fresh thinking 1

8/2/2019 Fresh Thinking 1

1/40

N01/2011 | QUARTERLY MAGAZINE

The poor state o Europe

J

a k o

b v o n

S i e b e n

t h a

l


2/40

Renewable energy is gaining new ground. We at 50Hertz areproud to be leading the way in feeding renewable energyinto the grid. We operate the extra-high-voltage grid servingmore than 18 million people in the north and east ofGermany a green-energy export region.

Renewable energies currently require storage, as well asnew power lines. We take our social responsibility seriouslyin our task of developing power grids in line with Germanand European climate control targets.

This work requires new political commitment : The necessary network expansion calls for stable

investment conditions, accelerated processesand a politically endorsed information and dialoguecampaign.

The legal and regulatory framework must ensure that

the cost of the integration of renewable energy is fairlydistributed throughout Germany and that incentivesare offered for the enormous investment required.

Find out more at www.50hertz-transmission.net

New networksfor new energy


3/40

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

not to devote our rst issue to what we

decided to call the poor state o Europe.

We never even considered shying away

rom the worst orms o absolute poverty

in Europe. At the same time we wanted

to underline that we regard photography

as an important part o journalistic work.

The result is the photo essay portraying the

Roma community in Slovakia; a reminder

that the ght against poverty must involve

all citizens in our Union (p. 1418).

But poverty is also relative. It can

sneak up on you, change your li e step by

step as described in Micha Olszewskis

essay The Colour o Poverty (p. 2224).

As progressives, we also believe that

politics matter. Lynsey Hanley went to oneo the most deprived neighbourhoods in

Britain, Birkenhead in Merseyside, to

evaluate the legacy o Labours years in

power (p. 813). In general, the politicians

eet should be held close to the re. So, on

p. 3233 we have asked a group o leading

progressives what should be done about

the poor state o Europe.

In order to live up to our name, we

asked resh thinkers to address topics o

major importance. Will Hutton suggests

what progressives should do about the role

o the market (p. 19), and Katrine Kielos

questions the role o traditional economic

thinking rom a eminist perspective (p. 25).

So, some 10 years a ter that trip with

a laptop and bottle o whisky, I have the

enormous opportunity to lead a great team

in an e ort to get the European debate

going. Hope youll like Fresh Thinking, and

please let us know how we can improveit. Its not student politics anymore, and

Im sure Habermas would like us to make

the best o it.

Eric Sundstrm

Editor-in-Chie

FRESH THINKING 3

E d i t o r i a l

Bring a la to and bottle o hisk ,

my riend said. I was going to my rst

meeting with the Young European So-

cialists (ECOSY), which gathers together

socialists and social democratic youth

and student organisations in the EU.

I was ready to solve what maestro Jrgen

Habermas had called the lack o a Euro-

pean public sphere a dialogue across

borders. And my riends plan worked.

The a terparty was in my room, where new

riends rom across Europe could have a

drink and work on the resolution we had

to present the next morning.

But our resolution didnt solve the

problem Habermas identi ed. The lack o

that public sphere still haunts the EU. New

initiatives and attempts are needed. And

as you might have guessed, youre hold-

ing a new attempt in your hand right now.

This is the very rst issue o FreshThinking. Founded by the thinktank FEPS

and produced by an independent band

o journalists with our hearts to the le t o

centre, we will reach 10,000 progressives

in the EU our times a year. At last, heres

a magazine where we will discuss politics,

policy, economics always with a progres-

sive angle.

In the a termath o the nancial crises,

the word austerity sums up the political

rights response in Brussels and the major-

ity o Europes capitals. But in the shadows

o that word, the citizens o Europe are try-

ing to make ends meet. It was impossible


4/40

4

N01/2011Front cover and photo essay by

Jakob on Siebenthal | Photographer

Jakob von Siebenthal, born 1985, is a reelance photographer currently based in

Hannover. A ter leaving school in 2005, he started travelling and began taking photo-

graphs. He has been studying photojournalism and documentary photography at the

University o Applied Sciences in Hannover since 2009.

Jakob mostly works on social issues and ocuses on discriminated people or

communities.

www.jakobvonsiebenthal.com


5/40

FRESH THINKING 5

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

C o n

t E n t s

3 EDITORIAL| Editor-in-chie Eric Sundstrm

introduces the rst issue o this new magazine or Europes progressives.

6 ... IN NumBERS | Stats and gures o the poor state o Europe.

8 LABOuRS LEGAcy IN THE uK| Journalist Lynsey Hanley

assesses the e ects o 13 years o progressive government in Britain.

14 ROmA IN SLOvAKIA| Jakob von Siebenthals photo essay o a community living in poverty.

19 THE LEFT muST DELIvER GOOD cApITALISm| Progressive thinker and writer Will Hutton

says airness is crucial or the uture.

20 TRIED & TESTED| A beauty contest or the homeless

and a drive to get everyone online are two initiatives addressing inequality.

21 BLOGS| A sample o what the European blogosphere is saying about Fresh Thinking.

22 THE cOLOuR OF pOvERTy| Journalist Micha Olszewski

explores li e or a amily caught in the vicious circle o debt.

25 THE INvISIBLE HEART OF THE EcONOmy| Feminist writer Katrine Kielos

examines a womans place in the capitalist system.

26 THE REAL cOST OF EuROpES BIG FOOD BuSINESS| Journalist Tanja Busse

li ts the lid on how European exports are undermining A ricas ood production.

29 INTERvIEw wITH BERTHOLD vOGEL| Contributing editor Piotr Buras

talks to the social science expert about the changing role o the wel are state.

32 pOLITIcIANS SpEAK| Europes policy makers

share their thoughts on what can be done to ght poverty.

34 mEET THE pRESS | A digest o how Europes leading newspapers

debated nuclear power in the wake o Fukushima.

36 cuLTuRE | At the crossroads where politics and art meet,

our editor picks the best books, movies and music that tackle inequality.

38 mIScELLANy | An eclectic mix o ideas and quotations

that illuminate the subject o this magazine.

39 puBLISHING INFORmATION


6/40

6

42millionthe number o people in the EU who are severely mate-rially deprived, meaning that their living conditions areseverely a ected by a lack o resources.Source: HEA, Higher Education Authority

23.1 %the proportion o emale

ull-time workers who werelow-wage earners in the EUin 2006.Source: Eurostat

54age

the li e expectancy oa male in GlasgowsCarlton area.

60 -80 centsthe price (in euros) Cameroonpaid to the EU in 2005 or a kiloo poultry o cuts. Read more inTanja Busses article on p.26

291,000 tons

the amount o chicken o cuts that the EU exportedto A rica in 2010.

8miles

82age

the li e expectancy oa male in GlasgowsLenzie area justeight miles romCarltonSource:World HealthOrganisation.


7/40

17millionthe amount o people in the

EU who are poor eventhough employed.

Source: EuropeanCommission.

FRESH THINKING 7

. . .

i n n

u m b E r s

17%the proportion o Polandspopulation (and EU average)who live on the poverty line,according to Eurostat.

13,000the number o people on thewaiting list or social housing in theBirkenhead area o the UK.Lynsey Hanley investigatesLabours legacy in the UK on p.8

10.5the number o non-EU migrants at risk oexclusion, meaning they are at risk o poverty,severely deprived or living in households witha very low work intensity.Source: European Commission

million

20% the amount o the Polishpopulation who canta ord to properly heattheir homes .See Micha Olszewskisreport on p.22

80the number o people in Europe who areat risk o poverty, according to Eurostat.See Piotr Buras interview with BertholdVogel on p.29

million

Illustrations by mithra Dar abegi

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1


8/40

8


9/40

FRESH THINKING 9

The St Ja es Librar , in Birkenhead,

Merseyside, is the sort o place where

you could happily spend all day. Indeed,youre encouraged to. In the council ward

o Bidston, part o whats known locally as

the north end o the ormer shipbuilding

town, its bright, primary-coloured aade

and sun-trap windows are a display o op-

timism in architectural orm.

But Bidston is one o the most de-

prived neighbourhoods in Britain, in a town

which has lost 40 per cent o its population

since its industrial heyday in the rst hal o

the 20th century. Surrounding the library

are streets o Victorian red-brick terraced

houses, kitted out with double-glazed win-

dows and white awnings under the Decent

Homes Standard programme, established

during Labours rst term in government

that started in 1997.The St James Library, which was com-

pleted in 2006, brings together essential

services in a welcoming building, contain-

ing not just a public lending library but a

Sure Start childrens centre, a well-used

ca , a learning centre run by the local

urther education college, and numerous

community organisations.

