The Scandinavian Origins of the Social Interpretation of the Welfare State
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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ANO | 1989 |
TIPO | Artigo |
PERIÓDICO | Comparative Studies in Society and History |
ISSN | 0010-4175 |
E-ISSN | 1475-2999 |
EDITORA | Cambridge University Press |
DOI | 10.1017/s0010417500015644 |
CITAÇÕES | 3 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
MD5 |
69832318b1f2ea6df1f2e7135d51da41
|
Resumo
If a question can bemal posée, surely an interpretation can bemal étendue. This has been the fate of the social interpretation of the welfare state. The cousin of social theories of bourgeois revolution, the social interpretation of the welfare state is part of a broader conception of the course of modern European history that until recently has laid claim to the status of a standard. The social interpretation sees the welfare states of certain countries as a victory for the working class and confirmation of the ability of its political representatives on the Left to use universalist, egalitarian, solidaristic measures of social policy on behalf of the least advantaged. Because the poor and the working class were groups that overlapped during the initial development of the welfare state, social policy was linked with the worker's needs. Faced with the ever-present probability of immiseration, the proletariat championed the cause of all needy and developed more pronounced sentiments of solidarity than other classes. Where it achieved sufficient power, the privileged classes were forced to consent to measures that apportioned the cost of risks among all, helping those buffeted by fate and social injustice at the expense of those docked in safe berths.