European Social Security and Global Politics

The 12 essays in this book explore this vital issue from a number of perspectives. The text represents a partial gleaning of the September 2001 conference of the European Institute of Social Security, held in Bergen, Norway - a leading multidisciplinary research group and the vanguard of the debate on social security in Europe. Fifteen researchers and administrators from all over Europe offer in-depth analysis and conclusions in crucial areas. In addition to the individual insights advanced in each paper, two notable trends seem to pervade the entire conference. One is the growing divergence of social security policy within European countries, coexisting uneasily with EU measures against social exclusion; the other is the sudden clarity of principle and design in the European welfare state when seen against the virtual anarchy of the globalisation model.