Social Cohesion and Welfare States

Aiming to go beyond reiterating the stereotypical narrative of the rise of welfare states, this interdisciplinary book examines the long-run historical processes of the development of the welfare state. It focuses on the complex political, social, economic and institutional transformations which give rise to these peaceful and cohesive societies.Welfare is crucial to the story of peaceful social integration and this book explores and explains this vital connection, taking a non-linear view of the history of moving from fragmentation to peace with comprehensive welfare institutions. Chapters collectively focus on three central areas: (a) types of socio-political fragmentation, (b) the interconnection of social, political, and economic forces that led to the institutionalisation of integrationist processes and policies (including re-distributional welfare systems), and (c) how this new institutional development helped achieve, or failed to achieve, social peace and welfare. The international panel of expert contributors provide case studies from a rich variety of country contexts, including Germany, South Africa, the Netherlands, Austria, and the Nordic Countries.This thought-provoking collection of essays is well suited for advanced students and researchers in social history, economic history, political economy and social policy.Chapter 2 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Christopher Lloyd is Emeritus Professor of Economic History at the University of New England, Australia, was Guest Professor at the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Historical Research at the University of Tampere, Finland, and is now an adjunct professor in Social Science History at the University of Helsinki. His current interests include the history of democratic socialist regimes.Matti Hannikainen is Senior Researcher in the Finnish Labour Archives and an adjunct professor in Economic and Social History at the University of Helsinki. His current interests include the history of the Social Democratic Party in Finland. Hannikainen has also studied economic crises and the welfare state, especially the history of the Finnish pension scheme.