Social Care

Social Security in a Comparative Perspective

The processes of economic and social development going on in the era of globalization has led to the exodus from agriculture and village life of many hundred millions of people. While these processes already accelerated in the Western part of the world towards the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the transformation going on in Asia today takes a different shape.

This symposim is to engage a dialogue between social care researchers from India and China and Dutch and British experts. India and China is the informalization of work and employment, resulting in a labour regime which is markedly different from the pattern of industrialization-urbanization as it emerged in the Northern hemisphere. The changing balance of social forces which produced the welfare state in e.g. Europe began with the introduction of social security provisions for the working classes which not only improved but also dignified their livelihood. It seems that social care is much more difficult to promote for the masses in the lower echelons of the Asian economy. Still, the point of departure in this exercise is the suggestion that it would be worthwhile, indeed highly relevant, to engage in a dialogue when, why and how social care became a priority on the political and policy agenda in urbanizing-industrializing Europe. Who were the initiators, what motivated them, which were the options they considered, how did other stakeholders react, which was the role of the state and public agency at large? And then, of course, how got the social care packet implemented and how was the outcome monitored?

This symposium is supported by the ASSR, the ISSH, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Hivos. Prof. Jan Breman (UvA) and Marcel van der Linden (IISH) are the convenors of the dialogue.