Most foreigners associate the Netherlands with wooden shoes, windmills, tulips and cheese.
In fact it is a very densely populated lowland, situated in the industrial heart of Europe, with a market economy and a modern welfare state. The permanent war against the water, that the Dutch had to wage in medieval times has been replaced by a permanent struggle to defend their welfare state against factors such as the tides of free market economies, individualism and the globalization of business. This book presents the legal aspects of this struggle. The author is professor of Labour and Social Security Law and Social Policy at the Tilburg University, the Netherlands.