This comprehensive study of the Great Recession and its consequences provides comparative analyses of the extent to which social concertation between government, unions, and employers varied over time and across European countries.

This edited volume – a collaboration of international country experts – includes eight in-depth country case studies and analysis of European-level social dialogue. Further comparisons explore whether social concertation followed economic necessity, was dependent on political factors, or rather resulted from labour’s power resources. The importance of social partners’ involvement is again evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Examining contemporary crises, the book will be of considerable interest to scholars and students of public and social policies, comparative political economy, and industrial relations – and more broadly to those following European and EU politics.