Gro ing u in the 1980s, hen ubli

spending was drastically cut under suc-

cessive Conservative administrations led

rst by Margaret Thatcher and then later

by John Major, I remember seeing a new

evangelical church being built close to

our home. It was the only new building

in the area since the 1960s. Its noveltywas a wonder to me. The reversal rom

public squalor to public muni cence in the

decade ollowing the year 2000 Labour

having stuck to the previous governments

spending plans or its rst three years in

power was pro ound and visible.

Kath Shaw, the current manager o

the St James centre, started out as a user

o the centres services, only to return

as an employee. I started coming here

because I had a child and ound mysel

incredibly isolated. I just needed to eel

connected with some kind o community,

and I was lucky enough that they didnt

Labo rslega

intheuK

From theminimum wage

to investment inhealthcare, the recent

Labour governmentle t an impressive mark

on Britain. L nse Hanle visited one o the countrys

most deprived neighbourhoodsto fnd out how ar reachingand long lasting its progressive

policies have been.


10/40

10

mind you taking your baby in with you. We

now have a crche here which is totallyoversubscribed.

Courses provided by the Wirral Metro-

politan College learning centre helped her

to gain con dence and new skills. Over

time she gained quali cations to become

a community worker, o ten staying into the

evening to provide youth activities a ter the

library closed. As we talk in the ca , par-

ents stream in to collect their children rom

the Sure Start centre and stop or co ee.

Everyone says hello to each other; its im-

possible to imagine eeling unsa e here.

Its about responsibility and owner-

ship, she says in re erence to the centres

role in the community. What o ten hap-

pens in disadvantaged areas is that these

great projects will sweep in, operate or a

couple o years, and then they disappear.

People in the community are now actually

being educated in terms o participating

in and continuing the services a ter theinitial project, but you cant get the big

society running without the resources to

begin with.

The big society she is re erring to,

is the Conservative Prime Minister David

Camerons dream o local and voluntary

organisations replacing much o the role

o the state. Such an idea could not have

built the St James centre. It runs in an e -

ective partnership with Wirrals metropoli-

tan borough council, which until 2010 was

run by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coali-

tion, the Department or Education, which

unds the Sure Start centre, and a series

o voluntary sector organisations which are

themselves partly government- unded.

Sin e Labo r lost o er at both lo al

and central government level in May 2010,

another local organisation, the Beech-

wood Community Trust, has had to close

its youth club and cyber ca because o

unding cuts. Fran Kane, a community

worker on the local Beechwood estate

with links to the St James centre, is angry

that hes still being told, heres 50 kids,

we want you to educate them.

Computer courses, hairdressing and

beauty courses all work in our area, but

now its a matter o getting the government

to match that with unding or jobs. The

biggest employers around here are Bur-

tons [a biscuit actory] and Vauxhall [the

car manu acturer]. Theyve been bought

out by bigger oreign companies, who tell

the sta that theyre not going to change

anything, then a ew months later give

them the sack.

He believes that one o the most im-portant contributions to education und-

ing that took place during Labours term

in power was the Education Maintenance

Allowance, a means-tested, weekly cash

payment o up to 30 (33) paid to teen-

agers in urther education. Whether its

10 or 20 or 30, its been a com ort to

amilies to know that theyre getting that.

His colleague, Paul Howard, agrees,

adding that the payment has o ten been

regarded by worse-o amilies as a re-

placement or wages once a child reaches

working age: The EMA is given on a Fri-

day and we nd that over the weekend

the kids who receive it give it to their par-

ents as a contribution to their costs. This

keeps them in college when there would

otherwise be pressure on them rom their

amilies to sign on or nd jobs.

The re ersal robli sq alor to

bli nif en ein the de ade

ollo ing the ear2000 as ro o nd

and isible


11/40

FRESH THINKING 11


12/40

12

S hools in Birkenhead and in wirral

as a whole vastly improved during Labours

term in power. Many schools were extend-

ed or completely rebuilt under the Building

Schools or the Future programme, and

most were awarded extra unding a ter ap-

plying or specialist status in speci c sub-

ject areas. The ormer Park High School,

adjacent to Birkenheads newly restored

Victorian park, has been partially rebuilt

and renamed the University Academy,

receiving sponsorship and guidance rom

two local universities. St John Plessington,

a Catholic high school outside Birkenhead,

was named the Times Educational Supple-

ments School o the Year in 2010.

New buildings would have meant little

without better services being provided

within them. A Birkenhead resident I met

who works across the river Mersey in a

Liverpool NHS trust, testi ed to the e ect

o Labours investment in the health ser-

vice, as well as in education and training:

Strokes, which is my area, were estab-

lished by the NHS as the number three

priority a ter cancer and heart disease.

Weve had good sta ng levels which en-

abled us to establish a very good service

or stroke patients.

Much o this improvement in the

service, he says, came rom investing in

rontline sta , which enabled them to do

a better job. This is contrary to the belie ,

held by many critics o Labours NHS

spending, that most o the money was

spent on management and bureaucracy.

Employing more ull-time, permanent sta

meant that you could develop the service

properly. Weve had access to courses,

which the trust paid or, and support rom

them or a very high standard o training.

Wirral NHS Trust has a dedicated

public health programme targeted at over-

55s and men living in Birkenhead and its

surrounding estates. Preventative health

spending also went up, but without the

backing o well-paid, ull-time, high-skilled

peo le in theo nit are

no a t all beinged ated in ter s

o arti i atingin and ontin ing

the ser i es b t o ant getthe big so iet

r nning itho t thereso r es to

begin ith


13/40

FRESH THINKING 13

employment in areas o high depriva-

tion such as Bidston, health inequalities

have remained stubbornly high. A man

in Bidston has a li e expectancy that is

14.6 years shorter than a man living in the

a fuent, semi-rural south or west Wirral;

mortality rates or males over 65 in Birken-

head are among the highest in the coun-

try, revealing the link between persistent

structural unemployment and poor health.

Its hard to state ithout question that

the Labour governments ailure to narrow

vast inequalities in health, longevity and

employment rates was related to its in-

amous policy o being intensely relaxed

about people getting lthy rich. Peter

Mandelson, the minister credited with that

quote, has stated that Labour believed such

relaxation about high earners was permis-

sible as long as they paid their taxes.

Yet the persistence o joblessnessamong residents in areas such as Bidston

points to a more problematic belie , held

tacitly i not explicitly by Labour throughout

its time in power, that part-time, low-skilled

jobs in the service sector could replace

ull-time, skilled manu acturing jobs in

deindustrialised areas. (A sheet-metal

worker, when he can nd the work, earns

twice as much per hour as a supermarket

assistant.) The act that manu acturing

continued to decline as a share o Brit-

ains GDP throughout its term in power

was only partly a consequence o global

actors. Former panelbeater Kevin Brooks,

who has been unable to work or many

years due to industrial injuries, believes

that the spending boom o the 2000s only

bene ted those who were young, pro es-

sional and in good health. He lives on the

edge o Birkenheads north end, in a street

he is care ul to identi y as mostly owner-

occupied, where most people have man-

aged to stay in work, in comparison with

surrounding streets where unemployment

has become a act o li e or generations.

The reality o worklessness, or poor

work meaning short-term minimum

wage jobs, o ten ound through agencies

is that, in Brooks view, much o Labours

public spending programme produced

bitty improvements to amenities but ew

real improvements to peoples lives i they

were socially and economically excluded.

So ial obilit or so eone ho lives

in Bidston means getting a skilled appren-ticeship, he says, pointing out that the

waiting list or social housing in the Birken-

head area has grown to 13,000 due to the

gap between peoples earnings rom low-

wage jobs and the a ordability o hous-

ing in the area. Thats not to say that the

introduction o the minimum wage doesnt

represent a signi cant pillar o Labours

achievement; simply that it remains too low

or people who earn it to live com ortably,

even in supposedly cheap areas such as

Bidston. The Joseph Rowntree Founda-

tion, which researches poverty and hous-

ing, has de ned the minimum liveable

income as being 14,400 (15,940) be-

ore tax: 2,000 higher than the income

earned rom working ull-time on the cur-

rent minimum wage o 5.93 (6.56).

It has also calculated a all in living

standards o 10 per cent or the poorest

individuals over the 10 years rom 2000

to 2010, caused by real-terms alls in job-

seekers allowance, the purchasing power

o the minimum wage, and rises in living

standards enjoyed by most working peo-

ple, such as a home computer and internet

connection. (Most adults who use the suite

o computers in St James Library are us-

ing the internet to look or jobs, and word

processing to produce CVs.)

