Search

COVID-19 has had huge impacts on households across the world. The economic impact is particularly great in Africa. This paper analyses the role of social protection in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on household welfare measured in terms of ability to afford food. The results of panel logit regressions on data from 1 925 Nigerian households show that social protection in the form of food or direct cash transfers is associated with a higher probability of households being able to afford the food they need. This positive effect is, however, offset by the increasing intensity of the pandemic. Our results are robust even when using alternative measures of pandemic intensity and controlling for household characteristics. This implies the need for more robust social protection programmes (such as health insurance and employment benefits) that are responsive to household needs, especially in times of crisis.

Land remediation is an important part of restoration measures after a radioactive fallout containing long-lived fission products such as 137Cs. In this multidisciplinary study, we focused on three main issues related to remediation of contaminated urban areas. First, we assessed how much decontamination contributes to reducing resident radiation exposure and how much this reduction depends on the timing of implemented measures. Second, we calculated direct and indirect costs of decontamination in an industrialized country such as Sweden. Finally, in a survey study, we considered reactions of Swedish citizens to being given the hypothetical option of moving to a site decontaminated after radioactive fallout and how this predicted response might influence the design of contingency plans. The main findings are that clean-up operations must be done within the first few years after a fallout to contribute significantly to reducing residual dose. If conducted within 1-2 years, large-scale decontamination can, on average, avert 20-200 manSv per km2 residential area and unit ground deposition of 137Cs (1 MBq). The estimated direct costs (in 2020 purchasing power) would amount to 100 million Euro per km2 decontaminated residential area (comparable to Japanese estimates after the Fukushima accident), generating 39,000 m3 of radioactive waste on average, mainly in the form of 137Cs-contaminated topsoil. In our survey study of 2291 Swedish respondents about their willingness to return to decontaminated homes, women, families with resident children, and high-income earners exhibited more skepticism about returning, even if authorities were to deem it safe. The demographic pattern in attitudes was similar to that found among evacuees in the Fukushima prefecture after 2011. We conclude that predefined ranges of measured 137Cs ground deposition can be used as guidance for rescue leaders in the early post-accident phase in long-term planning for affected areas. This planning should

Dem Leitbild vieler junger Menschen nach sind Mütter und Väter erwerbstätig, wobei unterschiedliche Arbeitszeiten im Lebensverlauf und zwischen den Partnern erwünscht sind. Die meisten Frauen wünschen sich in der Phase mit Kleinkindern in Teilzeit zu arbeiten. Die Fürsorge kleiner Kinder nimmt besonders viel Zeit in Anspruch, diese reduziert sich aber mit zunehmendem Alter der Kinder. Mütter bleiben häufig langfristig und oft ungewollt in einer Teilzeitbeschäftigung. Dadurch sind sie ökonomisch abhängig vom Partner und haben ein erhöhtes Risiko von Altersarmut betroffen zu sein. Zudem bleiben viele Beschäftigungspotenziale volkswirtschaftlich ungenutzt. Nach Einführung des Elterngeldes kehren Mütter heute häufiger schon im zweiten Lebensjahr des Kindes in den Beruf zurück. Die Erwerbsarbeitszeit aller Mütter mit minderjährigen Kindern ist seit 2006 um mehr als ein Fünftel angestiegen. Politische Maßnahmen können flexible Erwerbsmodelle für Eltern weiter fördern, die eine phasenweise Reduzierung der Arbeitszeit zugunsten der Familie ermöglichen und dauerhafte berufliche Nachteile durch verbesserte Rückkehrmöglichkeiten in Vollzeit vermeiden helfen.

