"Social Policy, Welfare State, and Civil Society in Sweden I-II gives a comprehensive account of the global invention of the welfare state, from the far north of the West to the global East and Southeast, and from its social policy origins to the most recent challenges from civil society. This second volume aims at the civil society challenge to the welfare state since 1988, or "the lost world of social democracy." It opens with an overview of the three generations of comparative welfare state research, from Harold Wilensky to Gosta Esping-Andersen, Theda Skocpol and onwards. Inspired by the work of Norbert Elias, Karl Polanyi, and Stein Rokkan as well as by Benedict Anderson, Tom Nairn and Elinor Ostrom, the civilizing process and embeddedness of the welfare-industrial complex are scrutinized. The author's key concepts are imagined welfare communities, and common pool resources in (civil) society and state. Privatization trends in Sweden - from take-off to bonanza - and domestic resistance to the powers of the day are then lucidly assessed, and the simultaneous deconstruction and reconstruction of a once famous welfare state is elaborated with force and vigour. Finally, the cross-national Scandinavian differences are outlined. The five essays of volume II emphasize the historical relativity of social welfare institutions and argue against all developmental metaphysics."

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