In its ti e in o er Labo r ro ided,

or many, a way out rom long-term poverty

through better- unded services and a com-

mitment to social mobility. The St James

Library, among many other buildings

across the country, stands as a monument

to what progressive government can do.

But such escape routes are likely to disap-

pear with the prospect o public spending

cuts by the new coalition between Conser-

vatives and Liberal Democrats, led by Da-

vid Cameron. Its incredibly hard to break

out o inter-generational involvement with

the bene ts system, admits Kath Shaw.

But or a single parent working 15 or

16 hours a week, theyre terri ed at how

theyre going to cope with all these budget

changes. Its going to be harder and harder

or people to a ord basic necessities.

Lynsey Hanley contributes to the Guardian ,the Observer and the New Statesman.

Her book, Estates: An Intimate History, is

published by Granta Books.


14/40

14


15/40

FRESH THINKING 15

Ro a in Slo akiawith the enlarge ent o the E ro ean union in 2004 and 2007,

thousands o Roma became EU citizens. Many Roma in eastern

European countries live in extreme poverty. About hal a million

live in the Republic o Slovakia, most o them in the outskirts o

eastern Slovakian villages. Roma settlements o ten have no run-

ning water, electricity or gas, and unemployment is close to 100 %.

Photographs by Jakob on Siebenthal .


16/40

16


17/40

FRESH THINKING 17


18/40

18


19/40

FRESH THINKING 19

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

C o m m E n t

will H tton is executive vicechair o The Work Foundationand author o Them and Us:Changing Britain Why we needa Fair Society (2010)

The roble ith a italis is that

most o its proponents believe that it isan immutable orce o nature. I would ar-

gue that capitalism quickly becomes dys-

unctional when it surrenders to primeval

hunter-gatherer instincts without airness.

I electorates should have learned any-

thing over the last years it is that nancial

capitalism is a menace to itsel and the

society beyond and that governments are

the peoples riend. But the European le t,

theoretically the guardian o airness and

sage government action, is bewildered, in

denial and in retreat. The conventional le t

needs to do a great deal better, not least

or the working people it purports to repre-

sent. I submit it needs to begin by thinking

straight and the task starts with address-

ing the le t s relationship with capitalism.

Intriguingly, the one thing that ber-

capitalists can agree on with traditional

socialists is that capitalism cannot change

its spots. However, both are wrong. Thereis good and bad capitalism. There is the

capitalism that through permitting pro-

ductive entrepreneurs their due rewards,

through challenging incumbent businesses

and taking calculated risks with the new

create the churn, fux and energy that

even Marx acknowledged trans orms the

world. Bad capitalism is the obverse; it is a

universe o bloated incumbents, politically

xed markets, productive entrepreneurs

orced to the sidelines and too little public

investment. It cares little or the condition

and risks o the people as we can wit-

ness in the a termath o the nancial crisis.

The le t has to understand what capitalism

properly managed can deliver: and then todemonstrate that the paradox is that only

the le t can provide the political tension

that biases capitalism towards the good.

The le ts mission is to hold capitalisms

eet to the Enlightenment re and thus

make it work best to meet the ambitions

and needs o ordinary people.

Capitalism will concentrate economic

power in huge banks or vast media em-

pires that ossi y innovation and constitute

a vast pressure group or the status quo;

the empires must be broken up. Ordinary

men and women need assets and skills

to handle the risks and opportunities o a

rapidly changing economy; social security

needs to be recon gured to be generous,

to provide nancial assets as a bu er and

a plat orm to take economic risks like

investing in onesel or a business or

example a personal grant o 60,000 to

every 21 year old and the institutionsthat permit the li elong acquisition o new

skills. The airness needed is radical. It

challenges the economic and moral ques-

tions that have been ignored over the last

two decades the tolerance o towering

disparities in wealth and power and the

blind aith in individualism and markets.

I submit it o ers a route map or Eu-

ropes le t to reinvent itsel and win popular

appeal. To repeat: airness is the indis-

pensable value that underpins both good

capitalism and the good society, and it will

be the oundation stone o any sustainable

new order.

The le t st deli ergood a italisEuropean progressives need to make airness in themarket their main objective, argues will H tton .


20/40

20

FRESHTHINKING

TRIED & TESTED

Broadband or the negle tedThe non-proft organisation One Economy brings internet access to low-income homes.

mirror, irror on the all, who is the air-

est o them all? The queen in Snow Whiteasked out o vanity. In 2010, 10 Belgian

women asked a jury a similar question,

but out o despair. All o them were living

on the streets and to win the title o Miss

Homeless promised nothing less than a

ree fat or a year.

Miss Homeless Belgium was an un-

usual beauty contest devised by Mathil-

de Pelsers and Aline Duportail rom the

organisation Arti ex. They say that they

wanted to draw attention to the situa-

tion o homeless people and give them a

chance to get their lives back on track.

The elected winner didnt have to have theper ect ace and body. It was the trans or-

mation o the participating women that was

assessed. In the end, out o the 10 nal-

ists the 58-year-old Thrse van Belle won

hersel a ree apartment or a year.

Critics attacked the contest or being

cynical, voyeuristic and disrespect ul. But

those running the contest were satis ed

with the international media coverage they

created. On the projects website they talk

about the success o the contest, saying

that they not only rewarded the winner, but

wanted: A la e to li eA provocative beauty contest in Belgium revealed an ugly truth: the plight o the homeless.

were able to provide housing and guidance

or all participating women. And they have

planned a ollow-up: Mr Homeless is to

take place next year.

de .sb roje ts.be

Te hnolog and in or ation can improve

peoples lives but only i they have ac-

cess to it and know how to use it. Givingour children the tools or computer literacy

is the 21st-century equivalent to teaching

them how to read, thats what Alex Ross,

rom the non-pro t One Economy, wrote

in 2007. He co- ounded the organisation

in 2000 with the aim o connecting de-

prived communities around the world to

the internet.

In 2010 the US National Telecommu-

nications and In ormation Administration

reported that 40 % o Americans do not

use high-speed internet, and it is dispro-

portionately people o colour that do not

have broadband access. One Economy

works on bringing broadband access into

peoples homes and to make sure they can

a ord subscription rates.They work with internet service provid-

ers and cable companies and provide ree

internet acess or reduced rates. However,

the best internet connection is worthless

i people dont have any idea about how to

use the technology. Thats why the com-

pany o ers lessons in digital literacy.

More then 3,000 young people have

been trained so ar, and many o those

are, in turn, employed by One Economy

to show other people how to use the ac-

cess to the in ormation once they have got

the hang o it. One Economy also provides

a media network to help people use the

internet or their own needs whether it is

nding doctors, jobs, education and train-

ing or ling taxes.

The non-pro t organisation has made

its aim to give people a better uture

by delivering what it calls the three As:

access, a ordability, adoption.

.one-e ono . o

There are several initiatives in place to fght poverty and raise awareness.Here are two imaginative responses to the problem.


21/40

FRESH THINKING 21

We gave some European political bloggers a copy oFresh Thinking and they gave us their thoughts. You can readthe ull articles on their blog sites.

Britain: Ti e or the le t to look or ardWhile every new library, school and hospital built in the UK during Labours three terms might be

monuments to the muni cence o the state, the danger the le t aces is the Tory critique that the

UK was living beyond its means. Pointing to the harshness o coalition cuts and remember what

we did or you is not going to be enough to propel Labour to victory in 2015.

Jon Worth blogs at www.jonworth.eu where he has examined UK-EU relations or more than fve years. He has been a member o the Labour Party or more than a decade and lives in London.

S eden: polish o ert in London and Sto kholReading The Colour o Polish poverty, my thoughts wandered to the Polish TV series The London-

ers, about Polish immigrants who have come to the city in hope o a better li e. But it could just

as well be set in Stockholm. In Sweden many o the Polish gastarbeiters work and live under

terrible conditions. Recently, a Polish construction worker died in Sweden. Polish workers le t their

country looking or a better li e, but i they knew what was waiting or them, would they leave?

Alexandra Einerstams blog The LesBiGay-Social Democrat is at hbt-sossen.blogspot.com . She

lives in Farsta, Sweden.

poland: cra ling o er ialisationDavid Camerons dream o the state deprived o its social unctions, described in Lynsey Hanleys

article, is very close to the Polish governments vision. With policies or today, it imposes a kind

o crawling commercialisation o the public sector. The poor state o Europe is most visible in

countries like ours with rising inequality and little governmental interest in preserving public good.

