Publications

Wolfgang Schroeder (November 2016): The debate about the digitalisation of production has been given fresh stimulus around the world. No other growth discourse has been so strongly pushed by state technology and research policies and at the same time so closely linked to the entrepreneurial and union players in Germany in recent years as the Industry 4.0 discourse. This paper discusses the conditions, potentials, players and prospects associated with the Industry 4.0 strate­gies. The aim is not merely to generate and use new technical options, but also to examine whether and how the German production model, which, contrary to the disruptive US model for instance, relies on incrementally evolutionary changes, can compete in light of the new challenges.

Hartmut Hirsch-Kreinsen (2016): In 2013 the low-skilled accounted for 23 percent of the German workforce. Low-skilled work, generally done by workers with few qualifications, is thus clearly an integral component of modern industrial production. In the current “Industry 4.0” discussions about mechanising, automating and digitalising the entire world of work, low-skilled work and repetitive tasks are treated as increasingly anachronistic relics from the early industrial era. It is suggested that within just a few years there will be no industrial jobs left for the unskilled and semi-skilled, leaving many workers facing social exclusion and loss of status. In fact, talk of a general erosion of low-skilled work is premature. Over the past fifteen years this type of work has actually stabilised, after industrial rationalisation processes…

Jochen Dahm, Meik Woyke (2016):Social Democracy stands for freedom, justice and solidarity and guarantees basic rights for everyone: rights that protect and empower. Basic rights that are enshrined in the Constitution and function in practice. Basic rights in political, social, economic and cultural life. A society that guarantees such rights is a Good Society.

Sarah Lain (July 2016): On 11 July 2016, RUSI and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) hosted a half-day workshop aimed at bringing together leading German and UK security specialists as well as members of the UK Parliament and German Bundestag to discuss key aspects of European security. This was a timely event, taking place less than three weeks after the UK referendum on membership of the EU, which resulted in an unexpected vote in favour of Brexit.

Katy Owen and Caroline McFarland (July 2016): Youth participation in the EU referendum and the drivers behind the attitudes towards Europe of younger people are central topics for this analysis by CoVi and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung London. Drawing on post-referendum polling conducted with Opinium Research, the report shows that the overwhelming majority of young voters opted to Remain in the EU. This preference is reflected in wider social attitudes and identities as outlined in the report. An analysis of the media coverage during the referendum campaign shows, that the tone of the debate and the issues covered were not able to engage younger voters. The public debate did barely touch on topics of great significance to young people. In order to bridge the generational divide in voting patterns, the authors call for a re-examination…

Frank-Walter Steinmeier (July 2016): In his article, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier looks ahead to a European Union of 27, calling for a better, more flexible and more responsive EU. “We are committed to making Europe better and to making it listen more to the needs of its citizens. This is the direction taken by the proposals put forward by the French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and myself last week”. While recognizing the imperfections of the EU, Frank-Walter Steinmeier highlights the numerous benefits that an EU membership brings, as well EU’s central role for peace and prosperity on the continent. He argues that the EU is the solution to people’s sense of lack of control, rather than the problem.

This paper provides a review of the ongoing violent conflict in Ukraine and the contemporaneous economic and political crises. It uses big data on violence in the east of Ukraine to argue that the local variation in the violence is best explained by economic rather than ethnic or political factors. We also discuss the resistance of the Ukrainian public to the conflict-resolution strategy outlined in the Minsk I and Minsk II agreements. This resistance reflects the lack of legitimacy of these agreements, where the major stakeholder – the public – has been denied a voice in framing the terms of the agreements.

Eva Ellereit, Dr. Christian Krell, Dr. Tobias Mörschel (Edt. 2015): In November 2015, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung organised a broad congress on ‚Digital Society‘. This paper is the output of the congress, it features 24 stimulating articles written by politicians, academia, journalists and business stakeholders on the topic of digitization. The authors agree that digitization is currently in the hands of a few and bound to private commercial interests and decisions. This must change: We need a democratic outlook which will eventually foster social progress, they argue.

Theresa Reidy (June 2016): It took ten weeks for a government to be formed after the February general election in the Republic of Ireland. Eventually Fine Gael is leading the new minority government and is supported in office by nine non-party politicians. Everything about the new political set up in the Irish government is unusual - no political party emerged as the clear ‘winner’ of the elec­tion. The Labour party even lost tremendously 30 seats compared to 2011. The future of political decision making in Ireland is uncertain. If the government will be sustained for a full term, only time can tell.

Reiner Hoffmann (June 2016): The EU is facing the most severe crisis of credibility and legitimacy in its history. The crisis in the financial sector and the economy is far from over. The reason for this lies, inter alia, with the false prescription of austerity politics to foster economic recovery. Not least the federal German government has contributed to turning the economic crisis for broad swaths of Europe into a full-blown social crisis.