Culture and Welfare State provides comparative studies on the interplay between cultural factors and welfare policies. Starting with an analysis of the historical and cultural foundations of Western European welfare states, reflected in the competing ideologies of liberalism, conservatism and socialism, the book goes on to compare the Western European welfare model to those in North America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Comprehensive and engaging, this volume examines not only the relationships between cultural change and welfare restructuring, taking empirical evidence from policy reforms in contemporary Europe, but also the popular legitimacy of welfare, focusing particularly on the underlying values, beliefs and attitudes of people in European countries.This book will be of great interest to sociologists and political scientists, as well as social policy experts interested in a cultural perspective on the welfare state.
Contents:
1. The Culture of the Welfare State: Historical and Theoretical Arguments
Wim van Oorschot, Michael Opielka and Birgit Pfau-Effinger
PART I: CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE WELFARE STATE: IDEAS OF THE GOOD SOCIETY
2. Liberalism, Citizenship and the Welfare State
Julia S. O'Connor and Gillian Robinson
3. Social Democratic Values in the European Welfare States
Steinar Stjernø
4. Conservatism and the Welfare State: Intervening to Preserve
Kees van Kersbergen and Monique Kremer
5. Christian Foundations of the Welfare State: Strong Cultural Values in Comparative Perspective
Michael Opielka
PART II: WORLDS OF WELFARE CULTURE
6. European and American Welfare Values: Case Studies in Cash Benefits Reform
Robert Walker
7. Is There a Specific East-Central European Welfare Culture?
Zsuzsa Ferge
8. Welfare Policy Reforms in Japan and Korea: Cultural and Institutional Factors
Ito Peng
PART III: CULTURAL CHANGE AND WELFARE REFORM
9. Cultural Change and Path Departure: The Example of Family Policies in Conservative Welfare States
Birgit Pfau-Effinger
10. Cultures of Activation: The Shifting Relationship between Income Maintenance and Employment Promotion in the Nordic Context
Bjørn Hvinden
11. Unsettled Attachments: National Identity, Citizenship and Welfare
John Clarke and Janet Fink
PART IV: POPULAR WELFARE VALUES AND BELIEFS
12. European Scope-of-Government Beliefs: The Impact of Individual, Regional and National Characteristics
John Gelissen
13. Popular Deservingness Perceptions and Conditionality of Solidarity in Europe
Wim van Oorschot
14. The Values of Work and Care Among Women in Modern Societies
Detlev Lück and Dirk Hofäcker
Index
