GOVERNING SOLIDARITY IN EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKETS
Atypical Employment and Minimum Wage Reform in Spain and Portugal
Edited by Paulo Marques, Rui Branco, Óscar Molina and Renato Miguel Carmo
The new book Governing Solidarity in European Labour Markets: Atypical Employment and Minimum Wage Reform in Spain and Portugal (Routledge, 2026), co-edited by Óscar Molina, examines recent transformations in the Spanish and Portuguese labour markets in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis and the expansion of atypical forms of employment.
The volume explores why Spain and Portugal (two countries with similar structural characteristics) have followed different strategies to address labour market segmentation and job precariousness. Building on the distinction between inclusive and competitive solidarity, the book compares reforms and policies across four main areas:
- employment protection and collective bargaining,
- statutory minimum wages,
- the regulation of digital ride-hailing platforms,
- and the regularisation of precarious work in the public sector.
The research combines interviews with institutional actors, analysis of parliamentary debates, media coverage and official documentation to examine reforms implemented in Portugal (2015–2021) and Spain (2019–2025).
The book offers a new perspective on the relationship between political governance, social dialogue and labour inequalities, and will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in labour sociology, industrial relations and political economy.
📘Publication details:
- Publisher: Routledge
- Series: Routledge Studies in Labour Economics
- Year of publication: 2026
- DOI: 10.4324/9781003519874
- eBook ISBN: 9781003519874
- Open Access: disponible sota llicència CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
🔗 Acces the book:
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003519874
