The Idea of Social Policy in Western Societies

Origins and Diversity

Bibliographic Data

ID7299084
AuthorsFranz-Xaver Kaufmann, Franz‐xaver Kaufmann (corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume3
Issue2
Publication date2013-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Social Quality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-0344 • E-ISSN: 1757-0352
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/ijsq.2013.030202
OpenAlexW2015991176
LanguageEN
Citations received7

Today, "social policy" is an expression used across the globe to denote a broad range of issues, such as old age security, health, housing and so on. But historically, "social policy" had a distinct European origin and a distinct meaning. I maintain that "social policy" and the "welfare state" are more than a list of social services, and also have strong socio-cultural underpinnings that account for the diversity of social policy. The idea of "social policy" emerged in mid-nineteenth-century Germany against the backdrop of secularization and functional differentiation of modern society. I then pinpoint the twentieth-century move from "social policy" to the broader cultural idea of a universalistic "welfare state." The idea emerged internationally as early as the 1940s, even before the post-WWII rise of national welfare states, which, as I argue, differ according to national notions of "state" and "society." To this end, I compare the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, and two non-welfare states, the United States and the Soviet Union

Diversity (politics · Economic policy · Economics · European union · Globe · Meaning (existential · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Secularization · Social policy · Social Welfare · Sociology · State (computer science · Welfare · Welfare state · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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