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Trade unions are commonly weak in small- and medium-sized enterprises, which constitute a majority of European firms and are often family-owned. We investigate the influence of family ownership on employee membership, perceptions and experience with unions in Danish and Italian firms in the textile and clothing sector. Family ownership reduces union membership; and within family firms, the number of family members employed is negatively associated with unionization rates and employee perceptions of unions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As governments, committed to neo-liberalism but still committed to pursuing national economic success, seek for policy approaches that evade international competition law, they may turn to favouring national champion cities, usually but not always capital cities. This usually also favours particular industries and firms, but only indirectly. This is not the same as policies for favouring backward or declining regions, as the champions selected are already strong and well performing. The aim of policy is to make them even stronger, with resulting tension with pre-existing redistributive territorial policies. Examples are taken from a number of European cases, but with special emphasis on London and Paris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociology lags considerably behind political science in its comparative research on European societies, but enough material now exists to enable us to talk broadly about the major changes that have taken place since the 1970s across western Europe, and also to some extent central and eastern Europe too. Attention is here concentrated on those social trends that seem particularly salient for the study of politics, with occupational structure as the starting point. Although this dominant theme of classical sociology has tended to be neglected by much recent research in favour of such areas as deviance, gender and the formation of identities, working life remains fundamental to social organisation and in particular to politics. In fact, the theme of gender is easily accessed through consideration of changes in occupations, and considerable attention will be devoted to it here. This leads in turn to consideration of the family, then on to other aspects of demography including immigration and cultural diversity. This relates clearly to the final theme that will be discussed: the state of religion in Europe. In the conclusions some of the political implications of these changes are brought together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the relationship of religion and politics in Europe. Decline of participation in public acts of worship; Fundamentalist enthusiasm in European Christianity; Industrialization and religious enthusiasm; Religions of ethnic minorities.

The article presents questions and answerers related to social development of Europe which includes significance of the current crisis to the position and future of capitalism, distinctive features of the crisis, and changing the social and political landscape in Europe.