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Gender critiques of comparative welfare state research have so far predominantly focused on OECD countries but less so in countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Existing comparative social policy research in these regions often cites the importance of informal networks and family for social protection but less attention is paid into gender relations and their importance for the social reproduction of these welfare regimes. The article comparatively analyses gender differences in the sphere of production (captured by the gender gap in formal and informal employment) and social reproduction (captured by time spent on unpaid domestic work). The article identifies regional patterns and explores implications for women's ability to access welfare and the labour market. Additionally, it shows that informal activities (employment, domestic work) are extensive among many African, Asian, Latin American, but also specific OECD, welfare regimes. The article contributes first by incorporating gender in the analysis of global welfare regime and second by highlighting the importance of informal relationships for the analysis of welfare regimes.

This article explains the popular revolt against austerity in Southern Europe as the outcome of profound politico-economic changes that are shaped by the transformation of the European Union's (EU's) macro-economic governance. It comprises three parts. The first part demonstrates how ordoliberalism – the Germanic variant of (neo)liberal economic thinking – was embedded in the EU's new macro-economic governance, in processes that constitutionalise austerity and remove democratic controls over the economy. The second part examines the impact of austerity-driven reforms on welfare and employment in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis. These reforms undermined the social reproduction of Southern Europe's familistic welfare model by destabilising three key pillars of social protection: employment security for households' primary earners; small property ownership; and pension adequacy. The third part analyses the emergence of anti-austerity social politics in Southern Europe, both parliamentary and grassroots, and assesses their effectiveness in light of the collapse of public trust in both EU and domestic political institutions. The article concludes with our reflections on the fragility of EU's integration process under the hegemony of ordoliberalism.

This article explains the popular revolt against austerity in Southern Europe as the outcome of profound politico-economic changes that are shaped by the transformation of the European Union's (EU's) macro-economic governance. It comprises three parts. The first part demonstrates how ordoliberalism – the Germanic variant of (neo)liberal economic thinking – was embedded in the EU's new macro-economic governance, in processes that constitutionalise austerity and remove democratic controls over the economy. The second part examines the impact of austerity-driven reforms on welfare and employment in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis. These reforms undermined the social reproduction of Southern Europe's familistic welfare model by destabilising three key pillars of social protection: employment security for households' primary earners; small property ownership; and pension adequacy. The third part analyses the emergence of anti-austerity social politics in Southern Europe, both parliamentary and grassroots, and assesses their effectiveness in light of the collapse of public trust in both EU and domestic political institutions. The article concludes with our reflections on the fragility of EU's integration process under the hegemony of ordoliberalism.

AbstractIn this article, we revisit Karl Polanyi's concept of 'oikos' in order to reconceptualize the role of the family as both a welfare provider and an economic actor in the social reproduction of East and South East Asian welfare capitalisms. Our article is structured in four parts. First, we critically review existing approaches on the characteristics of welfare capitalism in East and South East Asia. We argue that existing approaches tend to isolate family as a welfare provider and neglect how the role of the family is institutionalized as a collective actor. The second part focuses on the role of the family in the social reproduction of welfare capitalism, and explores how, in East and South East Asia, the specific conditions for family's role as an economic actor were institutionalized historically. The third part revisits Polanyi's concept of 'oikos' and how 'householding' constitutes one of the most important forms of economic action allowing us to examine the family as a socio‐economic actor. In the fourth section, we provide an analysis of families' available strategies and discuss evidence related to private education expenditure, household debt and labour market income share. We conclude by highlighting the need to re‐articulate the importance of family as a collective socio‐economic actor that, despite recent reforms and path departures, remains at the epicentre of East and South East Asian welfare capitalisms.

Our article examines the position of middle classes in the social reproduction of southern European political economies in the light of the sovereign debt crisis. The first part analyses the rise of middle classes in southern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. The second part discusses the transformation of southern European political economies after their entry in the European Monetary Union. The third part explores how the fiscal consolidation measures adopted as a response to the sovereign debt crisis contributed to the further undermining of southern European middle classes' income and employment security. We discuss how the new European economic governance challenges the politico-economic foundations of southern European political economies by transforming them into de-facto 'consolidation states' (Streeck, 2013). Using EU-SILC data on disposable income we also demonstrate the differential impact of austerity measures. The erosion of middle classes has accelerated post-crisis, however, the speed and depth of this erosion and its political fallout are not uniform.

