Welfare as a means for political stability : a law and society analysis
(2012) In European Journal of Social Security 14(2). p.64-85- Abstract
- There have been extensive discussions in academic circles of why some countries develop into welfare states while others do not. Two main factors mentioned in these discussions are economic growth and the need for political stability. In these discussions, the example
of Sweden, where the welfare state allegedly emerged from a ‘culture of consensus’, has often been treated as an historic exception. In this article we discuss the relevance of the two main factors suggested in the literature, and investigate whether Sweden is a rare
case of a country where welfare arose out of a culture of consensus or if welfare in Sweden emerged as a product of strategies that aimed at promoting political stability, and thereby followed a... (More) - There have been extensive discussions in academic circles of why some countries develop into welfare states while others do not. Two main factors mentioned in these discussions are economic growth and the need for political stability. In these discussions, the example
of Sweden, where the welfare state allegedly emerged from a ‘culture of consensus’, has often been treated as an historic exception. In this article we discuss the relevance of the two main factors suggested in the literature, and investigate whether Sweden is a rare
case of a country where welfare arose out of a culture of consensus or if welfare in Sweden emerged as a product of strategies that aimed at promoting political stability, and thereby followed a similar pattern to other Western European countries. In undertaking this
task, we have conducted a review of the literature and used Migdal’s ‘state-in-society’ perspective and the ‘institutional approach’ as a theoretical framework. Our results can be summarised under three headings: (a) until the mid-twentieth century, Sweden was a highly unstable, conflict-ridden class society, and thereby a followed similar pattern to other Western European countries; (b) welfare reforms in Sweden were introduced as a means of addressing political and social instability; (c) Sweden is therefore no exception
to the theory that deep political crises trigger welfare reforms. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2967939
- author
- Svensson, Måns LU ; Urinboyev, Rustamjon LU and Åström, Karsten LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2012
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- labour history, law and society, political stability, social policy, Sweden, welfare
- in
- European Journal of Social Security
- volume
- 14
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 64 - 85
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84938722047
- ISSN
- 1388-2627
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1feda89c-e898-4bd4-b4c7-906b7109793b (old id 2967939)
- alternative location
- http://www.ejss.eu/table_of_content.aspx?sy=2012&pn=2
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:26:01
- date last changed
- 2022-02-19 05:27:58
@article{1feda89c-e898-4bd4-b4c7-906b7109793b,
abstract = {{There have been extensive discussions in academic circles of why some countries develop into welfare states while others do not. Two main factors mentioned in these discussions are economic growth and the need for political stability. In these discussions, the example<br/><br>
of Sweden, where the welfare state allegedly emerged from a ‘culture of consensus’, has often been treated as an historic exception. In this article we discuss the relevance of the two main factors suggested in the literature, and investigate whether Sweden is a rare<br/><br>
case of a country where welfare arose out of a culture of consensus or if welfare in Sweden emerged as a product of strategies that aimed at promoting political stability, and thereby followed a similar pattern to other Western European countries. In undertaking this<br/><br>
task, we have conducted a review of the literature and used Migdal’s ‘state-in-society’ perspective and the ‘institutional approach’ as a theoretical framework. Our results can be summarised under three headings: (a) until the mid-twentieth century, Sweden was a highly unstable, conflict-ridden class society, and thereby a followed similar pattern to other Western European countries; (b) welfare reforms in Sweden were introduced as a means of addressing political and social instability; (c) Sweden is therefore no exception<br/><br>
to the theory that deep political crises trigger welfare reforms.}},
author = {{Svensson, Måns and Urinboyev, Rustamjon and Åström, Karsten}},
issn = {{1388-2627}},
keywords = {{labour history; law and society; political stability; social policy; Sweden; welfare}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{64--85}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{European Journal of Social Security}},
title = {{Welfare as a means for political stability : a law and society analysis}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3368307/2967963.pdf}},
volume = {{14}},
year = {{2012}},
}