The End of Welfare as We Know It?

During the last 30 years, the governments of many Western countries have repeatedly called for an end to welfare. While the virtue of this goal and the means of achieving it continue to be debated in politics, much of contemporary social science research assumes that, in fact, the end of the welfare state has already occurred. The authors of this volume hope to contribute to a clearer understanding of how, where and to what extent welfare state settings really have changed since the 1980s. Their work examines questions of change and continuity while exploring various welfare practices in the Western world.

Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandermann is a Professor of Social Pedagogy at the University of Trier, Germany.

Sozialstaatliche Praktiken sind in einem radikalen Wandel begriffen. Wer daraus lediglich ein Ende des Wohlfahrtsstaates ableitet, macht es sich aber zu einfach und entzieht sich der analytischen Verantwortung. Vielmehr kommt es darauf an, hinter die formalrechtlichen Fassaden zu blicken und die Auswirkungen konkreter Entwicklungen zu untersuchen, statt solche Praktiken durch die unreflektierte Reproduktion klassischer Theorien des Wohlfahrtsstaates zu verschleiern. Ein lohnendes Unterfangen! pw-portal.de, 30.04.2015 Obviously, this book is very useful to understand how the changing framework conditions enabled the European countries to adopt various welfare measures to address their social and economic crisis, evolved social policies and invented the solutions of social crisis in the values of social justice, social equality and social equal opportunities. These measures are important to foster the condition of human rights, democracy, social justice and stable peace. This book is highly useful for anyone interested in understanding the changing concept of welfare states as it is written by those who hold strong social conscience. New Spotlight 3/2014 In diesem nicht nur blockweise gespaltenen, sondern zudem auch durchaus verhärteten Forschungs- und Politikgebiet tut ein derart nüchtern und analytisch oftmals scharf argumentierender Herausgeberband, der sich auch nicht scheut, Kontinuitäten im Wandel zu betonen, schlicht und ergreifend gut. Maksim Hübenthal, In: EWR 13 (2014), Nr. 5

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