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Gender relations—embodied in the sexual division of labor, compulsory heterosexuality, gendered forms of citizenship and political participation, ideologies of masculinity and femininity, and the like—profoundly shape the character of welfare states. Likewise, the institutions of social provision—the set of social assistance and social insurance programs and universal citizenship entitlements to which we refer as "the welfare state" —affect gender relations. Until recently, two broad approaches to gender relations and welfare states predominated: one which saw states contributing to the social reproduction of gender hierarchies, and a second which saw states having an ameliorative impact on gender inequality. More recently, two new strands of research have emerged emphasizing the variation in the effects of social policies on gender.

In this contribution to a review symposium, "Maurizio Ferrera The Boundaries of Welfare: European Integration and the New Spatial Politics of Social Protection (Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2005)," Orlaff lauds Ferrera for his most original analysis of the dilemmas of European welfare states. She contends that the analysis derives from but also significantly adds to the tradition of state-centered research, drawing on Weberian & Rokkanian insights about territories, elites, boundaries, citizenship, & social closure. Ferrera seeks to enhance understanding of the new forms of territorial politics relating to globalization & Europeanization, especially how these are liked with issues of equitable distribution that concern welfare state scholars. Using the concept of 'boundaries' as an analytic key, he examines the limits of solidarity & how they do/do not match the territorial boundaries of states, interstate organizations, or regions. Orlaff concludes by noting that while the sense of solidarity needed to build global social programs is still lacking, Ferrera's analysis offers much to think about in this regard. References. S. Stanton

Die Verfasserin arbeitet die geschlechterpolitischen Implikationen einer Politik heraus, die den Zugang zu Dienstleistungsangeboten im Bereich der Betreuung ausschließlich über die Erwerbstätigkeit regelt. Sie analysiert die aktuelle Sozialhilfereform, die 1996 mit dem "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act" eingeleitet wurde, als Modell einer Sozialfürsorge auf der Basis der Vollbeschäftigung. Die Ziele dieser Reform, nämlich die Reduzierung der Zahl der SozialhilfebezieherInnen und die Erhöhung der Erwerbstätigkeit allein erziehender Mütter, wurden erreicht. Arbeitsverpflichtungen werden heute eher akzeptiert, Kindererziehung als alleinige Tätigkeit wurde zurückgedrängt. Die Probleme, die ein durch Geschlecht, Ethnizität und Wohnort strukturierter Arbeitsmarkt mit sich bringt, bleiben allerdings bestehen. Die Verfasserin diskutiert abschließend sozialpolitische Alternativen feministischer und maternalistischer Provenienz. (ICE2)

Cet article analyse la transformation des politiques sociales, les mesures qui en découlent, et les arrangements sociaux touchant à l'emploi des mères et au soin des enfants. Il retrace un processus qui, partant de mesures de soutien destinées à permettre aux mères d'assurer à plein temps le soin de leurs enfants, conduit à des politiques d'encouragement de l'emploi des femmes ayant pour effet de déplacer (tout du moins en partie) les tâches liées au soin des enfants hors du foyer familial – ce que l'on pourrait appeler « l'adieu au maternalisme » . Dans un premier temps, sont examinés les mesures sociales et les politiques – qualifiées récemment encore de « maternalistes » –, la division sexuelle – traditionnelle – du travail ainsi que les schémas de formation des familles et des ménages. Dans un deuxième temps, l'auteure se penche ensuite sur les politiques sociales et les mesures politiques qui ont détourné deux pays – la Suède et les États-Unis – du maternalisme, en encourageant le travail des femmes (et donc des mères). Ainsi, les régimes qui encourageaient les mères à se consacrer à plein temps au soin de leurs enfants et répondaient à leurs demandes en tant que mères ont évolué. Les nouvelles politiques mises en oeuvre, en encourageant l'emploi féminin, cherchent à répondre aux revendications des femmes en tant que travailleuses ou citoyennes chargées du soin des enfants.

