Social exclusion and European policy

Book abstract:

'Social Exclusion is not just a description of the adverse consequences of disadvantage but of the process by which people become distanced from the benefits of participating in a modern society' - the extent to which this is fully accepted in Europe is a central theme of this work organised over three parts.

Part I deals with issues such as social exclusion and the Welfare State; fighting against social exclusion in a European knowledge-based society the limits of European Integration in this field. The discussion moves in Part II to cover 'European Approaches to Social Exclusion' and covers responses by various European states to the issue - including The Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece and France. The final part is bravely headed 'Solutions' and comments upon the potential for the European Social Agenda which places the fight against poverty and all forms of exclusion and discrimination at the heart of Europe. Emergence of an EU strategy is discussed and the role to be played by several players such as voluntary groups in delivering innovative solutions explored.

The volume will interest students, scholars, researchers, policy-makers in the fields of European Studies and EU institutions involved in social protection.

David G. Mayes is Professor of Economics at South Bank University, London.

Jos Berghman is Professor of Social policy at the K.U. Leuven University, Belgium and President of the European Institute of Social Security.

Robert Salais is Director of the CNRS-labelled Research Centre ' Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Economie' at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, France.