**** 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
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