Description
This book examines the new economic governance (NEG) regime that the EU adopted after 2008. Its novel research design captures the supranational formulation of NEG prescriptions and their uneven deployment across countries (Germany, Italy, Ireland, Romania), policy areas (employment relations, public services), and sectors (transport, water, healthcare). NEG led to a much more vertical mode of EU integration, and its commodification agenda unleashed a plethora of union and social-movement protests, including transnationally. The book presents findings that are crucial for the prospects of European democracy, as labour politics is essential in framing the struggles about the direction of NEG along a commodification-decommodification axis rather than a national-EU axis. To shed light on corresponding processes at EU level, it upscales insights on the historical role that labour movements have played in the development of democracy and welfare states. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Analyses the EU's post-2008 economic governance regime and the labour protests it triggered that threw a lifeline to EU democracy.
About the Author
Roland Erne is the author of European Unions: Labor's Quest for a Transnational Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2008), co-author of New Structures, Forms and Processes of Governance in European Industrial Relations (Eurofound, 2007), and co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and Transnationale Demokratie (Realotopia, 1995). His research has appeared in publications such as British Journal of Industrial Relations, Cambridge Journal of Economics, European Journal of Industrial Relations, European Political Science, Labor History, Labor Studies Journal, Industrial Relations Journal, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Social Policy, Socio-Economic Review, and Transfer. Sabina Stan is the author of L'agriculture roumaine en mutation: La construction sociale du marche (CNRS Editions, 2005; Open Edition Books, 2020), co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and Life in Post-Communist Eastern Europe After EU Membership (Routledge, 2012). Her research in economic anthropology, European health policy, patient mobility, labour migration, and corruption has appeared in Social Science and Medicine, Journal of European Social Policy, Labor History, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Transfer, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Medical Anthropology, Dialectical Anthropology, Anthropologica, Anthropologie et Societes, and Material Culture Review. Darragh Golden is the author of Labour Euroscepticism: Italian and Irish Unions' Changing Preferences Towards the EU (ECPR Press, forthcoming) and co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). His research in comparative political economy, comparative employment relations, transnational labour activism, and EU transport policy has appeared in British Journal of Industrial Relations, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Global Labour Journal, Journal of Common Market Studies, Labor History, Rivista Giuridica del Lavoro, and Transfer. Imre Szabo is the author of The New Face of Labour Protest (Routledge, under contract). His research in comparative political economy, labour politics, social movements, and EU water policy has appeared in Economic and Industrial Democracy, European Journal of Industrial Relations, European Policy Analysis, Journal of Common Market Studies, and Transfer. Vincenzo Maccarrone is the author of several articles on the international political economy, workers in the platform economy, comparative employment relations, and transnational governance appearing in BJIR: British Journal of Industrial Relations, Economic and Industrial Democracy, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Global Labour Journal, Global Political Economy, Quaderni di Rassegna Sindacale, Rivista Giuridica del Lavoro, Transfer, and Work, Employment and Society.
Reviews
'An enduring legacy of the financial crisis is the EU's embrace of a new economic governance regime, which imitates that of private sector multinational corporations. In this path-breaking, multi-dimensional comparative analysis, Erne and colleagues compellingly draw out the consequences for: the changed character of European integration; the (im)balance between the EU's economic and social dimensions; the EU's underdeveloped democratic polity; and counter interventions by social movements and organised labour.' Paul Marginson, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, University of Warwick
'Politicising Commodification provides original and rigorous analysis of the EU's new economic governance regime - from 2008 up to and including the Recovery and Resilience Facility - that calls academics and policymakers to pay heed to the democratic challenges that the EU must face.' Imelda Maher, Sutherland Professor of European Law, University College Dublin
'This is a trail-blazing book in several different ways. First, it develops a new approach to policy analysis that researchers in many fields will find helpful and worthy of imitation. Second, it presents original research on European Union policy on an unusual and instructive selection of countries and sectors. Finally, and perhaps most important, it shows how the study of policies must include conflict around and protest against those policies, and their impact in turn on the policymakers.' Colin Crouch, Emeritus Professor, University of Warwick
