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In the last decade the condition of Austria’s population and that of other EU member states has deteriorated, with increasingly unequal income distribution, a greater number of working poor and high levels of unemployment. Thus, it comes as no surprise that several groups (attac, and various...
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This contribution to debate from our 2012 journal describes how the European discourse on migration (as a fact that has always been happening) can and should be understood in the broader context of class struggles, instrumentalised for identity politics.
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The increasing inequality of wages and the extremes in the distribution of property in Austria inspire the disgust of the majority of people. More and more it has become evident that the political class in Austria is not interested in creating appropriate legislation to protect the poor and offering...
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It is not certain if the attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 were the kick-off for the rollercoaster ride the financial markets have been on ever since. This careening up- and downhill has triggered upheavals in the entire global economy and serves...
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The Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Ranking shows that the Austrian capital of Vienna (population: 1.7 million) is the world’s best place to live. Critics remark that the criteria for this survey are chosen for the information of ex-pats and do not focus on the life of the average Viennese working...
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Austria’s far-right has suffered a setback, but it would be a mistake to believe the dynamic that created is broken.
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For ten days Martin Ehrenhauser, front runner for “Europa anders” (Europe different), the Austrian electoral alliance of the Left, has been camped out in front of the Office of the Federal Chancellor in Vienna. The independent MEP and his fellow campaigners have been protesting against the bailout of the Hypo Alpe-Adria bank, which is set to cost € 18 bn.
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The KPÖ, the Pirate Party, Der Wandel (“The Change”) and non-partisan independents have established an electoral alliance for the European elections
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As this text is published, coalition talks between the ÖVP and FPÖ will still be ongoing. However, nobody doubts that they will find a compromise.
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There was a great sense of relief and much jubilation over the electoral victory of Alexander Van der Bellen, the Green candidate who was supported by a voters’ coalition that ranged from the centre to the Communist Party, and who defeated Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the right-wing radical political party.
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On 3 and 4 June, around 1000 people came together in Vienna for the “Aufbruch” (“departure”) conference, hoping to create a movement, that, however defined, could serve as a new umbrella of the Austrian left and as a challenge and alternative to the anti-social and right-leaning state of Austrian politics right now.
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On Sunday 22 May, Austria elected its President in the second round. The results of the two candidates were so close that the election was decided when the voting cards were counted on Monday. The neoliberal, green, bourgeois and democratic candidate, Alexander Van der Bellen, won the second round of the elections with 50.3% against Freedom Party (FPÖ) candidate Norbert Hofer.
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In a first reaction Communist Party of Austria’s chair Mirko Messner made the following statement:
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The Reactionary Rebellion (read the essay by Walter Baier) is gaining steam in Austria and Germany and de-facto abolishing the Geneva convention on refugees, which sets a dangerous precedent for others in the region.
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The Social Democrat Party was slightly weakened but not defeated. The far-right Freedom Party won almost one third of the vote, making it the city’s second most powerful party. The left-wing alliance saw a slight improvement in its results at ward level.
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‘Wien Anders’, a left-leaning alliance of Austrian parties inspired by the new European Left, aspired to get into the Viennese Parliament. Can their experience be compared to that of Podemos?
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The outcome of the Austrian parliamentary elections must seem paradoxical all across Europe. Despite the – by comparison – favorable economic data, the ruling “Great Coalition” of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and Conservatives (ÖVP) was punished. Their share of the votes fell back from 55 percent to less than 51.
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The result of the local elections in Graz, the second largest Austrian city, was by the media and the political establishment perceived as a kind of political earthquake.