The welfare state is ideally about guaranteeing citizens welfare and social security. This thesis describes how the embodied experience of austerity politics and reforms of national health insurance in Sweden is lived along the links of what I call “the chain of precarity”. In 2008 the duration of the entitlement to sickness benefit was limited to 2.5 years. The majority of people on sick leave and passing the benefit limit were women. Using qualitative in-depth interviews and drawing on feminist phenomenology, theories of recognition and crip perspectives, the analysis shows that the chain of precarity orients women with long-term illness towards increased vulnerability and risk. This (dis)orientation is the result of a lack of recognition and respect within the fields of social insurance, health care, work life, discourse and politics as well as close relations.

This thesis examines the reception, generation, and use of economic ideas in the British Liberal Party during the period between its decline in the inter-war years and its revival under Jo Grimond. It uses archival sources, party publications, and the political press to reconstruct the Liberal Party’s internal discourse about economic policy from the 1920s to the 1960s, and sets this discourse in the context of wider economic and political developments: the ‘Keynesian revolution’ in economic theory and British public policy, recurrent political interest in economic planning, and growing concern about relative economic decline. The strength of the two-party system which developed after the First World War meant that the Liberal Party spent most of this period in opposition, and even in the coalition governments of 1931-2 and 1940-5 Liberals had limited input into economic policy-making. As historians have frequently noted, however, the party played an important role in introducing Keynesian ideas to British politics through Lloyd George’s 1929 pledge to ‘conquer unemployment’, and seemed to anticipate the post-war managed economy in important respects. At the same time, the party maintained a close relationship with the economics profession, and vocally championed free trade and competitive markets. This thesis highlights the eclecticism of the Liberal Party’s economic heritage, and its continuing ambivalence towards state intervention. Although Liberals were early and sincere supporters of Keynesian demand-management policies, and took a close interest in economic planning proposals in the 1920s, 1940s and 1960s, their interventionism was frequently constrained by their internationalism and their support for free markets. Most Liberals, then, were neither unreconstructed Gladstonians nor unequivocal supporters of Britain’s post-war settlement. Rather, successive party leaders sought to integrate new economic knowledge with traditional Liberal commitments, in order to make both a credible contribution to policy debates and a distinctive appeal to the electorate.

The present thesis explores intersectional and institutional conditions for counteracting domestic violence in the Swedish welfare state. Empirically, the study focuses on professional discourses and practices concerning fathers’ violence against mothers and children in the context of separation, in three domains of practice: 1) Children’s education; 2) Disputes concerning custody, contact and residence; and 3) Welfare benefits such as financial aid. Theoretically, the study draws on feminist political theory and sociology, childhood studies and critical race studies. The empirical material consists of court orders and interviews with staff and victimised mothers. Two main social processes that undermine implementation of children’s rights are identified and discussed: Familialisation and selective repression. The thesis is based on four articles: Article I, (Skolan, familjerätten och barnen) School, family law and children exposed to violence, explores how staff at school and preschool understands their professional task, when in encounters with children in difficulties due to family law proceedings. The results suggest that two competing perspectives shape staff understandings of risks, solutions and violence. When arguing from the child’s rights’ perspective, the staff prioritises children’s safety and participation, while an upbringing perspective tends to construct violence mainly as a problem of order, with disquieting implications for vulnerable children. Article II, (Pedagoger i det sociala uppdragets gränstrakter: Att hantera familjerättsliga processer, hot och våld)Pedagogues in the borderland of their social task: Dealing with family law proceedings, threats and violence, investigates strategies used by preschool and school staff, when encountering gendered conflicts and violence between parents. How do the staff cope with their own and children’s vulnerability? An analytical model of six types of proactive and reactive strategies, ranging from keeping distance to normalisation of own vulnerability, is utilised in the analysis and discussed in relation to organisational and professional circumstances and intersecting social relations of inequality. Article III, Contact and evaluations of violence: An intersectional analysis of Swedish court orders, examines obstacles to implementation of children’s rights in contested parental contact cases in which there are indications of violence. The analysis shows that the contact presumption is strong, and generally overrides protection. This norm applies even where there are convictions or explicit reports of child abuse or domestic violence. In cases with ‘non-Nordic’ fathers however, the contact presumption is less likely to override protection than in cases with ‘Nordic’ fathers. Article IV, Financial oppression and post-separation child positions in Sweden, deals with post-separation child positions in two domains of practice in the Swedish welfare state: Welfare benefits such as financial aid, and child contact. The area of concern is financial oppression in the context of parental separation. Findings suggest that financial abuse in the context of parental separation is a non-question in the domain of welfare benefits, and in the domain of child contact framed as a conflict between equal parties. The age order as a form of domination may be reinforced by the practice of both domains.

