For a long time, the origin of the term État-providence in French was ascribed to late Second Empire liberals who apparently coined it in a negative sense. In reality, though, the notion reaches further back to the generation of 1848, where it emerged as a response to working-class demands. Understood in this way, the expression regains its legitimacy.
Revisiting the history of the New Deal, Ira Katznelson argues that it was a key moment in the reinvention of American democracy. Placing the South and the Congress at the heart of his narrative, the American historian reconsiders a period about which everything seemed to have been said.
Clichés notwithstanding, the demise of the welfare state has been greatly exaggerated. Despite diverse interests, groups of capital and labor in rich countries, and other social actors have cohered in proclaiming that forces of globalization have undermined the viability of government social programs. The rub is that the actual effect of increased trade on social spending is not clear-cut. In fact, if the historical record is any indication, deeper trade integration and enhanced social policy have gone hand-in-hand.
How can we explain the fact that Northern European countries are remaining relatively untouched by the current crisis? Are the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish social democracies homogenous? Yohann Aucante outlines the various factors that created the Scandinavian-style welfare state and industrial democracy, while assessing the influence they have on the rest of Europe.
World War Two marked the beginning of a new relationship between state and society in America. Turning away from a focus on regulation and welfare, the new state based its vastly extended authority on warfare. A study by James Sparrow points to an unexpected explanation for this sea change in traditionally anti-statist America: mass compliance.
Is there still room for hope at the White House?
Finding the American state where historians never looked before: this could be the motto of the new history of the state, of which William Novak and James Sparrow are two of the strongest advocates. To capture the specificity of state formation in the U.S., they encourage historians to look at the mutual constitution of state and society, instead of taking their separation for granted. Their approach is key to understanding the current legitimation crisis undergone by the American state.
Liberty, equality, or fraternity between the generations — how should we think about “fair” transfers from one generation to the next? In a meticulous and bold essay, André Masson demonstrates that the French republican motto can be used as a key to the different theories that attempt to explain the ties between generations. He views his position as “upstream” of current debates about the emergence of and need for a reformulation of our public policies concerning intergenerational ties.
Julian Le Grand, professor of social policy at the London School of Economics and a former advisor to Tony Blair, assesses the New Labour record on welfare reform. According to him, it is necessary to keep on reforming public services by introducing more choice for users and competition between suppliers.
Isaac Martin gives us an account of the American welfare state, at a time when the current economic crisis seems to pave the way for a new New Deal. According to him, however, it is unlikely that the Democrats push back on the welfare reforms of the 1990s: despite their conservative origin, they have made some social and political progress possible.
The unfolding of the financial crisis and our attempts to keep it in check have spawned a new theme of debate: are we witnessing - to the joy of some and the horror of others - the return of the State? Bruno Bernardi wonders whether this is, in fact, an illusion preventing us from identifying the real issues emerging from these current shifts. Is this a further step towards society’s absorption by the market, or a global reconfiguration of our historical and political horizons?
Through a comparison between the paths taken by young people to reach adult life in a range of European countries, Cécile Van de Velde gives the sociology of youth a thorough makeover.
