Extract of the Introduction

This publication focuses on the issue of household debt on the Southern and Eastern peripheries of Europe. We explore common patterns intending to understand what specific forms of household debt arise in these countries. Our claim is that relations of dependency between countries of the economic periphery and core of Europe also influence how household indebtedness unfolds in Southern and Eastern Europe. We aim to shed light on the changing institutional environment of household debt, and on the far-reaching, often unseen social consequences of household indebtedness.