Markets and Moral Regulation: Cultural Change in the European Union

What effect is market integration having on national cultures and social policies? Paulette Kurzer examines Finnish and Swedish alcohol policy, Dutch drug decriminalization policy, and the Irish ban on abortion. She finds that regional integration is leading to adjustments that bring abortion, drug policy, and restrictive drinking measures into closer alignment within the EU. Kurzer's conclusion is that shifts in values and attitudes, affected in part by EU market integration, are bringing about a gradual convergence in morality norms.