DIVERSITY AND COMMONALITY
in European Social Policies:
The Forging of a European Social Model

(...) aside from its significance as a novel perspective on the European Social Model (now understood as an amalgam of interconnected social policy traditions of Western and East-Central Europe, with common underlying ideals and goals), this study presents a complex but highly illuminating picture of the evolving systems of welfare protection at the beginning of the new, more globally aware century. Unable to change the national institutional trajectories and welfare ideologies, the supranational agents (EU) can nonetheless force nations to make constant accommodations in labor and social policies - not so much overriding the distinct features of each country, but rather constantly reminding all Europeans of the ambitious goals and traditions that they share. Making us aware of these complex with the help of rich and up-todate empirical evidence is perhaps the greatest contribution of this book. I recommended it highly to both scholars and experts on comparative social policy around the world.
Professor Tomasz Inglot, Minnesota State University
Authors:
Jolanta Aidukaite (Sodertorn University), Joergen Goul Andersen (Aalborg University), Stanisława Golinowska (Warsaw University), Paul Gregg (University of Bristol), Peter Hengstenberg (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung), Karl Hinrichs (Humboldt University), Martin Potucek (Charles University Prague), Christophe Starzec (University of Paris 1), Maciej Żukowski (Poznań University of Economics).