As poverty and inequality are rising to alarming levels in Europe, the continent seems at a loss to respond. Political leaders appear content to liquidate the social gains made by workers' struggles. A small minority associated with the financial sector, possibly even smaller than one percent, stands to benefit from a deepening of neoliberalism. This new anthology of essays from the Global Labour Column explores Europe's turmoil and challenges the deep-rooted consequences of neoliberalism in the North and the South. It sheds light on new movements and ideas that are emerging to defend and mobilize workers, and it points to encouraging new policies and directions that could lay the foundations of a new order that would have decent work and life at its core. Many of these innovations come from the South, and the North may have much to learn from them.
Nicolas Pons-Vignon is senior research fellow with the Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID) research programme, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is the editor of the Global Labour Column and founder and course director of the annual African Programme for Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE; http://www.aporde.org.za). Phumzile Ncube is an associate researcher with the CSID research programme, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.