After austerity
Welfare state transformation in Europe after the Great Recession
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9904942 |
|---|---|
| Authors | António Leitão (0000-0002-3768-048X, University of Coimbra, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 94 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 670-671 |
| Publication date | 2018-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | REVIEW |
| Review of | After Austerity: Welfare State Transformation in Europe after the Great Recession, Peter Taylor-Gooby, 2017 |
| Venue | International Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ia/iix283 |
| OpenAlex | W2799347551 |
| Language | EN |
After austerity provides an account of the changes to welfare systems in Europe provoked by the Great Recession. The edited volume is composed of a theoretical chapter, which presents a framework that is successfully applied to seven different and pertinent case-studies, and two final speculative chapters—on the European social dimension and ongoing trends in welfare policy, respectively. The editors argue that old cleavages and solidarities, especially class-based ones, are losing influence on welfare policy design. The argument's strength varies considerably depending on each case-study. However, the authors successfully demonstrate how social allegiances have been effectively changed by the international crisis and other trends—whether long-term ones, such as demographic or technological change, or short- and medium-term ones, including migration trends. This has effectively changed social allegiances, which in turn shaped welfare policy. They also argue that welfare policies remain essentially a national issue. Despite this, the volume does suggest that a common understanding of welfare policy is being developed at the European level—one that is neo-liberal in nature. This claim seems to be supported by welfare reforms promoted by the troika, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank within the eurozone. The theoretical and conceptual framework of analysis developed in chapter one by Taylor-Gooby, Leruth and Chung is strong and comprehensive. Constructed around major welfare models, it combines social and economic variables, which are complemented by Esping-Andersen's regime types and varieties of capitalism approaches. These provide helpful explanations on the specificities of the studied countries' welfare systems, as well as the effects, policy options, reforms and outcomes prompted by the international crisis. Furthermore, the editors' criteria for case-study selection are highly pertinent and provide diversity and richness while assuring overall coherence. In this respect, the volume is a brilliant work of comparative politics
Argument (complex analysis · Austerity · Economic system · Economics · European social model · Keynesian economics · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Recession · Social policy · Welfare · Welfare state · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Who's Afraid of the Welfare State Now?
Great Recession, great regression? The welfare state in the twenty-first century
Contesting neoliberalism
Recent advances in understanding welfare attitudes in Europe
Non-European Immigration, socio-economic benefits and dynamics of inclusion in Spain. Do immigrants consume a disproportionate share of Social Service benefits
Austerity as Bureaucratic Violence
A Comparative Regional Perspective on Alternative Action Organization Responses to the Economic Crisis Across Europe
Two decades after Korpi and Palme’s “paradox of redistribution
The social legitimacy of the universal basic income from a social justice perspective
Theorising French neoliberalism
A Comparative Analysis of People’s Views on Future Policies for Older People
Siblings caring for siblings with Intellectual Disabilities
Ageing with a learning disability
The state of the German social insurance state
The ‘two lives’ of Esping‐Andersen and the revival of a research programme
Exploring Differentiated Disintegration in a Post‐Brexit European Union
Fabricating the motivated client
To care for or to accompany? Determining factors for an inclusive work environment in Community Social Services of Andalusia (Spain)
Austerity as epiphenomenon? Public assets before and beyond 2008
Immigration and integration policy change in France during Sarkozy’s era
Variegated Anti-Austerity
Discarding social investment and redistribution in the name of austerity? The case of Finnish family policy reforms 2007—2015
Justifying pension reforms
Social workers
Austerity and the lives of people with learning disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature
A tall order. South European welfare states’ readiness for climate-adjusted social policy
Beyond 'feeding the crisis
How Brexit affects EU external action
| Highly cited | No |
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