Abstract
By gathering the contributions of recognised specialists of socioeconomic inequality and European processes from distinct scientific disciplines and several European countries, our aim with this book is to reconcile the analysis of social processes with an accurate assessment of public policies affecting vulnerable populations and regional discrepancies in the EU. While the first part of the book highlights the social situation in the EU in line with the consequences of the financial crisis, the second part addresses the role of the EU and its institutions to cope with this challenge. Despite the social and cultural heterogeneity of EU Member States, the first part shows that most populations and their institutions witness a similar phenomenon of growing inequality. It could reinforce the idea of an ambitious Social Europe able to limit inequality, or at least help its Member States do so. The goal of the second part is specifically to discuss the social tools already in use at the EU level and their limits, but also to reflect on the legitimacy of such an idea.
Notes
- 1.
In each chapter, the authors include their own precise definition and characterisation regarding the inequality or poverty indicators that are used and discussed in their analysis.
References
Atkinson, A. B. (2015). Inequality. What can be done? Cambridge, London: Harvard University Press.
Crespy, A., & Menz, G. (Eds.). (2015). Social policy and the Eurocrisis. Quo Vadis Social Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Falkner, G. (2010). European Union. In F. Castles, S. Leibfried, H. Obinger, & C. Pierson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the welfare state (pp. 292–305). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ferrera, M. (2005). The boundaries of welfare: European integration and the new spatial politics of social protection. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lechevalier, A., & Wielgohs, J. (Eds.). (2015). Social Europe—A dead end: What the Eurozone crisis is doing to Europe’s social dimension. Copenhagen: Djof Publishing.
Milanovic, B. (2011). The haves and the have-nots. A brief and idiosyncratic history of global inequality. New York: Basic Books.
OECD. (2011). Divided we stand: Why inequality keeps rising. Paris: OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2015). In it together: Why less inequality benefits all. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Stiglitz, J. (2012). The price of inequality: How today’s divided society endangers our future. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Therborn, G. (Ed.). (2006). Inequalities of the world. New theoretical frameworks, multiple empirical approaches. London: Verso.
Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2009). The spirit level. Why more equal societies almost always do better. London: Allen Lane/Penguin Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Carmo, R.M., Rio, C., Medgyesi, M. (2018). Introduction. In: Carmo, R., Rio, C., Medgyesi, M. (eds) Reducing Inequalities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65006-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65006-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65005-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65006-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)