29. Bringing Welfare Statehood back in: A global comparative perspective

Carina Schmitt (University of Bamberg) 

Robin Huguenot-Noel (University of Miilan) 

Global challenges such as climate disruption, security threats and rising inequalities have prompted new demands for state intervention and protection. However, limited attention has been given to the nature of state powers that need to be (re)built to strengthen welfare systems.  This stream seeks to bring together ongoing research on welfare statehood. At its core, it will study the dynamics of welfare state restructuring, defined as changes in how core welfare state capacities are conceived, designed, and implemented. Welfare state capacities take diverse forms and functions, ranging from regulation and redistribution to insurance and capacitation. Emerging challenges are yet reshaping the expectations placed on welfare states. Besides, our understanding of the causal drivers of welfare state restruturing could be enriched by examining the impact of structural factors alongside efforts by parties, producer groups, and other social groups.  

This stream invites paper proposals aimed at deepening our understanding of the macro-, meso-, and micro-level drivers of change in Welfare Statehood in both the Global North and the Global South. For example, submissions may address the following (non-exclusive) list of questions: 

- Macro-level -Are shifts in welfare statehood best understood as punctual shocks—such as wars, pandemics or crises—or as the result of long-term processes of gradual development?

- Can common patterns of welfare state restructuring—whether through retrenchment, expansion, or recalibration—be identified across policy areas and national contexts?  

- How do ongoing processes of ‘welfare rebordering’ at supranational and subnational levels reshape the forms and functions of the national welfare state? 

- Meso-level: What are the preferences of political parties, producer groups, state elites, and civil society organisations regarding the (de/re-)structuring of specific welfare state functions? What political strategies do reformers employ to achieve their goals? 

- Micro-level: To what extent do public attitudes toward welfare state capacities vary across regional, national, and subnational contexts? How do individual experiences with welfare state programmes affect perceptions of state legitimacy and trust? What is the socioeconomic impact of welfare state restructuring? How to measure it most effectively?

We look forward to proposals joining this renewed effort to uncover the forces shaping welfare transformations.