Christine Andre (CNRS-CEPREMAP, France)
E-Mail address: christine.andre@cepremap.cnrs.fr
The configurations of the Social State in Europe and their contemporary changes
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main evolutions of the configurations of the Social State in ten
European countries since twenty years. A configuration is defined by referring to the French "theorie de la
regulation". Two consequences ensue: the definition of the Social State must be a broad one, and
interrelations between the elements of the Social State, between the Social State and the different
components of its "context", and between the different components of this "context", must be taken into
account. These components refer to economic, political-administrative and social spheres, and to a
transversal field linked to norms-traditions-ideas. In a first part, the main changes in social interventions are
summarized for each field (pensions, health, family, assistance, unemployment, "active" emplyment policy)
in each country. The distinction of four classical clusters of Welfare State, usually defined by static
comparison, is maintained if we look at the way of changing of each cluster, though with some blurring
frontiers. In a second part, diagrams are drawn for representing the main characteristics of configurations of
each cluster at the beginning of the 1980s and then at the end of the 1990s. At last, the paper will end with
some reflections about the future problems of the Social State and about the possibility of giving them an
"European" solution.
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Artemio Baigorri/María del Mar Chaves (Universidad de Extremadura, Spain)
E-Mail address: giesyt@unex.es
Estado de Bienestar, alfabetización digital y vejez
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La presente comunicación tiene como objeto el análisis de las iniciativas, tanto públicas como privadas,
llevadas a cabo en Extremadura (España) que persiguen la integración social de los ancianos en la
Sociedad Telemática mediante el uso o aplicabilidad de las Nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y
Comunicación (NTIyC).
El Estado del Bienestar se basa en la universalización del acceso a determinados bienes, tanto
infraestructurales como culturales y personales (educación, sanidad, vivienda, etc). Sin embargo, asistimos
a cambios vertiginosos en el marco de la nueva Sociedad Telemática (impropiamente denominada Sociedad
de la Información); un número creciente de actividades societarias y servicios públicos se realizan de forma
telemática, tanto en la enseñanza como en la Sanidad, entre otros sectores. Por otra parte, los propios
avances tecnológicos aplicados a la medicina están cambiando el concepto de la ancianidad, en tanto que
mejora y alarga el proceso de envejecimiento en nuestras sociedades avanzadas. Sobre esta base parece
ineludible la necesidad de una ciudadanía digitalmente alfabetizada para que sea posible un uso pleno de
las citadas dotaciones.
Nuestra comunicación analiza, a partir de las experiencias mencionadas, la viabilidad de la integración
digital de la actual generación de mayores.
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Jens Beckert (International University Bremen, Germany)
E-Mail address: j.beckert@iu-bremen.de
Unearned Wealth. Discursive Structures and the Regulation of Wealth Transmission in France,
Germany and the United States
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The question how to regulate the bequest of wealth has been an issue of great controversy in modern
societies over the last 200 years. In this paper I analyze the discursive structures of inheritance law debates
in France, Germany and the United States. I argue in the first part that in each country a distinct sets of
issues and arguments have developed that exercise a dominant influence over the perception of the
problems associated with the transfer of wealth mortis causa and the strategies deemed feasible to solve
them. These culturally framed "notions of property" remain stable over long periods of time and shape
discourses on inheritance law. They equip actors with culturally legitimated patterns of justification for the
support or opposition to specific measures. In the second part of the paper I look at the actual development
of one important field of inheritance law, estate taxation. I will describe the enduring differences which
developed with regard to inheritance taxation and ask how this institutional development can be explained.
Considering the distinct discursive structure in each of the three countries, it is looked at the contribution of
the cultural frames to the legal changes. This shall help to analyze institutional development within a
pluralistic theoretical framework that acknowledges the influence of culture, but also considers functional
demands as well as economic and social interests.
