Showing Social Solidarity With Future Generations

Today's generations can affect the future ecosystem more than any previous generations and aggravate the welfare of future people. Due to the future generations' lack of influence, current generations must act. This book examines when commitments to future generations are followed up in practice and in what situations they are not.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This thought-provoking book examines the socio-legal mechanisms that drive EU constitutional tensions, as well as the role of principles and values in re-directing EU law and policy towards a democratic Social Europe. It addresses the current limits of Social Europe in relation to different areas of EU law, offering a critical assessment of the present status of EU integration.

This volume analyses key theoretical, institutional and legal aspects of intergenerational equity and justice in multi-level sustainable development treaty implementation.

The EU claims that solidarity is a fundamental value underlying the European social model, yet often stands accused of undermining solidarity by advancing market freedoms. This book provides the first extended study of the idea of solidarity in the EU context from interdisciplinary perspectives--analyzing its impact on law and policy.

This book explores generation as both a reference to family or kinship structures, and a reference to cohorts or age sets. The principal objective is branching out this two-part concept through studies of tensions and solidarity within and between generations of advanced and robust welfare states. Answering key questions using multiple disciplinary approaches, the book considers how generations challenge advanced and robust welfare states; how new and young generations are affected by living in an advanced welfare state with older generations; how tensions or solidarity are understood when facing challenges; and what the key characteristics are of certain generation types. It contributes to the development of a more comprehensive generation approach within social sciences by developing the concept of generation by exploring different challenges to the welfare state such as migration, digitalization, environmental damages, demands for sustainability, and marginalization. Highlighting the escalating tensions and altered versions of solidarity between generations, this book shows how a comprehensive concept of a generation can create new insights into how we collectively coordinate and resolve challenges through the welfare state. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, sociology, political science, and social anthropology.

The twenty-first century has seen major challenges to freedom and democracy. Authoritarianism is on the rise and democracy is in retreat. Some promote individualism and markets as the solution to almost every problem. On the other side there are those who champion collectivism and full public ownership. Neither side is convincing. Unrestrained capitalism has exacerbated inequality. Socialism in practice has ended democracy. Effective defenders of liberty and human flourishing must find a different course. This book argues for a pragmatic, social democratic liberalism that avoids unrealistic extremes and tackles major problems such as inequality and climate change.

Global transformations – from population ageing to digitalisation, rising inequalities and climate change – have created profound uncertainties for young people and future generations, despite unprecedented access to information, education and technology. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened pre-existing challenges in youth’s mental health and employment, while raising concerns about the sustainability of public finances.

This open access book is the first account of the whole diversity of teacher education in the Nordic region: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Åland Islands and Sápmi (where the Sámi people live). Today, large parts of the world are looking to the Nordic model of social organization, and interest in the Nordic comprehensive school system and teacher education arrangements is no exception. A good education is a key to prosperity and well-being. And the quality of students’ education is undoubtedly linked to the quality of their teachers’ education. While teacher education in the Nordic region is globally admired, it also faces new challenges. The leading scholars writing in this volume discuss the challenges and opportunities that professional environments are facing. By providing solid portraits of each area as well as analyses across the region, this book will be a great resource to students, academics in teacher education and schooling as well as social scientists and policy-makers inside and outside the Nordic region. This is an open access book.