'This work analyses the post-2008 transformation of EU interventions on employment relations and public services from horizontal market integration to more vertical country-specific policy prescriptions, surveillance, and enforcement. It documents the extent to which this change offered concrete targets for contentious transnational counter-movements, but also generated obstacles to transnational collective action, setting countries in competition with one another. The book is a bold and fresh attempt to analyse EU politics with a commodification-decommodification approach rather than the usual national-EU axis.' Stefano Bartolini, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'This is a book for anyone interested in the dynamics of European integration. Rarely have the causes and consequences of 'functional spill-over' been so clearly captured and explored.' Philippe C. Schmitter, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'Politicising Commodification offers fascinating new insights on how the new economic governance in the EU is deployed differentially across member states and various policies. While strengthening integration, it also triggers important political responses by civil society. The book is key to understanding how European policymaking works.' Adrienne Heritier, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'Based on an original theoretical model and rich empirical evidence, this volume contributes much to our knowledge of the threats for democracy as well as the potential for resistance.' Donatella della Porta, Professor of Political Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze
'This book makes sense of the relationships between EU economic governance, policy developments, and political conflict in a unique - comparative, cross-sectoral, and longitudinal - fashion across labour markets, as well as transport, water, and healthcare services. It gathers an impressive sum of cutting-edge qualitative research providing the big picture as well as a critical assessment.' Amandine Crespy, Professor of Political Science and EU Studies, Universite libre de Bruxelles
'Politicising Commodification constitutes a true tour de force.' Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, Professor of Comparative Public Policy, Universitat Tubingen
'This is rich and ambitious book will be of interest to EU policy scholars across disciplines.' Grainne de Burca, Professor of Law, European University Institute
'This is an impressively detailed study of the EU's new economic governance regime, which has imposed neoliberal prescriptions to some extent by stealth, as exemplified in four countries and three sectors. The authors offer a nuanced assessment of the possibilities for resistance.' Richard Hyman, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science
'This major research monograph charts the post-2008 shift from market-driven horizontal European integration to a political mode of vertical integration. As the authors make clear, it is trade unions and social movements that are in a key position to challenge the overarching commodification script. A must read for everyone interested in shifting Europe towards a union of social justice!' Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy, University of Nottingham
'This book offers an empirically rich, methodologically innovative, and theoretically sophisticated analysis of the EU's shift to its new economic governance regime after the financial crisis of 2008 and its political and social consequences.' Elke Heins, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Edinburgh
'This book is an essential contribution to the debate on EU governance, its relationship to labour politics, and the future of democratic governance in Europe.' Paul Copeland, Professor of Public Policy, Queen Mary University of London
Book Information
ISBN 9781009054362
Author Roland Erne
Format Paperback
Page Count 434
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 630g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 152mm * 23mm
Analyses the EU's post-2008 economic governance regime and the labour protests it triggered that threw a lifeline to EU democracy.
About the Author
Roland Erne is the author of European Unions: Labor's Quest for a Transnational Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2008), co-author of New Structures, Forms and Processes of Governance in European Industrial Relations (Eurofound, 2007), and co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and Transnationale Demokratie (Realotopia, 1995). His research has appeared in publications such as British Journal of Industrial Relations, Cambridge Journal of Economics, European Journal of Industrial Relations, European Political Science, Labor History, Labor Studies Journal, Industrial Relations Journal, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Social Policy, Socio-Economic Review, and Transfer. Sabina Stan is the author of L'agriculture roumaine en mutation: La construction sociale du marche (CNRS Editions, 2005; Open Edition Books, 2020), co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and Life in Post-Communist Eastern Europe After EU Membership (Routledge, 2012). Her research in economic anthropology, European health policy, patient mobility, labour migration, and corruption has appeared in Social Science and Medicine, Journal of European Social Policy, Labor History, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Transfer, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Medical Anthropology, Dialectical Anthropology, Anthropologica, Anthropologie et Societes, and Material Culture Review. Darragh Golden is the author of Labour Euroscepticism: Italian and Irish Unions' Changing Preferences Towards the EU (ECPR Press, forthcoming) and co-editor of Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). His research in comparative political economy, comparative employment relations, transnational labour activism, and EU transport policy has appeared in British Journal of Industrial Relations, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Global Labour Journal, Journal of Common Market Studies, Labor History, Rivista Giuridica del Lavoro, and Transfer. Imre Szabo is the author of The New Face of Labour Protest (Routledge, under contract). His research in comparative political economy, labour politics, social movements, and EU water policy has appeared in Economic and Industrial Democracy, European Journal of Industrial Relations, European Policy Analysis, Journal of Common Market Studies, and Transfer. Vincenzo Maccarrone is the author of several articles on the international political economy, workers in the platform economy, comparative employment relations, and transnational governance appearing in BJIR: British Journal of Industrial Relations, Economic and Industrial Democracy, European Journal of Industrial Relations, Global Labour Journal, Global Political Economy, Quaderni di Rassegna Sindacale, Rivista Giuridica del Lavoro, Transfer, and Work, Employment and Society.