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the advent of independence in 1968, Mauritius’ economic trajectory evolved from the one of a monocrop sugar economy, with the latter noticeably being the backbone of the country’s economy, to one that progressed into being the custodian of a dynamic and sophisticated garment-dominated manufacturing industry. Condemned with the misfortune of not being endowed with natural resources, relative to her mainland African counterparts, Mauritius, nonetheless, was able to break the shackles of limited economic options and one of being the ‘basket-case’ to gradually evolving into being the upper-middle-income country - thus depicting it to be one of the most encouraging economies within the developing world. Indeed it is captivating that the fruits of the island’s prosperous sugar industry went a long way in meeting the island’s diversification agenda. Moreover, the ‘Mauritian miracle’ is glorified by the emergence and sustenance of a comprehensive welfare state which was able to withstand the harshest economic challenges the country ever faced. This thesis seeks to provide a broad historical over-view of the factors which aided the construction of the social democratic regime in Mauritius. It is of the premise that the social consciousness of the post-colonial leadership in Mauritius laid the foundation for the entrenchment of ideals of social justice into the Mauritian polity. Instead of letting market forces operate in their pure form, the state was propelled instead, to take the driver’s seat into the running of the economy so as to ensure the market and labour become partners in a bid to help the state meet its social development ideals. It is no wonder that current day welfare state in Mauritius is the one which is inextricably linked to elections, not just as tool to duck socio-ethnic disharmony. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert onafhanklikheidswording in 1968 het Mauritius se ekonomiese ontwikkeling gevorder van die van ’n enkel kommoditeit suiker uitvoerder as die basis van die ekonomie tot een met ’n dinamiese en gesofistikeerde tekstiel vervaardigingingssektor. Verdoem weens ’n tekort aan natuurlike hulpbronne in vergelyking met ander state in Afrika, het Mauritius nogtans daarin geslaag om sy tekortkominge te bowe te kom en geleidelik te ontwikkel tot ’n opper-middel inkomste staat. Suiker uitvoere het inderdaad ’n sleutelrol gespeel in die diversifikasie van die ekonomie. Die sukses van die ‘Mauritius wonderwerk’ is verder stukrag gegee deur die inwerkingstelling en voortbestaan van ’n omvattende welvaart staat wat gehelp het om die ergste ekonomiese uitdagings die hoof te bied. Hierdie tesis poog om ’n breë historiese oorsig te bied van die faktore wat die konstruksie van ’n sosiale demokratiese orde in Mauritius aangehelp het. Daar word gewerk van die premis dat die sosiale bewussyn van die na-koloniale leierskap in Mauritius die grondleggers was vir die vestiging van ideale van sosiale geregtigheid in die staat se politieke kultuur. In plaas van ’n ongebreidelde vrye mark ekonomie het die staat egter ’n sleutel rigtinggewende rol in die ontwikkeling van die ekonomie gespeel en om seker te maak dat die privaatsektor en arbeid vennote word om sleutel sosiale ekonomiese doelwitte te bereik. Dit is dus geen wonder dat die bestaande welvaartstaat in Mauritius nou verweef is met plaaslike verkiesingsverwagtinge nie en nie bloot ’n manier is om sosio-etniese onstabiliteit te verminder nie.

