Social justice has returned to the heart of political debate in present-day Europe. But what does it mean in different national histories and political regimes, and how has this changed over time? This book provides the first historical account of the evolution of notions of social justice across Europe since the late nineteenth century. Written by an international team of leading historians, the book analyses the often-divergent ways in which political movements, state institutions, intellectual groups, and social organisations have understood and sought to achieve social justice. Conceived as an emphatically European analysis covering both the eastern and western halves of the continent, Social Justice in Twentieth-Century Europe demonstrates that no political movement ever held exclusive ownership of the meaning of social justice. Conversely, its definition has always been strongly contested, between those who would define it in terms of equality of conditions, or of opportunity; the security provided by state authority, or the freedom of personal initiative; the individual rights of a liberal order, or the social solidarities of class, nation, confession, or Volk.

"Social justice has returned to the heart of political debate in present-day Europe. Using a transnational approach, this book provides the first historical account of the evolution of social justice across Europe during the twentieth century, and explores the divergent ways different groups have understood and sought to achieve social justice"--

The concept of generation is ubiquitous in common parlance and public discourse: it is used to explain family relationships, consumer preferences, political change, and much else besides. But how can generation be used by historians? Do generations really exist, or are they constructed and manipulated by social and cultural elites? In pursuit of answers to these questions, this book ranges from World War I to the baby boomers and from Spain to the Soviet Union.

This work sees the 20th century as a long century, and focuses on the crucial political events of the century. While it gives attention to the high level of violence in Europe, it weaves into the themes the struggle for hegemony, the establishment of common economic and political institutions, and the advance of science. A bibliographical essay in each chapter allows the readers to expand on issues discussed in the text.