Gøsta Esping-Andersen Knihy

Leading scholars in the field examine the highly topical issue of the future the welfare state in Europe. They argue that welfare states need to adjust and examine which kind of welfare architecture will further Europe's stated goal of maximum social inclusion and justice. This volume concentrates on four principle social domains; the aged and transition to retirement; the welfare issues related to profound changes in working life; the risks and needs that arise in households and, especially, in child families; and the challenges of creating gender equality.

Few discussions in modern social science have occupied as much attention as the changing nature of welfare states in Western societies. The author here provides a new analysis of the character and role of welfare states in the functioning of contemporary advanced Western societies. The author distinguishes three major types of welfare state, connecting these with variations in the historical development of different Western countries. He argues that current economic processes, such as those moving toward a postindustrial order, are shaped not by autonomous market forces but by the nature of states and state differences.