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Preference cohesion and bargaining satisfaction among Southern EU member states: a comparative perspective
(Taylor & Francis, 2025) Bicchi, Nicolas; Arregui, Javier
To what extent does being aligned in EU negotiations predict favourable outcomes for the Southern Euro countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece) in Council of the EU negotiations? This article attempts to answer this question by leveraging data from the DEU (Decision-Making in the European Union) dataset, and comparing this group of countries to two other well-established alliances at the EU level: the Nordics and the Visegrad Four. Results indicate that the Southern alliance generally lacks cohesion compared to the other groups, but when it is able to find a coherent position, it becomes more effective in obtaining its members' desired legislative outcomes. Preliminary evidence also suggests that this effect occurs because aligning gives groups of countries more voting power, and because their social capital makes them more effective in negotiations.
Do member states' permanent representations matter for their bargaining success? Evidence from the EU Council of Ministers
(Taylor & Francis, 2021) Arregui, Javier; Perarnaud, Clément
How can differences in Member States (MS) capacities to coordinate European Union (EU) decision-making processes influence their bargaining success? Based on a new dataset collected with Council representatives and policy experts in Brussels, this research shows how informal MS capacities can partly shape legislative outcomes in the EU under certain conditions. This research provides evidence that informal capacities, such as the effectiveness of MS permanent representations and/or their capacity to coordinate with other actors in the legislative decision-making, matter for bargaining success. Using a mixed-method design, this research illustrates how both the structure preference allocation and thresholds of formal power are conditions of informal power resource activation.
A new dataset on legislative decision-making in the European Union: the DEU III dataset
(Taylor & Francis, 2022) Arregui, Javier; Perarnaud, Clément
This paper introduces the updated version of our dataset, which is the third iteration of the Decision-making in the European Union (DEU-III) dataset. We outline the DEU project before describing the dataset in detail, including the case-selection criteria, and the definitions and operationalisations of the main constructs. The paper discusses the integration of the dataset with other variables that are used in many of the contributions to this special issue and other studies. Finally, we describe validity and reliability test of the DEU-III dataset as well as some avenues for its future use by scholars.
Cohort profile: health inequalities in Catalonia (the HEALIN cohort)
(Oxford University Press, 2025) Solé-Auró, Aïda; Gumà, Jordi; Trias Llimós, Sergi; Carreño Serra, Agata; Martínez-Cerdá, Juan-Francisco; Permanyer, Iñaki
Changes in resources and volunteering: a longitudinal study of active engagement among older Europeans
(Oxford University Press, 2025) Hämäläinen, Hans; Tanskanen, Antti O.; Arpino, Bruno; Abuladze, Liili; Solé-Auró, Aïda; Danielsbacka, Mirkka
Background and Objectives Volunteering is an important dimension of successful aging. Although prior studies have found that personal resources such as health and financial situations are associated with volunteering, there is a lack of research exploring the relationship between resource changes and volunteering. Here, researchers investigated whether changes in individuals' resources were associated with volunteer engagement among older Europeans. Research Design and Methods Using data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, collected in 5 waves between 2011 and 2020 across 19 countries (57 410 observations from 17 498 individuals aged 50 and older), researchers employed asymmetric fixed-effect ordinal regression models to investigate whether positive or negative resource changes were associated with the frequency of volunteering over time. Researchers used 3 resource indicators: health, financial condition, and time availability (measured by engagement in paid work, grandparenting, and family care). Results Health deterioration and worsening financial condition were associated with a decreased frequency of volunteering. A transition out of weekly paid work and beginning to provide weekly grandchild care were both associated with an increased frequency of volunteering. Researchers did not detect any further significant effects of resource changes on volunteering. Discussion and Implications Researchers study revealed asymmetrical associations between changes in resources and volunteering, providing new insights into their interplay. The results deepen researcher's understanding of successful aging by emphasizing the need to consider the dynamics of all resources that either facilitate or hinder active engagements among older adults.
