Local Policies and the European Social Fund: Employment Policies Across Europe: Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy

This book reviews how local social and employment policy fields react to the European Social Fund (ESF) to determine the role of the ESF in local activation policies. Drawing on both sociology and political science literature on welfare state reforms, Zimmermann examines what shapes local policy reactions to ESF and what effects these reactions have on change in local policy fields. Comparing data from eighteen local case studies across six European countries, and deploying an innovative mixed-method approach, the book presents comparative evidence on everyday challenges in the context of the ESF and discusses how these findings are applicable to other funding schemes.