Steffen Mau is Professor of Political Sociology and Comparative Social Research at the University of Bremen. His main fields of expertise are welfare state research, Europeanization, social inequality, transnationalization and border studies.Roland Verwiebe is Professor of Social Stratification Research and Quantitative Methods at the University of Vienna, Austria. He has extensive research experience in research on social inequality, migration, labour market and Europeanization.

"Occupies a unique niche in the market in presenting a student-friendly overview of contemporary Europe and the societies that comprise it ... Faculty and students in courses examining contemporary Europe and the politics of EU are sure to find this book a valuable tool." International Journal of Social Welfare

• Introduction and conceptual considerations; Part one: The European social model from a historical perspective: Commonalities and intra-European exchange; Socio-structural characteristics of European societies; Part two: European societies compared: Political-economic models and institutional arrangements; Population and family; Migration; Labour market and employment; Education; Social inequality; Quality of life; Part three: European integration and European society in the making: Institutional and political aspects of Europeanisation; The dynamics of inequality in Europe; Horizontal Europeanisation; Subjective Europeanisation; Conclusion: rise of a European society?