Abstract
Neo-liberal ideas exert increasing influence on welfare state policies in Europe. Neo-liberalism values individual interaction in free markets. It argues for welfare state cutbacks and greater individual responsibility and stresses the importance of opportunity. This in turn underscores particular themes in public attitudes (deservingness, obligation and choice) and downplays others (solidarity and community).
This chapter reviews the background theoretical, policy and public attitude literature, analyses the findings of our Democratic Forums and shows how they contribute to understanding popular framings of individualism. We identify two dominant framings in different countries. One puts the emphasis on individual responsibility. It is most prominent in the denigration of unemployed people as workshy, notably in the UK and to some extent Germany, but conflicts with the widespread positive valuing of collective healthcare, pensions and education. The second more positive approach, found in all five countries, supports state investment in training, childcare and other services to mobilise workers and expand the range of opportunities to which people may aspire.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andersen, J. G. (1999). Changing labour markets, new social divisions and welfare state support: Denmark in the 1990s. In S. Svallfors & P. Taylor-Gooby (Eds.), The end of the welfare state? Responses to state retrenchment (pp. 13–33). London: Routledge.
Arts, W., & Gelissen, J. (2001). Welfare states, solidarity and justice principles: Does the type really matter? Acta Sociologica, 44(4), 283–299.
Blekesaune, M., & Quadagno, J. (2003). Public attitudes toward welfare state policies. European Sociological Review, 19(5), 415–427.
Bolzendahl, C., & Olafsdottir, S. (2008). Gender group interest or gender ideology? Sociological Perspectives, 51(2), 281–304.
Bonoli, G. (2000). Public attitudes to social protection and political economy traditions in Western Europe. European Societies, 2(4), 431–452.
Burkhardt, C., Martin, R., Mau, S., & Taylor-Gooby, P. (2011). Differing notions of social welfare? In J. Clasen (Ed.), Converging worlds of welfare? (pp. 15–32). Oxford University Press.
Busemeyer, M., Garritzmann, J., Neimanns, E., & Nezi, R. (2017). Investing in education in Europe: Evidence from a new survey of public opinion. Journal of European Social Policy, 27(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928717700562.
Cantillon, B. (2011). The paradox of the social investment state. Journal of European Social Policy, 21(5), 432–449.
Carriero, R. (2016). More inequality, fewer class differences. Comparative Sociology, 15(1), 112–139.
European Commission 2011 Linked to European Commission. (2011). EU Economic governance “Six-Pack” enters into force, Memo 11/898. Retrieved from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-11-898_en.htm.
EC. (2013). Towards social investment for growth and cohesion-including implementing the European Social Fund 2014–2020. COM (2013) 83 final. Brussels: European Commission.
EC. (2015). Results of the public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Com 2015 100. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/europe2020_consultation_results_en.pdf.
Edlund, J. (1999). Progressive taxation farewell? In S. Svallfors & P. Taylor-Gooby (Eds.), The end of the welfare state? Responses to retrenchment. London: Routledge.
Ervasti, H., Andersen, J. G., Fridberg, T., & Ringdal, K. (2012). The future of the welfare state. Cheltenhem: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Evans, D., Mariah, R., Kelley, J., & Breznau, N. (2014). The welfare state and attitudes towards inequality and redistribution. Paper presented at the ASA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Ferrera, M. (1993). EC citizens and social protection. Brussels: European Commission.
Fong, C. (2001). Social preferences, self-interest, and the demand for redistribution. Journal of Public Economics, 82(2), 225–246.
Gough, I. (2011). From financial crisis to fiscal crisis. In K. Farnsworth & Z. Irving (Eds.), Social policy in challenging times. Bristol: Policy Press.
Hacker, J., & Pierson, P. (2010). Winner-take-all politics. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Hakhverdian, A., Van Elsas, E., Van Der Brug, W., & Kuhn, T. (2013). Euroscepticism and education. European Union Politics, 14(4), 522–541.
Higgs, R. (1997). The dream of the Mount Pelerin Society. The Independent Review, 1(4), 2–4.
Hobolt, S. (2016). The Brexit vote: A divided nation, a divided continent. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9), 1259–1277.
IMF. (2017). World economic outlook database, October 2016. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/01/weodata/index.aspx.
Jessop, B. (2002). The future of the capitalist state. Cambridge: Polity.
Kaase, M., & Newton, K. (1995). Beliefs in government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kiesi, J., Brähler, E., Schmutzer, G., & Decker, O. (2016). Euroscepticism and right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany. German Politics, online. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2016.1226810.
