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In 1949, a new French publishing house, named Cocorico, launched a brand new collection called "Un petit livre d'or". In fact, it was simply a translation of the American "Little Golden Books" series. These cheap, cheerful and colourful picturebooks for the children of postwar Europe enjoyed immediate success. But the importation into Europe of the concept of "little golden books" had roots far beyond the simple framework of children's publishing and became part of the cultural Cold War," "book diplomacy," and the policy of "containment." All this was orchestrated by a multi-faceted dual national Franco-American, Georges Duplaix, who worked for the CIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to diagnose Europe's democratic vulnerabilities, we conducted experiments that probe Europeans' ability to recognize and punish politicians who undermine democracy. Across seven countries, we systematically detect two reservoirs of tolerance for authoritarianism: the illiberal right and the disengaged. Citizens in the first group support parties on the extreme, populist, radical, or nationalist right. Citizens in the second group do not vote, but, in several countries, they are dormant supporters of the illiberal right and exhibit just as much lenience toward transgressions against democracy. The root cause of the illiberal right's tolerance for authoritarianism appears to be not in how much it cares about its signature issues, like immigration or traditional values, but in how little it cares about democracy in the first place. Europe's authoritarian potential, both overt and hidden, is located on its electorates' far-right flanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 80 years, a series of critical events has led to reconsideration of the basic premises of medical ethics. One of these events was the recognition of horrific medical experiments performed by German medical scientists in World War II concentration camps, resulting in intensified emphasis on a consent requirement, later understood as grounded in the bioethical principle of respect for autonomy, as well as on the moral accountability of the experimenter. Another important event that is forcing a reconsideration of respect for autonomy in medicine and health care is the COVID-19 pandemic. But this time the matter pulls in a different direction, from respect for autonomy to social responsibility, represented in problems as disparate as the wearing of masks, vaccination requirements, and equity in vaccine access and distribution. How can modern bioethics, in part a creature of the response to Nazi crimes, accommodate the intensified sensitivity about public health needs that has accompanied the shock of the pandemic? The responses of European medical ethics to the Nazi era provide tools for bioethics as it faces the challenge now at hand. This article uses historical context from postwar Europe to argue that, in light of the pandemic experience, respect for autonomy must systematically incorporate a commitment to social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controversy over Greek deficit statistics highlights three developments, characteristic not only of Greece, but of Europe as a whole: the intended depoliticization of certain issues or domains through the setting up of independent authorities, the transformation of national norms and arrangements that comes with European integration, and the role of transnational epistemic communities. An ongoing statistical dispute between Eurostat and the Greek authorities in the years before 2010, and changes in the governance of Greek statistics from that year onward as the controversy moved to the judicial arena, have revealed conflicting legitimacies and offered a testing ground for a whole series of devices and processes designed to monitor the independence of statistical institutes all over Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay that comes nearest to such an analytical approach is Marieke Hendriksen's excellent piece on the shift of concepts in eighteenth-century theories of art and craft. Finally, there are a few contributions that examine changes in the concept of ingenuity over time and how Europeans reflected on, or appropriated, specimens of ingenuity produced in other parts of the world. Ingenuity in the Making: Matter and Technique in Early Modern Europe Edited by Richard J. Oosterhoff, José Ramón Marcaida, and Alexander Marr. [Extracted from the article]