This book asks whether the European internal market has had a legitimate social impact; ie whether there has been constructive interplay between integration and social/non-market objectives.
Drawing on the historical insights of Karl Polanyi it argues that the internal market can only be held to be socially legitimate where it supports the requirement for further market integration while still responding to social practices and values within the member states.
In so doing, this important new study provides the language and tools for assessing the social legitimacy of the internal market.
