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Colin Crouch


Colin Crouch is a professor emeritus of the University of Warwick and external member of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. He has published widely on comparative European sociology, industrial relations and contemporary British and European politics.

Colin Crouch

How Europe’s Political Parties Abandoned Openness—and Left Populism to Fill the Void

Colin Crouch 9th May 2025

Western parties stopped defending openness decades ago—now populists dominate a fight no one else dares to enter.

Refugees and Rwanda: the Tories’ road to perdition

Colin Crouch 24th January 2024

Behind the Conservatives’ obsession with sending asylum-seekers to Africa is a politics of never-ending scapegoating.

Neoliberalism: still to shrug off its mortal coil

Colin Crouch 5th January 2024

In 2011 Colin Crouch’s The Strange Non-death of Neoliberalism appeared to acclaim. Its author reflects on a shifting landscape since.

Reversing The Globalisation Backlash

Colin Crouch 23rd October 2018

Reversing the backlash against globalization requires active politics in two opposite directions: the strengthening of democracy beyond the level of the nation state; and strenuous efforts at local economic development. In The Globalization Paradox Dani Rodrik argued that we have a choice among democracy, national sovereignty and hyper-globalization, a trilemma, and that we could have […]

Why The Left Must Resist Wanting A Piece Of The Xenophobic Action

Colin Crouch 2nd October 2018

Since 2008 the left around the advanced world has dreamed of a popular uprising against the neoliberal elite that brought us the financial crash. Now that uprising has come, but it has been almost entirely captured by a far right mobilizing hostility against immigrants, the European Union, other forms of international co-operation, globalization and foreigners […]

UK Labour: Credibly Redefining Left Of Centre

Colin Crouch 8th December 2017

What would you say is the historic position of the Labour Party in the UK political system and where does it currently stand? Certainly, since the Second World War it has been the second or main party in the country – that remains the situation today. It, and the Conservative Party, used to dominate the […]

Riddle: When Is A Chlorinated Chicken Better Than A Regulated Banana?

Colin Crouch 7th August 2017

Answer: When the chicken has been accepted in an across-the-table negotiation, and the banana regulation has been agreed among a group of partners on the same side of the table. If you grasped that riddle, you will be ready for this one: When does submission to a rule constitute an offence against national sovereignty? Answer: […]

Can Insecure Workers Be Confident Consumers?

Colin Crouch 20th January 2015

A paradox that lies at the heart of capitalism is that economies need consumers to be confident spenders of money on the one hand, while on the other workers’ must accept insecurity and flexibility in their main supply of money: employment income. Professor Colin Crouch considers the implications of this, and looks at the ways it […]

Why We Need A More Substantive European Democracy

Colin Crouch 20th August 2014

Are we witnessing a transition toward a post-democratic society? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Colin Crouch discusses democracy within the EU, the use of direct democracy in states like the UK, and the role of non-political actors in strengthening pluralism and civil society through avenues such as social media. You’ve previously written on the […]

Why We Need More Social Europe

Colin Crouch 4th July 2014

Globalization makes international collaboration more urgent; but it also makes it less likely to happen. Marketization requires social policy, not only to combat the negative effects of markets, but also to support the market with things it cannot provide for itself; but marketization and social policy are usually seen as opposed projects. For Europeans, confronting […]

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WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

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The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

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HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

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Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

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Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


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