Family policies not only provide money, time and infrastructure to families, but also convey normative assumptions about what is considered desirable or acceptable in paid work and family care. This study conceptualises and empirically investigates how priming respondents with brief media report-like information on existing day care policy entitlements and the economic consequences of maternal employment interruptions may change personal normative beliefs about parental work-care arrangements. Furthermore, we analyse whether these effects differ between groups of respondents assumed to vary in their degree of affectedness by the information as well as previous knowledge. The theoretical framework builds on the concept of normative policy feedback effects (Soroka and Wlezien, 2010; Gangl and Ziefle, 2015) combined with social norm theory (Bicchieri, 2017) and human cognition theories (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986; Evans and Stanovich, 2013). The study is based on a fully randomized survey experiment in Wave 12 of the German Family Panel (pairfam) and applies linear and ordinal logistic regressions with cluster-robust standard errors to a sample of 5,783 respondents. Our results suggest that priming respondents with information on day care policy and long-term economic risks of maternal employment interruptions increases acceptance of intensive day care use across the full sample and especially for mothers with children below school entry age. It further increases support for longer hours spent in paid work among childless women and mothers with school-aged children. Norms regarding paternal working hours are largely unaffected by the information given in this survey experiment.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease that was first recognized in China in late 2019. Among the primary effects caused by the pandemic, there was the dissemination of health preventive measures such as physical distancing, travel restrictions, self-isolation, quarantines, and facility closures. This includes the global disruption of socio-economic systems including the postponement or cancellation of various public events (e.g., sporting, cultural, or religious), supply shortages and fears of the same, schools and universities closure, evacuation of foreign citizens, a rise of unemployment, changes in the international aid schemes, misinformation, and incidents of discrimination toward people affected by or suspected of having the COVID-19 disease. The pandemic has brought to the fore unpreparedness in critical areas that require attention, amid prospects and challenges. Moreover, considerable reorganization efforts are required with implications for assets, resources, norms, and value systems. COVID-19 is challenging the concept of globalization and stimulating responses at the levels of local and regional socio-economic systems that lead to the mobilization of assets that have been unrecognized earlier on, such as various forms of economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, human capital, and creative capital. For example, through digital channels, local groups are forming to create schemes of support for physical and mental wellbeing. These emerging exchanges lead to various social and technological innovations by building on skills and assets that are less important in the free-market economy, such as empathy, skills for crafts, making and fixing; locally grown microgreens; and micromanufacturing. Isolation and local living are also making it much harder to ignore the civic responsibilities towards communities, meant as individuals, vulnerable groups, and local businesses. Whilst the pand

The study examines the human rights impacts of climate mitigation and adaptation measures in specific sectors, such as renewable energy, conservation, transportation, housing and construction. To do so, it draws on a number of case studies from different geographical areas across the Global South and Global North. The study identifies factors that influence or determine human rights impacts and examines mechanisms used to either avoid or mitigate potential human rights impacts from climate adaptation and mitigation measures.

Der Sammelband beinhaltet eine interdisziplinäre Analyse von Krisenphänomenen und gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen durch historische Vergleiche und interdisziplinäre Reflexion, um die tieferliegenden Dynamiken von sozialen und politischen Prozessen infolge der Corona-Pandemie ursächlich zu verstehen. Aus wissenschaftlicher Perspektive ergeben sich vielfältige Fragen zu strukturellen Herausforderungen in der Wirtschafts-, Arbeits- und Lebenswelt, die im Rahmen eines inter- und transdisziplinären Dialoges zwischen Historiker:innen, Ökonom:innen, Psycholog:innen und Soziolog:innen erörtert werden., This anthology contains an interdisciplinary analysis of crisis phenomena and social challenges through historical comparisons and interdisciplinary reflection in order to causally understand the deeper dynamics of social and political processes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. From an academic perspective, a variety of questions arise about structural challenges in the economic, working and living worlds, which are discussed here within the framework of an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue between historians, economists, psychologists and sociologists.

Over time, the discovery of the deposit, the exploitation and processing of coal has led to the development and prosperity of many areas called “coal regions”. In the last decades we have witnessed the closing process of many exploitation capacities (underground mines or open pit quarries) with complex socio-economic and even cultural impact in the coal region and on the continent. Debates for or against “coal” with related arguments, policies, strategies and measures at global, regional, national and local level integrate holistically from the “resource” issue to large dynamic systems (energy, climate, urbanism). The relationship between the coal industry and the socio-economic aspects is multifaceted and not yet fully explored. Our paper proposes a statistically documented research on regional development using representative socio-economic indicators. The paper is aiming to present the current socio-economic state in Jiu Valley micro-region, as a result of the structural transformations / changes in the coal industry of Romania’s largest hard coal-fired coal basin.