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Nicole Bernier (University of Montreal, Canada)
E-Mail address: nf.bernier@umontreal.ca
Social Distribution of Time: Emerging Issues for Social Policy in Postindustrial Economies
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Several studies on the social impact of a guaranteed annual income indicate that the transformation of
production processes, the organization of work and working time, as well as the social distribution of work
and non-work time have profound implications for the distribution of personal security and well-being
across the working-class hierarchy and between men and women. This paper analyzes the evolving
relationship between production processes, personal security and social policy in postindustrial economies.
Drawing upon an extensive literature review, it analyzes how technological innovations and biological
transformations at the population-level (with unprecedented levels of both life expectancy and chronic
diseases) both contributed to the establishment of a new temporal order. The paper argues that, in
postindustrial societies, the concept of "social distribution" must be envisioned as comprising both
financial and temporal resources, as well as implying a redistribution of different combinations of those
resources throughout an individual's lifecycle. New state practices involving local-level, community actors
are increasingly relevant to designing and delivering social programs to accommodate the new temporal
order, in particular its need for custom-made solutions to ensure the security of the same individual at
different stages of her life-cycle as well as that of different individuals.
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LuÃsa Margarida Cagica Carvalho (Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal – Escola, Portugal)
E-Mail address: lcarvalho@esce.ips.pt
How could we equalise welfare? Rethinking Welfare State in Western Societies
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The objective of this paper is to discuss what to equalise: opportunity resources or welfare in western
societies. We aim to define equality and study the contributions of some distribution theories. Equality is a
fundamental right in western societies. However, this fundamental principle has not been addressed
equally around the world and the definition of the principle is subject to varying interpretations. In this
work, we look at some of the perspectives of distribution, and we will try to understand the value of each
one, in order to achieve a better comprehension of this multidimensional problem. We examine, too, the
egalitarian theory. Egalitarians believe that we should try to equalise welfare. But how could we equalise
welfare? We have some difficulties in doing it. The trade-off between efficiency and equity is one of them.
It is essencial for policy makers to be fully aware of profound and fat-reaching implications for society of
each strategies to achieve equality.
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Barbara Da Roit (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
E-Mail address: barbara.daroit@unimib.it
Women's participation in labour market, transformations in social policy and international migrations
of care workers. The Italian case in the context of the Southern European welfare systems
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European welfare systems are facing common tensions linked to labour market transformations, changes in
family structures and dynamics, the emergence of new social risks not covered by traditional social
policies. Furthermore the different features of welfare systems throughout Europe put forward a diverse set
of responses to such tensions.
Southern European countries are traditionally characterized by a low participation of women in the labour
market, a limited development of care services both in public and private sector and a high level of auto-
production of care services within families. The paper highlights the complex interplay between three
emerging phenomena in Southern European countries: the growing participation of women in labour
market, the nature and transformations of social policy and international migration flows linked to the
demand for health and social care. Mainly focusing on the Italian case, the paper addresses the question of
how and in which directions the welfare system is changing.
The analysis builds on different data sets and draws on both secondary analysis of existing quantitative data
and on qualitative interviews. It combines results from different research areas to address policy relevant
research questions, providing a multidimensional approach and interpretation of social transformations.
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Jerome Gautie/Bernard Gazier (Centres d'Etudes de l'Emploi/University of Paris I, France)
E-Mail address: jerome.gautie@ens.fr
Equipping markets for people, Transitional Labour Markets as the central part of a new social model
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Transitional Labour Markets (TLM) are mainly known as a labour market policy reform agenda :
organizing a systematic, negociated and secure set of transitions, in order to empower people and give them
access to better opportunities. However, TLM are also a reform perspective of the employment
relationship, and, beyond, of the whole Welfare Regime. In this contribution we argue that TLM constitute
the central part of an emergent social model: a new flexible and negociated socio-democratic model, that
can be opposed to the "social-liberal" model advocated by A.Giddens and Tony Blair, and promoted by the
"Asset Based Welfare" theory. If the motto of the social-liberal model is "equipping people for the
market", the new socio-democratic model has another motto: "equipping the market for people". Both the
central concepts of "employability", "empowerment", "lifelong learning", for instance, have different
meanings and contents in the TLM approach compared to the "social-liberal" one. Referring to Esping-
Andersen's typology, the TLM social model appears as quite the opposite of the "Anglo-saxon liberal"
model, and may represent, in one or several versions, a flexibilized transformation of both the "Nordic" and
the "Continental" models.
