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Abstract:
In his MPIfG lectures, Francesco Boldizzoni addresses a central issue of our time from a historical perspective. The evolution of welfare systems in the Western world has been the product of cultural variables and material forces. The former include deep-seated attitudes toward poverty and concepts of the state that can be traced back to the early modern period. The latter are intrinsic to capitalist development inasmuch as it rests on Marx’s and Weber’s mechanical foundations. The interaction between the cultural and the material is itself problematic. It is largely responsible for the sense of instability that dominates our societies and, at the same time, warns the social scientist against the temptations of crystal-ball prediction. While history provides no guidance to the future, it can help make sense of this dynamic complexity.
The third lecture engages with debates on the sustainability of welfare states. During the later stages of industrialization the welfare state came to be seen as a means to correct the imbalances of capitalism. The current predicament of this model concerns some well-known contradictions of capitalist development that have been brought to surface by the slowdown of growth. History shows that repression of social needs and values usually results in reactions. Only very seldom, however, have they taken the form of revolutions.