This thesis examines the extent of family care for older people, primarily filial care, and the costs of caring in the Swedish welfare state. Costs of caring are understood as the negative effects of caregiving, primarily on the caregivers’ working life. The analysis is inspired by feminist theories on the importance of welfare state provisions for care for women’s citizenship, including personal autonomy and economic independence. The main aims of this thesis are twofold. The first is to explore the extent and development of family care for older persons in Sweden, primarily filial care, and the consequences of caregiving for well-being and working life. The second is to explore how older persons’ family members have been represented and the possible consequences of these representations for the development of publicly financed eldercare services and other forms of support for family carers, as well as for family members’ living conditions. The thesis consists of four studies. The first reviews the literature concerning the extent and consequences of family caregiving for older persons and the welfare state’s policy responses to older people’s care needs. The second study analyses how older persons’ family members and their role in eldercare have been represented in Swedish eldercare policy since the 1950s. The third study analyses surveys to explore changes during the 2000s in the role of the family, the public sector and the market in providing care for older persons in Sweden. The fourth study is a survey analysis of the extent, content and consequences of filial care among middle-aged women and men in Sweden in 2013. The policy analysis found that the expansion of eldercare was motivated solely in relation to older persons’ needs; thus working daughters’ needs of eldercare have been a blind spot in Swedish eldercare policy. Since 2000, every fourth residential care bed has disappeared and the increase in homecare services did not fully compensate for the decline, resulting in a significant increase in filial care in all social groups, and among both sons and daughters. Daughters of older persons with shorter education, however, remained the primary providers of filial care. Both daughters and sons are affected by caregiving. They suffer to the same extent from difficulties in managing to accomplish their work tasks and taking part in meetings, courses and travels. They are also equally likely to reduce their working hours and to quit their job. It is however clearly more common that daughters experience mental and physical strain, difficulties in finding time for leisure and reduced ability to focus on their job. Although more daughters than sons retire earlier than planned due to filial care, this is very rare. Managerial care (handling contacts with health and eldercare services) has a more salient role in a welfare state such as Sweden, with generously provided care services, less intense filial care and high employment rates among both sexes. The high labour force participation however makes middle aged children more vulnerable when their parents’ care arrangement does not work. The decline in eldercare services since 1980 has reinforced co-ordination problems in health and eldercare services. The managerial care required to handle this development, while living up to the demands of work and family life, stands out as especially demanding for the well-being and working lives of daughters. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Accepted.</p>

國內關於社會政策的研究呈現極大的共同點，多數研究利用工業主義或國家中心論的觀點分析社會預算或政策發展。這種宏觀取向的研究無法解答台灣九○年後福利制度關鍵轉折的因素，同時亦忽略民主選舉對台灣社會政策的影響。本研究認為這是國內研究在威權體制遺緒下長期忽略民主與國會所帶來的結果。社會政策不會自然被制定，本研究從簡單民主模型出發，主張政治行動者與國會偏好結構才是影響社會政策制定的關鍵。因此，本研究將國會選舉視為政治行動者社會政策主張偏好的誘因，這種偏好將隨著競選過程進入國會影響後續社會政策的制定。據此，本研究探討行動者與國會的社會政策偏好，從微觀角度解釋民主化後台灣社會政策發展與轉型的因素。 本研究植基於理性選擇途徑，運用內容分析法分析政治行動者政見，探討解嚴後第二屆至第六屆國會選舉中的行動者與國會政策偏好，呈現台灣民主化後歷年的社會政策議程變遷、政治行動者政策偏好、國會選舉對社會政策偏好的影響，以及歷屆國會社會政策偏好結構的完整圖像。 本研究有三個主要貢獻：首先，探討政治行動者政策偏好，提供一個連結民主選舉與社會政策發展的微觀基礎；其次，將焦點置於國會探討影響福利國家建立的社會立法因素，有別於傳統研究將焦點置於國家制度的宏觀途徑；最後，透過微觀偏好的探討能夠提供宏觀研究中制度轉折的連結，解釋台灣社會政策制定與變遷的過程，彌補過去研究的不足。 / The past researches about social policies or welfare state in Taiwan present the same ways. Most researches through Industrialism and State-Centralism approaches to analyze welfare budget and social policies. But after 90s’ democratization, these macro-approaches not only cannot answer what momentums induce the critical junctures of welfare state institution in Taiwan, but also ignore the impacts of democratic elections. I agree with this statement because of the influences of authoritarian so that researchers ignore how important the democratization it actually is, especially congress. According to simple democratic model, I argue social policies decided by political actors and congress’ policy preferences structure can not adopted automatically. Therefore I consider congressional campaign is a kind of incentive to promote social policy platforms to political actors in order to win the election, furthermore these policy preferences impact the congress structure that influence social policy adoption. For these points, this thesis discusses, through micro-approach, how the social policy preferences of political actors and preference structure in congress to influence the development of social policies in Taiwan after democratization. This research roots in rational choice theory and uses content analysis to study policy platforms to analyze political actors and congress’ social policy preferences during second to sixth congress elections after the end of martial law and discuss the transition of social policy agenda, political actors’ social policy preferences, the impacts between congress campaigns and social policy preferences, and full maps about social policy preferences in congress after democratization in Taiwan. There are three contributions about this research. First, it is a micro-linkage for democracy and social policy on reaching policy preference. Second, it focus on congress differ greatly from traditional researches’ State-Centralism approach. Finally, it provides a micro approach interpretation of macro idea of critical juncture about social policy development and transition in Taiwan and can connect the gaps between macro and micro approaches.

This thesis aim to investigate the living conditions among marginalized habitants of suburbs in the Swedish welfare state. To approach an understanding of the complexity of marginalized urban areas, this thesis focus on studying the Stockholm suburb Husby in a context of the May riots 2013. The research method used is qualitative interviews with seven informants, who have a connection to the Husby area. The theories applied to the empirical material is Gösta Esping-Andersens theory on welfare state regimes and Loïc Wacquants theory on advanced marginality, also known as “The new urban poverty”. By observing the complexity of the Husby riots in a contextual aspect of the Swedish welfare state and the living situation in Husby, the analysis has shown that the Swedish welfare model is going through a changing process. This process means a shift from a social democratic welfare model towards a more liberal regime, with an increased privatization of public welfare and a focus on individual responsibility regarding the citizens own living conditions. Husby as an area is characterized by a low socioeconomic status, a high level of unemployment and poor school results. The growing market and the increasing focus on individual responsibility regarding decent living conditions, has excluded large groups of economically vulnerable habitants of Husby. Hereby, the welfare state has decreased its earlier caretaking of its citizens, and the changing welfare state has shaped a marginality in urban areas. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka livsvillkoren bland marginaliserade förortsbor i den svenska välfärdsstaten. För att uppnå en förståelse av denna komplexitet, fokuserar arbetet på Stockholmsförorten Husby i en kontext av de upplopp som ägde rum i maj 2013. Undersökningsmetoden är kvalitativa intervjuer med sju informanter. Samtliga har en koppling till Husbyområdet. Teorierna som appliceras på det empiriska materialet är Gösta Esping-Andersens teori om välfärdsstatsregimer samt Loïc Wacquants teori om avancerad marginalisering, även kallad ”Den nya urbana fattigdomen”. Analysen visar att den svenska välfärden genomgår en förändring. Denna förändring innebär en transformering från en socialdemokratisk modell mot en liberal regim, med en ökad privatisering av allmän välfärd samt ett fokus på individens eget ansvar i fråga om dess levnadsstandard. Husbyområdet präglas av en låg socioekonomisk status, en hög nivå av arbetslöshet samt dåliga skolresultat. Den växande marknaden har exkluderat stora grupper av ekonomiskt utsatta invånare i Husby. Välfärdsstaten har därmed minskat sitt tidigare omhändertagande av medborgarna, och denna förändring har skapat och format en marginalisering i urbana områden.

