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Contradictions of Contemporary Social Welfare Agenda: National and International Perspectives
Abstract Submissions Closed
RC19 Sociology of Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
In today welfare states around the world, new forms of social services are arising with the essential consequences for people in need of social support and public help. The attempts by the state to make the system of social services more efficient and selective based on neoliberal ideology face strong paternalistic expectations of some most vulnerable groups and criticism from professionals. Often these contradictions are transformed and expressed in debates about left wing versus right-wing social policy, social programs for citizens versus refugees, and so on. Simultaneously, new social risks demand new modes of welfare production: social justice, social inclusion, equal opportunities, access to high quality education, and health care are in the focus of public and academics' discussions. Within these issues, justice-based arguments can be appropriate.
The questions to be discussed within this session are: What are the alternative concepts that can be used to think about welfare agencies and social well-being of individuals as well as to evaluate the options provided by the (welfare) state? What are the strengths and limitations of different approaches and discourses around the concept of welfare regime? How can they be used not only to compare societies but also to provide guidelines for “good” welfare policies? What are the theoretical and empirical findings as well as research projects dealing with the contradictions of neoliberalism and paternalism from national and/or international perspectives?
Submitted papers can present theoretical concerns, empirically based research, practical experiences, as well as examples of social welfare transformations and policy alternatives.
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