschi on why America’s hard-right is schmoozing Europe
[Essays] This collection is a companion piece to our Green Wedge report. These essays were commissioned to contextualise our research on the nature and content of social media conversations about climate in eight European countries: Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic.
[Catherine Fieschi on Europe and Russia] Culture notes: Russia wouldn’t do that! Catherine Fieschi on why Europe failed to foresee the invasion of Ukraine
[Think Piece by Simon Reid-Henry] At Counterpoint we’ve been saying for a while now that climate dissent will become a major issue as soon as government policies to address the climate emergency begin conflicting with other issues people care about.
[Think Piece by Simon Reid-Henry] You would think, what with floods in Germany and forest fires in Greece this summer, each bracketing the most damning IPCC Report to date, and all in the lead up to the next instalment of the Conference of Parties (COP) 26 in Glasgow – that there would be a real sense of concern and engagement around Europe’s flagship response to the climate crisis: the EGD.
[The FT - Article by Catherine Fieschi] In Europe, the idea of the political centre has never been so fashionable. Centrism seems to be the balm of choice to soothe the populist wounds of European democracies. President Emmanuel Macron of France kicked it off in 2017, and a coalition spanning the political centre looms in Germany. In Italy, Mario Draghi’s national unity government is doing all it can to erase the very notion of partisanship. But does this centre have any ideological substance?
As part of the Green Wedge Project, the Green Wedge Tracker gives you a monthly overview of the social media climate conversation in 8 European countries in 2021.
[Report] This report is a first step towards mapping the climate conversation in Europe. The aim is to get a better sense of the various communities and groups that will support the European Green Deal (EGD), as well as understand the types of dissent and counter-mobilisation that will inevitably arise and risk derailing the implementation of the EGD’s main policy objectives.
[The Guardian - Article by Catherine Fieschi] The president must demonstrate that the secular state – with a subtle dose of multiculturalism – works for them.
[The World Today, Chatham House - Column by Catherine Fieschi] Catherine Fieschi finds mandatory face coverings are dividing the world.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] The COVID-19 crisis has plunged people into isolation and uncertainty, but the virus, with its lethal hyper-velocity, has also felt like the possibility of a Great Reset. A catharsis of sorts – that would allow us to come out from this ordeal humbled but determined to avoid past mistakes.
[Report] This collection explores how, in a digital landscape torn between an American model that is largely market-driven on the one hand, and a Chinese model rooted in authoritarian state practices on the other, a European Way of Digital might be the way forward.
[The Guardian - Article by Catherine Fieschi] Italy’s Salvini and others on the far right could weaponise people’s despair. Democratic governments must fight them with transparency.
[Book by Catherine Fieschi] Populism has become a significant feature of mature democracies in the twenty-first century and the rise of populist parties is proving a powerful and disruptive force. Catherine Fieschi offers a comparative analysis of the rise of populist parties in France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK in the context of major digital and political transformations.
[The Guardian - Article by Catherine Fieschi] From Matteo Salvini to Boris Johnson, populist politicians brazenly distort the truth. Don’t think they do it to be believed
[The World Today, Chatham House - Column by Catherine Fieschi] Critics argue that the concept of millennials is a construct. And, of course, it is. That’s what social science does. It creates constructs through which we explain the world. The question is whether such constructs are useful.
[Report] Counterpoint explored local and personal experiences of migration in communities across four European countries, and here we set out some of the key insights policy-makers might take away from what is an intense emotional experience from the point of view of both host communities and newcomers.
[Report] To explore the complex effects of inequality in European societies, this volume brings together essays by scholars of economic history, sociology, psychology and philosophy. This variety allows an exploration of the origins of inequality and the different forms that it takes, essential to understanding the uses and abuses of the concept in political debate.
[The World Today, Chatham House - Column by Catherine Fieschi] Public monuments seem to have become the lightning rod of our cultural wars: from Robert E Lee, to Cecil Rhodes, to intimations that Nelson might fall, the past few years constitute a high-water mark for the contestation of collective memory. How do we commemorate the past when the past keeps on changing?
[The Guardian - Article by Catherine Fieschi] My work with focus groups across France suggests something is shifting. The Front National is a threat, but the populist domino effect will stop at France
[Interview - Catherine Fieschi] Avant un débat organisé hier soir à Londres par Citigroup, sur les populismes et les risques géopolitiques, Catherine Fieschi, directrice de Counterpoint, a répondu à quelques questions cruciales pour les investisseurs et les entreprises.
[Interview - Catherine Fieschi] In this Citigroup panel on populist politics and geopolitical risk held before the US elections, Catherine Fieschi, Counterpoint’s Founding Director, answered some of the most pressing questions for policy-makers, investors and corporates.
[The World Today, Chatham House - Column by Catherine Fieschi] Anyone tuning in to listen on June 27 to David Cameron’s statement to the House of Commons on the result of the European Union referendum might have been forgiven for thinking that MPs were busy reviewing who had tipped over the cake-stand at the village fête.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] We’ve said this before – and we’ll say it again: the rise of populist politics are predicated on the long, slow death of expertise as we knew it and valued it.
[Report] Plant-based diets are spreading throughout Europe, in different countries at different rates, and with mixed receptive audiences. This emerging trend is seeing a culturally diverse Europe find ways to adapt traditional food habits to new pressures and priorities - including climate change, health, and compassion. Counterpoint gathered illustrative data on how European countries take up this trend differently.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] The word’s out: people still hate the bankers. There is reason indeed to blame people for co-opting unfair rules for their own material benefit. Nevertheless there is a disturbing tendency in the populist discourse on bankers today.
[Report] Building Bridges is a practical guide to the relationship between values, frames and efforts to build support for equality, human rights and social justice.
