Two new books out! ‘All well in the welfare state?’ and ‘Retrenchment or renewal?’

Volumes 5 and 6 of NordWel Studies in Historical Welfare State Research have been published:

Vol 5: All well in the welfare state? Welfare, well-being and the politics of happiness

Edited by Carl Marklund

The aim of this volume is to analyze how the recent attention to subjective well-being and happiness may affect welfare state policies, looking at both Nordic and international experiences. While the Nordic welfare states typically score well in rankings of happiness, the volume asks whether all is well in the welfare state. Rather than assessing whether happiness research manages to capture the multiple factors which underpin subjective well-being, the contributions probe the relationship between the general discourse on subjective well-being and the welfare policies designed to support those members of society who are in greatest need.

Contributors: Bent Greve – Carl Marklund – Varda Soskolne – Katarina Piuva – Anna Alanko – Carl Marklund – Margrét Einarsdóttir – Olli Kangas – Pekka Sulkunen – Trygve Ugland

Vol 6: Retrenchment or renewal? Welfare states in times of crisis

Edited by Guðmundur Jónsson and Kolbeinn Stefánsson

The global economic crisis that began in 2008 has presented serious challenges to welfare states, shaking their financial, social and political foundations in what has become the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of the crisis on social policy and welfare state development in Europe and North America. The varied national experiences of the crisis are examined and put into wider intellectual and historical context. The book poses such questions as the following: What has been the impact of the current crisis on social policy? Has the crisis heralded new phase of entrenchment and austerity, or are there signs of opportunities opening up for progressive social reform?

The volume is collection of 16 chapters by authors from different disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences. It contains both general surveys and country-specific studies dealing with range of issues and provides broad overview of the present crisis and its implications for the future development of the welfare state.

Contributors: Michael Freeden – Christopher Lloyd – Diane Perrons – Daniel Béland – Alex Waddan – Stefán Ólafsson – Mairéad Considine – Fiona Dukelow – Guðmundur Jónsson – Magnús Sveinn Helgason – Matti Hannikainen – Jyl Josephon – Ivett Szalma – Judit Takács – Ingólfur V. Gíslason – Hanna-Kaisa Hoppania – Jane Kelsey – Michael Kuur Sørensen – Vilhjálmur Árnason

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