Suchergebnisse

In this article an attempt is made to discuss some new strategies of the social state as an alternative to welfare-state management One example is the emergence of 'social networks' by means of which it is hoped to shrink the state apparatus, diminish costs, bring the social bureaucracies closer to the people, and produce ideologies of natural and national togetherness But a network society in which 'everyone becomes a social worker for everyone else' seems likely to universalize the repressive character of the therapeutic society. The new social state is increasingly a critical manifestation of heroic socio- cultural practices The influence of social bureaucracies is not weakening but getting stronger The community rhetoric becomes a form that symbolizes and reinforces social life. Critical discussion on the social state easily becomes propagandistic. And the focus of the new discussion seems to be both on the simple order of everyday life and on the contradictions and complexities of modern society.

One of the most common themes in the vast literature on globalization is that it is gradually undermining the state by making it meaningless if not obsolete. This article is a contribution to the growing body of literature that seeks to challenge that thesis. It does so by arguing that there are two distinct sets of processes at work in contemporary world politics: globalization and interstate interaction. While the former tends to break down territorial boundaries and replace them with new, uniform configurations of power, money and culture, the latter reconfirms territorial boundaries and the structures and processes contained by them. The interaction among states, which is often ignored by globalization theorists, may best be understood by situating it within the traditional international relations concept of an international society, provided that this is redefined to give it a more 'constructivist' orientation.

The configuration of French welfare state is determined by a mix of factors. Historically, the nation's social insurance system is based on the principles of solidarity, social protection, collective efforts and government's responsibility. To a large extent this explains its paternalistic features. The French social model has a complex institutional structure and consists of different insurance schemes which are highly segmented according to the professions and industries, to belonging to the private or public sectors. The article deals with the theoretical framework, specifics of the development and modernization of French social model, its adaptation to the most recent economic changes triggered by the processes of globalization and European integration. The French welfare state's transformations are necessitated by domestic and external economic, social and political challenges. The financing of the system is largely based on Bismarkian principle, namely, the bulk of social contributions are traditionally assumed by the firms along with the workers themselves. But it is mixed with a dose of Beveridgian society with its wide solidarity via general taxation. The author focuses on the welfare policy and legislation framework according to its model and type of regime. The analysis of the reform's process reveals the specifics of the weaknesses of French model which still faces contradictions between dirigist and market approaches in resolving social problems, between the aims of economic effectiveness and social protection. Successive reforms of the social protection system towards reductions of state social expenditures and privatization of pensions will help France to recalibrate its welfare model in accordance with a new logic at the European level and its mainstream in social policy. Acknowledgements. The article has been supported by a grant of the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation. Project no. 14-07-00048 "Transformation of Concept and Practices of Social State in EU Countries".

Blaming the victim is a tactic with a long and dishonourable history. The caricature of the 'undeserving poor ' was precisely what the Beveridge Report set out to challenge, basing the Welfare State, in contrast, on the concept of universal rights and responsibilities for all. But the stigmatisation of welfare recipients as scroungers has continued as a recurrent theme in public policy debates, and especially so from the Thatcher years onwards. In the current situation, the financial crisis has been ideologically reworked, from an economic problem to a political problem, it has been argued: "how to allocate blame and responsibility for the crisis" (Clarke & Newman, 2012).