Persistent unemployment poses a substantive threat to democracy in Southern European countries

The purpose of competitive elections is to reward good politicians and punish bad ones, but what happens if elections can no longer fulfil this role? Diego Muro and Guillem Vidal write that developments in Southern European countries since the start of the financial crisis have undermined the legitimising role of elections. Suffering from persistent unemployment rates, citizens’ frustration has been indiscriminately projected onto the key political institutions: the government, parliament, and political parties. They illustrate that the unemployment rate is the measure that best forecasts rising levels of political disaffection in these countries, and that voting for a change of government has little impact on citizens’ trust in politics

A vote for Europe? The 2019 EP elections from the voters' perspective

In this paper we analyze the 2019 EP elections from the voters' perspective. It is based on a novel post-electoral survey covering five North West European countries: Austria, Germany, France, Sweden and the UK. In particular we address the following questions: How important were the lead candidates in the election campaign? Which issues were most important for voters? How do these issues relate to voters' political preferences and ideological orientations? Our findings show that the Spitzenkandidaten process failed to effectively connect European party groups with their voters. Moreover, our analysis reveals that voters had clear issue priorities, which reflected, to a considerable extent, the new cleavage structure which has been shaping party competition in North West European countries in the last two decades

L’Esbós com a condicionant de l'arquitectura

Aquest treball conté informació sobre el llenguatge gràfic en l’arquitectura, més concretament, encarat a l’esbós. L’objectiu principal és ressaltar la importància i l’aplicabilitat de l’esbós com a recurs fonamental en la materialització d’idees i conceptes arquitectònics, és a dir, donar valor a l’esbós. A través d’una anàlisi i estudi de les tipologies de dibuix segons intencions i sistemes, situarem l’esbós en el context més ampli de la representació gràfica, analitzant-ne la utilitat en funció de les intencions i necessitats específiques de cada projecte. A través d’una selecció acurada de casos d’estudi, demostrarem com l’esbós pot ser valorat com un recurs primordial per desenvolupar cadascuna de les fases de projecte. A més, explorarem com l’esbós es converteix en un vehicle de comunicació entre l’arquitecte i els altres actors involucrats en el projecte, i permet una comprensió més profunda i una col·laboració efectiva. A través de la presentació d’aquests casos d’estudi, també destacarem com l’esbós, tot i ser una eina embrionària del projecte, és capaç de condicionar i influir des d’un inici en la materialització final del projecte. En definitiva, aquest treball cerca evidenciar la importància de l’esbós com una eina vital en el procés de disseny arquitectònic i la seva capacitat per influir en la materialització de projectes excepcionals

El despoblat de Gramenet de Beranui i la Masia de Batlle. Evolució i determinació de les estructures i el seu entorn

Treballs Finals de Grau Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2018-2019, Tutor: Marta Sancho Planas[cat] L’abandonament dels petits pobles a les zones de muntanya ha estat un fenomen que s’ha anat incrementant amb el pas dels darrers anys. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és la investigació documental i arqueològica de dos casos de la vall del Flamicell, els quals són el poble de Gramenet i la masia de Batlle. L’estudi, inèdit fins al moment, ha permès realitzar un seguiment de la història del poble i de la masia, des del moment en que apareixen en la documentació per primer cop fins al seu abandó, i un estudi arqueològic del paisatge, identificant estructures i altres espais relacionats amb les dues activitats econòmiques principals com en són la ramaderia i l’agricultura. S’han distingit sobre el terreny, a partir de la fotografia aèria i per mitjà dels Sistemes d’Informació Geogràfica, alguns prats, camps, bancals, tancats i orris que costen de veure avui en dia. Això ha permès veure totes les relacions existents entre el paisatge i les construccions fetes pels habitants de la zona i com aquests aprofitaven el que els donava la natura. L’aplicació del LIDAR també s’ha volgut fer, però degut a la morfologia del terreny, no s’han pogut obtenir resultats òptims. Així doncs, el treball permet reflexionar sobre tots aquests petits llogarets que estan quedant oblidats però que amaguen una història al seu darrera que cal investigar, no només per mitjà de la documentació, sinó que, sobretot, a partir de l’arqueologia.[eng] The abandonment of small towns in mountain areas has been a phenomenon that has been increasing with the passage of recent years. The objective of this work is the documentary and archaeological investigation of two cases of the valley of Flamicell, which are the town of Gramenet and the masia de Batlle. The study, unpublished so far, has allowed us to track the history of the village and the masia, from the moment they appear in the documentation for the first time to their abandonment, and an archaeological study of the landscape, identifying structures and other spaces related to the two main economic activities such as stock breeding and agriculture. We have distinguished on the terrain, from aerial photography and through Geographic Information Systems, some meadows, fields, terraces, enclosures and orris that are difficult to see nowadays. This has allowed to see all the existing relationships between the landscape and the constructions made by the inhabitants of the area and how they took advantage of what nature gave them. The application of LIDAR also wanted to be done, but due to the morphology of the terrain, optimal results could not be obtained. Thus, the work allows us to reflect on all these small villages that are being forgotten but which hide a history behind them. They must be investigated, not only through documentation but, above all, from archaeology

