Civil Society Organizations, Unemployment, and Precarity in Europe ― Between Service and Policy

This book provides a Europe-wide comparative analysis of the role of civil society organizations active in the field of unemployment and precarity. It examines how civil society organizations act in this field through an evidence-based analysis of their activities, resources, and networks. It also looks at how the latter depend on the cultural and institutional context in which they are embedded. The resulting picture is one in which civil society organizations play a crucial role for the inclusion of young unemployed, mainly in two ways: by delivering services or by advocating policy. Service-oriented organizations aim to provide services focused on increasing young people's skills in order to improve their employability by activating them, for example, through training activities, education, and internships. Policy-oriented organizations aim to foster citizens' participation by providing a range of opportunities for an immediate local engagement of young people, for example, by organizing political campaigns, rallies, protest events and other actions requiring an active involvement of their constituencies, members or militants.

Simone Baglioni is Reader in Politics at Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland. His research interests focus on unemployment and civil society issues.

Marco Giugni is Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Institute of Citizenship Studies (InCite) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. His research interests include social movements and collective action, immigration and ethnic relations, unemployment and social exclusion.