The Transformation of Solidarity Changing Risks and the Future of the Welfare State

• Other Authors: Achterberg, Peter (Editor), Yerkes, Mara (Editor), van der Veen, Romke (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam University Press 2012
• Series: Changing Welfare States
• Subjects: Sociology & anthropology; Social welfare & social services; Social security & welfare law; sociology; sociologie; Collective bargaining; Individualism; Job security; Labour economics; Netherlands; Social security; Welfare state; Workfare
• Online Access: OAPEN Library: download the publication; OAPEN Library: description of the publication

This study investigates the consequences of processes of social individualisation and economic globalisation for welfare state solidarity. Solidarity is defined as the willingness to share risks. The institutions of the welfare state, such as social security or health care insurance, are founded on the willingness of citizens to share risks and organize solidarity between the young and the old, between the healthy and the sick, between the working and the unemployed. Processes of individualisation and globalisation affect these risks and in this study the authors investigate how and to what extent these changes influence the way risks are perceived by the public, what this means for the willingness to share risks and how this is translated in risk management strategies in firms, unions and administrative agencies.

De literatuur over welvaartsstaten richt zich vaak op beleidsveranderingsprocessen en de mechanismen die deze veranderingen veroorzaken of tegenwerken. De werkelijke verandering wordt vaak geïnterpreteerd als gevolg van externe crises of als gevolg van de meer geleidelijke beleidsveranderingsprocessen. Dit boek heeft een ander uitgangspunt: de auteurs onderzoeken de bewering dat de sociale en economische veranderingen als gevolg van de overgang naar een postindustriële samenleving de sociale fundamenten van de verzorgingsstaat hebben verzwakt.