Struggling for a Social Europe : Neoliberal Globalization and the Birth of a European Social Movement

Protests at summit meetings have inspired intense debate over the nature and significance of the ''anti-globalization'' movement. However, the European dimension of this movement is still largely unknown. In this insightful book Andy Mathers addresses this deficit through a discussion of events that have marked the birth of a new European social movement. Offering a critical engagement with key thinkers such as Pierre Bourdieu, Mathers relates the development of the movement to economic, employment and welfare state restructuring along neoliberal lines. In doing so he challenges received ideas about the nature of contemporary collective action and the character of present day social movements.

Protests at summit meetings have inspired intense debate over the nature and significance of the ''anti-globalization'' or ''anti-capitalist’ movement. However, the European dimension of this movement is still largely unknown. In this insightful book Andy Mathers addresses this deficit by focusing on events that have marked the birth of a European social movement. He relates the development of the movement to key matters such as economic, employment and welfare state restructuring along neoliberal lines. He also challenges ideas about the nature of contemporary collective action and the character of present day social movements. Mathers discusses the significance of the movement and its future development through a critical engagement with the work of major writers in European sociology and of academics influential in the wider global movement such as Pierre Bourdieu. A postscript brings readers fully up-to-date with developments in the type of ''social Europe'' propagated by the institutions of the EU as well as in the maturation of a social movement to oppose it.