The boundaries of welfare. European integration and the new spatial politics of social protection

Abstract:

European integration seeks to remove cross-border differences and to ease the free movement of people, goods, services and capital and may yet create the European citizen, if not the European state - but what of European welfare? This work examines the restructuring of welfare communities in response to the erosion of the social sovereignty of the nation-state.

The book is organised over six chapters. The first provides the theoretical framework for the study and chapter two presents the historical background. Chapter three concentrates on the ‘Trentes Glorieuses’ (1945-1975). Chapter four examines changes in EC law relating to social protection, tracing the impact that free movement provisions and competition rules have had on various functional schemes and pillars of provision within national welfare states. Another important aspect of spatial reconfiguration is examined in chapter five, which deals with the increasing role of sub-national territories, particularly regions. The final chapter plants a few signposts as to the way forward into a social Europe through stronger citizenship rights and a more intelligent institutional framework.

The book will interest scholars, students, researchers and policy makers engaged in welfare studies, European integration and European Union studies.

Maurizio Ferrera is Professor of Comparative Public Policy at the University of Milan.