Books & ideas

What Non-Demand Demands

Philippe Warin — 2018-12-03T08:00:00Z

Non-take-up of social welfare can take several forms and can be explained in different ways but, according to Philippe Warin, it essentially conveys an expectation of justification levelled at the public authorities.

Basic Incomes

Clément Cadoret — 2017-08-28T07:00:00Z

Given the large number of social transfers that already exist in France, would a basic income provide a more efficient way of fighting poverty? To do so, it would have to be set high and supplement existing forms of social protection. On these grounds, Clément Cadoret questions this idea's financial and political feasibility.

The Soviet Union: A Shaky Welfare State

Grégory Dufaud — 2012-04-10T09:38:40Z

Though the Soviet system's ambitions were initially universalistic, the system of social protection that it established quickly proved discriminatory and insufficiently generous. In a recent book, Dorena Caroli uses social protection as a prism for considering the Soviet state's broader dysfunctions.

Comparing Social Protection in France and Germany

Jean-Claude Barbier & Matthias Knuth — 2011-02-21T10:20:24Z

Jean-Claude Barbier and Matthias Knuth analyze the evolution of the French and German social protection ‘models'. They assess the reforms centred on assistance and unemployment insurance, while situating these in the dynamic of a fundamental reform that is disrupting social protection right across Europe: namely, the “activation of social protection”.

The Social State and Globalization

Jean-Fabien Spitz — 2011-02-11T08:30:00Z

Does the globalization of the economy inevitably imply a lowering of our social protections? As Jean-Fabien Spitz shows, this would mean considering them as a mere luxury that we must give up during a period of crisis, whereas they are really and more deeply what gives a democratic society the basis for its own legitimacy.

China's Social Protection System of the Elderly

Nanzhi Wei — 2010-09-09T08:29:08Z

The modernization process China is undergoing has significantly affected the family system and the status of the Chinese elderly. The traditional social structure has been undermined and, as a result, the state's responsibility to ensure the welfare of the elderly has increased. This paper details the reasons for the emergence of the elaborate reform of the social protection system of the elderly that is under way and gives an insight into China's pension system.

Red Ribbon and Black Silence

Sylvie Laurent — 2008-10-02T10:54:36Z

How is it possible to talk about the ravages of AIDS on the Black population of the United States without leaving oneself open to being viewed as racist, moralizing or simply communitarian? Barack Obama says he is determined to engage the United States in the fight against this worldwide plague but has a hard time talking about AIDS as an American evil and even less so as an African-American one.