The battle of ideas in the European field: the combat to defeat unemployment and the struggle to give it a name

A key role in selecting and defining the notions underpinning labour and social policies has been taken up by the European institutions. It is argued in this article that there is a need, in analysing the ideas put forward by these institutions, to maintain, in parallel, a twofold analytical stance. While it is necessary to focus on the European institutions' preferred modes of governance in relation to employment and social questions, it is equally important to conduct a ‘meta-analysis’ of their policy formulations. Taking as a prime example the ambiguous and polyphonic notion of ‘flexicurity’, presented in the policy discourse as a response to the new challenges of work, this article discusses the new modes of governance proposed by the European institutions in relation to ‘the social question’.