Social Vulnerability in European Cities ― The Role of Local Welfare in Times of Crisis

What has been the impact of the rise of new social risks and of the recent economic crisis on social cohesion of contemporary cities in Europe? Based on original research carried out in twenty cities in ten different countries, this book provides a new, extensive, empirically-based analysis of social and economic transformations driving the emergence of new social risks in European cities in the last two decades. What are the main factors and mechanisms contributing to the rise of social vulnerability in urban contexts? What are the material conditions and coping strategies adopted by vulnerable groups to deal with these risks? And, finally, what is the role played by local welfare systems in times of welfare retrenchment at the national level? The focus of the book is on urban contexts: it is in cities that most of the new social risks are concentrated and welfare policies face the most dramatic tensions in times of austerity.

Costanzo Ranci is Professor of Economic Sociology and Social Policy at the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. His latest publications include Social Vulnerability in Europe: The New Configuration of Social Risks (Palgrave, 2009) and Reforms in Long-Term Care Policies in Europe (edited with Emmanuele Pavolini).

Taco Brandsen is Professor of Comparative Public Administration at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. His most recent publications include New Public Governance, the Third Sector and Co-Production (with Bram Verschuere and Victor Pestoff) and Civicness in the Governance and Delivery of Social Services (with Adalbert Evers and Paul Dekker).

Stefania Sabatinelli teaches Social Policies at the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. Her recent publications include Nothing on the Move or Just Going Private? Understanding the Freeze on Child- and Eldercare Policies and the Development of Care Markets in Italy (with Barbara Da Roit).