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The coronavirus pandemic, which first impacted European societies in early 2020, has created a twofold crisis by combining a health threat with economic turmoil. While the crisis has affected all European societies very significantly, its impact varies across countries, social groups, and societal domains. In an effort to provide a first overview of the effect of the coronavirus crisis, in this editorial we discuss contributions of 58 papers published as part of this special issue. These early research papers illustrate the varied impact of the pandemic on various areas of social life. The first group of studies in this special issue analyzes the effect of the pandemic on social inequalities with respect to gender, ethnic otherness, education, and work. A second stream of research focuses on the psychological consequences of the pandemic, especially with respect to wellbeing and resilience. Thirdly, the crisis is discussed on a societal level, in regard to welfare states, social policies, and approaches to crisis governance. In a fourth line of inquiry, several studies have analyzed the impact of the pandemic on social solidarity and cohesion. A fifth strand of research is devoted to examining the role of culture and lifestyles. This review ends with a discussion of areas for future research trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working fewer than full-time hours has been seen as a crucial way in which women workers can balance demands from home and paid work. But working part-time holds a range of negative repercussions for other aspects of worker's lives, in particular their economic well-being. Examining objective and subjective indicators of economic well-being, the paper uses data from the European Community Household Panel Survey to consider the ramifications of working short hours for women in Europe. The paper is concerned with the generalisability of the very weak situation of part-timers in Britain. It asks whether and how the economic problems faced by women at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy differ according to societal context. The papers shows that part-time low level workers had the lowest monthly wages relative to their compatriots in each country examined, though the intensity of wage disadvantage varied substantially across the sample. The research did not uncover a universal positive correlation between women's relative wage positions and individual level measures of economic well-being, however. The most prevalent association between working part-time in a low level occupation and facing a weak economic position occurred at the level of household economies. The paper concludes by asking how we best research economic well-being, including whether it should be approached via an individual or household level analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to disentangle analytically the trends towards the subsidiarization of social policies in Europe addressing how the social policy reforms changed actors' governance arrangements and altered the government scales involved over the last few decades. Following an introductory analysis of the main causes of the subsidiarization of social policies (sections 1 and 2), attention is devoted to the differences between welfare systems in Europe (section 3) and the way they influence the directions of change. The hypothesis is that, despite the fact that the subsidiarization of social policies is a converging rhetoric in most European countries' social policy reforms, the impact of the process varies according to the specificities of the respective regulatory frames at the national or sub-national scales. This is exemplified in the final part of the paper (section 4) which considers the Italian case and the main critical dimensions that emerge through these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market principles are becoming more prominent in citizen experience of public policy across Europe, as a result of economic globalization and the Maastricht commitment to 'open markets', and cost-constraint, privatization and labour market activation pursued in response to the various pressures confronting welfare states. These principles (inequality, competitiveness, allocation through ability to pay) contradict those traditionally associated with social policy (equity, solidarity, social justice). This paper examines the impact of current changes on welfare values in the various types of European welfare states (including accession states), using international attitude survey data. It shows that most citizens remain committed to mild egalitarianism. Citizen ideology will thus continue to buttress resilience to pressures for restructuring in the various welfare state regimes. The paper goes on to consider the impact of social change by examining the values of groups with particular interests who are likely to expand in significance as a result of labour market and population changes. This analysis shows that change does not lead in one direction. There is every likelihood that tensions between market and welfare values will be compounded by social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on European trade unionism has discussed whether the tendency towards ‘union diplomacy’ has meant that that unions are largely disinterested in mobilizing members and pursue contentious action at the European level. Other studies have identified activities that suggest an Europeanization of political mobilization, in demonstrations and strikes and in cooperation with NGOs and social movements. The present paper analyzes attitudes towards transnational action among trade unions in Europe, as well as the degree to which national unions actually partake in more and less contentious action. The study, which is based on a survey to trade unions in Europe carried out in 2010–11 (n 250), focuses particularly on the production of joint statements and petitions, demonstrations and boycotts, and strikes. The aim was to identify the similarities and differences between industrial relations regimes and sectors in Europe and the analyses have revealed that there are in fact significant differences. Trade unions in the continental social partnership regime and the southern polarized/state centered regime tend to approve of and partake in European demonstrations and boycotts to a higher degree than unions in the other regimes, while the Nordic unions in the organized corporatist regime tend to be more skeptical and also participate to a lower degree. In addition, unions in services and organizing professionals tend to partake and approve of such action to a lower degree than unions in other sectors and national peak level unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand the way in which social capital resources are incorporated, appropriated and distributed by different social classes in Europe. Its main goal is to produce a conceptual framework by linking the concepts of social capital with the different theoretical assessments made by the sociology of social classes. We