From Unemployment to Flexicurity.

This special issue of the European Journal of Social Quality, which gathers a number of papers produced in the context of a research project conducted by the European Foundation on Social Quality, is again devoted to the crucial policy-field of employment. Indeed, at national and European Union levels, employment continues to be the most difficult and conflict-ridden part of the social and economic policy agenda, as it has for the best part of the last three decades. There has been very limited policy success in this field, and this is clearly illustrated by the fact that the most intractable problem, that of mass unemployment, has not been solved to any significant extent. In this context, the idea of the conjunction of various forms of flexibility and security in an employment paradigm, for which the neologism of flexicurity has been coined, is being used by an increasing number of research and policy-making institutions. Flexicurity, insofar as it would help to reduce unemployment risks and improve the quality of life of people at work, as well as contribute to the adaptability of labor within businesses, appears to be a worthy aim for employment policies. This issue examines how flexicurity may be a useful way of exploring the present situation and tracing new avenues in policy-making in Europe.