[Report] In this edited collection we examine the way in which editorial offices have sometimes unwittingly worked in favour of populist parties and politicians, but we also outline the ways in which the media has sought to remain an impartial reporter of transformations and events it had no choice but to cover.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] We live in societies in which the speed of information and ubiquity of certain images create an illusion of intelligibility at a time of deepening uncertainty for many. The violence of a violent act is rendered unambiguous as it is repeated on a loop and immediately transformed into a meme. Its mystery vanishing under the certainty of what our eyes can see.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi and Romain Beaucher - in French] Avant toute chose, nous devons collectivement admettre que nous vivons sous un régime d’incertitude plutôt que de risque. C’est le plus difficile, particulièrement pour celles et ceux qui nous gouvernent : le risque nous fournissait des certitudes qui ne se laissent pas abandonner sans peine ou nostalgie.
[Essay collection] Two and a half years ago, Political Capital, Counterpoint, the Center for Research on Prejudice, the Institute for Public Affairs, and the Zachor Foundation embarked on a project to develop an effective response to conspiracy theories in Europe.
[Report] The Bridges Project aims to bring new insights from researchers and experts on human behaviour to the attention of policy-makers, politicians and activists, in order to help them work through some of the most sensitive and complex policy dilemmas facing open societies in Europe.
[Report by Joël Gombin] This report explores methods of ‘short-circuiting’ conspiracy theories that contribute to xenophobic populist forces. It investigates the demographics and attitudes of conspiracy theory believers in France.
[Essay collection] This volume, part of Counterpoint’s ‘Reluctant Radicals’ series, comprises a set of essays by leading journalists, academics and writers that detail how populism has emerged and developed in ten countries across Europe.
[Essay by Julian Baggini] In this exploration of British culture and politics, Julian Baggini starts with the argument that the same springs of populism that fuel the far right in Europe exist in Britain. Baggini argues for the need to look for manifestations of British populism beyond the usual far right suspects.
[The International Spectator - Article by Catherine Fieschi and Nick Johnson] This piece examines the relationship of Muslim communities to the UK mainstream between 2005 and 2010. Using the dual backdrop of the country’s embedded multiculturalism policy and its counter-terrorism strategy, the authors brush a picture of a tense yet ultimately resilient relationship.
[Essay by Martin Sandbu] In this thought-provoking essay, Financial Times journalist Martin Sandbu challenges the traditional picture of Norway as a consensual social democracy and explores the various elements of Norwegian culture that have over time fostered a deep-rooted conspiratorial populism.
[Essay by Johanne Mygind and Anders Rasmussen - in Danish] In this piece, Johanne Mygind and Anders Rasmussen look into the the dramatic success of the Danish People’s Party and Pia Kjærsgaard.
[Essay by Michel Wieviorka - in French] Le Front national, entre extrémisme, populisme et démocratie. Michel Wieviorka argues that an effective opposition to the party must be based on up-to-date knowledge, rather than on good intentions.
[Essay by Gianni Riotta - in Italian] The Italian populist paradox is alive and kicking in the digital era of social media and blogs. So far it has not careened to the vicious, racist fringe – but rising unemployment, rampant corruption and bleak living conditions are dangerous factors.
[Essay by Göran Rosenberg] Göran Rosenberg explores the hitherto limited success of populist movements in Sweden. This has been partly due to the success of the Swedish model, a tight-knit national community striving for a class-transcending social order based on peace, justice, progress and democracy.
[Essay by Marek Beylin - in Polish] Since the fall of the communist dictatorship in 1989, Poland has gone through powerful and uncontrollable changes: the old political system was replaced by democracy, and the Soviet centralised economy has changed to a market economy.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] Catherine Fieschi reports from a city buzzing with contradictions, but steeled with many of the cultural codes it needs to meet the challenges it faces.
[Report by Catherine Fieschi, Marley Morris, Lila Caballero] Support for right-wing populism in Europe has steadily gained attention from media and policymakers over the past decade. Most of this attention has been focused on the core supporters of right-wing populist parties at the expense of the reluctant radicals.
[Essay by Yvonne Zonderop - in English and Dutch] Hoe het populisme kon aarden in Nederland. Dutch journalist Yvonne Zonderop reports on how Dutch society has changed over the last 20 years and how new divisions in society have fuelled the populist movement.
[Essay by Herfried Münkler - in German] Populismus in Deutschland: Eine Geschichte seiner Mentalitäten, Mythen und Symbole. Herfried Münkler discusses German populism after reunification.
[Essay by Johanna Korhonen - in Finnish] Kuinka vaikenevasta Suomesta tuli äänekkään populismin pelikenttä. Finnish journalist Johanna Korhonen outlines the cultural changes that resulted in Finland becoming a playing field for populism.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] While 2008 and its shocks marked the first shift away from a domino set of events that began in September of 2001, the years since the financial crash have been years of adapting to the new realities that slowly appeared as the dust from this ‘second crumbling’ settled.
[Essay collection] “These days, we do not lack information about other societies and countries” writes Eva Hoffman, in her introduction to this illuminating collection of essays. But why does this unprecedented level of knowledge not translate into greater understanding?
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] Does the Occupy/Indignados movement matter? The two big questions are whether it has the potential to change policy and whether it tells us anything important about the world we live in.
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] The economic and political turbulence of the past nine months is not a throwback to the 1930s, it’s a throwback to the 1530s when print capitalism shook the world. Today, print capitalism is being replaced by digital finance. Expertise is out, populism is in. Can our institutions take it?
[Think Piece by Catherine Fieschi] Counterpoint's response to July's tragedy in Norway, and an exploration of what it can teach us about elite behaviour, cultural conservatism and political violence.