Recent developments in the EU single market suggest an increasing hostility towards labour market regulation

Can workers still fight for wage increases and the protection of their rights during times of economic crisis? The current mood of austerity in Europe means that this is becoming much more difficult. Yet, Anneliese Dodds argues that just as responses to the financial crisis are socially constructed rather than being ‘natural’ or ‘inevitable’, the same applies to pressures on workers and capital to become more mobile and flexible; nothing should be taken for granted about the impact of the financial crisis on social and labour rights.