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Book part
Publication date: 31 March 2010

Paul Milbourne

The welfare state is certainly paradoxical. On the one hand, it is extraordinary mundane, concerned with the minutiae of the pension and benefit rights of millions of citizens. On…

Abstract

The welfare state is certainly paradoxical. On the one hand, it is extraordinary mundane, concerned with the minutiae of the pension and benefit rights of millions of citizens. On the other, the sheer scale of its growth is one of the most remarkable features of the post-war capitalist world and it remains on of the dominant, if sometimes unnoticed, institutions of the modern world. (Pierson, 1998, p. 208)

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Welfare Reform in Rural Places: Comparative Perspectives
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-919-0

Book part
Publication date: 29 October 2003

Michael Bommes

Samuel Huntington’s vision in the early 1990s of a “clash of civilizations” struck a chord to such an extent that his core theme was reignited after the attacks of September 11th…

Abstract

Samuel Huntington’s vision in the early 1990s of a “clash of civilizations” struck a chord to such an extent that his core theme was reignited after the attacks of September 11th. International migration seems to be viewed as an issue that signifies this so-called clash (Bade & Bommes, 1996). Migration, culture, ethnicity and conflict have become linked. The result is that conflicts arising from migration are more likely to be seen as an outcome of the multiplication of different cultures within one country. Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands and Switzerland have all been described as multicultural societies and advised to pay attention to this “fact.” This has been combined with the view that even if there was no road to multiculturalism without social conflicts, there was also no viable alternative to tolerance as a device for the interaction of cultures (Leggewie, 1990).

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Multicultural Challenge
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-064-7

Book part
Publication date: 19 July 2021

Marco Brydolf-Horwitz and Katherine Beckett

A growing body of work suggests that welfare and punishment should be understood as alternative, yet interconnected ways of governing poor and marginalized populations. While…

Abstract

A growing body of work suggests that welfare and punishment should be understood as alternative, yet interconnected ways of governing poor and marginalized populations. While there is considerable evidence of a punitive turn in welfare and penal institutions over the past half century, recent studies show that welfare and carceral institutions increasingly comanage millions of people caught at the intersection of the welfare and penal sectors. The growth of “mass supervision” and the expansion of the social services sector help explain the blurring of welfare and punishment in the United States in daily practice. We suggest that these developments complicate the idea of an institutional trade-off and contend that welfare and punishment are best understood along a continuum of state management in which poor and socially marginalized populations are subjected to varying degrees of support, surveillance, and sanction. In presenting the punishment–welfare continuum, we pay particular attention to the “murky middle” between the two spheres: an interinstitutional space that has emerged in the context of mass supervision and a social services–centric safety net. We show that people caught in the “murky middle” receive some social supports and services, but also face pervasive surveillance and control and must adapt to the tangle of obligations and requirements in ways that both extend punishment and limit their ability to successfully participate in mainstream institutions.

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The Politics of Inequality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-363-0

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1994

On‐Kwok Lai

Examines the relationship between public welfare and the pursuit ofhappiness via a discussion on the conception on public welfare provisionand the way in which it is received as…

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Abstract

Examines the relationship between public welfare and the pursuit of happiness via a discussion on the conception on public welfare provision and the way in which it is received as consumption. Introduces concepts on organized welfare and positions individual happiness in the realm of consumption, and argues that state‐organized welfare polity has unintentionally expanded the scope of and expectation of citizens on consumption. Outlines the critics on welfare state provision. Argues for a conceptualization of happiness with reference to the mode of welfare consumption. In spite of problems relating to the welfare state, collective consumption has provided both symbolic and material goods through which a new set of consumption relations is developed. Ends with remarks on the implication of welfare consumerism in creating the social identity of citizen‐consumers and happiness in the coming modernity.