Michal Sutowski is a political commentator and blogs or Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique), a

leading Polish think-tank. www.krytykapolityczna.pl

Ireland: The libert to s end

The gap between rich and poor in Europe has been widening, and with it the distance between thepoor and political relevance. Austerity measures, designed to create market con dence at the top,

have destroyed all con dence everywhere else. How do we address this? We give people security.

This is what the economy needs: Liberty o ordinary people to spend. Recognise that the economy

relies upon society, and the gap between the top and the bot tom will decrease. More equality is

good or the economy, since it is the ordinary person who spends, not the investor waiting or pro t.

Eoghan Boyce writes or Tea and Toast www.teaandtoast.ie , an Irish blog which aims to liven up

progressive political debate in Ireland.

Ger an : Learning ro o r neighbo rsLets ace it. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is struggling. Thats quite a shame since they

have long been the party that worked or equal opportunities. As a eminist blog we recognize the

achievements that have been made so ar but also have in mind how much work is ahead. Europe is

a diverse place and we can learn a great deal rom each other. We look orward to a broad dialogue.

Helga Hansen blogs at www.maedchenmannscha t.net

FRESHTHINKING

BLOGS


22/40

The olo ro o ert

The Polish poor drive cars, have mobile phones, televisionsand ridges stacked with ood. What they dont have is a uture.mi ha Olsze ski looks at the li e o one amily caught in thevicious circle o debt.

Its hard to tell exa tl when the W amily (Dad and Mum and our kids, living in a

small town in northern Poland) were declared bankrupt. Relatives and riends say that

it looked like they just slowly slipped down the slope. There was a time, and it lasted or

a while, when they were earning enough money and the kids were doing ne. They had

an apartment true, but it was bought or them with their parents money and, yes, it

was small, but still it was their own. And Mum and Dad both had a job.

Maybe the rst moment that they should have stopped and thought hard was when

their son, who was three at that time, tripped and hit the foor so hard he lost his ront

teeth. They couldnt a ord a dentist. No problem, they said, A ter all, theyre his milk

teeth. Theyd all out by themselves anyway. So, the little boy scared everyone with his

dis gured gums or a couple o years.

Or maybe it was when it became clear that Dad had lost all interest in the home. He

used to work as a re ghter. We all know the story, 24-hour shi ts dont encourage amily

li e. But a ter work he disappeared with his mates or a couple o hours, sometimes a

couple o days. At home, he sat in ront o the television, looking or an excuse to go out.

Or he went shing. Obviously, he wanted to call it a day, even though the needs grew

with every new child. He quit. He had had enough. Then again, perhaps it was just his

drinking that, at some point, got out o control. Again, its the same old story that wherethere is vodka, there are needs. Someone pays or it, and then you have to. Sometimes

you meet interesting women or you go and play cards or money.

Or was it another bank loan? Mum still cant tell how many o those loans there were

and how much they borrowed. Maybe 100,000. Maybe more. Why do that, i the two

o them worked, the grandmother regularly helped and they lived rugally and never went

abroad? There are no de nitive answers. We needed it to make ends meet, she says

briefy, removing a ew strands o dark hair rom her orehead. There was a time when

we paid o our debts with one loan and or a while it worked.

The a ade o o ert

Dont let the houses on the Cracow-Sandomierz or Warsaw-Poznan route mislead

you. Judging by the way they look, it seems pretty obvious that people live com ortably

there. I theres enough money or tiles, plastic windows, columns rom the builders

22


23/40

FRESH THINKING 23FRESH THINKING 23

depot that imitate the style o pre-war mansions, paving stones, coni ers and the other

little things that one might once have dreamed o then surely things must be good.

Throughout Poland houses appear as i they have been generously donated. They

draw the eye with their newness and their bright colours. Can you imagine the poor

people who inhabit these decorative houses? In terms o the conventional understanding

o poverty, they are certainly not poor. They are not starving, the roo isnt leaking, they

dont su er rom lice and theres running hot water. But the traditional view o poverty

is not applicable anymore in describing the Polish variation. Polish poverty has been

democratised and layered. The old signs have been replaced by new ones.

Li ing on the edge

According to Eurostat, 60 % o Poles cant a ord to go on holiday, 20 % cant a -

ord proper heating or their homes and the same number dont have enough money to

have a meal with meat in it every second day. Almost 20 % cant a ord a car and 17 %

live on the edge o poverty. That is exactly the European Union average. The Polish

poor, and this is or certain, live on cold meat scraps (although, when they buy it inthe supermarket, they pretend its or the dog or cat), on beer that is rather similar in

taste to spirits, on ham containing so much water that its more like liquid than meat, on

cheese-like products and ake butter. The Polish poor buy bread thats like sponge

and cant a ord adequate quality sh or a higher standard o meat. Theres no problem

with quantity, but lets not talk about the quality.

According to sister Magorzata Chmielewska, who has been involved in charity work

or a number o years, the pretty houses are very o ten just acades behind which are

hidden the years and ailures o exhausting work. The local authorities, who she works

with, point to the act that most o the amilies working abroad invest all the money they

save into building a new house instead o developing their own small amily businesses.

This leads to an insu ciency o resources to pay or the house and the amily. So,

they go abroad again, or end up in a vicious circle o debt. But it can also be the case

that money runs out while the house is being built. Then they put in wooden boards or

windows and postpone the building work. For how long is anybodys guess.

The Polish poor keep going thanks to the di erent kinds o pensions rom their

close relatives. Without grandmothers help, the grandson wouldnt go on a school trip

and without the generosity o her mother, a daughter wouldnt pay her rent. Allotments

help a a great deal they serve as a source o ood during the summer and or preserves

during winter.

Ho es on loans

Polish poverty is based on bank loans. When the oldest daughter gets married, its

obvious that she needs some nancial support. But later on, she wont buy any books

because they are too expensive and as a result she will have to ace her childs lack o

basic knowledge, but it will be the teachers that she will blame or the incompetence.

Then she hears her grown-up son ask his uncle, who was sent in 1950 to Vorkuta [the

Gulag]: Did you go there on holiday?. In the end she just sighs and says, Well, not

There as a ti e hen e aido o r debts ith one loan and

or a hile it orked


24/40

everyone can be Einstein. Theres no money or education so the kid starts to ail. And

since hes ailing, his urther education can be acquired only in a private school, which

in turn means expensive tuition. The vicious circle continues.

The Polish poor and this may be the biggest problem dont know how to

manage money because nobody has ever taught them how. As in the case with Ws

amily, their actions are capricious, irresponsible, illogical. They dont have money or the

childs English lessons, but spend a considerable part o their income on an expensive

mobile phone. They cant a ord college or their daughter, but buy a digital camera

which is on sale. They travel to the other end o the country to go on holiday but then

have to borrow money to get back. They take out short-term loans because Christmas

is around the corner.

The W amily dont curse their ate. They do just enough to survive but not enough to

be at ease about their uture. Theres no long term uture among the Polish poor. Last

months bills have to be paid. Sometimes, as in the case o the W amily, a debt collector

knocks on the door. And when that happens you are o ten orced to sell your home.

ca ght bet een ha iness and atastro he

The W amily, you could say, do pretty well. A ter all, the kids have clean clothes and

their apartment is warm. Their poverty is glossed over, its almost invisible. The Ws have

lived on the edge or years now and they are clinging on, supported by amily, the church

and riends. And there are happy moments too. One o the sons has grown to become a

great swimmer; just recently he came back rom a tournament with two medals. This is a

new kind o poverty, caught between the state o a relatively peace ul li e and complete

collapse. Mum likes to say that there are people who have it worse. Thats true. The Ws

dont have to join the state housing queue. To give a little perspective, over 120,000

people are waiting or housing help rom the government and some o those people

have been waiting or over a decade.

Rel ing on grand as ension

A ter being laid o rom the actory, Mum ound a job as a cleaner. Her mother has

an allotment and a pension, so they wont starve. A ter the W amily had to sell their fat

to pay o their debts, they set out on a never-ending tour o rented fats, pretending to

themselves that this was actually a per ect solution.

Recently, it seemed as i the troubles were resolving themselves. The oldest daughter

went to college and the house became a little more spacious. However, she didnt go to

a state college and her grandmother pays the tuition ees or a private one. It is hard toimagine what will happen when grandma is gone.

