Rethinking Gender, Work and Care in a New Europe ─ Theorising Markets and Societies in the Post-Postsocialist Era

Given the growing importance of Eastern European countries in the development of the EU, there is an urgent need to reconstruct the recent dynamic developments in women's work and care in these societies, and the socio-political determinants thereof. Considering their specific cultural, economic and historical development, it can be assumed that the trends and determinants of women's labour market trajectories in CEE countries differ significantly from those in the other European countries that have frequently made up the basis for established theories in social and labour market research. This being the case, can 'standard' theoretical approaches, mostly modelled on evidence from Western Europe, be transferred to the analysis of Eastern European countries? This edited collection scrutinises pivotal aspects of women's careers in Eastern Europe, providing a detailed overview of trends and determinants of women's employment in Eastern Europe, and reflecting critically on theoretical approaches in social and labour market research.

Triin Roosalu is Associate Professor and Researcher at the Institute of International and Social Studies, Tallinn University, Estonia.

Dirk Hofacker is Professor of Quantitative Social Research Methods at the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He specializes in internationally comparative social research.