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich anhand des in Deutschland durchgeführten Arbeitswelt-Monitors "Arbeiten in der Corona-Krise" mit den Arbeitserfahrungen verschiedener Erwerbsklassen in der Pandemie. Die Befunde gelten für den deutschen Fall. Allerdings spricht einiges dafür, dass trotz der Unterschiede der Wirtschaftsstruktur und im politischen Umgang mit COVID-19 in Österreich vergleichbare Ungleichheitsdynamiken zu beobachten sind. Drei Befunde sind besonders hervorzuheben: COVID-19 verstärkt bestehende Klassenungleichheiten: Die subjektiven gesundheitlichen Risiken, die wirtschaftlichen Lasten und der Zugang zum mobilen Arbeiten weisen ausgeprägte vertikale und horizontale Klassenungleichheiten auf. In den unteren Klassen bilden die Benachteiligung gegenüber den jeweiligen oberen Klassen, verbreitete Ohnmacht, auch in Pandemiezeiten kaum Einfluss auf die eigene Arbeitssituation nehmen zu können, und gesellschaftliche Unsichtbarkeit der eigenen Erfahrungen einen gemeinsamen Erfahrungshorizont. Corona-Erfahrungen der unteren Klassen sind fragmentiert: Dienstleistende erleben COVID-19 häufiger als Gesundheitsgefährdung, Produktionsarbeitende und Kleingewerbetreibende als Wirtschaftskrise und die Bürokräfte als Treiber mobilen Arbeitens. Die Fragmentierung des Erlebens der Pandemie erschwert Solidarisierungsprozesse unter den unteren Klassen., This paper deals with the work experiences of diferent social classes during the pandemic, based on the Work Monitor "Working in Corona Crisis" conducted in Germany. The fndings apply to the German situation. However, evidence suggests that, despite diferences in the countries' economic structures and the political handling of Covid-19, the results on the pandemic's class dynamics are to some degree transferable to Austria. Three fndings are particularly noteworthy: Covid-19 reinforces existing class inequalities: subjective health risks, economic burdens, and access to mobile work show pronounced vertical and horizontal class inequalities. The lower classes share a common set of experiences, including the disadvantages, compared to the respective upper classes, the powerlessness to exert infuence on their own work situations even in times of pandemic, and the societal invisibility of their own experiences. At the same time, the Corona experiences of the lower classes are fragmented. This fragmentation of the experience of the pandemic impedes the emergence of solidarity among the lower classes.

Die COVID-19-Pandemie löste eine Krise der Erwerbsarbeit aus. Laut Schätzungen der ILO reduzierten sich im zweiten Quartal 2020 die globalen Arbeitsstunden um 14 %; in vielen Ländern wurde die Schließung aller bis auf "systemerhaltende" Arbeitsplätze angeordnet. Die Folge ist eine Verschlechterung des Lebensstandards für viele Betroffene besonders in Ländern des Globalen Südens mit schwach ausgeprägter Sozialstaatlichkeit. Begleitet wird diese Krise der Arbeit von einer Verschiebung im Verhältnis von Arbeit und Technologie. Die Pandemie führte zu "Hyper-Digitalisierung" und zu neuen, technologisch verstärkten sozialen Ungleichheiten. Wesentliche Erkenntnisse dieses Beitrags sind: Die Möglichkeit von Telearbeit bleibt aufgrund unterschiedlicher technologischer Kapazitäten und Beschäftigungsstrukturen global sehr ungleich verteilt. Beschäftigte in Entwicklungsländern sind nicht nur mit einer Wirtschaftsrezession und steigender Armut, sondern längerfristig mit Herausforderungen durch die Rückholung ausgelagerter Produktion konfrontiert. Politisch stehen aktuell Maßnahmen der Unternehmensstützung und des Arbeitsschutzes im Zentrum; es bedürfte aber stärkerer Maßnahmen der internationalen Solidarität., The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a crisis in gainful employment. According to estimates from the ILO, global working hours fell by an unprecedented 14% in the second quarter of 2020; with many countries ordering the closure of all but "essential service" businesses. As a result, standards of living have dropped for many of those affected, particularly those countries in the Global South with weak welfare states. This has led to a historic reversal of the trend in poverty reduction. Furthermore, the relationship between work and technology has shifted. The pandemic has led to "hyper-digitalization" and new technologically enhanced inequalities. Key findings of this paper are: Due to differences globally in technological capacities and employment structures, the number of jobs suitable for telework remains unequally distributed. Employees in developing countries not only face an economic downturn and rising poverty, but also long-term challenges from a potential return to outsourced production to high-income countries. Economic stimulation, support of businesses and job protection are the current political measures being taken, but there is also a need for stronger measures of international solidarity.

