Social Quality:A Vision for Europe

Download or read book Social Quality:A Vision for Europe written by Laurent Van der Maesen and published by Kluwer Law International B.V.. This book was released on 2001-01-31 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents the outcome of two years of intensive debate about the future of Europe. It aims to provide the European Union with a vision: one that will unite all of its citizens and help to create the democratic legitimacy that the EU currently lacks. It builds on the first book on social quality, The Social Quality of Europe, which introduced the concept and which has been enthusiastically received by both the scientific and policy communities. The book develops three crucial elements of social quality: the theoretical validity of the concept, its practical application, and its identity or `genetic code'. It establishes an independent identity for social quality, with a unique focus on the quality of the social, which enables it to act as the rationale for economic, social, and cultural policies and, therefore, an escape route from the dominance of narrow economic thinking in policy making.