The years 2008 and 2009 will definitely go down in the history books as years of global crisis. The credit crunch had and still has a huge impact on our economies and the way we look at the role of our governments. Banks collapsed or had to be saved with enormous amounts of taxpayers money, millions of people over Europe lost their jobs as a result of the crunch, governments debts skyrocketed and even some seemingly prosperous countries were forced to ask for IMF loans. At first sight it seems that the crisis brought nothing but misery. But is this really the case? Or did the crisis also offered us chances for new policies, new ideas and new possibilities?
During 2009 the treaty of Lisbon was ratified in almost all the EU member states. Would this have been possible without the crisis? And how did the credit crunch influence European cooperation in dealing with European problems? Did it intensify the integration of the EU or caused it disintegration? What new developments can be distinguished that are fueled by the crunch? What is its influence on European social policy? These, and many other questions will be the centre of the 2010 Inclusion and Exclusion in contemporary European societies and can be captured in the theme of the course: Chances in Crises.