Two developments characterise current employment policies in Europe: First, a substantial shift from job protection to activation. Second, the invention of the European Employment Strategy (EES) constitutes a procedural shift but also allowed the EU to notably extend its activities into this field.

Against this background, the investigation is guided by two questions. First, what are the implications of this general reform-discourse for citizenship? And second, which role does the EES play in this process?

Motivated by a specific interest in the exclusionary elements of citizenship, the investigation focuses on the gender equality provisions of the EES and their reception in Germany, Hungary and the UK. It is assumed that the consequences of the twofold paradigm change will become particularly visible along this dimension.

Supervisors: Prof A Wiener, Dr A Baker