Young bloggers from Bulgaria, Greece, Germany and the EU’s smallest state, Malta, continue to offer local perspectives on Europe ahead of the European Parliamentary elections. Lotta Tenhunen and Adria Rodriguez look at the structural crisis of post-war European institutions, no longer adequate to assure social and economic justice.

As Jacopo Barbati questions the idea of a united Europe,Euroscepticism lurks further east in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. Camilla Toulmin urges us to vote Europe with an eye to the future and the looming challenge of climate change.Azerbaijan’s tenure as chair of the Council of Europe exposes discordant notes on the defining ideals of human rights within the regional bloc, while Spain’s liberal democracy continues to crack as it increasingly deploys violence to quell waves of discontent against austerity.

Poverty has a human face that remains remarkably invisible to the public eye as Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi and Deborah Padfield present searing reportage on what austerity meansfor real, and impoverished, lives in London. Emily Apple offers a singular experience of the sinister shadow of the state, arrested 75 times in protest, in the final piece from Transformation’s series on the politics of mental health. 

Both violence and peace in Northern Ireland have been seen as a male prerogative but 50.50 contributors demonstrate how a gender perspective is key not only to understanding the conflict but also to building the peace. Sondos Shabayek opens up a free and public space in Egypt for women to share their stories of struggle against a patriarchal state in turmoil. Narratives are further dissected with rare dialogue between the intractable camps of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

openSecurity’s editors dive far below the headlines and hashtag intervention to compile consistent coverage from the past two years of the sub-state security challenges posed to Nigeria by Boko Haram. Fellow editor Adam Ramsay continues to make good use of train journeys to come up with the definitive list of reasons to vote for Scottish independence. And if you’ve tired of text altogether, head to Lucie Kinchin’s illustrative inquiry into why no one likes Michael Gove.


Don’t miss:

• Dear Americans, Your Hashtags Won’t #BringBackOurGirls. You Might Actually Be Making Things Worse

• Late justice is better than no justice: Pakistani citizen Yunus Rahmatullah finally released from Bagram Prison after illegal rendition and 10 years of detention without charge.

• 50 Common Myths, Lies and Misconceptions informing Drug Policy

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