The Futures of European Capitalism

by Schmidt, Vivien A.

• ISBN13: 9780199253685
• ISBN10: 0199253684
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In this path-breaking book, the author argues that European countries' political-economic policies, practices, and discourses have changed profoundly in response to globalization and Europeanization, but they have not converged. Although national policies may now be more similar, especiallywhere they follow from common European policies, they are not the same. National practices, although moving in the same general direction toward greater market orientation, continue to be differentiable into not just one or even two but three varieties of capitalism. And national discourses thatgenerate and legitimate changes in policies and practices not only remain distinct, they matter. The book is a tour de force which combines sophisticated theoretical insights and innovative methods to show that European countries generally, but in particular Britain, France, and Germany (for whichthe book provides lengthy case studies), have had very different experiences of economic adjustment, and will continue to do so into the future.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xii
List of Tables	xiii
Introduction: European Pathways to the Future	1	(12)
PART I The Policies of Economic Adjustment
The Challenges of Globalization and Europeanization: The Impact on National Autonomy and Control	13	(46)
The Dynamics and Mechanics of Policy Adjustment in Britain, Germany, and France	59	(48)
PART II The Practices of Economic Adjustment
Still Three Models of Capitalism? The Impact of Changing Policies and Growing Pressures on Economic Practices	107	(40)
The Dynamics of Adjustment in Economic Practices in Britain, Germany, and France	147	(62)
PART III The Politics of Economic Adjustment
Discourse as Framework for Analysis: Policy Construction and Legitimization for Changing Policies and Practices	209	(48)
The Role of Discourse in the Political Dynamics of Adjustment in Britain, France, and Germany	257	(46)
Conclusion: The Futures of European Capitalism	303	(8)
References	311	(36)
Index	347