Reviews
'An enduring legacy of the financial crisis is the EU's embrace of a new economic governance regime, which imitates that of private sector multinational corporations. In this path-breaking, multi-dimensional comparative analysis, Erne and colleagues compellingly draw out the consequences for: the changed character of European integration; the (im)balance between the EU's economic and social dimensions; the EU's underdeveloped democratic polity; and counter interventions by social movements and organised labour.' Paul Marginson, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, University of Warwick
'Politicising Commodification provides original and rigorous analysis of the EU's new economic governance regime - from 2008 up to and including the Recovery and Resilience Facility - that calls academics and policymakers to pay heed to the democratic challenges that the EU must face.' Imelda Maher, Sutherland Professor of European Law, University College Dublin
'This is a trail-blazing book in several different ways. First, it develops a new approach to policy analysis that researchers in many fields will find helpful and worthy of imitation. Second, it presents original research on European Union policy on an unusual and instructive selection of countries and sectors. Finally, and perhaps most important, it shows how the study of policies must include conflict around and protest against those policies, and their impact in turn on the policymakers.' Colin Crouch, Emeritus Professor, University of Warwick
'This work analyses the post-2008 transformation of EU interventions on employment relations and public services from horizontal market integration to more vertical country-specific policy prescriptions, surveillance, and enforcement. It documents the extent to which this change offered concrete targets for contentious transnational counter-movements, but also generated obstacles to transnational collective action, setting countries in competition with one another. The book is a bold and fresh attempt to analyse EU politics with a commodification-decommodification approach rather than the usual national-EU axis.' Stefano Bartolini, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'This is a book for anyone interested in the dynamics of European integration. Rarely have the causes and consequences of 'functional spill-over' been so clearly captured and explored.' Philippe C. Schmitter, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'Politicising Commodification offers fascinating new insights on how the new economic governance in the EU is deployed differentially across member states and various policies. While strengthening integration, it also triggers important political responses by civil society. The book is key to understanding how European policymaking works.' Adrienne Heritier, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
'Based on an original theoretical model and rich empirical evidence, this volume contributes much to our knowledge of the threats for democracy as well as the potential for resistance.' Donatella della Porta, Professor of Political Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze
'This book makes sense of the relationships between EU economic governance, policy developments, and political conflict in a unique - comparative, cross-sectoral, and longitudinal - fashion across labour markets, as well as transport, water, and healthcare services. It gathers an impressive sum of cutting-edge qualitative research providing the big picture as well as a critical assessment.' Amandine Crespy, Professor of Political Science and EU Studies, Universite libre de Bruxelles
'Politicising Commodification constitutes a true tour de force.' Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, Professor of Comparative Public Policy, Universitat Tubingen
'This is rich and ambitious book will be of interest to EU policy scholars across disciplines.' Grainne de Burca, Professor of Law, European University Institute
'This is an impressively detailed study of the EU's new economic governance regime, which has imposed neoliberal prescriptions to some extent by stealth, as exemplified in four countries and three sectors. The authors offer a nuanced assessment of the possibilities for resistance.' Richard Hyman, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science
'This major research monograph charts the post-2008 shift from market-driven horizontal European integration to a political mode of vertical integration. As the authors make clear, it is trade unions and social movements that are in a key position to challenge the overarching commodification script. A must read for everyone interested in shifting Europe towards a union of social justice!' Andreas Bieler, Professor of Political Economy, University of Nottingham
'This book offers an empirically rich, methodologically innovative, and theoretically sophisticated analysis of the EU's shift to its new economic governance regime after the financial crisis of 2008 and its political and social consequences.' Elke Heins, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Edinburgh
'This book is an essential contribution to the debate on EU governance, its relationship to labour politics, and the future of democratic governance in Europe.' Paul Copeland, Professor of Public Policy, Queen Mary University of London
Book Information
ISBN 9781009054362
Author Roland Erne
Format Paperback
Page Count 434
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 630g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 152mm * 23mm
