Roads to Post-Fordism: Labour Markets and Social Structures in Europe

The book starts from the assumption that in each of the five Western European countries a phase of prosperity, full employment and social cohesion over the past three decades came to an end and was replaced by increasing uncertainty due to weak economic growth. This in turn increased unemployment and threatened to reduce the standard of living for a growing section of society. These crisis factors were echoed by a deregulation of labour markets and social systems. However in some cases, deregulation turned into reregulation, and features of post-Fordist labour markets and social structures emerged. In this book the author develops a regulation theory perspective in order to understand the processes of structural change. This approach serves as the basis for the empirical analysis of changes in the labour markets and social structures of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain. The book is of interest to academics and students who are concerned with European economic and social affairs, policy makers in the field of labour market and welfare policy.