Bergbau, soziale Konflikte und Umweltkatastrophen - seit den 1990er Jahren erlebt Lateinamerika einen historischen Rohstoffboom. Welche Rolle spielen die Betreiber der Minen in den Abbauregionen? Wie schaffen sie Akzeptanz unter der lokalen Bevölkerung? Und welche politischen Auswirkungen zieht dies nach sich? Die Autorin analysiert das Handeln transnationaler Bergbauunternehmen in Argentinien und hinterfragt kritisch die sozial- und infrastrukturpolitischen Maßnahmen, die Bergbauunternehmen in den Abbauregionen industrieller Goldminen implementieren. Dabei stellt sie Fragen von Demokratie und Entwicklung in den Fokus.

In the past, the social and economic impacts of industrial revolutions have been clearly identified. The current Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) is characterized by robotization, digitization, and automation. This will transform the production processes, but also the services or financial markets. Specific groups of people and activities may be replaced by new information technologies. Changes represent an extreme risk of economic instability and social change. The authors described available published sources and selected a group of indicators related to Industry 4.0. The indicators were divided into five groups and summarized by negative or positive impact. The indicators were analyzed by precedence analysis. Extremes in the geographical dislocation of factor values were found. Furthermore, spatial dependencies in the distribution of these extremes were found by calculating multiple (long) precedencies. European countries were classified according to individual groups of indicators. The results were compared with the real values of the indicators. The indicated extremes and their distribution will allow to predict changes in the behavior of the population given by changes in the socio-economic environment. The behavior of the population can be described by the behavior of autonomous systems on selected infrastructure. The paper presents research related to the creation of a multiagent model for the prediction of spatial changes in population distribution induced by Industry 4.0.