La política de cohesión Europea en dos regiones españolas: configurando las redes de políticas y el capital social
(Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública, 2009) Jordana, Jacint; Mota, Fabiola; Noferini, Andrea
El artículo analiza la fase de programación de la política europea de cohesión centrándose en el nivel autonómico de gobierno. Sostiene que los Fondos Estructurales han afectado de manera esencial la configuración de las políticas de desarrollo regional. En particular, la europeización de la política regional en España ha implicado un papel creciente de los gobiernos autonómicos, que han ido adoptando un conjunto de prácticas y procedimientos homogéneos en los procesos de programación e implementación de la política de cohesión. No obstante, la evidencia empírica recogida en las comunidades autónomas de Galicia y de Murcia, en relación con la programación del período financiero 2007-2013 (PORs), prueba la existencia de diferentes configuraciones de la red de política regional que lleva a cabo las tareas de programación. Al mismo tiempo, también las características de capital social de los actores implicados en cada red de política regional presentan diferencias significativas. Estos resultados sugieren que, a pesar de que los procedimientos formales de programación son prácticamente idénticos, los procesos políticos son bastante distintos en cada comunidad autónoma, lo que plantea nuevos interrogantes sobre las causas de dichas variaciones.
Beyond mutual constitution: the property framework for intersectionality studies
(University of Chicago Press, 2019) Jorba Grau, Marta; Rodó de Zárate, Maria
Within feminist theory and a wide range of social sciences, intersectionality has emerged as a key analytic framework, challenging paradigms that consider gender, race, class, sexuality, and other categories as separate and instead conceptualizing them as interconnected. This has led most authors to assume mutual constitution as the pertinent model, often without much scrutiny. In this essay we critically review the main senses of mutual constitution in the literature and challenge what we take to be a problematic assumption: the problem of reification, here understood as the conceptualization of social categories as entities or objects. We then present the properties framework, together with the emergent experience view, which conceptualizes categories and social systems in a way that maintains their ontological specificity while allowing for their being deeply affected by each other.
The intersectional right to the city: non-binary and trans people navigating gender, race, and class in Barcelona
(SAGE Publications, 2025) Masi, Belén; Rodó de Zárate, Maria
The concept of the right to the city has been central in urban studies and social justice movements, yet it frequently neglects the intersectional inequalities experienced by marginalized groups. This article examines the right to the city through the lens of intersectionality, focusing on how overlapping oppressions related to gender, race, class, and migration status shape urban experiences. Using a qualitative methodology of in-depth interviews and Relief Maps with 30 non-cisgender individuals living in Barcelona, we explore how multiple social positions intersect to produce specific forms of exclusion and negotiation within urban space, considering both public and private spaces as interconnected sites where these exclusions and negotiations unfold, challenging spatial hierarchies in urban studies. By foregrounding how these categories intersect, our research moves beyond essentialist understandings of marginalization and challenges rigid binaries of inclusion and exclusion. Instead, it highlights the complex, shifting, and sometimes contradictory ways individuals navigate urban life. In doing so, we position the right to the city within broader debates in urban theory, particularly the tensions between more economic perspectives and those rooted in feminist, postcolonial, and queer critiques. This perspective is particularly relevant in Southern Europe, where colonial histories, migration, and racialization follow different logics than those dominant in Anglo-American urban theory. We argue for a reimagined right to the city that dismantles exclusionary hierarchies by embracing the relational nature of urban experiences, recognizing that belonging and access to the city are shaped by a complex interplay of social categories.
Climate Relief Maps: a methodological framework for exploring everyday experiences of climate change through an intersectional lens
(Springer, 2025) Coll Planell, Mar; Rodó de Zárate, Maria
The lived, everyday dimensions of climate change have generally been ignored in mainstream climate research, despite their ability to reveal new insights on this phenomenon. Capturing everyday lived experiences of climate change requires methodologies that go beyond traditional approaches, combining robust theoretical foundations with innovative technological solutions. This paper addresses this gap by introducing Climate Relief Maps (CRM), an innovative methodology designed to capture, analyze, and visualize everyday climate experiences through an intersectional lens. CRM integrates qualitative and quantitative techniques with digital tools and GIS technology, offering a multi-layered approach that highlights social, emotional, and spatial dimensions of climate change. By centering lived experiences, this methodology enables a deeper understanding of how intersecting social positions shape climate vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies. CRM advances the study of climate change by bridging the gap between environmental science and social inquiry, fostering new insights into the human dimensions of the climate crisis.
When immigrant and regional minority languages coexist: linguistic authority and integration in multilingual linguistic acculturation
(Taylor & Francis, 2022) Sáenz-Hernández, Isabel; Lapresta-Rey, Cecilio; Petreñas, Cristina; Ianos, Maria Adelina
This study explores integration and linguistic acculturation in Catalonia (Spain), a multilingual setting where a state and a regional language coexist with those of immigration. Using qualitative content analysis, we examined the linguistic acculturation profiles of 13 high-school students of immigrant background and the linguistic acculturation expectations of 15 autochthonous students, considering Spanish, Catalan and heritage languages. Then, we explored their understanding of what integration means and its relation to language. Public use of heritage languages was the main source of friction. Participants of immigrant origin with assimilation profiles only used heritage languages with family, while those in multilingual profiles also used them in the public domain. Autochthonous students condemned their use in public, although they supported their use at home. Students from immigrant backgrounds advocated for a more inclusive understanding of integration, particularly those in multilingual profiles, but autochthonous students equated integration to assimilation. Educational implications are discussed.
