https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/699 Thu, 09 Apr 2026 02:49:52 GMT 2026-04-09T02:49:52Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144923 Title: Protests against overtourism across Europe and EU policy response Authors: Agius, Karl; Briguglio, Michael Abstract: Protests against overtourism are not new, but post-pandemic recovery has intensified concerns, sparking demonstrations across Europe. This chapter examines these protests using Protest Event Analysis (PEA) alongside an assessment of key European Union (EU) policy documents and initiatives. Findings indicate an increase in protests in 2024, particularly in the Mediterranean region, with major grievances centred on declining local quality of life and housing challenges. Demonstrations were the predominant form of protest. In response, the EU introduced new short-term rental regulations to improve data collection and support local authorities in decision-making. However, with tourism being a supporting competence of the EU, broader action remains limited. Ahead of the forthcoming EU sustainable tourism strategy, the EU is aiming to enhance sustainability by equipping competent authorities with data-driven and digital tools to redistribute tourist flows to under-visited areas, promoting “balanced tourism.” These efforts seek to mitigate overtourism’s negative effects while fostering a more sustainable, equitable tourism model. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144923 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143908 Title: Entryways to homeownership : family strategies and intergenerational transfers in Malta’s housing system under financialisation Authors: Cassar, Dylan Abstract: As housing markets across Europe become increasingly financialised, a question has been raised over whether Southern European housing regimes, traditionally characterised by strong family-based welfare, are being displaced by liberal, financialised models. By focusing on the case of Malta, this paper argues that, rather than being disrupted, familial systems are finding new opportunities in those very same processes. Current literature has emphasised how Southern European families provide support in response to financialisation and as a safety net during periods of crisis, youth unemployment and state retrenchment. However, in the Maltese post-crisis context characterised by sustained economic growth and surging property prices, families adopt not only defensive strategies to ensure access to homeownership, but also offensive ones to promote wealth accumulation. These often leverage the tools of finance, such as accessing reconstruction loans and investment in real estate as a means of asset-building and intergenerational advancement. In doing so, families act not only as buffers against exclusion but as strategic agents capitalising on the very financialised dynamics that are reshaping housing markets. These strategies, whether defensive or offensive, take the form of (i) intergenerational property transfers, (ii) financial support such as gifted cash, intra-family loans, and guarantees, and (iii) co-residence. Crucially, however, these strategies are enabled by earlier state interventions, such as land distribution in the 1970s and 1980s, which created the conditions for property-based wealth accumulation. By adopting a historical-institutionalist lens, this paper underscores the importance of attending to historically contingent processes that shape institutional configurations, layered over comparative typologies. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143908 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142363 Title: The Malta Sociological Association conference 2025 Abstract: The Malta Sociological Association (MSA)’s annual conference took place on 8 November 2025 at the Salini Visitors’ Centre, featuring a curated array of academic presentations centred on the theme of Sustainability and Society. Building on the legacy of past editions, this year felt different. Initially, many said their work wasn’t about the environment, revealing how easily we talk about it as though we stand outside it. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142363 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142267 Title: The sound of silence Abstract: I am a mother too. A human. At times, balancing on the edge of exhaustion. Last week's tragedy left a hole in our hearts. A deep, aching one. Silence is better than empty words in such circumstances. The heart aches especially by women who are carrying too much, running on empty, and saw themselves in her story. Women who thought, 'That could have been me." Because it could. And that truth is what makes it so unbearably heavy. Behind every packed lunch, every clean uniform, every smile that says 'I'm fine," there's a woman who is tired, doing her best to hold it all together. [extract] Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142267 2025-10-01T00:00:00Z