Throughout history, nothing has killed more human beings than infectious diseases. Although, death rates from pandemics dropped globally by about 0.8 % per year, all the way through the 20th century, the number of new infectious diseases like Sars, HIV and Covid-19 increased by nearly fourfold over the past century. In Africa, there were reported a total of 4,522,489 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 119,816 death, as of 23 April 2021. The pandemic impacted seriously on the economic and social sectors in almost all African countries. It is threatening to push up to 58 m people into extreme poverty. However, apart from the African poor, the Covid pandemic also affects the growing African middle class, i.e. about 170 million out of Africa's 1.3 billion people currently classified as middle class. Nearly eight million of may be thrust into poverty because of the coronavirus and its economic aftermath. This setback will be felt for decades to come. Moreover, in recent African History also other infectouse diseases like the 1896-1906 Congo Basin Trypanosomiasis with a death-toll of over 500.000 as well as the 1900-1920 Uganda African trypanosomiasis epidemic with 200,000-300,000 death had tremendous negative impact on Africa's societies and economies. Actually, other pandemics, like Yellow Fever, Cholera, Meningitis and Measles - not to mention Malaria - contributed to long-lasting economic downturns and seriously affect the social wellbeing for decades., Au cours de l'histoire, rien n'a tué plus d'êtres humains que les maladies infectieuses et la fièvre hémorragique. Bien que les taux de mortalité dus aux pandémies aient chuté de près de 1 % par an dans le monde, environ 0,8 % par an, tout au long du XXe siècle, le nombre de nouvelles maladies infectieuses comme le Sars, le VIH et le Covid-19 a presque quadruplé par rapport au passé. En Afrique, on a signalé un total de 4 522 489 cas confirmés de COVID-19 et 119 816 décès, au 23 avril 2021. La pandémie a eu de graves répercussions sur les secteurs économique et social dans presque tous les pays africains. Il menace de pousser jusqu'à 58 millions de personnes dans l'extrême pauvreté. Cependant, outre les Africains pauvres, la pandémie de Covid affecte également la classe moyenne africaine en pleine croissance, c'est-à-dire environ 170 millions sur les 1,3 milliard d'Africains actuellement classés dans la classe moyenne. Près de huit millions d'entre eux pourraient être plongés dans la pauvreté à cause du coronavirus et de ses conséquences économiques. Ce revers se fera sentir pendant des décennies. En outre, dans l'histoire récente de l'Afrique, d'autres maladies infectieuses comme la trypanosomiase du bassin du Congo de 1896 à 1906 avec un nombre des morts de plus de 500 000 ainsi que l'épidémie de trypanosomose africaine en Ouganda de 1900 à 1920 avec 200 000 à 300 000 décès ont eu un impact négatif considérable sur les sociétés et économies africaines. En fait, d'autres pandémies, comme la fièvre jaune, le choléra, la méningite et la rougeole-sans parler du paludisme-ont contribué à des ralentissements économiques durables et affectent gravement le bien-être social pendant des décennies., Im Laufe der Geschichte hat nichts mehr Menschen getötet als Infektionskrankheiten. Obwohl die Sterblichkeitsrate durch Pandemien im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts weltweit um etwa 0,8% pro Jahr gesunken ist, hat sich die Zahl der neuen Infektionskrankheiten wie Sars, HIV und Covid-19 im vergangenen Jahrhundert fast vervierfacht. In Afrika wurden zum 23. April 2021 insgesamt 4.522.489 bestätigte COVID-19-Fälle und 119.816 Todesfälle gemeldet. Die Pandemie hatte schwerwiegende Auswirkungen auf den wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Sektor in fast allen afrikanischen Ländern. Sie droht, bis zu 58 Millionen Menschen in extreme Armut zu treiben. Abgesehen von den afrikanischen Armen betrifft die Covid-Pandemie jedoch auch die wachsende afrikanische Mittelschicht, d. h. etwa 170 Millionen der 1,3 Milliarden Menschen in Afrika, die derzeit als Mittelschicht eingestuft sind. Fast acht Millionen von ihnen könnten aufgrund des Coronavirus und seiner wirtschaftlichen Folgen in Armut geraten. Dieser Rückschlag wird noch Jahrzehnte zu spüren sein. Darüber hinaus hatten in der jüngeren afrikanischen Geschichte auch andere Infektionskrankheiten wie die Trypanosomiasis (Schlafkrankheit) im Kongobecken von 1896-1906 mit einer Zahl von über 500.000 Todesopfern sowie die Trypanosomiasis-Epidemie in Uganda von 1900-1920 mit 200.000-300.000 Todesfällen enorme negative Auswirkungen auf die afrikanischen Gesellschaften und Volkswirtschaften. Tatsächlich haben andere Pandemien wie Gelbfieber, Cholera, Meningitis und Masern - ganz zu schweigen von Malaria - zu lang anhaltenden wirtschaftlichen Abschwüngen beigetragen und das soziale Wohlbefinden über Jahrzehnte hinweg ernsthaft beeinträchtigt.