Bullying in Spanish high schools: intersection of gender and immigrant background
(Wiley, 2024) Sáenz-Hernández, Isabel; Ginoyan, Karina; Goigner, Ken; Slapakova, Lucie
Based on the data from PISA 2018, the study investigates the relationship between gender and immigration status on exposure and attitudes towards bullying and students' perception of teachers' intercultural attitudes in Spanish high schools. While boys and first-generation immigrants experience significantly more bullying, girls and students without immigration background showed overall stronger negative attitudes towards bullying. Finally, boys and children with an immigration background perceived higher degrees of teachers' cultural biases. These findings provide new insights into the importance of addressing gender and ethnic biases in anti-bullying programmes.
Age-related trajectories of health decline among immigrants and natives in Europe: the effect of education
(SAGE Publications, 2024) Solé Auró, Aïda; Sáenz-Hernández, Isabel; Ratniece, Luïze
Background: The ability to age healthily is highly dependent on individual characteristics that include gender, social class, a range of biological and contextual factors, and migrant background. Indeed, immigration has changed the demographic composition and social structure of many European countries, generating an increasing interest in how societies, and immigrants in particular, are aging. Research Design: This paper compares the age-related trajectories of health decline in three health measures (activity limitation indicator, self-perceived health, and chronic conditions) among 7,429 immigrants and 81,424 native-born populations aged 50 years old and over using longitudinal data from seven waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (2004-2020). Analysis: We use descriptive and multivariate models (random-effects regression models) to analyze the association between migration status and each health outcome. We are particularly interested in determining the age-related trajectory of this association across three levels of education, exploring at the same time the effect of the interaction between immigration status and age on health. Results: Our results highlight potential gaps in health between immigrants and native-born people that are particularly large for the low-educated group. In other words, the health decline is more marked for low-educated immigrants compared to native-born populations in particular for activity limitation indicator and self-perceived health, while it is less pronounced with the accumulation of chronic conditions. Conclusions: Our findings should serve to enhance the design of the provision of social services and support and the promotion of equal opportunities.
Regional, state, and immigrants' heritage languages in high school: the effect of geographic origin and linguistic acculturation profiles on language attitudes
(SAGE Publications, 2025) Sáenz-Hernández, Isabel; Janés, Judit; Ubalde, Josep; Lapresta-Rey, Cecilio
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study explores the language attitudes that high-school students of immigrant origin hold toward Catalan, Spanish, and the heritage languages of immigrant communities, focusing on linguistic acculturation profiles at school and geographic origin of these students. It takes place in Catalonia (Spain), a multilingual setting where Spanish and Catalan have official status. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a 5-point Likert-type scale, 198 students of immigrant background were asked about their attitudes regarding these three languages, as well as questions regarding their linguistic acculturation profiles at school. Data and Analysis: A K-means cluster analysis was conducted to create identity groups based on linguistic acculturation profiles at school. Then, a series of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were run: first to analyze the relationship between linguistic acculturation profiles and attitudes toward heritage languages, such as Catalan and Spanish, and second between linguistic acculturation profiles and continent of origin. A two-factor ANOVA was conducted to test the interaction effects between linguistic acculturation and geographic origin regarding language attitudes. Findings/Conclusions: Those in the acculturation profile that incorporates all three languages at school have significantly lower attitudes toward Catalan, suggesting that heritage language maintenance is perceived as incompatible with Catalan at school. As for geographic origin, the European origin group is more commonly placed in the Catalan assimilation acculturation profile than the African and Latin American groups. There is also a significant interaction effect between origin and the acculturation profile, with the European multilingual group showing significantly less positive attitudes toward Catalan. Originality: While other studies have explored immigrant attitudes toward Catalan and Spanish, very few have incorporated the wide range of unofficial languages present in the territory, like Arabic, Amazigh, or Romanian. Significance/Implications: These results complement previous general acculturation research showing that, for linguistic acculturation as well, racialized ethnic hierarchies affect the acculturation options available to different linguistic groups.