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Rebecca Givan (London School of Economics, United Kingdom)
E-Mail address: r.givan@lse.ac.uk
Public services, private profits? The case of Britain
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The principle of public services, funded by the state and free at the point of use has been a central tenet of
the British welfare state since 1945. However, since the Thatcherite reforms of the 1980s, the consensus
around this principle has crumbled. Private companies increasingly provide public services generating a
great deal of controversy. Critics have attacked private service providers on every issue, including the
quality of the services, the reaping of large profits, and the terms of employment for newly privatized
employees. I contend that the arguments around the private provision of public services have become
dogmatic rather than pragmatic. Both trade unions and business groups have taken firm stances on the
issue, grounded in the ideological underpinnings rather than the practical implications. Their polarized
viewpoints have made negotiated agreements almost impossible, leading to the unilateral imposition of
contracts in the face of strong union opposition. This dispute threatens the future of partnership
arrangements in the UK, and underlies most of the current industrial disputes in Britain. Using the example
of the Private Finance Initiative in the health sector, I examine the gap between the political wranglings and
the practical implications of the private provision of public services.
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Raimund Hasse (University of Aachen, Germany)
E-Mail address: raimund.hasse@soziologie.rwth-aachen.de
The realignment of welfare politics: transnationally tuned and organizationally mediated
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Until the end of the 1970s welfare politics appeared to be an expanding system of service delivery. Ever
since in all developed countries a search for reforms is to be found which is characterized by issues of cost
reduction and efficiency. This realignment can be deduced from institutional processes such as the
strengthening of a transnational frame of reference and the growth of competition in those organizational
fields which can give welfare politics a push forward. As a consequence of these changes, the willingness
to adapt to general recommendations and to implement reforms taken from other political systems has
increased. Institutional change thus does translate a variable into political systems which is neglected
otherwise: the development of other welfare states.
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Dale Kabasinskaite (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania)
E-Mail address: Dale_Kabasinskaite@fc.vdu.lt
The Development of the Lithuanian Welface State from the Perspective of Children's Policy
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The aim of the paper is to describe welfare regime of Lithuanian from the perspective of children's policy.
The perspective of children's policy based on the principles of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) serves as an indicator for analyses, which aim at showing whether children as a group
participate in the distribution of societal resources. There is a need to revise the role of the state, the family
and the market in providing children with resources and services as a group and autonomous individuals,
when children are conventionally perceived as dependent family members.
The countries of Europe are implementing the CRC under different conditions. When Western countries
have already developed to different models of welfare states, Central and Eastern Europe are in the process
of establishment of their welfare states. Lithuania is among them. Therefore the paper will analyse legal
and institutional issues related to the implementation on the CRC in Lithuania and compare Lithuanian
children's policy to six developed European welfare states. The comparison is based on Esping-Andersen's
typology of welfare regimes.
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Lane Kenworthy (Emory University, USA)
E-Mail address: lkenwor@emory.edu
The Welfare State and Absolute Poverty
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Welfare state supporters typically contend that social-welfare programs reduce poverty. Critics argue that,
over time, such programs instead may increase poverty by inhibiting growth of economic output and/or
employment. A number of recent cross-country empirical studies have found that welfare state generosity is
strongly associated with low relative poverty, but there has been virtually no cross-national analysis of
welfare state effects on absolute poverty, which is at the heart of the critics' argument. This paper uses
Luxembourg Income Study data to examine the relationship between welfare states and absolute poverty
for working-age households in Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States
from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. Consistent with the critics' charge, there is an association across
these five countries between welfare state generosity and rising pretax-pretransfer absolute poverty. Yet the
largest decline in posttax-posttransfer absolute poverty during this period, and the lowest level as of the
mid-1990s, were found in Sweden, the country with by far the most generous welfare state. Canada's
superior performance relative to the United States also suggests that social-welfare policies can help to
reduce absolute poverty.