This study responds to the need for measures to mitigate the effects of national actions to slow the spread of COVID-19. National responses are dynamic processes and thus an elusive, albeit important, object of study. The governments of most CIS countries acted promptly and decisively in countering the pandemic. The comprehensive measures have had a serious impact on citizens’ mobility and employment situation. Among the affected are millions of migrants working in the CIS. This article offers a comparative analysis, followed by synthesis, of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as seen through the prism of employment and the situation of migrant workers in the CIS. Another focus is the restriction and support measures and how they have affected migrants. A range of qualitative and quantitative data was collated on the situation of migrant workers during COVID-19 restriction in the Russian Federation and across the CIS. The findings suggest that the lack of international coordination in tackling COVID-19 has complicated the situation of migrant workers, who suffer from the closure of borders and the absence of adequate social support. The article explores problems faced by migrant workers in the current crisis and proposes measures to alleviate them.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has triggered an economic slowdown worldwide, aggravating those steadily accumulated inequalities in income and wealth redistribution. Western-type capitalism, international cooperation, and European integration have found themselves at risk. This article points out the resemblances and dissimilarities in policies combating the recessions of 2008 and 2020 on both sides of the Atlantic, focusing specifically on the EU and Canada. It assesses the rising popularity of the welfarestate concept applied both to individuals and entire businesses deemed essential for democracy, notably in the EU, for which the protection of citizens’ well-being and solidarity values are at the core of bloc integration. Conceptually conflicting solutions for those crises reflect a profound shift in policy making, reinforcing state interventions vs the neoliberal approach and intensifying discussions on a universal basic income as a tool in redressing socio-economic inequalities. This paper highlights the need for a trans-disciplinary approach to benefi t policy making.

En la Demarcación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir, por significación y extensión, la agricultura es la actividad económica con mayor impacto sobre los ecosistemas hídricos. Según el Plan Hidrológico de 2013, en 2015 los usos agrarios suponían el 88% de la demanda total. Al igual que en el resto de España, además de por una presencia histórica, a esta situación se llega por una política hidráulica cuyo principal objetivo ha sido generar recursos hídricos, mediante la financiación pública de infraestructuras de regulación y transporte, para ponerlos a disposición de los sectores productivos, especialmente del regadío. Durante la década de los 90 del pasado siglo el potente sistema hidráulico entró en crisis. Dadas las dificultades para crear nuevas infraestructuras y el rechazo de algunos sectores a continuar con esta política basada en la generación de recursos, al tiempo que los consumos no paraban de crecer, las nuevas propuestas se reorientaron hacia el incremento de la eficiencia y la reducción de la demanda. Esta apuesta por la eficiencia, no es exclusiva de España. Desde finales de los noventa del pasado siglo, y en diferentes contextos geográficos, varios organismos nacionales e internacionales han promovido políticas de incremento de la eficiencia en el regadío como respuesta a los problemas del agua y la agricultura. Mediante la sustitución de las tradicionales redes de canales y acequias por sistemas presurizados, alimentados desde nuevas infraestructuras de regulación, las actuaciones de modernización de regadíos persiguen: reducir pérdidas en el transporte y distribución, superar los rígidos periodos de riego y diversificar y aumentar la producción agrícola. Todo ello gracias a una mayor uniformidad y flexibilidad en la aplicación del agua. En la Demarcación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir la modernización ha sido especialmente significativa, tanto por la cuantía de la inversión pública realizada como por la extensión de superficie que ha sido modernizada. A

As is the case in Western countries, more Japanese are marrying later or remaining unmarried and are postponing childbearing or staying childless. Previous studies revealed that those individuals who were unable to secure regular employment due to the serious recession between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, labelled a "lost generation," had a very low marriage rate. But what about subsequent cohorts? Using a discrete-time logit model to analyse Japanese Life Course Panel Survey data, this study investigates the effects of employment on first marriages between 2007 and 2015, including cohorts after the lost generation. The results indicate that: (a) among men who are classed as non-regular employees, unemployed, or low-income regular employees, the likelihood of first marriage is low due to their weak economic position; and (b) women have a low likelihood of first marriage if they are non-regular employees or unemployed, not because of their employment status but because they have less chance of meeting a romantic partner and also because of their values regarding work and marriage. These explicit gender differences in the findings contradict observations made in contemporary Europe and North America, where a trend towards gender convergence in the effects of employment and earnings on marriage has been identified. The ambivalence towards gender equality in family and the workplace will be discussed to understand why many young Japanese remain single.