Reviews the gender-sensitive & mainstream literatures to shed light on the issue of men & state social provision & reconstructs them to generate a gendered welfare regime analytic framework. This framework is then brought to bear on the gendered positioning of men in the US welfare state, comparing this regime to European models to show how US markets have played a key role in the regime's development. Important to note is the absence of state welfare benefits & services that drives state involvement with working men; ie, it is generally in an enforcement role, after men have failed to find employment & turned to the black market or criminal activities, that the state intervenes, & not as a welfare provider. The gendered nature of early US welfare policy & politics is discussed. Assumptions about breadwinning men & caregiving wives underpinned programs & regulatory legislation of the Progressive Era; however, material support for these men was not a dimension of the regime, a distinction from European & Australian models. While the market was expected to provide for male workers, some state protections for them were institutionalized during the Great Depression, eg, Social Security. However, such social welfare programs reinforced the gendered division of labor, while income security operated within a work-family dualism. Failure of the welfare state to support breadwinners during the 1960s & 1970s is discussed, noting that most working-age people were not incorporated into the welfare state, whereas in Europe, the market was pushed out of the social provision arena via program expansion. In the 1980s, amid a backlash to the War on Poverty, the welfare state was attacked with some success, targeting not only poor women but poor men as well. The politics of concomitant welfare reform are considered in terms of the "fragile families" & pro-marriage wings of the fatherhood movement. Current conditions of the gendered welfare regime are considered in conclusion, pondering the state of men's gender identities & status as fathers along with women's circumstances. J. Zendejas

Reviews the gender-sensitive & mainstream literatures to shed light on the issue of men & state social provision & reconstructs them to generate a gendered welfare regime analytic framework. This framework is then brought to bear on the gendered positioning of men in the US welfare state, comparing this regime to European models to show how US markets have played a key role in the regime's development. Important to note is the absence of state welfare benefits & services that drives state involvement with working men; ie, it is generally in an enforcement role, after men have failed to find employment & turned to the black market or criminal activities, that the state intervenes, & not as a welfare provider. The gendered nature of early US welfare policy & politics is discussed. Assumptions about breadwinning men & caregiving wives underpinned programs & regulatory legislation of the Progressive Era; however, material support for these men was not a dimension of the regime, a distinction from European & Australian models. While the market was expected to provide for male workers, some state protections for them were institutionalized during the Great Depression, eg, Social Security. However, such social welfare programs reinforced the gendered division of labor, while income security operated within a work-family dualism. Failure of the welfare state to support breadwinners during the 1960s & 1970s is discussed, noting that most working-age people were not incorporated into the welfare state, whereas in Europe, the market was pushed out of the social provision arena via program expansion. In the 1980s, amid a backlash to the War on Poverty, the welfare state was attacked with some success, targeting not only poor women but poor men as well. The politics of concomitant welfare reform are considered in terms of the "fragile families" & pro-marriage wings of the fatherhood movement. Current conditions of the gendered welfare regime are considered in conclusion, pondering the state of men's gender identities & status as fathers along with women's circumstances. J. Zendejas

US welfare reform eliminates social rights and caregiving as bases for making claims; it expands the role of the market; and it marks a shift in patterns of stratification toward gender `sameness', in that mothers and fathers must be employed. The expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit reinforces these changes, channelling resources to poor parents, but only if they are employed. These changes are explained with reference to changing balances of power and structural conditions, particularly long-term shifts in expectations about mothers' employment, including their racialized dimensions, situating such factors in the context of the policy legacy. Both the market-supporting character of the US policy regime and the articulation of feminist projects regarding women's employment helped create a context in which welfare reform was likely to require employment. The linkage of such requirements and the end of entitlement occurred in the context of Republican electoral victories, with a Democratic President committed to welfare reform. A feminist policy alternative would offer support for combining employment and caregiving, as both activities are critical for social and political participation; citizenship claims must be linked to employment to succeed politically.