Over the last thirty years Western capitalism has undergone a process of radical change that has erased the world we knew during the post-war 'Golden Age'. Processes of globalisation and financialisation, coupled with mass migration, demographic transitions and pressures on the welfare state, have brought about steep increases in inequality and a polarisation between winners and losers that challenges the very nature of citizenship.
The redefinition of class structure and the transformation of existing patterns of social inclusion have both had a profound impact on the social fabric. This book explores - from different disciplinary perspectives - how Western capitalism has changed, and the consequences of these changes for individuals' lives and communities. The argument throughout is framed by Karl Polanyi's theories regarding the embeddedness of the economic in the social, and the dynamic relationship between these two aspects. Specific areas of change are discussed under five headings: the transformations of global capitalism; welfare capitalism and rights; citizenship and migration; cities and urban transformation; and segregation and the spatial dimensions of poverty.
The international array of contributors take into consideration the interplay of micro and macro factors to understand the uneven effects of capitalism, the manifold social conflicts that are emerging and the potential for the defensive mobilisation of individuals and social movements. By combining theory and empirical analysis and adopting a comparative perspective, the chapters provide insights into the dynamics of change and the resulting winners and losers.

Alberta Andreotti is Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Milan-Bicocca
David Benassi is Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Milan-Bicocca
Yuri Kazepov is Professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Vienna

Framing the issues at stake
1 Western capitalism in transition: global processes, local challenges - Alberta Andreotti, David Benassi, Yuri Kazepov
2 A child of its times: the "new urban sociology" in context and its legacy - Michael Harloe
Part I: The transformations of global capitalism
3 Abstract from the concrete: capitalism spiralling out of control - David Harvey
4 Rethinking social reproduction in an era of the dominance of finance capital - Gavin Smith
5 On the social (dis)embedding of the economy in a local context: where anthropology and sociology share metaphors as analytical tools - Simone Ghezzi
Part II: Welfare capitalism and rights
6 The underclass and international comparison, variety and universalism - Jean-Claude Barbier
7 Welfare migration and civic stratification: Britain's emergent rights regime - Lydia Morris
8 The Mediterranean welfare states between recalibration and change in the cultural paradigm - Nicola Negri and Chiara Saraceno
Part III: Citizenship and migration
9 Deconstructing labour demand: implications for low wage employment - Saskia Sassen
10 International migrations and the Mediterranean - Enrico Pugliese
11 Cities under economic austerity: the return of citizenship claims - Marisol García
Part IV: Cities and urban transformations
12 The sense of touch - Richard Sennett
13 Urban disorder and the transformation of global governance - Sophie Body-Gendrot
14 Urban political economy beyond convergence: robust but differentiated unequal European cities - Patrick Le Galès
Part V: Segregation and the spatial dimension of poverty
15 The spatial dimension of poverty - Susan S. Fainstein and Norman Fainstein
16 Urban segregation, inequalities and local welfare: the challenges of neoliberalisation - Marco Oberti and Edmond Préteceille
17 Urban poverty and social cohesion: lessons from Naples - Enrica Morlicchio
Perspectives on the future of western capitalism
18 The double movement and the perspectives of contemporary capitalism - Enzo Mingione
Index