Urban Riots in Europe, Post‐2000
Since the start of the new millennium there have been four major instances of urban “rioting” in Europe, each of which has given rise to prolonged academic and/or public theoretical speculation regarding the underlying political origins and motives of such action. The term “rioting” is often rejected as inappropriate by academic and political commentators, on the grounds that it often used to suggest “wanton criminality” or, oppositely, to imply a degree of political awareness and ambition that is actually lacking among participants. Here we shall be employing the more neutral descriptor of “disorders” in referring to such events.
Rebels with a Cause: The December 2008 Greek Youth Movement as the Condensation of Deeper Social and Political Contradictions
The events of December 2008 in Greece represent a turning point in social movements against neoliberalism and capitalist restructuring. They were the result of worsening employment prospects for young people, the aggressive restructuring of the educational system and concern about the effects of the current economic crisis. The originality of the movement lies in its unique scale, in the expression of a new unity of youth in struggle, in the demand for radical change and in its anti-systemic character. It can be viewed as further evidence of the crisis of neoliberal hegemony and as a sign of growing hegemonic instability in European capitalist social formations. For this reason it poses both a theoretical and a political challenge. Copyright (c) 2010 The Author. Journal Compilation (c) 2010 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Fascism and the right in Europe, 1919-1945
This new text places interwar European fascism squarely in its historical context and analyses its relationship with other right wing, authoritarian movements and regimes. Beginning with the ideological roots of fascism in pre-1914 Europe, Martin Blinkhorn turns to the problem-torn Europe of 1919 to 1939 in order to explain why fascism emerged and why, in some settings, it flourished while in others it did not. In doing so he considers not just the 'major' fascist movements and regimes of Italy and Germany but the entire range of fascist and authoritarian ideas, movements and regimes present in the Europe of 1919-1945.