Ce mémoire analyse trois réformes majeures de politique sociale en Turquie, en deux domaines: emploi et sécurité social. En utilisant l'approche "Usage de l'Europe", ce mémoire developpe une analyse empirique et apporte une explication théorique de ces changements qui ont été introduits au cours du processus d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne. "Les usages de l'Europe" est une approche d'européanisation qui se concentre sur le rôle des acteurs domestiques, au sein des États membres et candidats, ainsi que de leur utilisation des ressources de l'Union européenne. Les études de cas utilisées dans cette thèse démontrent l'introduction de changements au niveau de l'État-providence; ainsi, l'approche originelle est suppléée par des concepts provenant de la littérature sur la politique partisane, les institutions formelles et l'héritage des politiques. Cette recherche utilise la méthode de l'analyse de processus pour suivre la réforme des règlements du travail par la voie de reconstitution des droits individuels des travailleurs et de l'Agence d'emploi en Turquie jusqu'en 2003, ainsi que la transformation du système de sécurité sociale en 2008. Ces trois réformes représentent des changements majeurs tant sur le plan institutionnel que politique en Turquie depuis 2001. Afin de comprendre "les usages de l'Europe" dans ces réformes politiques, l'analyse empirique questionne, si, quand et comment les acteurs turcs ont utilisé les ressources, les références et les développements politiques de l'Union européenne lors de ce processus dynamique de réforme. Les réformes du système de sécurité sociale, des règlements du travail, en plus de la reconstitution de l'Agence d'emploi étaient à l'ordre du jour en Turquie depuis les années 1990. La réforme des règlements du travail ont entraîné l'introduction des accommodements flexibles au travail et une révision de la Loi du travail permettant l'établissement d'une législation de la sécurité d'emploi. La reconstitution de l'Agence d'emploi visait à remplacer la vieille institution défunte par une institution moderne afin d'introduire des politiques d'activation. La réforme de sécurité sociale comprend les pensions de retraite, le système de santé ainsi que l'administration des institutions de sécurité sociale. Les principaux résultats révèlent que la provision des ressources de l'Union européenne en Turquie a augmenté à partir de la reconnaissance de sa candidature en 1999 et ce, jusqu'au lancement des négociations pour son adhésion en 2005; ce qui fut une occasion favorable pour les acteurs domestiques impliqués dans les processus de réformes. Cependant, à l'encontre de certaines attentes originelles de l'approche de "les usages de l'Europe", les résultats de cette recherche démontrent que le temps et le sort de "les usages de l'Europe" dépendent des intérêts des acteurs domestiques, ainsi de leurs stratégies tout au long de ce processus de réforme, plutôt que des phases du processus ou la quantité des ressources fournies par l'Union européenne. / This dissertation analyses three major social policy reforms in Turkey in two policy domains: employment and social security. By adopting the Uses of Europe theoretical approach, it aims to analyze empirically and to explain theoretically the uses of Europe in two domains of social policy during the EU membership process in Turkey. Uses of Europe is an actor-centered approach to Europeanization that focuses on the role of national actors, in member and candidate states, and their use of EU resources. The case studies in this thesis involve welfare state changes. Thus the original approach is complemented by concepts from the welfare state literature on formal institutions, partisan politics and policy legacies. This research uses a process-tracing methodology to follow the reform of labor regulations via the restructuring of individual labor rights, restructuring of the Turkish employment agency up through 2003 and the transformation of the social security system by 2008. Both represent major institutional and policy changes in the post-2001 period in Turkey. In order to understand the uses Europe in these policy reforms, the empirical analysis asks whether, where, and how Turkish actors were using EU resources, references and policy developments within the dynamic processes of reform. The reforms of the social security system, labor regulation and the restructuring of the employment agency have been on the agenda in Turkey since the mid-1990’s. The reform of labor regulations involved the introduction of flexible work arrangements and job security legislation into a revised Labor Act. The restructuring of the employment agency aimed to replace the old institution that had become defunct with a modern institution oriented towards active labor market policies. The social security reform comprising pension, healthcare and administrative components aimed to ensure financial sustainability and increase the coverage of the system. The main findings were that the supply of EU resources in Turkey increased from the recognition of its candidate status in 1999 to the launch of accession negotiations in 2005. This supply offered opportunities for national actors involved in the reform processes, via legitimizing uses of Europe, obfuscation and credit claiming, among other practices. However in contrast to some of the expectations of the original Uses of Europe approach, the findings of this research demonstrate that the type and timing of uses of Europe depend on the national actors’ interests and coalition-building strategies in the reform process rather than on the stage of the reform process or amount of resources supplied by the European Union.

