This book analyses the dichotomy between the goal of social inclusion and the effect of social exclusion through over-indebtedness since 2008 in Europe. Filling a vital gap in the current literature on the effects of the financial and economic crisis, this volume puts into context academic discussion with the real-life dimension of over-indebtedness. Reports from six European countries provide socio-economic and legal information on over-indebtedness as well as the regulatory and judicial responses to the problems entailed by over-indebtedness. They form the empirical background for five analyses of different aspects of the inclusion-exclusion dichotomy. It becomes clear that in the context of credit expansion, individual over-indebtedness has turned into a social issue, which the current design of the consumer credit and mortgage system in Europe has helped to produce while disregarding the consequential danger of social exclusion.

Hans-W. Micklitz is Professor of Economic Law, European University Institute, Italy. He also holds the position of Jean Monnet Chair of Private Law and European Economic Law at the University of Bamberg, Germany. Irina Domurath is a PhD fellow at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland. She researches the interaction between risk, vulnerability, and over-indebtedness.

Consumer Debt and Social Exclusion in Europe