> What the Hartz reforms have actually effected is a
> massive army of underemployed working poor who no longer enjoy the same
> rights and civil liberties as normal citizens as beneficiaries of social
> transfer payments, and have a legal status not very far from serfdom.
Yes, this is true, Hartz was pure neoliberalism, a swinish and vile assault on working people - the worst effects are on immigrant communities, so the whole thing is legitimated via a nasty racism. That said, the EU welfare states (and the class struggles to defend them) are far from dead.
This should be a golden moment for Left organizing, though - US neoliberalism is committing world-historical suicide, and the Eurolibs who claimed Europe couldn't afford welfare states are suddenly clamoring for a bailout. I don't expect anything from the shambling political corpse of the SPD, but it might be possible to push the Greens and Left parties in a progressive direction.
-- DRR