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The Swedish model is still alive

openDemocracy.net - free thinking for the world

Stefan Löfven's party received 28.4% of the votes, a strong result for a Social Democratic party in government in today's Europe.

The Swedish model is still alive

openDemocracy.net - free thinking for the world

Stefan Löfven's party received 28.4% of the votes, a strong result for a Social Democratic party in government in today's Europe.

This week’s front page editor

Adam Bychawski

Adam Bychawski is an editor assistant at openDemocracy

For Bulgarian citizens when populism is mainstreamed, contestability is more important than consent

Protests may not achieve their goals or provide a new democratic model, but they have been a laboratory for citizenship through contestation.

Left populism over the years

A conversation about the rise of the right-wing since the turn of the century, what this tells us about liberal democracy, and the deepening of democracy needed in response.

The Swedish model is still alive

Stefan Löfven's party received 28.4% of the votes, a strong result for a Social Democratic party in government in today's Europe.

Platform parties vs plutocrat PR: welcome to the future of UK politics

Deserted by members, right-wing parties serve the rich, while people have flocked to centre and left alternatives, only to be smeared as "dogs" and "Trots".

Heated and abandoned: the Ecuador-Colombia border

Figuring out what is going on at the northern border of Ecuador is like trying to put together a puzzle with a huge number of pieces – namely, organized crime, drug trafficking, paramilitary forces and human trafficking. Español

Making another economic future possible: 100 policies to end austerity

The Progressive Economy Forum launches a new initiative to cultivate new ideas, policies and plans to end austerity.

The united German extreme right

Chemnitz shows how collaboration across three rightwing sectors is a recipe for disaster, as the extreme right understands very well.

A world of digital plenty is possible, but only if we take on the data barons

Deep, structural reform of how data is generated, governed and used is needed so that everyone can benefit from digital technology. 

How does change happen? One man’s journey through the personal and the political

The first step to building a new world is to start living it, but don’t stop there.

Does Sweden's mainstream have to talk to the Sweden Democrats?

With the media on their side, the SD has managed to persuade many unionised women in the health service that it is the only party for them. Does the mainstream know why?

A market for moral, organisational and cultural values could fundamentally challenge neoliberalism and populism at one fell swoop

This market for values would offer individuals, companies and local communities an economic incentive to contribute to the common good and to a sense of community. 

When traditional communications outperform digital technology: Rohingya refugees

Community radio projects in the world's biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh demonstrate the significance of context-specific humanitarian responses and the power of effective communication. 

Gender (studies) trouble in Hungary

Gender studies challenge existing structures that are perceived as natural and enduring, and in doing so, they directly challenge the ideological commitments of the radical right.

Netanyahu and Israel’s (in)security

How do Israeli leaders see the future? With less confidence than you might think.   

The Sweden Democrats remain deeply unpopular despite making gains

The neo-nationalist and anti-immigrant party could make gains, but may have hit an electoral ceiling.

Northern Ireland: the border is coming?

Recent controversies highlight the unstable situation in Northern Ireland.

Why a Job Guarantee is a bad joke for the precariat – and for freedom

Putting people into static low-wage jobs is no response to the crisis of rentier capitalism.

How to help inmates heal after the trauma of prison

Half of all prisoners in American jails suffer from some sort of psychiatric disorder. Can prayer and meditation support them?

The Chomsky paradox: the responsibility of intellectuals, revisited

Locating Chomsky’s linguistics and politics ‘in their historical perspective’ sharpens many issues for their wider relevance today, including that of the responsibility of intellectuals.

Now they see us: abortion in Argentina will be legal

Argentina is moving towards the decriminalisation and legalisation of abortion, and the two million people who took to the streets to protest the results ensured its only a matter of time before it triumps. Español

The Argentine government and the National Insecurity Doctrine

Argentine President Mauricio Macri has recently enabled the armed forces' involvement in home security tasks. His decision responds to a change in the international military doctrines promoted by the US. Español

Explaining Chomsky’s strange science: a reply to Randy Allen Harris

“I am attempting to explain Chomsky’s part in the postwar overthrow of behaviourism and the dramatic triumph of the so-called ‘cognitive revolution’.”

Prosperity and justice: a new vision for Britain’s economy

The IPPR Commission on Economic Justice is an impressive attempt at setting out a credible alternative to the failures of neoliberal capitalism.

Will Salvini copy Orbán in the fight against NGOs?

Italian Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini, admirer of Orbán, has harshly criticized NGOs whose ships save migrants from the Mediterranean sea. Will Italy follow the Hungarian path to illiberal democracy?

Re-imagining the American Dream: a decade of sisterhood with Positive Women’s Network

Women living with HIV are mobilising to demand visibility and rights in the US. Our collective voice, vision and leadership offer hope.

NHS charging for overseas visitors – wrong on every level

Regulations that deny visitors NHS care – except for certain infectious diseases and to relieve death pains - are riven with contradictions. And will hit some unexpected victims as well as the intended scapegoats.

Ecuador’s not-so-pink tide: a Citizen’s Revolution against its citizens

The Citizen Revolution has strengthened the State at the detriment of the public, and its authoritarian hand has legitimized the political Right. Today, few dare identifying with the Left anymore. Español

Techlash: why Facebook’s approach to #FakeNews ultimately fails

Zuckerberg needs to take a step back and allow institutions to flourish. There are only bigger waves looming ahead.

Meet Russian anarchist Ilya Romanov. He’s spent nearly 20 years in prison

Through radical protest of the 1990s and 2000s to the repressive machine of today, Romanov's biography shows how the Russian government’s attitude to protest has hardened. RU

Seven ways to build the solidarity economy

We can transform capitalism by encouraging the ‘better angels of our nature.’