Green European Journal

Climate politics is facing a backlash. New conflicts are emerging and unresolved dilemmas resurfacing around the costs and opportunities of the green transition. The sourcing of critical materials, the deployment of renewables, the management of climate adaptation, reforms in agriculture and food policy, and contrasting narratives on migration and the future of mobility are just a few of the fault lines dividing societies. This edition sets out to map how these competing visions are reshaping politics locally, in Europe, and around the world.

Energy crisis, housing shortages, food price rises – the many signs of today’s economic turmoil are redrawing the lines of solidarity within and between European societies. But if disruption harbours the notion of rupture within it, then alternative ways of providing for our needs are possible. This edition helps us understand the trends and choices that got us into the cost of living crisis. It argues that the pressures from today’s confluence of crises demonstrate the need for a different politics with the common good and social justice at its heart.

If a more sustainable and just society is to be built, the power of education will need to be harnessed. Education should be a liberating force, but it can also exacerbate hierarchies, divisions, and inequality. Recognising that education is always political, this edition uncovers the ongoing battles over education today in Europe and goes further to explore the alternatives. It asks what an education system that truly equips people for the challenges of our age would look like.

If globalisation once appeared to be moving steadily towards closer co-operation and governance, this trajectory has ground to a halt. Despite shared challenges from environmental upheaval to the pandemic, geopolitical tensions abound as countries increasingly look inwards. How can we navigate an increasingly fractured geopolitical landscape with the future of the planet in the balance?

Between the progressive movements fighting for rights and freedoms and the exclusionary politics of the far right, this edition examines the struggle over democracy and representation in Europe today.