Welfare States in Transition: National Adaptations in Global Economies

By Gøsta Esping-Andersen

Published in Association with UNRISD, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development This wide-ranging comparative analysis of contemporary and future changes in welfare states examines the different trajectories of the welfare states of Europe, North America, the Antipodes, and the emerging scenarios in Latin America, East Asia, and central and eastern Europe. Leading experts from these regions explore the current structures of social protection, consider the causes of the current welfare state crisis, and highlight evolving trends for welfare policy. The emerging picture is one of varied policy choices in each region. Contributors argue that anxieties about population aging as a cause of welfare decline are exaggerated and that the key issue for welfare states is enabling women to work and form families simultaneously. They suggest that the neoliberal strategy of deregulation and heightened inequality is no real solution because its negative side effects. The authors conclude that a viable positive-sum solution would involve social investment strategies, offering guarantees against entrapment in poverty or low-paying jobs. Professionals and researchers in comparative social policy, sociology, economics and political science will find Welfare States in Transition an invaluable resource.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761950486
• ISBN13: 9780761950486
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

More Esping-Andersonesque Insight

While perhaps not as ambitious as "Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism", this volume is also less concerned to push a theory. Instead it takes a broad global view of Welfare States, not only in the rich western countries, but also in East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. This collection of essays again shows Esping-Anderson's (and his groupies') enviably clear understanding of why Welfare States behave the way they do. The prose is wonderfully clear through-and-through.