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During the past four years, the countries of the European periphery - the so-called PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) - have been experiencing an economic-financial crisis that can only be compared to the Great Depression. To solve the crisis, the EU and the IMF instituted bailout programs for the debit countries on conditions of austerity and structural reforms.In this volume 20 social scientists, using both theoretical and empirical tools, delve into the causes and the social impacts of this crisis. The volume also provides an excellent background for a better comprehension of the dynamics of structural and political changes now taking place within the European Union. The social impacts cover a range of consequences, including poverty, unemployment, anti-migrant attitudes, a decline of welfare and health indicators, post-traumatic stress disorders, national humiliation, political alienation and social protest. The authors analyse the "international" and the "domestic" causes of the crisis, while some of them underline the importance of both factors. In the concluding chapter, the editors undertake a synthesis of the previous chapters, and extract a number of policy recommendations that - if adopted - could transform the current financial crisis into a growth-opportunity for the European Union and its member states.