use multivariate analysis to work a set of quantitative indicators from the European Social Survey 2008 in order to assess the relationship between these concepts. Our methodological approach combines transnational levels, i.e., it is not an international comparison between European countries but an analysis of individual people and their belonging to social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical consumption, the purchase or boycott of goods for political, ethical or environmental reasons, is regularly characterised as an example of 'new politics' or 'new' political participation. However, such analysis often neglects work from the sociology of consumption and social movement studies. This paper argues that consumers express their identity through critical consumption, in the form of a pledge of allegiance to the goals of certain social movements. Cross-national data from the European Social Survey identifies critical consumers as belonging to higher class positions and being generally older, highly educated, and more often women than men. Separating analysis of boycotting from that of buycotting, the positive purchase of goods for ethical or political reasons, suggests that buycotting is more resource-dependent and individualistic than boycotting. Substantial differences are found between the impact of people's resources in different countries, particularly between Northern and Central European countries and their Southern and Eastern counterparts. The findings thus recommend an approach to consumer politics that remains sensitive to social structural contexts between countries and different forms of consumer participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes its starting point in the public discourse, of politicians and academics, that suggests that Europe, specifically the European Union, is suffering from a 'crisis of identity'. This is believed to stem from the recent enlargements, the pending 'problem of Turkey', and disarray over the European Constitution. This issue is addressed in two ways: first, through an exploration of the main current models and meanings of 'Europe', and second, applying an anthropological approach to identity, through examining the relationship between models and meanings of 'Europe' and local, regional, ethnic and national identities. In the first place, this suggests that there is not, and cannot be, agreement over the shape and meaning of 'Europe'. There is, rather, rooted in histories, geographies, politics, and cultures, a range of different Europes, which only coincide imperfectly, at best. In the second place, Europe is always viewed from local, regional, ethnic and national points of view. Each approach converges on the same conclusion: there can never be a clear-cut, consensual unified model of Europe. This is a normal situation, not a crisis, and, if anything, is one of the strengths of the European Union project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indicators of subjective well-being have gained only limited acceptance as tools for the social-scientific analysis of human welfare, mainly because they seem insensitive to variations in the socio-economic context. However, this apparent insensitivity has been established by research which has been limited in various ways. Using data on life satisfaction for 33 European societies which goes some way to transcending these limits, this paper identifies linkages between subjective well-being and socio-economic conditions which are both strong and suggestive of important insights about national and cross-national relativities in human welfare. Populations in the rich parts of Europe have high and relatively equal life satisfaction, while those in the poorer parts of Europe have low and unequal life satisfaction. Social inequalities within rich European societies seem to have little effect on life satisfaction but they have significant effects within poor European societies. Inequalities between European societies also have strong effects. These findings suggest that analysis of inequalities and relativities in welfare in purely national terms is insufficient. Greater weight needs to be given to cross-national relativities , since these are much more consistent with what otherwise seem to be puzzling variations in subjective well-being across and within countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the emerging European public space and identity, as it is built and exercised in educational spheres. Discussions on European public space are overlaid with assumptions and requisites of a shared identity and culture. I argue that the presumed inextricable link between such constructs as identities, cultures and political communities is neither tenable nor empirically suitable in the European case. My substantive examples come from an empirical analysis of history and civics school books, as well as public debates and conflicting claims surrounding education. As projected in educational spheres, European identity is a loose collection of civic ideals and principles, such as democracy, progress, equality and human rights. This assemblage of principles and their enactment is what affords the ties that bind in the European public space. European identity as it happens is not on course to replace the nation but reinterprets it as another repository of the same ideals and principles for which Europe stands. The nation still comes across as a source of identification but is no longer unique or commanding, far from its familiar self. The emerging Europe is a space for participation but it does not imply the existence of a European demos or polity in the conventional sense – based on consensus and uniformity. European public space is open to conflict and also creates its own conflicts. It includes multiple spheres and subjects, and is created through the activities of a growing contingent of social and political actors, who engage in the discourse of Europe and deploy strategic action, with or without institutionalized contact with the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is Europe converging on a single dominant model of the family and women's role which provides the basis for convergence on a single set of social policies? This paper concludes that the European Commission is wrong to expect a single dominant trend. On the contrary, recent research shows that three quite different, even conflicting, models of the family, and of women's role, continue to attract roughly equal support across the European Union as a whole, and within all EU countries. Two revolutions have occurred: the contraceptive revolution and the equal opportunities revolution, which have given women genuine choices for the first time in history. In the new scenario, women make divergent choices, producing at least three family models. In the future, social policy and employment policy need to recognize, and support, all three models of the family and of women's role. This makes EU policy-making more difficult, and sheds new light on national differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]