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Joya Misra (University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA)
E-Mail address: misra@soc.umass.edu
Welfare State Restructuring and the Division of Care
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Welfare state restructuring has led to a decline in both social spending and social care services in a wide
variety of nations. States have both increasingly thrust care provision to private, non-profit, and voluntary
sectors, while also "marketizing" state provision of care. In particular, states have increasingly supported
individualized caring, through policies that provide benefits or support to encourage families to hire
individual caregivers. The impact of such policies varies depending on context. However, there is less of
an emphasis on maintaining a certain quality of care or ensuring good working conditions for caregivers
than in systems focused on state provision of care. One result of these changing policies is the increased
use of immigrant and ethnic minority women workers to fill these often low-paid caregiving positions.
This paper builds from the literature on welfare state restructuring, but also includes insights from
literatures on immigration and carework to explore how welfare state policies support a division of care
that is reliant on racial and ethnic minority women workers. Recent welfare state restructuring reinforces
gender, racial/ethnic, and class inequalities in a wide variety of ways.
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James S. Mosher (Ohio University, USA)
E-Mail address: mosherj@ohio.edu
Welfare State Redistribution and Trade Openness
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It has been argued that small open economies develop large, redistributive welfare states that promote
equality to compensate for the increased economic instability and uncertainty that smallness and openness
produce. This argument has been refined by some who argue that only trade volatility produces political
demands for redistributive welfare state compensation and that although trade volatility often occurs with
high levels of trade openness this is not always the case. Others have challenged the link between trade
openness/volatility and large welfare state. They argue that the volatility that produces large welfare states
is from domestic and not international sources. This paper uses a new statistical technique to explore the
causal linkages between the welfare state redistribution, trade, and the domestic economy. It will help
arbitrate whether the correlation between trade openness and large welfare states is from domestic or
international origins.
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Eri Noguchi/Michael Lewis (Columbia University/SUNY Stonybrook, USA)
E-Mail address: en16@columbia.edu/mlewis@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
An Exploratory Study of the Determinants of Civic Participation
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This paper will explore the factors that affect civic participation, defined as people's propensity toward
becoming actively involved in community-based efforts, either as volunteers in community service
endeavors such as local fire departments, tenants or block associations, charities, and even community
policing units, as members of parent associations in local schools, as volunteers in local political
organizations, as volunteer activists in various cause-based groups (i.e. environmentalists), or even in
election campaigns and voter registration drives. While this study will consider a wide variety of
determinants, including gender, race, income, occupational status, educational level, socioeconomic
background, special characteristics of the locale in which individuals reside, especially vis a vis
opportunities for voluntarism and activism, special attention will be paid to the relationship between non-
earned income, especially government-based income transfer policies and the propensity of individuals
toward civic participation. The paper will begin by presenting a review of the theoretical literature relevant
to this topic area, the factors that have been found to affect civic participation in past research, and some
preliminary evidence based on interviews with directors of local charities and community groups as well as
existing survey data on this topic.
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Jurgen De Wispelaere/Lindsay Stirton (London School of Economics/University of East Anglia,
United Kingdom)
E-Mail address: j.de-wispelaere@lse.ac.uk
The Administration of Universal Tax Credits
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The normative literature on welfare reform devotes much effort into exploring under what conditions
universal welfare policies should replace the complex mixture of selective measures currently in place in
most welfare states. In this paper we add to this literature by looking at the administration of universal tax
credit policies. It is argued that an essential component in guiding the choice of a particular universal tax
credit system is the administrative capacity of the policy environment to incorporate a number of key
creditability conditions. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for
systematically comparing different creditability conditions (based on Christopher Hood's model of
'taxability') and evaluating the administrability of various tax credit proposals. In addition, we build a case
for the need to explore the administration of universal tax credits comparatively within different credit
regimes.
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