Policy Press

Towards a Social Investment Welfare State?

Ideas, Policies and Challenges

Edited by Nathalie Morel, Bruno Palier and Joakim Palme

Published

Jul 1, 2012

Page count

400 pages

ISBN

978-1847429254

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Nov 30, 2011

Page count

400 pages

ISBN

978-1847429247

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
Towards a Social Investment Welfare State?

This book questions whether the recently promoted European 'social investment' strategy is able to regenerate the welfare state, promote social inclusion, create more and better jobs, and help address the challenges posed by the economic crisis, globalisation, ageing and climate change. To assess the diversity, achievements, shortcomings and potentials of social investment policies, it brings together some of the best social policy scholars and well-known policy experts, connecting academic and policy debates around the future of the welfare state.

Supported by the Nordic Center of Excellence NordWel and the EU funded Network of Excellence RECWOWE (Reconciling Work and Welfare).

"The first book that gives us a balanced and sophisticated analysis of what social investment policies entail and how they have been implemented across the advanced world. It will become the authoritative reference on welfare state reform for years to come... a must-read for any serious social policy course." Gøsta Esping-Andersen, Professor of Sociology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

"An original contribution that sheds light on the recent and current reform dynamics of welfare states. This book will enrich the public and academic debate substantially by inviting us all to reflect on how to tackle the present economic crisis and the way ahead, while also opening salient avenues to guide future research." Ana M. Guilln, Professor of Sociology, Universidad de Oviedo

"....of crucial relevance in this time of economic crisis." Ana M. Guillén, Professor of Sociology, University of Oviedo, Spain

Nathalie Morel is research associate at the Centre d'études européennes at Sciences Po, France. Her main research interest is comparative social policy, especially care policies.

Bruno Palier is CNRS research professor at Sciences Po, Centre d'études européennes. He has published extensively on welfare reforms in France and in Europe.

Joakim Palme is a social policy expert, professor at the Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden, and director of the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm.

Beyond the welfare state as we knew it? ~ Nathalie Morel, Bruno Palier, Joakim Palme; Part I: Towards a new social policy paradigm: Two or three waves of welfare state transformation? ~ Anton Hemerijck; Redesigning citizenship regimes after neoliberalism: moving towards social investment ~ Jane Jenson; Part II: Mapping the development of social investment policies: Towards social investment? Patterns of public policy in the OECD world ~ Rita Nikolai; Social investment or recommodification? Assessing the employment policies of the EU member states ~ Caroline de la Porte and Kerstin Jacobsson; Part III: Assessing the social investment policies: Promoting social investment through work-family policies: which nations do it and why? ~ Kimberly J. Morgan; Active labour market policy and social investment: a changing relationship ~ Giuliano Bonoli; Do social investment policies produce more and better jobs? ~ Moira Nelson and John D. Stephens; Social investment in the globalising learning economy: a European perspective ~ Bengt-Åke Lundvall and Edward Lorenz; Part IV: Meeting the challenges ahead?: Social investment in the ageing populations of Europe ~ Thomas Lindh; Aftershock: the post-crisis social investment welfare state in Europe ~ Patrick Diamond and Roger Liddle; Climate policy and the social investment approach: towards a European model for sustainable development ~ Lena Sommestad; From the Lisbon Strategy to EUROPE 2020 ~ Bengt-Åke Lundvall and Edward Lorenz; Social investment: a paradigm in search of a new economic model and political mobilization ~ Nathalie Morel, Bruno Palier, Joakim Palme.