Dad went abroad, supposedly to work. He keeps withdrawing money rom their joint

account. Rumour has it that he ound himsel per ectly t or the reality o pubs and

bars in a small town, somewhere in the north o England. Since hes gone, she pushes

hersel even harder to nd a solution. While working the night shi t, somebody has to

stay with two young kids, and lately grandma has been sick. The 16-year old son is the

only answer. Nobody knows or sure what he is doing when he stays home alone, but

hes not aspiring to become another Einstein, thats or sure. Or even the baker that he

is supposed to become, or that matter. Someone said her husband took another bank

loan, without her knowing about it. When asked, she once again removes the hair rom

her orehead and replies: Lets not make a big deal out o it. A ter all, we make it work.

The kids arent hungry, are they?

Micha Olszewski is a writer and journalist for the Polish weekly Tygodnik Powszechny.

24


25/40

FRESH THINKING 25

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

o p i n i o n

E ono i s as on e des ribed as the

science o conserving love. Love was

scarce, so we had better get along or-

ganising our a airs around the abundant

sel shness instead.

In 1776 Adam Smith wrote these

amous words: It is not rom the be-

nevolence o the butcher, the brewer, or

the baker, that we expect our dinner, but

rom their regard to their own interest.

When everyone pursued his or her own

interest, society as a whole bene tted

as i governed by an invisible hand.

The recent global nancial crisis has

vividly demonstrated the de ciencies in

our current economic theories. God

created economists to make astrologers

look credible, the economist JK Galbraithwrote. Today more than ever the world is

looking or a new kind o economic think-

ing. Economics has alienated itsel rom

the world, rom the real environment,

rom real people. At the same time the

economic challenges o the 21st century

are very real.

Hal o the worlds population lives on

less than two dollars a day. A majority

o that number are women. 17 % o all

women across the European Union live

in poverty: the elderly, single mothers,

the disabled and minority groups are

particularly at risk. Today there are ew

international organisations that dont write

grand sentences about women being the

key to economic development in their pol-

icy documents. However the contribution

o women to society and the economy

is both underestimated and underpaid

almost everywhere.

Economics is heavily invested in the

model o human behaviour that portraysus as sel -interested, materialistic, and

isolated individuals. The interesting thing

is perhaps not what a speci c theory says

about women, but what can be said

about women within a speci c theory.

The ounding question o econom-

ics was How do you get your dinner?.

Adam Smith got his dinner not because

the brewer, the butcher and the baker

liked him, but because it served their in-

terests. It was sel shness that put dinner

on the table or Adam Smith. Or was it?

Who actually cooked that steak?

Adam Smith never married. Theounder o economics lived most o his

li e with his mother. She ran the house-

hold and a cousin managed Smiths per-

sonal nances (Smith himsel was not

considered competent enough). When

he became a pro essor in Edinburgh in

1778 his mother went with him. All her

li e she took care o her son. Shes the

part o the story o how we get our dinner

that Adam Smith didnt tell.

However you choose to look at and

analyse the market, its always based on

another economy. An economy we sel-

dom speak about.

Markets cannot unction e ectively

outside the ramework built on values o

love, obligation and reciprocity. Econom-

ics thought it could take this or granted.

It based its theory on sel -interest be-

cause it could: historically, most societies

provided the supply o care they needed

by maintaining strict limits on womens

reedom. However these limits are to-day, thank ully, giving way but there

are consequences.

As emale labour orce participation

has increased, demand or domestic

workers has risen. Migrant women are

meeting much o the new demand and

non-European nationals account or over

10% o those employed in this sector.

Much o the work that they do is undocu-

mented and in ormal.

The European commission calculates

dramatic shortages in healthcare provi-

sion in the next decade unless counter-

measures are taken now. The estimates

point to a shortage o 1 million health

pro essionals in the EU by 2020.

Every society must con ront the prob-

lem o balancing sel -interested pursuits

with care or others: children, the elderly,

and the in rm.

Nancy Folbre has written that theeconomy isnt only based on an invis-

ible hand but on an invisible heart.

That might be a too idealised view on the

work that society has historically expect-

ed women to per orm. We dont know

why Adam Smiths mother took care o

her son. We only know that she did. And

that it mattered.

Katrine Kielos is a writer or A tonbladet,

Scandinavias biggest newspaper. She

is currently writing a book about the

shortcomings o traditional economic

theory rom a eminist perspective.

The in isible heart o the e onoCapitalist theories that put sel -interest as the motivating orce o the economyhave overlooked the contribution that women make which is both underestimated

and underpaid almost everywhere, argues K ine Kielo .

17 % o allo en a ross the

Eu li e in o ert


26/40

26

we are ri h E ro eans. We sit at the

global dinner table and ll our plates.

But our ood contains an unacceptable

and large amount o irresponsibility. Not

only because we import cheap resources

rom countries in the South, paying only a

pittance, but also because we swamp the

markets with our exports, eliminate local

producers and rein orce poverty.

Germanys agricultural exports pro-

vide a solid base or agriculture even

in times o crisis, says Ilse Aigner, theGerman Federal Minister o Food, Agri-

culture and Consumer Protection. Ger-

man armers get about 20 % rom their

exports, or the German ood industry its

even as much as 25 %. Her ministry re-

ports a record growth o 9.6 % or 2010.

Eastern Europe, China, India and South

East Asia were the uture growth markets,

the ministry in orms.

A rican countries arent mentioned in

the press releases, but exports there have

increased too. Germany exported 184

tons o bee to Tunisia in 2009. In 2010,

at 887 tons, it was almost ve times that

amount. Exports to Algeria have doubled to

an even higher level, rom 1,900 to 4,100

tons. Morocco also consumed more Ger-

man cattle in 2010 than in the previous

year nearly 7,000 tons in comparison to

2009s 4,800 tons.

Germany, the country o high-tech

and high-wage costs produces meat or

A rica, a ew kilograms per year or each

Moroccan citizen is this development aid

in kind?

Development aid workers have been

criticising the ood exports rom Europe

and the US or decades. They cause a

great amount o damage especially in

Southern A rica. Europe is about to dam-

age or destroy any kind o livestock breed-

ing in A rica, criticises Francisco Mar o

the Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst EED

At frst glan e thisis hea eat or

oor eo le

The realost o

E ro esbig oodb sinessExporting our cheap meatsto developing countriesmight seem like a good idea,says Tanja B sse , but it isdestroying the small armersand local agriculture whichplay a crucial part in eedingthe world.


27/40

FRESH THINKING 27

(the Evangelical Development Service, a

German protestant development agency),

ollowing his assessment o the European

Unions export statistics. According to

those gures, the EU as a whole exported

291,000 tons o chicken o cuts to A rica

in 2010. 114,000 tons o it alone went to

the small West A rican country o Benin,

says Mar. His conclusion: The human

right to ood is not respected. The EU has

even paid so-called export re unds to ood

exporters or decades, so that expensivelyEU-produced ood could remain competi-

tive in countries with lower production

costs as well as unburdening their own

markets by agricultural dumping without

any consideration or the e ects o those

exports on local agriculture.

These ex ort subsidies have no been

drastically cut a ter sustained protest (but

have not been completely abandoned).

Nevertheless, European ood exports keep

on increasing even without the EUs nan-

cial support. How is this possible? With

poultry meat or example, Europeans tend

to eat only the best bits o meat and not the

whole chicken. What is le t over can barely

be sold within the EU. Nobody here is in-

terested in chicken legs or re ormed meat,

unless it is processed into chicken nuggets

or chips. The rest is shipped to A rica by

poultry meat processors and sold there to

countries without any working cold chain

(a network o re rigerators, reezers and

cold storage to keep the meat at the right

temperature). From the EU alone 18,000

tons o poultry o cuts were exported toCameroon in 2005, or only 6080 Euro

cents per kilo. The traders in Cameroon

then doubled the purchase price and sold

these hal -thawed breastless chicken re-

mainders on the market there. That was a

good deal or traders. They made a 100 %

pro t and were still able to knock out the

local competition. No armer in Cameroon

can continue breeding chickens or only

1.50 per kilo. In 2002, the local produc-

ers still held a 60 % market share, in 2003

it was only 37 %. Meanwhile, Cameroon

has ought back and now prohibits imports

o chicken o -cuts. However, new jobs or

chicken armers have not yet been created

as a result o those measures.

you ould sa that this is ho a ital-

ism works in a globalised economy with

cheap transport costs. The European

chicken legs in Yaounds markets in

Cameroon make it possible to explain the

international division o labour and the

theory o comparative costs, which the

promoters o globalisation o ten re er to:

that every country should produce what itdoes best. And because highly developed

Europe produces cheap chicken meat so

well, it exports it to the low-wage countries

o West A rica. Or bee to North A rica.

