Since its birth, industrial capitalism has been punctuated by the need to find new ways to develop institutions that make the capitalist production process socially sustainable. These transitions are examined in the contemporary climate by a collection of world renowned thinkers.

Since its emergence at the end of the seventeenth century, industrial capitalism as a specific form of social organisation has set recurrent challenges to its own persistence, and until today, it has proved to be successful to develop new ways of accumulation based on its capacity of adaptation. Is this process of transition now accelerating or reaching an end point? This book is a critical exploration of capitalism in transition, bringing together cutting edge, world renowned scholars who reflect from different disciplinary points of view. This collection engages with the primarily Western themes of welfare capitalism and social fragmentation. Structured over three parts, the book analyses; the transformations of welfare societies and capitalism with a focus on South European welfare states and their (in)capacity to tackle poverty; the transformation of work and migration with a special attention to informality and the question of social rights; and the transformation of cities.

Framing the issues at stake1 Western capitalism in transition: global processes, local challenges – Alberta Andreotti, David Benassi, Yuri Kazepov2 A child of its times: the “new urban sociology” in context and its legacy – Michael HarloePart I: The transformations of global capitalism3 Abstract from the concrete: capitalism spiralling out of control – David Harvey4 Rethinking social reproduction in an era of the dominance of finance capital – Gavin Smith5 On the social (dis)embedding of the economy in a local context: where anthropology and sociology share metaphors as analytical tools – Simone GhezziPart II: Welfare capitalism and rights6 The underclass and international comparison, variety and universalism – Jean-Claude Barbier7 Welfare migration and civic stratification: Britain's emergent rights regime – Lydia Morris8 The Mediterranean welfare states between recalibration and change in the cultural paradigm – Nicola Negri and Chiara SaracenoPart III: Citizenship and migration9 Deconstructing labour demand: implications for low wage employment – Saskia Sassen10 International migrations and the Mediterranean – Enrico Pugliese11 Cities under economic austerity: the return of citizenship claims – Marisol GarcíaPart IV: Cities and urban transformations12 The sense of touch – Richard Sennett13 Urban disorder and the transformation of global governance – Sophie Body-Gendrot14 Urban political economy beyond convergence: robust but differentiated unequal European cities – Patrick Le GalèsPart V: Segregation and the spatial dimension of poverty15 The spatial dimension of poverty – Susan S. Fainstein and Norman Fainstein16 Urban segregation, inequalities and local welfare: the challenges of neoliberalisation – Marco Oberti and Edmond Préteceille17 Urban poverty and social cohesion: lessons from Naples – Enrica MorlicchioPerspectives on the future of western capitalism18 The double movement and the perspectives of contemporary capitalism – Enzo MingioneIndex

Since its emergence at the end of the seventeenth century, industrial capitalism as a specific form of social organisation has set recurrent challenges to its own persistence, and until today, it has proved to be successful to develop new ways of accumulation based on its capacity of adaptation. Is this process of transition now accelerating or reaching an end point? This book is a critical exploration of capitalism in transition, bringing together cutting edge, world renowned scholars who reflect from different disciplinary points of view. This collection engages with the primarily Western themes of welfare capitalism and social fragmentation. Structured over three parts, the book analyses; the transformations of welfare societies and capitalism with a focus on South European welfare states and their (in)capacity to tackle poverty; the transformation of work and migration with a special attention to informality and the question of social rights; and the transformation of cities.