Repensar el canvi climàtic des de la interseccionalitat: aportacions, potencialitats i reptes
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2025) Coll Planell, Mar
La interseccionalitat s’està consolidant com una teoria clau per estudiar la dimensió social del canvi climàtic. Aquest article revisa de forma crítica els principals treballs acadèmics existents que utilitzen un marc analític interseccional per facilitar la comprensió de l’emergència climàtica, ressaltant-ne les aportacions, les potencialitats i els reptes principals. La interseccionalitat permet entendre el canvi climàtic des d’una perspectiva sistèmica, posant en relleu el rol de les estructures socials en la configuració de les experiències climàtiques. Aquesta teoria evidencia com l’emergència climàtica afecta de manera desigual individus i grups socials segons les seves posicions en les estructures de poder, visibilitzant les experiències dels col·lectius més marginalitzats. Així, la interseccionalitat s’erigeix com una eina fonamental per avançar cap a la justícia climàtica. Malgrat l’avenç dels darrers anys en els estudis interseccionals sobre canvi climàtic, l’article apunta la necessitat d’expandir la recerca cap a nous terrenys empírics i cap a noves perspectives metodològiques per consolidar aquest camp emergent.
The impact of holocaust survivors' testimonies and politicians' framings on political attitudes in Germany
(Wiley, 2025) Hoerner, Julian M.; Rodon i Casarramona, Antoni
How do politicians' framings of the need to remember the past shape contemporary political attitudes? This research note addresses this question by focusing on the case of the memory of the Holocaust in Germany. We conduct a survey experiment in which respondents are confronted with a testimony by a Holocaust survivor on its own or by that testimony followed by an excerpt from a speech by a politician either emphasizing the need to remember the past or minimizing it. Our results suggest that politicians' framings have an important effect on respondents' attitudes on the importance to remember and on agreement with certain antisemitic statements. Furthermore, we find significant differences in the reaction of respondents from eastern and western Germany and among those with extreme ideological views.
'As time goes by': the effectiveness of protection orders in reducing intimate partner violence recidivism
(Springer, 2025) Rovira Sopeña, Martí; Rodríguez Menés, Jorge; Palomo Lario, Carlos
This study investigates the effectiveness of protection orders in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) recidivism. Protection orders are legal measures imposing restrictions on aggressors to prevent them from approaching or contacting their victims. These legal measures have seen rapid international expansion in recent years. However, understanding the extent to which they work remains an ongoing challenge. To contribute to this debate, we employ Cox standard proportional hazards models and Prentice-Williams-Peterson gap-time models for recurrent events using a new dataset, which includes comprehensive registry data from an entire cohort of more than 6000 aggressors sentenced for at least one IPV crime over a five-year period, followed for at least four years. Our findings unveil an initial, average adverse effect of protection orders on recidivism. This effect becomes non-significant after excluding breaches of the orders and after controlling for judges' tendency to impose these measures on high-risk offenders. Moreover, we observe that the effects of protection orders vary over time: While there is an adverse immediate impact of holding an order, a positive temporal cumulative effect counteracts it after a few months.
Rescaling through projectification in the EU’s higher education regionalism
(Elsevier, 2025) Felder-Stindt, Alina
The political project of creating a European higher education (HE) space depends on the creation of interlinkages among HE policy stakeholders. Referred to as regionalization, in the European Union (EU) this process relies on the acquisition of EU funding, which traditionally is implemented through projects. While scholarship has tackled the reliance on projects to implement policy, the spatial implications of this projectification are underresearched. This is striking given that the implementation and development of project-based cooperation entails rescaling practices. Rescaling captures how economic, social and political interrelations are moved to new territorial levels above, below, and across the nation-state. This study focuses on rescaling in the EU HE regionalism and asks how projectified EU policies move interrelations of HE policy stakeholders to new territorial levels. A theoretical framework is developed that allows to capture how projectification leads to rescaling by allocating resources to a new scale and by establishing structures and cooperation activities at a new scale. To analyse the rescaling practices that result from the implementation of EU funded projects, this paper attends to the region-building strategies of HE actors and governments in border regions. The latter actors rely on the EU’s funding for cross-border cooperation, i.e. Interreg. The analysis provides that rescaling through projectification lets the institutional arrangements of the EU HE regionalism intertwine. With intergovernmental cooperation, community programmes and organizational cooperation becoming increasingly interdependent, the supranational HE space is fostered.