The Eu hase en aid so-

alled e ort

re nds toood e orters,so that Eu-

rod ed oodo ld re ain

o etiti e


28/40

28

At rst glan e this is hea eat or

poor people and that is the argument

used by many o the meat exporting me-

dium-sized companies, without having any

awareness o the problem. But how could

they when the Ministry o Agricultures

export commissioner indiscriminately

celebrates all growth in agricultural ex-

ports, and no distinction is made as to

where ood is needed and where local

agricultural and manual structures as well

as traditional ways o li e are destroyed?

B t this is exa tl hat atters i

ewer people are to su er rom hunger in

the uture and there is to be less poverty in

Southern countries. That is the conclusion

o the International Assessment o Agricul-

tural Knowledge, Science and Technologyor Development report 2008 (IAASTD),

commissioned by the World Bank and

which involved the work o several hundred

scientists and representatives o traditional

knowledge. Data and reports rom all over

the world were collected over a number o

years which show the agricultural policys

one-sided ocus on exports and large-

scale business structures is the cause ohunger in rural areas. These policies ll the

tables o the industrialised countries o the

North and marginalise small armers. They,

though and not the huge arms are the

backbone o eeding the world. Even today,

small armers produce the greatest propor-

tion o all ood. It would be a meaning ul

method or reducing poverty i they were

given the chance to develop in a sustain-

able way and able to build up production

structures and create regional markets,

as well as to export to Europe. In rural ar-

eas at the borders o the vast biodiesel

or soya plantation elds which is exactly

where most people su er hunger today

thats where such a new social recovery

could happen. Not much is needed or it to

start. The rst step would be the legal right

o these countries to protect themselves

rom imports. That could help make theglobal dinner table a lit tle bit airer.

No ar er in

ca eroon anontin e breedinghi kens or onl

1.50 er kilo

Tanja Busse is a German journalist

and writer. Her latest book is Die

Ernhrungs diktatur (The Nutrition Dicta-

torship) published by Karl Blessing.


29/40

FRESH THINKING 29

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

i n t E

r v i E w

Thehanging state

o o ertA new middle-class vulnerability and changing amily structures pose challenging questions

or how the modern state should look a ter its citizens. Piotr Buras talks to social expertBerthold vogel about how to reinvent and reinvigorate ideas or the wel are state.

The o f e is lo ated in the re otest art o this modest build-

ing, which is the home or the Hamburg Institute o Social Re-

search. It is all the way up the stairs until you cant go any urther

that is what you are told at the reception desk. Mittelweg 36

is one o the most amous addresses in German science, not

just because o the renowned magazine that shares the same

name and which is published rom here as well. Berthold Vogel

receives his guest and leads him through a labyrinth o corridors

to his o ce. The a ternoon sun is shining outside, which isnt

especially appropriate or a talk about the dimensions o poverty.

His visitor catches sight o books lying around by Robert Castel

and Pierre Bourdieu, and Vogel is quick with an explanation: The

most important terms in the debate about social conficts come

rom France. The crisis o society is a European phenomenon,

not a German one. Vogel has made his name with his analysis.

He takes a sip o water and with a riendly smile patiently waits

or his guest to get his recording gadget working so that the

interview can begin.

Berthold vogel

Berthold Vogel was born in 1963. Heworks at the Hamburg Institute orSocial Research and is a pro essor atthe University o Gttingen, Germany.

He has written widely on the role othe state and the wel are state. Hisrecent publications include DieWohlstandskonfikte, die aus der Mittekommen (The conficts o prosperitythat come rom the middle class).

piotr B rasis a contributing editor or Fresh Thinking and journalist or Gazeta Wyborcza.


30/40

30

Fresh Thinking: The er e tion o E ro e as an egalitarian alternative to the uSis art o the E ro ean sel i age. B t toda one re eatedl hears abo t nelo er lasses. A ording to E rostat, over 80 illion E ro eans are at risk o

overt . Has the E ro ean Drea , hi h the uS e ono ist Jere Ri kin on eraised, o e to its end?

Berthold Vogel: The economic development o the last century has, without doubt,

increased inequality within Europe. But many Europeans have also distanced themselves

rom the view that equality can be achieved by state investments. That has to do with

the merging o western and eastern Europe, because a specifc kind o state politics was

rejected a ter 1989. These two developments the growing gap between rich and poor

and the cut back o the wel are state have not yet moved Europe closer to the American

model. But we defnitely have to deal with a new problem.

B t there ere oor eo le even hen there as a fo rishing el are state ande ono i gro th ...

But now its mainly about the intensifcation and consolidation o poverty. Maybe there are

ewer poor people now than in the past. But the ones who are in disadvantaged positions

within society today, stay in them or longer. And it is increasingly di fcult or them to

get out o this position by their own means. But this isnt the whole picture. The German

social democrat Peter Glotz defned the Federal Republic o Germany as a two-thirds

society, in which poverty is concentrated in one third o the society and the rest has

nothing to do with it. Today we see that this description is less and less accurate. The

debate about poverty has to ocus on the middle classes o society as well. This class

is more and more worried about losing certain material privileges and social status. The

eeling o vulnerability is widespread. It a ects many people, who still fnd themselves in

relatively wealthy living conditions, but have the impression they are on thin ice. This is the

new quality o poverty: its consolidation while at the same time a spreading ear o poverty

among the middle classes.

who is ost at risk?

Established skilled workers in the car industry and many o fce workers in the private

commercial sector are examples [o those at risk]. Increasingly, those in the state sector

are joining them. The most important reason or their ears is the way we earn money, and

how employment is organised has changed. The precarious orms o employment, such

as temporary work or subcontracted labour, have become more and more widespread

throughout Europe. O course, not everyone in the middle classes shares the same ear

o decline associated with this. Those most a ected are the ones who have achieved

signifcant social elevation, considering their social background in the past, and who

are now in airly well-established positions. They eel that their achievements are under

threat particularly because the European wel are state is no longer what it was. Not

just because o unding problems, but also as a result o its success. Many o those who

The debate has to o s on theiddle lasses o so iet as ell


31/40

FRESH THINKING 31

climbed the social ladder in the past think that they can also live without the wel are state.

The debate about tax cuts is the best example o that.

po ert is s all red ed to the q estion o ho h in o e one has: a oorerson is so eone ho doesnt ha e h one . Does this er e tion stillat h the so ial realit ?

It isnt by chance that those at the greatest risk o poverty are those people who dont

have stable amily structures. Family is an important stabilising actor or social structures.

I you fnd yoursel in a precarious fnancial situation, but you can rely on a stable amily

structure, then there is a certain oundation or your own initiative and stronger motivation.

Within a amily the message that is communicated is that hard work pays o . The changes

in the amily model are evident today and contribute to the new eeling o insecurity. In this

respect, the poverty question is also strongly connected to social-cultural issues.

Ho an o redesign the el are state in order to reall hel oor eo le and

to take a a the ears o the lo er- iddle lasses?

This idea o the wel are state cant be revived by just bringing it back to the 1970s social-

democratic model. Back then, it was based on the idea that society can be planned

and regulated. It has nothing to do anymore with the society that has developed. But

the central idea o the wel are state is still relevant: the common good, public services

and activities which beneft all members o the society. In order to ace the challenge

that growing poverty and new social tensions present, we have to defne these terms in

a new way. What kinds o public services do we still need? But the real issue would be

to strengthen the local and the regional in this process. Energy supply brought back to a

local community level, which has started to emerge in Germany a ter the catastrophe in

Japan, is a ascinating phenomenon. You could ocus more on the community traditions

o the wel are state. Much o what later became a part o state politics, started in the

communities o the 19th and 20th century: housing, education, wel are or the poor. A

return to nationalisation, by contrast, isnt the way orward.

Are o sa ing that res onsibilit or the bat tle against o ert and e l sionsho ld be delegated on a regional le el? wo ldnt that j st reate ne , b t thisti e geogra hi al, ineq alities?

The state and the EU, o course, have to remain responsible or the legal ramework. The

localisation o social politics would be the wrong way to go. It is about something di erent.We have become used to always reacting to social problems by making demands: more

growth, more money. Today, that is an illusion. The tried and tested models o wealth,

progress and technocratic growth antasies dont work anymore. This is why we have to all

back on the social capital that sits beneath the state: churches, charities, associations, the

things that are present in most western European societies. It would be about combining

specifc state and community activities with this kind o commitment. In Germany,

there are already local and regional social alliances that do valuable work. Binding state

intervention and social commitment more strongly together would give a very interesting

perspective or a new concept o the wel are state. Where amily structures are particularly

ragile, the church and community-run charities achieve the most. This kind o poverty

wont be solved by money alone. Many people need specifc and ordered living conditions

to be able to really make progress.