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International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 31 December 1988

Seppo Pöntinen

The economic depression of the mid‐1970s gave reasons to question many presuppositions taken almost for granted earlier. This was the case with the welfare state too, which was…

Abstract

The economic depression of the mid‐1970s gave reasons to question many presuppositions taken almost for granted earlier. This was the case with the welfare state too, which was seen to be in crisis. This study focuses on one particular aspect of the welfare state, namely, its acceptability or legitimacy among the citizens of Finland.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 8 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

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Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Changhwan Shin

With the aim of finding a balance between social and economic benefits, the social economy has reemerged in the crisis of the welfare state. The Fordist welfare state can be…

2290

Abstract

Purpose

With the aim of finding a balance between social and economic benefits, the social economy has reemerged in the crisis of the welfare state. The Fordist welfare state can be characterized by state-provided welfare, the mediation of paid work and welfare by the labor market and redistributive policies. Globally, neoliberalism and the market have given rise to social exclusion; in this context, the social economy is emerging as an alternative to the market domination of societies. This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework of welfare provision in an open innovation era.

Design/methodology/approach

The welfare state system between the Fordist welfare state and post-Fordist welfare state is different on provision and delivery of welfare service. To construct the conceptual relation among the social economy, the state and the market and welfare provision in the social economy, this study mainly used the literature review.

Findings

Attention should be paid to civil society at the local level to ignite social economy through open social innovation. Various social actors in the local community need to change and develop the social economy with collaborative entrepreneurship and collaborative economic mindsets.

Research limitation/implications

This paper presents the welfare service model led by social economy and open innovation, as well as social change. To fill the shortage of welfare provision caused by crisis of the welfare state, social economy is considered as an alternative for neo-liberalism. This study emphasizes that endogenous local development is a prerequisite for social economy as a welfare supplier.

Practical implications

In the social economy, reciprocity, democracy, self-help and social capital at the local level are emphasized. Also, open innovation put emphasis on collaboration economy among the local community, firms and the public sector: this emphasis can be expected to affect the welfare provision system and the social relations surrounding welfare. To address social problem and social needs, the social economy can adapt and apply the open innovation model.

Originality/value

The previous researches on open innovation mainly deal with the business sector and the public sector, but this paper has a focus on the relation between provision of social welfare and social innovation. The social economy is likely to function properly on the foundation of open social innovation.

Details

Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2012

Jonathan H. Westover

The vast cross‐disciplinary literature exploring work quality and job satisfaction has linked worker experiences to many individual, organizational, and social outcomes, yet this…

1921

Abstract

Purpose

The vast cross‐disciplinary literature exploring work quality and job satisfaction has linked worker experiences to many individual, organizational, and social outcomes, yet this research has largely failed to shed much light on why cross‐national differences in worker satisfaction and its determinants persist over time. The purpose of this paper to: empirically test (using various bivariate descriptive procedures and comparative OLS regression) significant, cross‐national differences in job satisfaction and its determinants; and explore the reasons for these cross‐national differences, moving beyond the research of social psychologists and organizational behavior researchers, to also include import macro cross‐national factors that directly influence these differences.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, the author applies and extends Handel's Post and Neo‐Fordist framework for understanding job characteristics and job satisfaction, using non‐panel longitudinal data from the International Social Survey Program (Work Orientations I, II, and III:, 1989, 1997, 2005 – survey questions on job characteristics and job quality) and various welfare state country‐contextual variables.

Findings

OLS regression results of job satisfaction by country show that for countries with relative higher levels of welfare state safety net provisions, intrinsic work characteristics provide greater overall predictability in overall perceived job satisfaction. Once more, extrinsic work characteristics generally have greater salience and predictability in overall perceived job satisfaction in countries relatively lower levels of welfare state safety net provisions. Furthermore, the results clearly show that regardless of country level of welfare state safety net provisions, intrinsic work characteristics add the most overall predictability to perceived job satisfaction of workers within the study countries. Finally, an often accepted job satisfaction model, commonly considered to be widely generalizable across a wide variety of cross‐cultural and cross‐national contexts, actually appears to have a lack of applicability across countries.

