Jeroen Van Bouwel

“Welcome to the playbook for killing civil society.”

From: “How NGOs die — Europe's playbook for dismantling democracy.”

BY ALBERTO ALEMANNO

“the centre-right EPP —backed by the far-right, pro-Trumpian Patriots for Europe, succeeded in weaponising a parliamentary tool otherwise reserved for genuine scandals like Dieselgate against organisations traditionally playing an accountability and expert role in policy formation and enforcement”

“Under the cover of strengthening democracy through transparency, governments are dismantling the architecture of accountability that makes democracy possible.“

EUobserver Influential. Investigative. Independent. EUobserver is a online non-profit news outlet reporting on the European Union.

How NGOs die — Europe's playbook for dismantling democracy. “fabricate a scandal, delegitimise and defund organisations into dependency on philanthropic support, then criminalise their new funding as foreign influence, all while continuing to demand NGOs services …” euobserver.com/news/ar1c67c...

*Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha*

A permanent post in my department. Closing date Dec 14th 2025, interviews in March. Please spread #histsci

2026 European PPE Network Conference Universität Bayreuth

Call for papers open for the European Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) network’s 2026 conference. Theme: Governing the Future. Deadline: 15 Jan 2026
More information:

And now the call is out! The local organising committee is working very hard to make it a success, so please come #philsci

If you can, support and contribute to @wikipedia.org, do it.
donate.wikimedia.org

Het transcript van het gesprek met Herman Tjeenk Willink is ook te lezen.

Betaalmuurvrij, in NRC:

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Wat zijn die van @vooruit-nu.bsky.social toch aan het doen? In plaats van de afbraak van ons onderwijs en onze cultuursector, zou je niet eens wat gaan snoeien in de 6,5 miljard euro aan Vlaamse bedrijfssubsidies, waarvan zelfs de Nationale Bank zegt dat ze niet efficiënt besteed worden?

Any plans for playing Scandinavia next summer? Gothenburg's Way out West festival 🤞?

Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor The convention to stay out of allies’ internal affairs does not apply. What happens in America does not stay in America, says Paul Taylor of the European Policy Centre

Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor

I am close to tears; they listened and made an english version apache.be/2025/10/24/b...

@apache.be you rule 🖤

We have just advertised a Full Prof position in the Political and Social Sciences department at the EUI (@eui-sps.bsky.social). Here are the details. Please spread the word, and get in touch if you have any questions.
www.eui.eu/Documents/Se...

Relative engagement with sources of climate misinformation is growing across social media platforms - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Relative engagement with sources of climate misinformation is growing across social media platforms

If you think mis- and disinformation is no big deal , read this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

12 manieren om niet te handelen Een veldgids voor de zelfverdediging van het klimaatbestuur

Straffe “anatomie van bestuurlijke traagheid“ in het klimaatbeleid, door Ruben Baetens: rubenbaetens.substack.com/p/12-maniere...

Week 50 - The Return Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you'll remember.

Folks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This was perhaps the worst week of broken norms since I started this project in 2016. I made this week's list free with the hope that you will read it in its entirety to gain a full understanding of what is happening. PLS SHARE!
open.substack.com/pub/theweekl...

Ik zou toch ook naar de afbraak van politieke en economische rechten kijken, hetgeen hand in hand gaat met een enorme concentratie van geld en macht bij een zeer kleine groep.

Baisser les impôts de production de 10 milliards d'euros pour les entreprises n'a servi à rien Une récente étude consacrée à la baisse des impôts de production conclut que les entreprises bénéficiaires n’ont rien fait de ce gain. Malgré ce résultat, le gouvernement veut poursuivre dans cette vo...

L'IPP a mesuré l'impact des 10 Mds de baisse des impôts de production dont ont bénéficié les entreprises. Impact sur chiffre d'affaires ? Nul. Sur l'investissement ? Nul. Sur la création d'emploi ? Nul. Sur les exports ? Nul. Budget : 10 Mds de perdus.
www.alternatives-economiques.fr/baisser-impo...

Here's something that's not talked about enough

The air pollution from burning fossil fuels kills an estimated 10 million people a year

1 in 6 deaths is caused by fossil fuels

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🧠 Steve Fleming (@smfleming.bsky.social), professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London on why collaborating with philosophers helps science ask better questions—and find better answers.

#PLPEXPeditions
@ucl.ac.uk @uclpals.bsky.social @uclbrainscience.bsky.social

Scientific Explanation When scientist investigate why things happen, they aim at giving an explanation. But what does a scientific explanation look like? In the first chapter (Theories of Scientific Explanation)  of this bo...

We explicated different formats of questions in some earlier work, which captures this idea of a lens quite well, I think. Have a look at chapter 3 in this book, hopefully helpful. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Well, look at the "ceasefire" in Lebanon. The idea is that the IDF can continue doing whatever it wants to do and the other party has to respect the ceasefire.

Let October 18th, our #NoKingsDay, stand as the unyielding moment the People's Defiance drowns out the whisper of the Crown Wannabe.

We must send a clear message by rejecting Felon47’s attempt to make this a dictatorship & protect democracy!

#TheDefendersOfDemocracy
@thedefofdemocracy.bsky.social

De fiere Vlaamse leeuw wordt niet getemd, hij wordt gewoon weggesaneerd Het is best ironisch dat net de Vlaamse regering het historisch onderzoek in Vlaanderen op droog zaad zet, schrijven vijf historici. Of wil ze ruimte scheppen voor een eigen interpretatie van het verleden en de invloed van wetenschappelijke kritiek beperken?

De ironie van de geschiedenis: de Vlaamse regering zet het mes in instellingen die historisch onderzoek naar de geschiedenis en taal van Vlaanderen mogelijk maken: de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, de KANTL, sociale en humane wetenschappen aan de universiteit.

It’s gonna trickle down any moment now

Diependaele keldert Vlaamse academie die brandhout maakte van Vlaamse canon De Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten verliest in 2026 al haar subsidies.

De academie die brandhout maakte van de Vlaamse canon, de KVAB, krijgt nu de rekening gepresenteerd. Ze verliest al (!) haar subsidies in 2026.
Minister-president noemt de academie (die nochtans de Vlaamse kandidaat Nobelprijswinnaars voordraagt) geen kerntaak meer.

apache.be/2025/10/16/d...

En dat “subsidies” plots “werkingsmiddelen” moeten worden genoemd wanneer ze naar de bevriende ondernemers gaan.

Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Lecturer/Associate Professor in Philosophy Are you an experienced academic in Philosophy with the ambition to carry out world-leading research and deliver an exceptional student experience in a research-intensive Russell Group University? Woul...

@leedsprhs.bsky.social
Our vacancy for a Lecturer or Associate Professor in Social Philosophy has now been advertised: jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx.... Please spread the word! The closing date for applications is 5 Nov 2025.