Changing Boundaries: The Policies of Workfare in the U.S. and Europe

Evelyn Z. Brodkin and Flemming Larsen

Poverty & Public Policy, 2013, vol. 5, issue 1, 37-47

Abstract: In recent decades, workfare‐style policies have become part of the institutional architecture of welfare and labor market arrangements around the world. In this article, we offer a comparative, historical view of workfare's advance. Our analysis recognizes the complexity and diversity of what we call the “policies of workfare” and highlights the different paths through which these policies have developed in the U.S. and parts of Europe. We argue that it is necessary to look beyond familiar policy labels and language in order to consider workfare‐style policies as part of a broader political project that is altering the boundary between the democratic welfare state and the market economy. We see workfare policies as boundary‐changing, with potentially profound implications both for individuals disadvantaged by market arrangements and for societies seeking to grapple with the increasing instability and precariousness of work in the “new” economy.

Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/pop4.14

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:povpop:v:5:y:2013:i:1:p:37-47

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Poverty & Public Policy from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().