Learning about Politics

Here it starts… Imagine: You are at home with your Mum and Dad watching the news on television. The newsreader is talking about elections that will soon take place for the European Parliament. You know that the European Parliament makes decisions that affect the lives of all of the citizens of the European Union. You also [...]

“A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step.” The core of our new party: Team: copo3lll, mazi3als,  ilma3lll, valentinasaldutto, flaviobarberis,  federicapezzuto,  guerzonigiada, federu3ll, harlet, heivo, anna-maria, anna-Maria2, maire,  marita, evamlinaric,  masasraml, lucijafleisinger, anjafir, nisja, masaeins Our team found out that many of us, as old as we are, don’t know anything about the story of the European [...]

Break the ice “Asking people about themselves is a good beginning.” Says your Dad. “Yes, you could ask everyone to tell you what they like best, what tv programmes they watch or what football team they support.” Says Mum. ………………………… We are not sure which way to go. We can see that it might ‘break the ice’ if we start [...]

Source of the photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjpacres/3293117576/ Author of the photo: jjpacres Well, we’ve got to know the team and we have some very interesting ideas from the initial sessions over the internet. We decide that it is time to ‘get down to brass tacks’ as they say in England. (that means to get to work on the important [...]

We’ve come a long way and now have a good team that we have put together from a number of different European Countries, and we have a good list of themes and ideas for action on each of these themes. But what do we do now? How does the European system work? We need to find [...]

That was a big job, finding out about all of the institutions, but it was important and now we are in a better position to decide what we want to do. We see that the members of the European Commission are nominated by the governments of the member states and that the Council of the European [...]

If the people in our constituency don’t know us, or what we stand for, they are unlikely to vote for us. We have to have an organisation that will spread the word about our policies and let the public know that our candidates are thoroughly good people who will try to do what they say. The [...]

……………………. You told your Dad about the discussions you had about the parties and that you had made a decision. You are going to operate independently as a separate party so you can put forward your own views and policies. “Well you’ll need an election platform” Said Dad. At first you thought that you had to build something to stand [...]

Knowing that you and your team are too young to be candidates you decide that you must find like-minded people who share your views and can stand for election on your platform. So..who is an ideal candidate? There is a discussion about that topic. For example Harlet Reinek from Estonia thinks so: “I think that an ideal candidate [...]

The time has come to prepare for the election itself. There are many things that will be needed. “First of all you need your manifesto listing all of your policies and saying why they are needed” Said Dad, looking over your shoulder. “It must be well written and clear. It should also look very professional – if it [...]

Place: A Lithuanian in Greece   Migration is a very natural state. It is a big part of evolution. People were moving in order to survive since the Stone Age. It turned into a problem after the birth of nationalism. In the early 19th century when countries started shrinking and creating also called ‘national identity’ a gap between [...]

Place: Stories told by German-Turkish couples in Germany (Part II) by Pekka Kämäräinen This story focuses on the relations between Germans and German Turks and on cross-border marriages. The story is told by a young couple who knows it from both sides: Thomas is German and he has grown up in Germany. Remzye is Turk and has grown [...]

Place: Stories told by German-Turkish couples living in Germany (Part I) by Pekka Kämäräinen This story draws attention to the relations between Germans and Germaners ( Deutschländer, Almancilar ) as the children of Turkish migrants are sometimes called. The story is told by a couple who knows it from both sides: Hüseyin is the son of a Turkish father and [...]

Place: Turkish ‘Gastarbeiter’ families in Germany between different identities (“Germans or Turks”) by Pekka Kämäräinen So far the postings on this story have presented different episodes of refugees’ life stories – critical situations or moments of relief. We have also presented insights into migrant communities and into grassroot intiatives that seek to promote integration. Focusing on episodes may hide [...]

Place: Turkish ‘Gastarbeiter’ and their children between different identities (“Germans or Turks”) So far the postings on this story have presented different episodes of refugees’ life stories – critical situations or moments of relief. We have also presented insights into migrant communities and into grassroot intiatives that seek to promote integration. Focusing on episodes may hide the long-term [...]

Place:  The struggle of ‘outsiders’ from Tunisia and Afganistan to find themselves new perspectives by Pekka Kämäräinen The heated debates on the treatment of refugees and illegal immigrants are based on many prejudices, quick  assumptions and sweeping generalisations. Mostly the newcomers are considered as squatters (who want to benefit of European social welfare ) or illegal workforce (who [...]

Place: top level debates on the Schengen agreement and the border controls on French-Italian border by Pekka Kämäräinen The decision of the Italian government (to issue tourist visas for a large number of refugees) and the reaction of the French government (to introduce border controls and turn holders of such visa back) have led to a heated European-level [...]

Place: Continuation of the journey from Lampedusa to Ventimiglia or …? by Pekka Kämäräinen In an earlier episode of this story the three observers started examining the outnumbering of original population by migrants (=refugees) in the island of Lampedusa. The immediate observation was that the situation on that island can not be treated as a ‘local’ problem or [...]

Shaking the balance – continuing story with new issues and venues prepared by Pekka Kämäräinen The three observers of the Politics Spring School – Valentina, Lise and Pekka  – have completed their contribution for the European workshop  in Chania. However, as it often happens in real life, the story that they started is going on and on … [...]

Place: Brussels – the  European metropol for expatriates and migrants by Lise Traeland And finally, Valentina and Pekka are visiting Lise in Brussels. Lise is working as an expatriate there and she has two children in a multicultural school. There the everyday life can at best look something like this . The teachers and parents are constantly confronted with the challenge [...]