This volume provides a comprehensive account of the European Union's social role in the world, assessing the EU's ability to shape the social aspect of globalization from both law and political science perspectives. Focusing explicitly on the EU, the authors address the extent of coherence between the Union's international social objectives compared with the activities of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and with other EU foreign policy goals.Various dimensions of Europe's global social role are addressed, including: the social dimension of EU trade relations; the involvement of civil society in EU development policies; the linkage between the EU's internal and external 'social model'; the export of Europe's social acquis through enlargement and neighbourhood policies; the EU's international position on health, gender equality, children's rights, and corporate social responsibility; and, the role of the Union in the ILO. The "European Union and the Social Dimension of Globalization" will be of strong interest to students and researchers in EU studies, Globalization studies, and Social Policy.