Radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state? Contrasting the United Kingdom and the Netherlands with Norway

• Published in: Social policy & administration 2020-09, Vol.54 (5), p.813-826
• Main Authors: Kersbergen, Kees, Metliaas, Kjersti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternatives; Concept formation; international comparison of; Participation; politics of social and public policies; Public policy; Radicalism; welfare politics; Welfare reform; Welfare state
• ISSN: 0144-5596; 1467-9515
• DOI: 10.1111/spol.12580

In many countries, new, broad, and normative “conceptions of society” gained prominence that represent fundamentally different discursive alternatives to the classical welfare state. We present two political projects that contain radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state, the “Big Society” in Britain and the “Participation Society” in the Netherlands, and contrast these with Norwegian developments, where no such a radical alternative conceptualization of the welfare state can be found. We show that the British and Dutch political projects were attempts to replace the welfare state, whereas there is no comparable big idea about a radical overhaul of the welfare state in Norway. Our analysis contributes to a better understanding of a fundamental shift in welfare state reform, namely a radical reconsidering of the ideational and normative foundation that defines and underpins what the welfare state is or should be.