European Labour Movements in Crisis

Thomas Prosser is a Reader in European social policy at Cardiff University

• PrefacePart I: Setting up the question1 European labour movements in crisis2 How do labour movements respond to European integration? Surveying the field3 Conceptualizing European labour movements in crisisPart II: Country studies4 Germany: Accidental neomercantilism, questionable solidarity?5 Spain: Going under6 France: Au milieu7 Poland: Splendid isolation?Part III: Answering the question8 Insiders and outsiders on a European scale9 How do labour movements respond to European integration?10 Intergovernmentalism, disintegration and the importance of European unityAppendix 1: List of semi-structured research intervieweesGlossaryReferences

'In this important book, Thomas Prosser examines how national trade unions shape competitive dynamics within and beyond the Eurozone. Rather than cooperating with their European counterparts, trade union movements adopt national perspectives, thus contributing to zero-sum forms of competition between different member states. Based on extensive field work in four European Union member states, the book shows convincingly how these processes contribute to a dualization on a European scale, which could ultimately bring the Eurozone to the brink of collapse.'Patrick Emmenegger, Professor of Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy at the University of St. Gallen'Trade unions are among the most enthusiastic supporters of European integration, and traditionally espouse doctrines of solidarity and cooperation. In practice however they often find themselves tied to national interests that send them in an opposite direction. Thomas Prosser here outlines and, more important, explains how and why this happens. He follows the behaviour of unions in Germany, France, Spain and Poland during Europe’s recent and on-going crises. Although the story is a depressing one for supporters of Europe and organised labour, his approach enables him to demonstrate how things could be different. Prosser’s unflinching realism combined with a strong theoretical base means that he avoids both naive optimism and irredeemable pessimism.'Colin Crouch, Professor Emeritus, Warwick Business School, and External Scientific Member, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne'Thomas Prosser’s book stands out for the originality and timeliness of its approach. Rather than presenting one more top-down institutional description of European employment relations models, it discusses them from the bottom-up perspective of their operation on extremely topical issues such as the Euro-crisis and labour market dualisation between insiders and outsiders. Such an approach, supported by theoretical sophistication and robust in-depth research in a number of European countries, provides a new, complex picture of current centrifugal dynamics in European societies, as well as strong evidence that industrial relations do matter today – for the better or worse.'Guglielmo Meardi, Professor of Industrial Relations and Director of the Industrial Relations research Unit, University of Warwick