Who is to Blame? Political Mistrust and the Great Recession in Southern Europe

The Southern periphery of the European Union has experienced a profound transformation since 2008. The rapid economic deterioration of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain was accompanied by a substantial increase in citizens' mistrust towards national political institutions. This paper combines existing models about the relationship between citizens and government in democracies to provide an explanation for the increasing mistrust in Southern Europe. On the basis of the responsibility-responsiveness dilemma we argue that the governments of these countries were unable to reconcile citizens preferences (responsiveness) with a set of pressures from international actors (responsibility) during the economic crisis. At the same time, we argue that the constrains brought about by the multi-level governance structure of the EU have blurred responsibility for policy outputs thus preventing citizens to reward or punish incumbent governments accordingly. The perception that accountability mechanisms were rendered ineffective thus resulted in high levels of political mistrust

Novel Topologies in Vanadium-bis-ß-Diketone Chemistry: A [V4] and a [V6] Metallacyclophane

Exploring the chemistry of vanadyl ions (VO2+) with bis-ß-diketone ligands, in pyridine reactions of vanadyl sulfate with 1, 3-bis-(3-oxo-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propionyl)-benzene (H4L1) and 1, 3-bis-(3-oxo-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propionyl)-pyridine (H4L2), two novel clusters, (VIVO)4(H2L1)4(py)4] (1) and (VVO)4(VIVO)2 (O)4(L2)2(py)6] (2) were prepared and characterized. Due to the conformational flexibility of the ligands, both entities exhibit very peculiar metal topologies and composition, differing significantly from structural patterns established in the related chemistry of divalent 3d metals. Structural analysis also unveils the existence of the most complex metallamacrocycles from this family to date. Studies of the magnetic properties via bulk magnetization measurements and EPR spectroscopy confirmed the existence of uncoupled long-distant S = 1/2 metal centers and the spin ground states S = 2 and S = 1 of the clusters

Novel topologies in vanadium-bis-ß-diketone chemistry: a [V4] and a [V6] metallacyclophane

Exploring the chemistry of vanadyl ions (VO2+) with bis-β-diketone ligands, in pyridine reactions of vanadyl sulfate with 1,3-bis-(3-oxo-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propionyl)- benzene (H4L1) and 1,3-bis-(3-oxo-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propionyl)-pyridine (H4L2), two novel clusters, [(VIVO)4(H2L1)4(py)4] (1) and [(VVO)4(VIVO)2 (O)4(L2)2(py)6] (2) were prepared and characterized. Due to the conformational flexibility of the ligands, both entities exhibit very peculiar metal topologies and composition, differing significantly from structural patterns established in the related chemistry of divalent 3d metals. Structural analysis also unveils the existence of the most complex metallamacrocycles from this family to date. Studies of the magnetic properties via bulk magnetization measurements and EPR spectroscopy confirmed the existence of uncoupled long-distant S = 1/2 metal centers and the spin ground states S = 2 and S = 1 of the clusters.Guillem Aromí thanks the Generalitat de Catalunya for the prize ICREA Academia 2008 and 2013, for excellence in research and the ERC (European Research Council) for a Starting Grant (258060 FuncMolQIP). The authors thank the Spanish MICINN for funding through CTQ2009-06959 (Guillem Aromí, Ivana Borilovic) and MAT2011-24284 (Olivier Roubeau). Ivana Borilovic thanks the Generalitat de Catalunya for a Ph.D. Grant (FI-DGR 2014).We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer Reviewe

Wealth inequality and stratification by social classes in 21st-century Europe

Wealth is a central determinant of life chances and intergenerational status persistence in modern societies. Yet, sociologists traditionally overlooked its role in class measurement and inequality, while most economists focused on the elites. This article reconciles sociological and economic perspectives on class analysis by examining the relationship between classes and wealth inequality versus income. Drawing from the Luxembourg Wealth Study (2002-2018) in five European countries, we test whether occupational classes, based on the entire division of labour, keep up with rising economic inequality trends. In contrast to bold claims on class death or decomposition, inequality of outcomes in wealth accumulation is firmly rooted across occupational classes in contemporary capitalism, potentially harming future equal opportunity and social mobility. Still, occupational classes better capture between-group income inequality and stratification than wealth, emphasising the importance of economic resources beyond labour market attachment that spark advances in social class theory and measurement

Macrobotanical evidence (wood charcoal and seeds) from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Eastern Iberia: Palaeoenvironmental data and plant resources catchment areas

Despite the current growing number of studies that focus on macrobotanical remains from Middle Palaeolithic contexts, plant use among hunter-gatherer societies remains unknown in many regions of Europe. Large-scale flotation of archaeological sediments has made it possible to recover a large amount of plant remains (fruits, seeds and wood) from units VIII, IX, Xa and Xb at El Salt, Eastern Iberia (49.2-52.3 ka BP). The combination of anthracological and carpological analyses has provided a more accurate picture of the Middle Palaeolithic landscape in the Serpis valley, as well as significant information about other possible uses of plants, not only as fuel, but for woodworking or food, for instance. A minimum of twenty different taxa have been identified among the plant remains. Charcoal analysis suggested that firewood was gathered from nearby sources (< 1 km), with a predominance of black-scots pine woodlands (Pinus nigra-sylvestris) and maples (Acer sp.). The carpological data reveal the use of some woody taxa not documented in the anthracological record (Taxus baccata or yew) and the presence of few mineralised seeds whose origin remains unknown (Celtis australis or hackberry, Rubus cf. laciniatus or evergreen blackberry). These data have significant implications for the interpretation of plant economy among Neanderthal groups, reinforcing the importance of available woody resources in the surroundings for the subsistence of the group