Networks within the Multi-Organizational Field of Unemploymentand Precarity: A Tale of Seven Cities in Europe

The different contributions of this volume show that unemployment and precarity are crucial matters of concern in Europe, with a large number of actors mobilizing over issues pertaining to the labor market, social protection, and services. The unemployed and the precarious themselves have mobilized so as to advance their demands and defend their own interests. Institutions, decision-makers, and political elites have put the issues of unemployment and precarity at the core of their political strategies. And a number of additional actors — including political parties, trade unions, churches, and a range of charities and independent organizations — have engaged with unemployment and precarity. One should also focus on the organizations that speak and act on behalf of unemployed people and the precarious. While their members are not necessarily unemployed or precarious, these pro-beneficiary organizations take the fight against unemployment and precarity as their own main raison d’être. Their role is important, since the unemployed and the precarious themselves may be too “weak” to make their voice heard (Cinalli 2007; Giugni and Passy 2001).