**** with due apologies for cross-posting ****

I just want to alert people interested in poverty and social policy 
studies in Western Europe and Northamerica--be it in economics, 
sociology, psychology, social policy, political science or 
geography--to the fact that the volume

Lutz Leisering & Stephan Leibfried, Time and Poverty in Western 
Welfare States. United Germany in Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge 
University Press 1999, 395 pp. (9 tables, 18 figures)

came out some 8 weeks ago. In hardback it costs 45 English 
pounds (can't say anything about a paperback ed.). 
The ISBN no. is 0-521-59013-2.


FOUR VOICES FROM THE ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 
PROFESSIONS in the UK and the USA:

* Robert Pinker, Professor Emeritus of Social Administration, LSE:
" 'Time and Poverty in Western Welfare States' will become a classic 
text in the literature of social policy research. It is backed with 
original theoretical insights and innovative proposals for policy 
reform. The authors open up a new era of scholarly enquiry into the 
complex relationships between poverty, social exclusion and class 
structures as they change over time."

* Ralf Dahrendorf, Foreword: "The findings are striking. They suggest 
rethinking conventional views of poverty as well as methods to remedy 
a condition which is the original target of the welfare state. 
Readers of this splendid volume will find that it takes them a long 
way not just to better understanding but to better prospects for the 
future."

* Rebecca M. Blank, now Dean of the School of Public Policy at the 
University of Michigan: "'Time and Poverty in Western States' 
presents a multitude of interesting facts about poverty and social 
assistance in Germany, interpreting them within a larger theoretical 
framework that uses economic as well as sociological/psychological 
theories on the life course. By and large this integrated analysis is 
not done by US economists, and the book provides a good example of 
its value. The authors' distinctions between different subgroups 
among the poor should be useful to those thinking about US welfare 
reform, as states attempt to distinguish between social assistance 
recipients."

* David Ellwood, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, 
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: "'Time and 
Poverty in Western Welfare States' moves the discussion of poverty 
from who to why. With their unique longitudinal analysis, the authors 
tackle the questions which are likely to be central as nations 
across the world examine and reform their social policies: How long 
are people poor, what leads them into poverty, and what can lead them 
out? The authors' careful, creative analysis should be read by 
thoughtful people who care about poverty and policy in Germany, 
Europe, and the world."


A SHORT DESCRIPTION: 

The book is the first monograph in Europe on poverty and social 
assistance based on longitudinal data. It explores ways into, through 
and out of social assistance, based on quantitative and qualitative 
data. Time, differentiated into its "objective", "subjective" and 
"institutional" dimensions, as well as the related issue of 
"dependency", is shown to be a key aspect of poverty and social 
policy. Poverty policies, seen as part of "life course regimes" 
embedded in different welfare state models, are contrasted. 
The implications for policy-making and for sociological analysis 
of inequality in "risk societies" are explored.

The study reveals a high degree of mobility among the poor and 
growing socio-economic insecurity among the middle classes. 
"Dynamic" approaches to the study of poverty, social assistance and 
other social problems originated in the fields of economics and 
sociology in the USA in the 1970s. They are now taken up in the wider 
institutional, policy and theory perspectives of Europe of the 1990s, 
in the context of widespread social inequality in advanced welfare 
states. New panel data as well as adminsitrative event hisroty data 
have opened up new horizons for research. Deep-seated views about the 
nature of poverty, held on the right and on the left, are challenged 
in the process. The study explores the German case after Worl War 
II. It focuses primarily on the 1980s and 1990s. It emphasizes the 
East-West contrast after unification. The volume challenges 
common sense and deepens our understanding of poverty in 
developed welfare states.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

* This is the first monograph in Europe that presents the "dynamic" 
study of poverty and social assistance.

* This study of the lower end of the social inequality does not rely 
on routine "snapshots" of the poor, as most poverty studies do by 
looking at cross-sections of the population, but on "movies" of the 
life trajectories of two claimant chorts in 1980s and 1990s.

* The volume analyses the fluidity and rigidity of socio-economic 
positions, throwing new light on processes of social exclusion and 
"dependency", a set of hotly debated current issues across the OECD-world.

* The study provides evidence from Germany that sheds doubt on the 
moral and factual assumptions of 'welfare reforms' as advocated by 
Frank Field when in Blair's Cabinet and as implemented under 
President Clinton in 1996 in the USA. It analyzes the German welfare 
reform and its history.

* This work challenges the myths about poverty as they are 
espoused differently from the right and from the left.

* The book presents an original analysis of one major European 
welfare state tradition, namely the Bismarckian German system. In the 
1990s, this tradition has been a prominent if not the dominant strand 
of pan-European policy integration. This study of the welfare state 
takes the point of view of poverty; it thus provides a "bottom up" 
perspective of Bismarck's "social security state".

* In the study, recent advanced techniques of logitudinal analysis 
are used to shed new light old questions. Observing life trajectories 
throws a radically different light on the social function of poverty 
and of remedial policies, such as "basic income", in developed 
welfare states.

* The volume studies in detail the significance of time in the lives 
of the poor as well as in the workings of institutions and policies 
of the welfare state.


TEACHING: The volume should also be useful in teaching European 
Studies, Comparative or European Social Policy or courses 
on Poverty Studies, as it provides a comprehensive look at the 
German situation placed in a comparative context.

                                          ----

People working int this area may also be interested in two more 
recent papers complementing this volume:

* Ralf Bohrhardt and Stephan Leibfried, 1999: Expect the Unexpected. 
Social Assistance Dynamics of Single or Unemployed Parents in Germany 
and the U.S., Bremen: sfb 186, Bremen University (Working Paper no. 
56, August 1999). To be obtained via: Werner Dressel, chief administrator 
sfb 186, FVG, Bremen University, POB 330 440, D 28334 Bremen, 
Germany (e-mail:[log in to unmask])

* Petra Buhr, 2000: Poverty in Wonderland? Ways into and out of Social 
Assistance in Germany and Sweden, Bremen: sfb 186, Bremen University 
(English Working Paper to be published; available in German already as 
Working Paper 51 of sfb 186 at the same address or also in: Leviathan 
1999, vol. 27. no. 2, pp. 218-237).

                                          ----

And,  all the best in 2000+ ...

Stephan Leibfried


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%