This thesis examines the political process of health care reform between 1989 and 1998 in the most advanced sizable political economy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – the Czech Republic. Its aim is to explain the political process bringing about post-Communist health policy change and stimulate new debates on welfare state transformation in CEE. The thesis challenges the conventional view that post-Communist health care reform in CEE was designed and implemented to improve the health status of the people, as desired by the people themselves. I suggest that this is a dangerous over-rationalisation, and argue that post-Communist health care reform in the Czech Republic was the by-product of haphazard democratic political struggle between emerging elites for power and economic resources. The thesis employs the analytical narrative method to describe and analyse the actors, institutions, ideas and history behind the health policy change. The analysis is informed by welfare state theory, elite theory, interest group politics theory, the assumptions of methodological individualism and rational choice theory, and Schumpeter’s doctrine of democracy. Its focus is on the interests of health policy actors and how they interacted within an unhinged, but fast-consolidating, institutional framework. The results demonstrate that, while historical legacies and liberal ideas featured prominently in the rhetoric accompanying health policy change, in Realpolitik, these were merely the disposable, instrumental devices of opportunistic, self-interested elites. The resultant explanation of health policy change stresses the primacy of agency over structure and formulates four important mechanisms of health policy change: opportunism, tinkering, enterprise, and elitism. In conclusion, the relevance of major welfare state theories to the given case is assessed and implications for welfare state research in CEE are drawn.

The social and economic experiences of older people in Scotland over the past two centuries provides a particularised lens through which larger themes of change and adaptation may be analysed. Older age cohorts are examined as specific identity groups within the context of a society in rapid transformation. The years c. 1845-1999 represent a period of time in which almost every sector was affected by industrialisation, urbanisation, migration, economic developments, technological and medical progress, and social reform. In combination with historical interpretations, modern sociological theory concerning the aged as a distinct social grouping provides the basis for further inquiry. Concepts such as status, social capital, interdependency, paternalism and citizenship have been of major importance in structuring this research. By means of demographic analysis, readings of written biographical documentation, and the incorporation of over fifty oral histories conducted in Dundee and Edinburgh, the role of the family in older people’s lives has been explored. Nineteenth and twentieth-century population trends have been incorporated as an area for detailed investigation of long-term familial practices. An understanding of the older person’s role in the family over time suggests a formalised socio-economic stability based upon kinship ties, gender roles, and economic and social reciprocity. Stage theory allows for examination of the economics of ageing, particularly in regard to employed and retired older people. Original research covering older people’s experiences of work in Dundee and Edinburgh provides qualitative and quantitative data on paternalistic policies in the brewing and jute industries, promotion and retirement practices, and economic status among the working elderly. The experience of being retired has been evaluated in terms of economic independence, social capital, class and gender. Analyses of the experience of retirement in the post-war era are bound with the rise of the modern welfare state. Significant government commissions and acts provide scope and sequence in an analysis of the role of the state in old age. Principally, the New Poor Law of 1845 (Scotland), the Pension Acts of 1908 and 1925, the National Insurance Act of 1946, as well as the social welfare acts of 1948 have been studied. Particular focus on the influence of the Social Work Act 1968 (Scotland) complements an overarching argument concerning Scotland’s unique practices in the modern welfare state. Emphasis is on care in the community, using statutory and voluntary services provided at the local level as case studies. Interpretations of older people in terms of their various roles in the welfare state, their communities and places of work, and within their families indicate that throughout the period, older populations have distinctively adapted to the long-term effects of modernisation in Scottish society.