The Failure of Nationalist Politics

Posted by on Nov 26, 2014 in Blog, Eastern Europe, Featured, Uncategorized | 5 comments The European financial crisis certainly prepared the ground for the growth of nationalist parties throughout the continent, particularly along the eastern frontier. Jobbik in Hungary, Ataka in Bulgaria, and Golden Dawn in Greece all benefited from the economic downturn. But amid all the attention the media has focused on this nationalist surge, it’s important to remember that many parts of the...
read more

A Commitment to Children

Posted by on Oct 22, 2014 in Blog, Eastern Europe, Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments They are called the decret generation. During the Communist era in Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu issued Decree 770 in 1967 making abortion and contraception illegal except under certain circumstances. The Communist leader wanted to radically increase the population of the country. People with money or political influence found a way around the regulations. But those who did not expect or could not...
read more

Roma as Consumers

Posted by on Oct 6, 2014 in Blog, Eastern Europe, Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments As the history of segregation in the United State demonstrates, the business community can be just as racist as anyone else – even if it undercuts their profits to refuse to serve minorities. Gradually, however, the business community began to see minorities as consumers and thus vital to their bottom line. Hollywood, for instance, realized the potential of African American audiences in the...
read more

Roma and Local Politics

Posted by on Sep 2, 2014 in Blog, Eastern Europe, Featured | 0 comments “All politics is local,” said legendary politician Tip O’Neill. But if O’Neill hadn’t risen to the nationally prominent position of speaker of the House of Representatives, no one would remember this quotation, which comes from the time when he lost his only election – to the Cambridge City Council in the 1930s. All politics might ultimately be local, but it also seems that only...
read more

Lobbying for Women

Posted by on Sep 1, 2014 in Blog, Eastern Europe, Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments It took a while before the new democracies of East-Central Europe acquired the trappings of a modern political system. One of the new features borrowed from the West was lobbying. To engage in lobbying, however, the new NGOs first had to overcome the perception of politics as “dirty,” since engaging with official political structures still carried a taint of “collaboration” from the...
read more