Back to Bourgeois? French social policy and the idea of solidarity

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the growing literature on the policy impact of ideas and related cultural and discursive processes by exploring the historical embeddedness of the idea of solidarity in French social policy debates.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a qualitative, historical approach that traces the development of – and the relationship between – policy ideas and social programs over time.

Findings

First, exploring the work of reformer and politician Léon Bourgeois, the paper investigates the emergence of this concept in nineteenth and early twentieth century France. Second, analyzing the work of centrist scholar and intellectual Pierre Rosanvallon, the paper studies the French debate on solidarity and welfare state reform in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Originality/value

At the broadest level, this paper shows that contemporary social policy debates are grounded in long‐term historical as well as cultural processes and repertoires. Policy ideas that acquire the status of culturally resonant “keywords” can have a long history, and tracing their development is necessary to illuminate the role of ideas in contemporary social policy change.

Citation

Béland, D. (2009), "Back to Bourgeois? French social policy and the idea of solidarity", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 29 No. 9/10, pp. 445-456. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330910986243