The Context
The Context
How European Welfare States Have Responded to Post-Industrialism, Ageing Populations, and Populist Nationalism
Welfare states across Europe are changing: the future will not be like the past. This chapter examines the economic, social, and political challenges that have confronted European welfare states during the past fifteen years, including globalization and the post-industrial transformation, population ageing and shifts in family life, the ascendancy of neo-liberalism, and the growth of populist nationalism. It identifies new directions in policy: neo-liberal austerity; individual responsibility; neo-Keynesian interventionism; social investment; predistribution; fightback; and welfare chauvinism or protectionism. It argues that the European welfare state is undergoing radical transformation. Whether the European tradition of state intervention to meet the needs of citizens will survive in all countries is at present unclear.
Keywords: welfare state, austerity, individualism, social investment, protectionism, new social policies, Europe, welfare futures, EU, regimes
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