Franz Xaver Kaufmann Boeken

While social welfare programs, often inspired by international organizations, are spreading throughout the world, the more far-reaching notion of governmental responsibility for the basic well-being of all members of a political society is not, although it remains a feature of Europe and the former British Commonwealth. The welfare state in the European sense is not simply an administrative arrangement of various measures of social protection but a political project embedded in distinct cultural traditions. Offering the first accessible account in English of the historical development of the European idea of the welfare state, this book reviews the intellectual foundations which underpinned the road towards the European welfare state, formulates some basic concepts for its understanding, and highlights the differences in the underlying structural and philosophical conditions between continental Europe and the English-speaking world.

In the burgeoning literature on welfare regimes and typologies, this comparative study offers a stimulating new perspective. Kaufmann, the doyen of the sociology of social policy in Germany, emphasizes norms, culture and history, in contrast to political economy approaches. Comparing Britain, Sweden, France and Germany, Kaufmann highlights the „idiosyncrasy” of each welfare countries are compared with regard to their state traditions and the relationship between state and civil society; their national “social questions”; their economic systems, including the unions and labour law; social security and redistribution; and their personal social services and education. The socio-cultural approach enables Kaufmann to show that not all modern states are welfare states. Some are just „capitalism“ (the USA), others are „socialism“ (the former Soviet Union). In this light, the (essentially North-West European) welfare state is portrayed as a third way between capitalism and socialism.

The book traces the political history of the concept of social policy. „Social policy“ originated in Germany in the mid 19th century as a scholarly term that made a career in politics. The term became more prominent only after World War II. Kaufmann, the doyen of the sociology of social policy in Germany, argues that „social policy“ responds to the modern disjunction between “state” and “society” diagnosed by the German philosopher Hegel. Hegel’s disciple Lorenz von Stein saw social policy as a means to pacify the capitalist class conflict. After World War II, social policy expanded in an unprecedented way, changing its character in the process. Social policy turned from class politics into a policy for the whole population, with new concepts – like "social security", "redistribution" and "quality of life" - and new overarching formulas, "social market economy" and "social state" (the German version of “welfare state”). Both formulas have remained indeterminate and contested, indicating the inherent openness of the idea of the “social”.

Der Sozialstaat ist in Bedrängnis geraten. In der Publizistik und der Polititik wächst die Meinung, die Folgen der Globalisierung und die Probleme des Standortes Deutschland ließen sich nur durch einen Abbau sozialstaatlicher Vorkehrungen in den Griff bekommen. Gesetze und Gesetzesentwürfe zielen in diese Richtung. Im vorliegenden Buch analysiert Franz-Xaver Kaufmann umfassend und prägnant die aktuellen Herausforderungen, von der Bevölkerungsentwicklung bis zum Verlust wirtschaftspolitischer Autonomie. Gleichzeitig warnt er vor kurzschlüssigen Verengungen der Probleme auf das Wirtschaftliche und verdeutlicht den unverzichtbaren Eigenwert der Sozialstaatlichkeit, die allerdings nur durch nachhaltige Umstrukturierung ihre zukünftige Aufgaben wird erfüllen können.

Die Vielfalt nationaler Entwicklungen im Sozialwesen sowie die daraus resultierenden Modelle wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Traditionsbildung werden in sechs eigenständigen, vergleichend aufgebauten Studien zur Sowjetunion, den Vereinigten Staaten, Großbritannien, Schweden, Frankreich und Deutschland nachgezeichnet. Vergleichsdimensionen sind: das Verhältnis von Staat und Gesellschaft, Wirtschaftssystem und industrielle Beziehungen, Leitprobleme der jeweiligen Sozialpolitik, Einkommenssicherungssysteme und soziale Dienste. Das Werk stellt eine ergänzte Version der im Rahmen der Geschichte der Sozialpolitik seit 1945, Bd. 1: Grundlagen der Sozialpolitik (2001) erschienenen Abhandlung dar und eignet sich auch als Einführung in diese komplexe Materie.