Our article examines key aspects of the Greek crisis and explores it under the light of the ongoing decline of the European Social Model. It is argued that the austerity measures implemented as conditions for receiving consecutive 'bail-out' loans have had, so far, a very negative impact upon the Greek economy, politics and society. Further, it is argued that labour market reforms underway inGreeceand the rest ofSouthern Europesignal some very worrying developments with respect to the social dimension of European integration. Indeed, especially in the area of collective agreements, when we view these reforms from a European perspective we can identify the rise of wage policy interventionism by the EU; a new process that 'combines European requirements for national wage and labour market policies with the threat of economic sanctions' (Busch et al (2013:8). In turn this signals the intensification of the (neo) liberalisation of the European Social Model and puts under severe doubt the prospects for a more socialEuropethat will prioritize social objectives and rights over economic freedoms. ; Our article examines key aspects of the Greek crisis and explores it under the light of the ongoing decline of the European Social Model. It is argued that the austerity measures implemented as conditions for receiving consecutive 'bail-out' loans have had, so far, a very negative impact upon the Greek economy, politics and society. Further, it is argued that labour market reforms underway inGreeceand the rest ofSouthern Europesignal some very worrying developments with respect to the social dimension of European integration. Indeed, especially in the area of collective agreements, when we view these reforms from a European perspective we can identify the rise of wage policy interventionism by the EU; a new process that 'combines European requirements for national wage and labour market policies with the threat of economic sanctions' (Busch et al (2013:8). In turn this signals the intensification of the (neo) liberalisation of the European Social Model and puts under severe doubt the prospects for a more socialEuropethat will prioritize social objectives and rights over economic freedoms.

Résumé.L'expression «métarégulation« décrit un mode de gouvernance transnationale des relations professionnelles, qui est le produit des efforts faits pour résoudre les contradictions entre les conventions collectives nationales et la liberté des Etats membres de l'UE de fournir des services et de détacher des travailleurs à l'étranger. La norme qui sous‐tend cette métarégulation est la concurrence non seulement entre les travailleurs des Etats membres de l'UE, mais aussi entre les réglementations du travail de ces derniers. Après avoir défini les concepts de «pouvoir structurel« et d' «espace social«, les auteurs commentent des cas empiriques illustrant la métarégulation progressive des relations professionnelles dans l'UE, et démontrent comment le rapport de forces asymétrique entre les travailleurs et le capital se creuse en faveur de ce dernier.

Resumen.El término «metarreglamentación» describe un modo de gobernanza transnacional surgido en un intento de resolver el conflicto entre las normativas laborales y la libertad de provisión de servicios y de desplazamiento de trabajadores en toda la Unión Europea. Se sustenta en el principio de competencia, no solo entre trabajadores de diversos Estados miembros, sino también entre sus normativas laborales. Basándose en los conceptos de poder estructural y campo social, el artículo examina casos empíricos que ilustran la metarreglamentación paulatina de las relaciones laborales en la UE y demuestran que la asimetría que caracteriza las relaciones de poder entre trabajo y capital se está ampliando a favor de este último.

Abstract."Meta‐regulation" describes the transnational governance of industrial relations emerging from attempts to resolve conflicts between national collective agreements and EU Member States' freedom to provide services and post workers abroad. The norm underpinning such meta‐regulation is competition, not only between workers from different EU Member States but also between States' labour regulations. Using the concepts of "structural power" and "social field", the authors discuss judicial decisions that illustrate the gradual meta‐regulation of industrial relations in the EU and show how the power asymmetry between labour and capital is growing in favour of the latter.

We seek to disentangle the process through which some democratic polities 'escape' from neoliberal rule while others do not. We understand neoliberalism as the resulting equilibrium provoked by the restoration of class power that undermined the pro-labour policies of the post-war period. Why do some democracies enter a route of political experimentation that challenges the status quo while others remain 'trapped' in an orthodox neoliberal settlement? Our argument is that for a democratic polity to initiate a transition from neoliberal rule, there needs to be a crisis of neoliberal rule, a compelling alternative willing to contend for state power in national elections, and a reliable democratic settlement that allows the victory of the challenger – that is, the alternative – over the neoliberal rulers. This model will be discussed by examining the following three cases: Argentina, Greece, and Mexico.