The pandemic's impact is often said to be overall negative. But how about the positive side-effects of COVID-19?

Einige Politiker und wissenschaftliche Beobachter beklagen den Mangel an europäischer Solidarität in der Bewältigung der Corona-Krise. Der als Diskussionsbeitrag konzipierte Artikel kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass es um eine europäische Solidarität besser bestellt ist als von vielen vermutet: (1) Die europäischen Institutionen haben im Rahmen der rechtlich definierten Struktur und der durch die Verträge definierten Kompetenzen relativ schnell reagiert und mit einer Vielzahl von Maßnahmen die Handlungsfähigkeit derjenigen Mitgliedstaaten gestärkt, die von der Krise besonders betroffen sind. (2) Die Bereitschaft der Bürger zur europäischen Solidarität ist stark ausgeprägt. Dies gilt sowohl für eine zukünftig zu organisierende europaweite medizinische Versorgung von Notfallpatienten als auch für die finanzielle Unterstützung von Mitgliedsländern zur Bewältigung der ökonomischen und sozialen Folgen der Pandemie., Some politicians and scientific observers complain about the lack of European solidarity when it comes to coping with the Corona crisis. However, we come to the conclusion that European solidarity is stronger than many people assume: (1) The European institutions reacted relatively quickly within the framework of the legally defined structure and given the competences they have according to the treaties. With a variety of measures, the EU has strengthened the capacity to act of those Member States that are particularly affected by the crisis. (2) European Citizens' willingness to show European solidarity is strong. This applies both to future European-wide medical care for emergency patients and to the financial support of Member States to deal with the economic and social consequences of the pandemic.

The worsening violence between Farmers and Nomadic herdsmen in Nigeria has remained an issue of concern on the laundry list of the Nigerian State, policy makers, security agencies, International bodies as well as Social science scholars. While conflict is considered a normal and inevitable outcome of human relationships, the concern here is the devastating socio-economic, political and environmental implications of the conflict between these two livelihood groups as well as its impact on national development. Whereas a number of factors have been adduced for this growing violence ranging from climatic transformations, deteriorating environmental conditions, desertification, soil degradation; political and ethnic strife; breakdown in traditional conflict resolution mechanisms; proliferation of arms in the country and a dysfunctional legal regime that neglects justice; this paper, relying on the demographic theory of conflict, demonstrates how population overshoot in Nigeria explicate the new violent and widespread dimensions of the Farmers-Herders conflict. This paper, relying on the Demographic theory of conflict, argues that among the various causes of the Farmers-Herders conflict, the exponential growth of Nigeria’s population and the inability of the Nigerian State to meet the needs of the populace, contributes to the endless contest for space and property in the country, referred to in this paper as ‘population induced warfare’. In line with this thesis, this paper recommends that Nigeria as a country should begin to pay serious attention to the costs and impacts of population growth and create accordingly, rights-based population policies that adapts Nigeria’s population strength to a positive force for sustainable development.

Die Studie gibt einen Überblick über den derzeitigen Stand der Migrationsforschung und zeigt sowohl wichtige Ergebnisse als auch Forschungslücken auf. Die Studie nimmt einen Abriss über die Entwicklung der Zuwanderung in Deutschland seit Mitte der 1950er Jahre vor und behandelt ausführlich den Einfluss der Zuwanderung in den Bereichen Wirtschaft, Kultur und Politik. Darüber hinaus werden überblicksmäßig die strukturellen Rahmenbedingungen der Integration von Zuwanderern behandelt. Es handelt sich bei dieser Studie um den deutschen Beitrag zur Pilotforschungsstudie "The Impact of Immigration on Europe's Societies" im Rahmen des Europäischen Migrationsnetzwerks (EMN)., The study provides an overview of the current state of migration research, and shows both important results and gaps in the research that has been carried out. The study provides an outline of developments in immigration in Germany since the mid-1950s and deals in detail with the influence exerted by immigration in the fields of economics, culture and politics. Further, an overview is provided of the structural framework of the integration of immigrants.