Originality/value

What are the key country‐level contextual and global‐macro variables driving these country differences in job characteristics and perceived worker satisfaction? Prior research could not answer this question. However, this research is the first and only empirical inquiry to look at the relationship between macro welfare state country‐contextual factors and job satisfaction. Like many work attitudes, job satisfaction is a dynamic construct that changes in response to personal and environmental conditions. Finally, monitoring job satisfaction over time and in different contexts allows one to better examine and understand the salient factors that affect job satisfaction.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 39 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Robin Stryker

Introduces a special issue on globalization and the welfare state. Asserts that economic globalization constrains national economic and social policy far more now than ever…

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Abstract

Introduces a special issue on globalization and the welfare state. Asserts that economic globalization constrains national economic and social policy far more now than ever before, although the level of international trade has not increased that much compared to levels at the beginning of this century. Talks about the political consequences of economic globalization, particularly welfare state retrenchment in the advanced capitalist world. Outlines the papers included in this issue – comparing welfare system changes in Sweden, the UK and the USA; urban bias in state policy‐making in Mexico; and the developing of the Israeli welfare state. Concludes that economic globalization has a limited effect in shaping social welfare policy in advanced capitalist countries; nevertheless, recommends further research into which aspects of economic globalization shape social welfare policy.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 18 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2022

Filip Chybalski, Agnes Orosz and Radosław Kurach

The article examines the interplay between welfare state regimes and the distribution of welfare between generations.

Abstract

Purpose

The article examines the interplay between welfare state regimes and the distribution of welfare between generations.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from 2017 for 24 European countries on six standard of living dimensions, the authors investigate the intergenerational welfare distribution in a two-stage procedure: (1) the authors compare the intergenerational welfare distribution across welfare state regimes using their existing typologies and find a moderate nexus. Therefore, (2) the authors employ clustering procedure to look for a new classification that would better reflect the cross-country variation in the intergenerational welfare division.

Findings

The authors find a complex relationship between the welfare state model and welfare distribution across generations and identify the policy patterns that shape it. Continental and liberal regimes are quite similar in these terms and favour the elderly generation. Social-democratic and CEE regimes seem to be a bit more balanced. COVID-19 pandemic will probably increase the intergenerational imbalance in terms of welfare distribution in favour of the elderly.

Originality/value

In contrast to the majority of previous studies, which employ inputs (social expenditures) or outputs (benefits, incomes), the authors use intergenerational balance indicators reflecting living conditions of a given generation as compared to the reference point defined as an average situation of all generations.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 43 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 February 2022

Peter Triantafillou, Andreas Hagedorn Krogh and Annika Agger

In the twenty-first century, societies around the world are facing a wide range of daunting global mega-challenges: poverty, unemployment, income inequality, unequal distribution…

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, societies around the world are facing a wide range of daunting global mega-challenges: poverty, unemployment, income inequality, unequal distribution of political power, ageing populations, uncontrolled migration, segregated urbanisation, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and a massive decrease in biodiversity. In recent years, politicians, journalists and academic observers have singled out the Nordic countries, Denmark in particular, as model societies of trusting and happy people that have handled many of these challenges with remarkable effectiveness. And yet others warn against ‘becoming Denmark,’ painting a picture of a dysfunctional, socialist nightmare with high taxes, low job motivation and a general lack of private initiative. In this introductory chapter, the editors cut through the noise of the international debate and set the scene for the nuanced analyses presented here of contemporary public governance in Demark and its capacity to tackle some of the most pressing problems of our time. Specifically, the chapter discusses various conceptualisations of the Danish welfare state, delineates some of its most important historical and structural traits and outlines the main empirical features of contemporary Danish public governance. Finally, it outlines the structure of the book and briefly introduces each of its subsequent chapters.

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