After Neoliberalism: The Future of the Social Investment State as a New Paradigm in Social Policy-Making

The financial and econmic crisis has deeply challenged existing European welfare states. At the same time as fiscal austerity increases the pressure on policy-makers to cut back on existing programs, the crisis increases the demand for social insurance and compensation for those directly affected. These tendencies play out on the background of large-scale and long-term societal changes such as population ageing, deindustrialization and the rise of new social risks, which had put pressure on welfare states even before the crisis. Partly as a reaction to these new demands, the paradigm of the „social investment welfare state“ has been gaining in popularity in academic and policy-making circles in recent years. 

In this roundtable, established scholars in the field of welfare state research will discuss the potential of this new policy paradigm to meet the challenges that welfare states face in the post-crisis era. In particular, we address questions such as: To what extent can the social investment paradigm really be considered a new model of policy-making? Which political coalitions could support the transformation of existing welfare states towards the social investment model? What is the role of redistributive policies in the social investment paradigm, i.e. to what extent is it a policy program that caters to the interests of the affluent middle classes while neglecting the poor? How effective are social investments in dealing with inequality? Which social investment policies should be prioritized in times of tight fiscal constraints?

Chair:

Marius R. Busemeyer

Discussants:

Bruno Palier , Giuliano Bonoli , Silja Häusermann and Marius R. Busemeyer

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