Revisiting the material from the Welfare and Values in Europe: Transitions Related to Religion, Minorities and Gender (WaVE) project in the months following Brexit is a sobering experience. WaVE ‘took off’ in 2006, two years after the most significant enlargement in the history of the EU, which was followed in 2007 by further expansion. These were days of optimism, confidence and growth both for the EU as a whole and for its constituent nations, sentiments expressed in economic, political and cultural life. A decade later, a very different picture is emerging in which the supposed dominance of Brussels is increasingly resented, where nationalist parties are becoming stronger almost by the day, and where migration is not only considered ‘out of control’, but also a security threat. As Effie Fokas has reminded us (p 261), right across Europe we have seen welfare systems build thick and exclusionary walls and value systems implode. The aspirations of WaVE – not to mention the values that it sought to unpack – are, it seems, in peril.

The contrast appears sharp, but the cracks were showing well before the end of the research period (2006-09); they were epitomised in the global financial crisis of 2008 that eroded almost overnight the confidence of previous decades. Austerity followed, more so in some places than others, bringing with it not only economic recession but also sharp reductions in welfare measures just when they were needed most. The debates surrounding the Greek case were particularly intense, as Grexit (the withdrawal of Greece from the Eurozone) became a real possibility. The full story lies beyond the scope of this Afterword, but its essence can be captured as follows, noting that perceptions count for as much as facts in these vignettes. From the Greek point of view, an over-mighty ‘Europe’ imposed stringent conditions on Greece in return for loans, without which the Greek economy could no longer function. That said, it could barely function anyway as unemployment soared, especially among the young. The population turned back to the family for support, often beyond what was reasonable, as meagre pensions were stretched to support several generations.