Poltical Economy of European Integration M.A.
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- Accommodation Services (1)
- Asylum Seekers and Refugees (1)
- Central and Eastern Europe (1)
- European Union (1)
- Germany (1)
- Hungary (1)
- LGBTQIA+ rights (1)
- Poland (1)
- Privatisation (1)
- Welfare States (1)
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This master thesis contains an overview of several fields of LGBTQIA+ rights, their
state and situation of the LGBTQIA+ people in the EU. It describes the discourses and
attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ rights in Hungary and Poland, using them as an
illustrative examples of conservative Member States of the EU. A theoretical and
historical context analysis explains and interprets the situation of the CEE region of the
EU, it relates its historical specifcs with the current reality of being part of EU and
draws conclusions on the emerging trends of conservative pushback against liberal
values. Finally it contains EU’s stances and competences related to LGBTQIA+ rights.
The conservative pushback against EU’s equality and anti-discrimination policies
appears to be a response to the top-down approach in imposing norms, stemming from
historical specifics.
Anti – discrimination rules and affirmative action in support of women on the FIFA management board
(2020)
This master thesis contributes to numerous studies on the unanticipated outcome of the
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum and particularly focuses on
what role social media played in the Leave campaign. Informed by theories and studies on mass
media communication, propaganda and political communication, this topic has been examined
and resulted in the case study: how social media contributed to the success of the Leave side
during the referendum campaign. Based on pre-existed research, reports, and surveys, this work
discusses certain characteristics of statements by Nigel Farage (then a leader of United
Kingdom Independence Party) and its potential influence on voters’ decisions. For a better
overview of the Leave campaign, it also describes the pre-referendum environment created in
traditional and social media. The final part introduces the notorious case of Cambridge
Analytica and its use of personal data in order to change voters’ behaviour and make them optout of the membership in Europe. This study reveals a significant contribution of digital media
to the campaign strategy and making suggestions of what measures need to be taken towards
misused data and spreading disinformation on social platforms.
Privatisation has become one of the hot topics in Germany since the 1980s. Particularly together
with the refugee boost after 2012, the state has transferred its responsibility to provide
accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees to private entities. This paper analyses the impact
of privatisation of accommodation services for asylum seekers and refugees on the physical
conditions of the centres and the living conditions of people living in these centres. It firstly gives
a theoretical framework of privatisation and conveys privatisation of public services as a welfare
state strategy to cut the expenses. Then it explains the status of asylum seekers and refugees in
different welfare state regimes, namely Germany, and lastly, it focuses on a case study where the
state-run accommodation centres and the outsourced accommodation centres are analyzed. By
examining the impacts of privatisation of respective services, this paper mainly addresses the lowcost and high-profit mentality of these private firms and security problems arising from
outsourcing accommodation services for asylum seekers and refugees.
Migration, fleeing and even populism are not new concepts in
today's political discourse - yet the dynamics and perceptions of
these have changed considerably. Especially since the refugee
crisis, the issue of migration has led to strong polarizations in
many European societies.
The objective of this research study is to determine whether
migration automatically leads to an increase in right-wing
populism in the European Union. To do so, the following
research question is being asked: In which context is there an
empirical link between right-wing populism and migration
policy? To answer this research question, country case studies
were consulted in the practical part of this paper. The chosen
reference countries and their right-wing populist parties are
Germany and Italy. Both countries and the success of their rightwing populist parties were analyzed with the same approach and
subsequently compared. The country case studies have shown
that there are different causes per reference country. In Germany,
the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD advertises its right-wing
populist propaganda with the refugee crisis; in Italy, right-wing
populist party success is more likely to be due to the economic
damage of the financial crisis. Migration is not the cause of the
rise of populism in Europe. The causes lie much deeper. But the
fact is that migration has exposed or exacerbated existing lines
of conflict in and between European societies. It is a catalyst, not
a cause.
Right-wing populists benefit from the fact that migration in
Europe is still perceived as the most important or one of the most
significant challenges. What is needed are new political offers
that address the problems that underlie the social lines of conflict.
Prescriptions against right-wing populism cannot be found solely
on the field of integration and migration policy.