Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe

Christian Lahusen is Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts at the University of Siegen, Germany. His research is devoted to the analysis of social problems and social exclusion, political behavior and social movements, and to the sociology of European integration.
Marco Giugni is Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Institute of Cititzenship 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.

This book examines the everyday-life patterns of young adults under circumstances of vulnerability and precariousness. Its main focus is on the web of social relations that structure the everyday life of young people, for instance by providing resources and tools of solving problems, exerting pressures and voicing expectations, and shaping the person's self-conception, identity, and well-being. Based on more than 120 in-depth interviews with young long-term unemployed in six European countries, this book puts social support and the young jobless' webs of social relations at center stage. It expands knowledge by raising awareness of the multidimensionality and complexity of the social conditions of young jobless, drawing, on the one hand, a more differentiated picture of unemployment, vulnerability and social exclusion amongst young people and, on the other hand, taking a close look at the social reality of young adults' unemployment in different European cities.

Overcomes simplifications about the jobless, offering an informed and rich discussion of the personal situation

Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe: An Introduction; Christian Lahusen and Marco Giugni.- 1. Youth Long-Term Unemployement in France: Challenging Common Trends; Didier Chabanet, Manlio Cinalli, and Damien Richard.- 2. Being Long-Term Unemployed in Germany: Social Contacts, Finances and Stigma; Bettina Grimmer.- 3. Long-Term Unemployed Youth in Switzerland: Coping with Exclusion from the Labor Market in a Country with Low Unemployment; Jasmine Lorenzini and Marco Giugni.- 4. The Everyday Life of Young Long-Term Unemployed in Sweden: Coping with Limited Participation and Feelings of Inferiority; Tuula Bergqvist.- 5. Youth Long-Term Unemployment and Its Social Consequences in Italy: 'In a World that Does Not Belong to Me'; Lara Monticelli, Simone Baglioni, and Matteo Bassoli.- 6. Coping with Long-Term Unemployment in Poland: Faces of Joblessness in a Regional Centre; Piotr Binder.- Experiencing Long-Term Unemployment in Europe: A Conclusion; Marco Giugni and Christian Lahusen.