Berthold vogel, thank o or sharing o r tho ghts ith Fresh Thinking.


32/40

3232

Sig ar GabrielChairman o the Social

Democratic Party o

Germany (SPD)

a minimum ge i minimum equi emen

une lo ent as and still is the main

source o poverty. However, we realise, with

great concern, the growing number o work-

ing poor. International companies, ocused on

ever-growing pro ts, create a rat race or work-

ing people.

A European minimum wage will lead to

airer competition on the labour market. This is

a rst step towards a Social Europe that goesbeyond mere ree trade.

A European society with a sustainable

economy and social inclusion is the most

important mission or Europes progressives.

Europe needs a new spirit o solidarity

among its citizens. We can inspire it.

per en he BersMember o the European

Parliament in the

S&D-group and chair

o the Committee on Employment and

Social A airs

solid i y nd e fciency

The rst hallenge in the battle against poverty

and inequalities is to convince policy makers

but also the public opinion at large that thisis not merely a matter o solidarity but also o

e ciency. An unequal society is neither a sus-

tainable, nor an e cient one; it runs the risk o

political instability and cant oster innovation

and creativity.

I there were a progressive majority at EU

level, we would implement a minimum wage

and invest in quality education and decent

housing or all. We would promote alternative

indicators to measure wealth and well-being.

To limit inequalities we would cap wages and

bonuses.

progressi eoliti s

o ldhange theoor state

o E ro e.

Fresh Thinkingasked some o

Europes leadingpolicy makers

or theirthoughts on

fghting povertyand inequality.


33/40

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

FRESH THINKING 33

p o l i t i C i a n s

s p E a Kwanja L ndb -wedin

First emale President

o the European Trade

Union Con ederation

redi ibu e he e l ho n ion

To halt the rising ineq alities within our

societies we need to address both the way

wealth is created as well as possible methods

or redistribution.

Today, companies bear a diminishing part

o the cost or ensuring economic security or

workers. The increase in precarious short-term

jobs has reed companies rom the costs asso-

ciated with a temporary excess o labour. Andtheir contribution to society in terms o taxes

and social contributions is inadequate in many

EU countries. These costs have instead been

absorbed by the state.

Todays system leads to increased private

pro ts while the wel are states are less able to

redistribute wealth. This is a certain recipe or

growing inequalities.

Lszl AndorEU Commissioner or

Employment, Social

A airs and Inclusion

2020 vi ion

For the rst ti e the ght against poverty is

at the heart o the EU agenda. Europe 2020

shows our strong commitment to combatingpoverty and social exclusion. The member

states have adopted a common European-wide

target to li t 20 million people out o poverty

by 2020. The majority o member states have

already presented their national targets to make

this happen. Our aim is to tackle not only the

symptoms o poverty and social exclusion, but

also the causes. To do this, we need to look

beyond those areas that have been traditionally

at the heart o our action, such as social protec-

tion or services. The EU Commission will be

making proposals or action, including ways in

which the EU nancial instruments can support

active inclusion.

vi tor pontaLeader o the Social

Democratic Party (PSD) in

Romania

the g e e ch llengeo ou gene ion

In so e so ieties, the worst and most resilient

post-crisis legacy is the increase o inequality. It

is at its highest intensity in the countries where

the institutions were already weak, where the

economy was already underper orming and

the politicians elt no pressure to protect the

population rom the horrors o the economic

crisis, which has developed into a social and

societal nightmare. That is certainly the casein my country, Romania.

Fighting inequality is the greatest

challenge o our generation, and we can do it i

we employ the right economic, scal, and social

strategies, and i we build a new state one

truly capable o making its most disadvantaged

citizen eel sa e, protected, and encouraged

to succeed.

po l N r Ras ssenPresident o the Party o

European Socialists

we e on he people ide

It is ti e or E ro e to become a union

truly ocused on solidarity, job growth, and

e ective inancial regulation. Europeancitizens eel more and more disillusioned by a

conservative-led European Union.

Social democratic leaders are on the

peoples side; it is time to show them what

Europe could be i it were in the hands o the

progressives. Unity, solidarity and progressive

leadership are the answers to overcoming this

period o crisis.

The choice is clear: Do we want a con-

servative-dominated Europe o everyone or

themselves or one which preserves the prin-

ciple o solidarity, and its de nitive expression,

the wel are state, which we have ought or

throughout our history?


34/40

34

yes, I still loathe the liars ho r n then lear ind str . yes, I o ld re er to seethe entire se tor sh t do n, i there erehar less alternatives. But there are no idealsol tions. Ever te hnolog arries a ost;so does the absen e o energ te hnologies.Ato i energ has j st been s bje ted toone o the harshest o ossible tests, and thei a t on eo le and the lanet has beens all. The risis at Fukushi a has onverted

e to the a se o n lear o er. George Monbiot in The Guardian, UK

A atastro he does notauto ati all ake a te h-nolog obsolete Either

sing ato i o er hasal a s been irres onsible or it still isnt a ter Fuku-shi a.

Die Presse, Austria

34

A ter the atastro he inF k shi a, the polish go -ern ent ill ha e to takeinto a o nt a stronger o -

osition to the onstr tion

o n lear o er stationsThe de ision to b ild a n -lear lant as sti lated

b [an Eu li ate hangeinitiati e]. poland is one othe o ntries that is s e -ti al abo t fghting li ate

hange, b t the go ern entado ted a alse strateg wh doesnt poland draattention to the la kingde o rati legiti a o this

oli ? I the poles said no ina re erendu , the polish gov-ern ent o ld ha e a o -er ul argu ent. On the otherhand, i e de ided that e

ant to li it the e issions,it ill not be just the govern-

ent but all o us ho ouldhave to take res onsibilit

or those orking in the oalines and steel ills hoo ld have to look or ne

jobs. Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland

Nu lear o er has been skill ull or-tra ed as an environ entall riendlalternative to ossil els. A ordingto that arg ent, e sho ld invest in

nu lear o er i e ant to redu e li-ate hange. Even the S edish conser-vative govern ent has argued this line.But it is a alse hoi e. The rst alterna-ti e is to ontin e ith non-rene ableenerg sour es su h as ossil uels andnu lear o er. The se ond alternative isto de elo rene able energ and to be

h ore e f ient in o r energ se.The issue is global, but S eden is ell

la ed to go or the se ond alternati eand la a orld-leading role.

Aftonbladet, Sweden

The tsuna i in Ja an earlier this ear had atastro hi onsequen es,in l ding serio s da age to the n lear lant at F k shi a. Thea ident on e again ade n lear o er a hot to i o debate.

we have olle ted hat so e o Euro es leading ne s a ers had to sa on the subje t


35/40

C h

a p t E r

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

FRESH THINKING 35

The o er lant in F k shi ais old. And in Ital there aresa e sites a a ro earthquake

rone zones. All that is true. Thea t re ains that the ubli has a

right to kno hat the real risksare. At the sa e ti e, e believethat it annot be the understand-

able e otions aro sed b thetraged that deter ine the unda-

ental hoi es o energ oli .we have done this in the astand learned our lesson. A ter thei a t o chernob l, the anti-nu lear re erendu o 1987 as

assed ith an over hel ingajorit .

Corriere della Sera, Italy

The sho k o the ato i disasterin Ja an o ens a s all indo o

o ortunit or a ne deal in energ . Financial Times Deutschland, Germany

Even at a rea tor in good ondition, in a de o rati ountr at the ore ront o te hnol-og and risk anage ent, a serious a ident an ha en. Is that a reason to onde nato i o er? That o ld be a little too ast The s bje t is big eno gh, and theBelgians are at re eno gh to deser e a i trans aren . The ne t go ern ent

ill de ide the t re o n lear o er in Belgi . It is a golden o ort nit to dareto look again at all the ele ents o this ajor iss e.

Le Soir, Belgium

will all the e orts in ter s o dis i-line, odest and trans aren be

enough to gain a e tan e i not love o an energ so r e that arries adeadl risk, even i it re oves the e is-sions o greenhouse gases? Nothing isless ertain. It is true as ell, that thisne or o glasnost o ens thedebate on ato i energ as h asit els irrational ears.

Le Monde, France

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

35

m E E t t h E

p r E s s


36/40

36

We must start with a book you have surely

heard o : The Spirit Level, Why Equality is Bet-

ter or Everyone by Ri hard wilkinson and Kate

pi kett . In short, this book proves what we

progressives think we know. The authors have

compiled around 200 sets o data rom the best

possible sources, and it all points in the same

direction: equality is good not just or the poor,

bur or everyone in society. In graph a ter graph,

you see the strong correlation between inequal-

ity and social outcome. These are arguments

and acts you need to have to hand or yournext debate with a conservative, or during a

dynamic and political dinner-table discussion

with riends.

