This book interprets the Common Agricultural Policy in the context of the broader processes of globalization, especially as those processes link to the organization of interests in the farm sector and the long-standing corporatist relationships between farmers and the state.

This book seeks to counter the recent trend of speculation about the impact of globalization upon welfare states. It begins by asking two related questions: 'What exactly is globalization?' 'How, if at all, has globalization been implicated in recent changes to European welfare states?' The book combines both theoretical and empirical analysis to provide a critical account of the relationship between globalization and change in European welfare states. Firstly the key theoretical and conceptual debates are reviewed and the existing perspectives on globalization and welfare policy change are assessed. The text moves on to explore and challenge the more apocalyptic economic perspectives on globalization and welfare that suggest permanent retrenchment. The discussion includes an outline and assessment of the role of international organisations such as the World Bank and the EU. All the major types of European national welfare system are considered: Bismarkian, Southern, Central and Eastern European, Nordic and Liberal. Individual chapters outline recent welfare policy changes in the European countries of each system, and the role of globalization in such changes. This ground-breaking text provides new empirical and theoretical perspectives on links between globalization and European welfare state change. It will be important reading for students and academics in the fields of social policy, politics, international relations, European studies and related fields.

Examines the nature of the EU and its external role in relation to social issues raised by globalization. It explores how the EU influences, both directly and indirectly, the rest of the world in relation to the social component of globalization.

Provides a guide to current EU institutions, practices, and policies, with an overview of the achievements of European integration and the challenges that currently face the European Union.

This Handbook addresses the increasingly contested issue of profound political importance: Europe's presence in multilateral institutions. It assesses both the evolving role of Europe in international institutions, and the transformations in international institutions themselves.

Is it possible to harness the benefits of economic globalization without sacrificing social equity, ecological sustainability, and democratic governance? The first edition of Civilizing Globalization (2003) explored this question at a time of widespread popular discontent. This fully revised and expanded edition comes at an equally crucial juncture. The period of relative stability and prosperity in the world economy that followed the release of the first edition ended abruptly in 2008 with a worldwide economic crisis that illustrated in dramatic fashion the enduring problems with our global order. Yet despite the gravity of the challenges, concrete initiatives for change remain insubstantial. Richard Sandbrook and Ali Burak Güven bring together international scholars and veteran activists to discuss in clear, nontechnical language the innovative political strategies, participatory institutional frameworks, and feasible regulatory designs capable of taming global markets so that they assume the role of useful servants rather than tyrannical masters.

The State of European Integration provides scholars, practitioners, experts and students with a comprehensive account of the state of the European Union today. With contributions from leading scholars including Richard G. Whitman, Meltem Müftüler-Baç, Gülnur Aybet, Leila Simona Talani and Gareth Dale, the book examines the EU in a theoretically informed and empirically grounded manner. Opening with an exploration into the nature of the European Union as an international actor, it then assesses the impact of enlargement on institutions, policies and identity. The contributors investigate issues related to the degree of convergence and cohesion among members, and analyze the economic and monetary state of integration. The volume comes at a timely interval when there is a need to understand the present and future of the European Union.

What does globalization mean for Europe? What are the gains and what are the pains? Who's winning and who's losing? In this volume, Dan Hamilton and Joe Quinlan continue their award-winning series on international economic issues with an up-to-date look at globalization's impact on Europe. They chart changing flows of trade, investment, people, money, and ideas, and they explain globalization's effect on European consumers, workers, companies, and governments. Globalization and Europe highlights opportunities, identifies challenges --and offers some surprising conclusions.