§16§§§§The wide-ranging European perspectives brought together in this volume aim to analyse, by means of an interdisciplinary approach, the numerous implications of a massive shift in the conception of 'work' and the category of 'worker'. Changes in the production models, economic downturn and increasing digitalisation have triggered a breakdown in the terms and assumptions that previously defined and shaped the notion of employment. This has made it more difficult to discuss, and problematise, issues like vulnerability in employment in such terms as unfairness, inequality and inadequate protection. Taking the 'deconstruction of employment' as a central idea for theorising the phenomenon of work today, this volume explores the emergence of new semantic fields and territories for understanding and regulating employment. These new linguistic categories have implications beyond language alone: they reformulate the very concept of waged employment (including those aspects previo §16§usly considered intrinsic to the meaning of work and of being 'a worker'), along with other closely associated categories such as unemployment, self-employment, and inactivity.§§§§ §04§§§§1. Introduction: The Political Reinvention of Work in Times of Crisis; Amparo Serrano-Pascual 〓 Jan Drahokoupil 〓 Gerard Valenduc.- 4. The Deconstruction of Employment and the Crisis of Citizenship in Europe; Luis Enrique Alonso.- 5. The Decline of the Worker as Collective Subject, Vicente Sánchez Jiménez.- PART II: Blurring of Boundaries between Categories (Self-Employed Worker and Wage-Earner, Employment and Unemployment, Typical and Atypical Work, Formal and Informal Work).- 6. The Employment Relationship, Atypical Forms of Employment and Protection Standards in the European Union, Antonio Baylos.- 7. Self-Employmentand the Transformation of Employment Relationship in Europe; Alberto Riesco.- 8. The Blurring §04§of Employment Boundaries: A Social Economy Perspective; Sarah de Heusch.- 9. The Marketisation of Public Employment and Public Services and Its Impact on Civil Servants and Citizens; Jean Michel Bonvin.- PART III: The Redefinition of Work and Unemployment qua Reference Category.- 10. The Boundaries of Unemployment. Institutional Rules and Real-Life Experiences; Didier Demazière.- 11. Can We Still Speak the Language of Unemployment? Some Reflections Based On the French Experience; Michel Lallement.- 12. Counting Working Women in France: The Figures Are Political; Margaret Maruani 〓 Carlos Prieto 〓rezde Guzmán.- 14. Conclusions; Amparo Serrano-Pascual 〓§§ §02§§Amparo Serrano-Pascual is Professor of Sociology and Social Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. §§ §§Maria Jepsen is Director of Research at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Belgium, and Associate Professor of Labour Economics at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. §§ § §