Neonatal health within war contexts: insights from the Colombian experience, 1998–2007
(Wiley, 2025) Mera León, Harold; Echandía Castilla, Camilo
The Colombian Armed Conflict intensified 1998–2002, with its urban dynamics continuing to influence neonatal health through 2007. Using data from the National Centre of Historic Memory and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, this study examines the effects of regional violence on neonatal health outcomes. Employing a difference-in-differences approach and logistic regression analysis, we assessed the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes—such as preterm births, low birth weights, and stillbirths-miscarriages—in regions with varying levels of violence. Results reveal a significant correlation between Colombian Armed Conflict dynamics and increased adverse outcomes, particularly in urban settlements 2003–2007. Women in heavily affected regions like Antioquia were more likely to transmit health disadvantages to their newborns, especially after 2002, the peak year of violence. This study highlights the disproportionate effects of this violence on neonatal health, emphasizing the role of the “Policy of Democratic Security” in reshaping violence patterns and exacerbating health disparities. By focusing on the differential effects of violence across rural and urban settings, this study provides critical empirical evidence on how conflict dynamics influence neonatal well-being, offering new insight into the long-term health consequences of armed conflict.
Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
(MDPI, 2025) Eritja, Roger; Sanpera Calbet, Isis; Palmer, John R. B.; Bartumeus, Frederic
The spread of the invasive mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, and Aedes japonicus in Spain represents an increasing public health risk due to their capacity to transmit arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, among others. Traditional field entomological surveillance remains essential for tracking their spread, but it faces limitations in terms of cost, scalability, and labor intensity. Since 2014, the Mosquito Alert citizen-science project has enabled public participation in surveillance through the submission of geolocated images via a mobile app, which are identified using AI in combination with expert validation. While field surveillance provides high accuracy, citizen science offers low-cost, large-scale, real-time data collection aligned with open data management principles. It is particularly useful for detecting long-distance dispersal events and has contributed up to one-third of the municipal detections of invasive mosquito species since 2014. This study assesses the value of integrating both surveillance systems to capitalize on their complementary strengths while compensating for their weaknesses in the areas of taxonomic accuracy, scalability, spatial detection patterns, data curation and validation systems, geographic precision, interoperability, and real-time output. We present the listing of municipal detections of these species from 2004 to 2024, integrating data from both sources. Spain's integrated approach demonstrates a pioneering model for cost-effective, scalable vector surveillance tailored to the dynamics of invasive species and emerging epidemiological threats.
Health & nature: a critical review of historical perspectives to support narratives for change
(Springer, 2025) Amengual Moreno, Miquel; Cash-Gibson, Lucinda, 1984-; Vivas, Laila; Martínez-Herrera, Eliana; Almazán, Adrián; Pericàs, Juan; Benach, Joan
Introduction. The ongoing ecosocial crisis threatens the health of our planet, as ecological boundaries are overreached and social needs remain unmet. Achieving health equity and sustainable development requires re-evaluating the interconnections between nature and health, including the social narratives shaping this relationship. The ways in which we construct and adopt these narratives -consciously or not- translates into different implications for research, policy and practice. This study critically analyses the historical evolution of how the health-nature relationship is conceptualised in the scientific literature, and classifies the different eco-social values and theoretical considerations embedded within each emerging perspective. By raising awareness of the diverse perspectives used and their implications for research, policy and practice, the findings aim to provide a conceptual guide for narratives that aim to drive change towards health equity and sustainable practices. Methods. We conducted a critical review to identify the main perspectives of the health-nature relationship in the scientific literature over the past 60 years, and to categorize them based on their ecological theoretical positions, ranging from anthropocentric to non-anthropocentric. Snowballing techniques were applied to include other relevant literature. Results. Our review identified eight main perspectives on the health-nature relationship during this time period: Environmental health, Ecology of health, Holistic medicine, Political ecology of health, Eco Health, One Health, Planetary Health, and Indigenous traditions. We then classified them by their consideration of nature, and ecological positions. Discussion and conclusions. Our results found diverse and evolving perspectives on the health-nature relationships, with anthropocentric to non-anthropocentric ecological theoretical positions embedded within them. When selecting and applying perspectives to support transformation, researchers and policymakers should have a clear idea of the implicit and explicit theoretical positions embedded within them. Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners should carefully consider these findings when selecting frameworks to guide narratives of change, and interventions aiming to address the political, ecological, economic, and cultural drivers of environmental degradation, human and natural exploitation, and social and health inequalities that our planet is struggling with. Recognizing these varied perspectives presents an opportunity to embrace diverse epistemologies that can inspire positive ecosocial change and foster a more sustainable and equitable relation between human societies with nature.

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