Knijn, T., & Komter, A. E. (2004). Solidarity between the sexes and the generations: Transformations in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Knijn, T., & Van Oorschot, W. (2008). The need for and the societal legitimacy of social investments in children and their families. Journal of Family Issues, 29(11), 1520–1542.
Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Dolezal, M., Helbling, M., Hoglinger, D., Hutter, S., & Wuest, B. (2012). Political conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Larsen, C. A. (2008). The political logic of labour market reforms and popular images of target groups. Journal of European Social Policy, 18(1), 50–63.
Linos, K., & West, M. (2003). Self-interest, social beliefs, and attitudes to redistribution. European Sociological Review, 19(4), 393–409.
Likki, T., & Staerklé, C. (2014). Welfare support in Europe: Interplay of dependency culture beliefs and meritocratic contexts. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 27(1), 138–153.
Mau, S. (2003). The moral economy of welfare states: Britain and Germany compared. London: Routledge.
Meier Jæger, M. (2006). What makes people support public responsibility for welfare provision? Acta Sociologica, 49(3), 321–338.
Meuleman, B., & Chung, H. (2012). Who should care for the children? In H. Ervasti, J. G. Andersen, T. Fridberg, & K. Ringdal (Eds.), The future of the welfare state (pp. 107–133). Edward Elgar.
Mewes, J., & Mau, S. (2012). Unraveling working-class welfare chauvinism. In S. Svallfors (Ed.), Contested welfare states: Welfare attitudes in Europe and beyond (pp. 119–157). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Morel, N., Palier, B., & Palme, J. (2012). Towards a social investment welfare state? Ideas, policies and challenges. Bristol: Policy Press.
Nolan, B. (2013). What use is ‘social investment’? Journal of European Social Policy, 23, 5.
OECD. (2011). Fiscal consolidation: Targets, plans and measures. OECD Journal on Budgeting, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1787/budget-11-5kg869h4w5f6.
Pederson, J. (2014). Where should the money go? International Journal of Social Science Studies, 2, 1.
Pierson, P. (Ed.). (2001). The new politics of the welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Piven, F. (2015). Neoliberalism and the welfare state. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 31(1), 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2014.1001665.
Roosma, F. (2016). A multidimensional perspective on the social legitimacy of welfare states in Europe. Tilburg: Tilburg University.
Roosma, F., Gelissen, J., & van Oorschot, W. (2013). The multidimensionality of welfare state attitudes: A European cross-national study. Social Indicators Research, 113(1), 235–255.
Sen, A. (1977). Rational fools: A critique of the behavioural foundations of economic theory. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 6(3), 317–332.
Springer, S., Birch, K., & MacLeavy, J. (Eds.). (2016). The handbook of neoliberalism. London: Routledge.
Staerklé, C., Likki, T., & Scheidegger, R. (2012). A normative approach to welfare attitudes. In S. Svallfors (Ed.), Contested welfare states: Welfare attitudes in Europe and beyond (Vol. 81). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Stiglitz, J. (2016). The Euro and its threat to the future of Europe. London: Allen Lane.
Svallfors, S. (1997). Worlds of welfare and attitudes to redistribution. European Sociological Review, 13(3), 283–304.
Taylor-Gooby, P. (1982). Two cheers for the welfare state. Journal of Public Policy, 2(4), 319–346.
Taylor-Gooby, P. (2002). The silver age of the welfare state. Journal of Social Policy, 31(4), 597–622.
Taylor-Gooby, P., & Martin, R. (2010). Fairness, equality and legitimacy. Social Policy & Administration, 44(1), 85–103.
Taylor-Gooby, P., Leruth, B., & Chung, H. (Eds.). (2017). After austerity: Welfare state transformation in Europe after the great recession. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ullrich, C. G. (2002). Reciprocity, justice and statutory health insurance in Germany. Journal of European Social Policy, 12(2), 123–136.
van der Waal, J., Achterberg, P., Houtman, D., De Koster, W., & Manevska, K. (2010). ‘Some are more equal than others’: Economic egalitarianism and welfare chauvinism in the Netherlands. Journal of European Social Policy, 20(4), 350–363.
Van Oorschott, W. (2006). Making the difference in social Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 16(1), 23–42.
Vandenbroucke, F., Hemerijck, A., & Palier, B. (2011). The EU needs a social investment pact. OSE Paper Series, Opinion paper 5. Observatoire Social Europeene, Brussels.
Von Hayek, F. (1973). Law, legislation and liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Taylor-Gooby, P., Leruth, B. (2018). Individualism and Neo-Liberalism. In: Taylor-Gooby, P., Leruth, B. (eds) Attitudes, Aspirations and Welfare. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75783-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75783-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75782-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75783-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)