Something is pro oundly wrong with the way

we live today. Thats how the rst sentence

reads in Ton J dts Ill Fares the Land . A pas-

sionate description o what went wrong with

Reagan and Thatcher ollows: deregulation,

ailing markets, privatisation, the assault on

the state, the unhealthy obsession with wealth

and the private sector. The alternative, whichhas created the most decent societies we have

witnessed so ar, is social democracy, argues

Judt. However, Judts roadmap orward is ar

rom concrete, but the passion and polemic

style o writing stays with you.

Ken Loa h is the master o social realism. From

Kes onwards, Loach has dealt with hot political

topics. The harsh labour market in Europe is,

or example, the theme o Its a Free World .

Route Irish , set in the area that Lynsey Hanley

visits on page 8, ocuses on the exploitation

o the working class, and throws in how state

violence leads not only to unjust wars but also

to the horror caused by private security rms.

Fish Tank is a strong drama that deservedly won

the Jury Prize in Cannes. The Guardian dubbed

the lms director Andrea Arnold as the succes-

sor to Ken Loach. But Shane meado s also has

a claim or Loachs crown. His ilm

This is England , about Britains skinhead sub-

culture, was ollowed by a TV mini-series called

This is England 86 . The series eatures the

same gang during the mod revival period,

watching the World Cup in Mexico, at a time

when there were 3.4 million unemployed in

Thatchers Britain.

Tough social realism can be ound in lms rom

all over Europe. The Belgian brothers Jean-pierre Dardenne and L Dardenne deserve

a special mention or lms such as Rosetta

and The Child . In Cannes this spring, their

new lm The Kid With a Bike won the estivals

Grand Prix.

The Class by Laurent cantet is a French drama

about a problematic academic year in the 20th

arrondissement o Paris. The lm is based on a

novel written by teacher Franois Bgaudeau.

Lastly, Romanian lm deserves a special men-

tion. Our avourite is 4 months, 3 Weeks and

2 Days , which deals with illegal abortion and

is set in the nal years o the Ceausescu era.

FRESHTHINKING

BOOKSFRESHTHINKING

BOOKSFRESHTHINKING

mOvIES

will H ttons Them and Us: Politics, Changing

Britain Why We Need a Fair Society has beencalled a mani esto or a new le t-o -centre poli-

tics. Martin Wol at the Financial Times thinks

that Huttons book is a commendable e ort:

ambitious, passionate, imaginative, decent and

thought ul. We agree, and asked Hutton to

write an article or us (see page 19). Them and

Us is the new The Spirit Level or progressives,

especially as we try to gure out our position

on the relationship between politics and the

market.

For ongoing debate, we recommend a visit to

our colleagues at the So ial E ro e Jo rnal

(social-europe.eu). And dont miss how the

Maltese progressive oundation Ideat dealt with

poverty and exclusion in their journal, 3/2011

(ideat.org.mt).


37/40

FRESH THINKING 37

F R E S H

T H I N K I N G

N 0 1 / 2 0 1 1

C u

l t u r E

Bob D lan just turned 70. So perhaps its the

right time to ask whether music is as political

as it used to be. In the mid-1980s, a collec-tive in Britain called Red Wedge attempted

to engage young people in politics and oust

Thatcher. Billy Bragg took the lead with ex-Jam

man Paul Weller. Lloyd Cole, Madness and The

Smiths made guest appearances.

This spring the music magazine Mojo nostal-

gically listed the best political music o the

riotous 80s indie insurrection. Number one on

Mojos list is Blue Skinned Beast by madness .

As the title suggests, the song is an attack on

Thatcher in general and the Falklands war in

particular.

Number two is Shipbuilding by El is costello .

You can read it in ull on page 38. Mojo pre ers

Robert w atts version o the song, but most

important are the words which address how the

Falklands war creates hope that more ships will

be built, but at a terrible human cost.

FRESHTHINKING

muSIcFRESHTHINKING

muSIcThe lives o ordinarypeople trying to makeends meet rarely grabthe headlines like somecelebrity weddings do. But

putting the glossy storiesto one side, there aresome excellent flms in thetradition o social realism,great books about whatwe progressives shoulddo about inequality, andmusic that has a political

message to give you thatextra spark o inspirationyou need when headinginto yet another meeting.Here are Eri S ndstr s suggestions rom thecrossroads where politicsand culture meet.

Mojo has put Bill Bragg and his version o

Which Side Are You On in third place. I you like

the music o the labour movement, make sure

to get Braggs album The Internationale .

Today, we have protests across Europe again.

The mani Street prea hers recently played at

the Blackwood Miners Institute in Wales, Mojo

notes, and dedicated the song SlashnBurn to

David ca eron because o his partys proposal

to sell o the nations orests to private interests.

Ani DiFran o is a contemporary US political

singer who addresses a variety o social issues

such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and pov-

erty. But there is no Red Wedge around today,

and music does seem less political. It might not

be a air comparison though. A ter all there is

always more past than present

But lets take note that one o the best bands

around today, Glasvegas , made a song about a

social worker! It was the work done by Glasgows

social services and lead singer Ja es Allans

sister and her colleague Geraldine that inspired

the song. The result, Geraldine , proves that

there might be a little hope even in the

present.


38/40

38

FRESHTHINKING

mIScELLANy

SHIpBuILDINGEl is costello

Is it worth itA new winter coat and shoes or the

wi eAnd a bicycle on the boys birthdayIts just a rumour that

was spread around town

By the women and childrenSoon well be shipbuildingWell I ask youThe boy said DAD THEYRE

GOING TO TAKE ME TO TASKBUT ILL BE BACK BY CHRISTMASIts just a rumour that

was spread around townSomebody said that someone got

lled inFor saying that people get killed inThe result o this shipbuilding

With all the will in the worldDiving or dear li eWhen we could be diving or pearlsIts just a rumour that

was spread around townA telegram or a picture postcardWithin weeks theyll be

re-opening the shipyardsAnd noti ying the next o kinOnce againIts all were skilled inWe will be shipbuildingWITH ALL THE WILL IN THE

WORLDDIVING FOR DEAR LIFEWHEN WE COULD BE

DIVING FOR PEARLS

ExHIBITIONpo ert . pers e ti es in Artand So iet Stadtmuseum Simeonsti t Trier undRheinisches Landesmuseum Trier,Germany10th of April 31st of July

pOvERTyAnton : wealthS non s: destitution, pauperism,pauperdom, beggary, indigence,

pennilessness, impoverishment ,neediness, need, hardship,impecuniousness

when the ri h ake ar,its the oor that die.Jean-Paul Sartre

An empty stomach is nota good political advisor.Albert Einstein

17th o OcTOBERis the International Day or theEradication o Poverty, established in1992 by the united Nations .

Another good thing abo t being ooris that hen o are 70 o r hildren

ill not have de lared ou legall insanein order to gain ontrol o o r es tate.Woody Allen

Single women have a dread-

ul propensity or being poor which is one very strong argu-ment in avour o matrimony.Jane Austen

People who are hungry andout o a job are the stu owhich dictatorships are made.Franklin D. Roosevelt

No so iet an surel be four-ishing and ha , o hi h the

ar greater art o the e -bers are oor and iserable.Adam Smith

2 billion people will watchthe #royalwedding tmw.The same number wake upin appalling #poverty everysingle day http://ow.ly/4IQccHabitatFHGB Habitat or Humanity, Twitter

Over o ing overt isnot a gesture o harit .It is an a t o j sti e.Nelson Mandela

World ood prices reached a new his-toric peak in January 2011, exceedingprices reached during the ood crisiso 2007-08. The spike in prices in2007-08 took the total number ohungry people to over a billion a sixth o the worlds population.www.ox am.org/en/campaigns/agriculture/

ood-price-crisis-questions-answers, 28.4.2011

In this orld theres one

like dirt, one like ha , itsonl distributed the rong a .Heiner Geiler, CDU Conservative Party Germany


39/40

FRESH THINKING 39

pi t re credits Cover: Jakob von

Siebenthal // p. 3: Linus Hallgren //

p. 4: Jakob von Siebenthal // p. 8,

p. 12: Lynsey Hanley // p. 10: St.

James Centre, Lynsey Hanley // p. 11:

St. James Cent re // p. 13: St

fresh thinking 1

Documents