Research Agenda for Public Attitudes to Welfare
Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Edited by Femke Roosma, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Tilburg University, the Netherlands and Tijs Laenen, Postdoctoral Researcher, KU Leuven, Belgium and Tilburg University, the Netherlands<i>‘The book reveals the ideas, methods and aspirations of talented scholars seeking to understand public attitudes towards the welfare state. In their words, building on an unfinished La Sagrada Familia cathedral. In my opinion, the major strength of the book is the non-findings. How losing a job doesn’t matter. How the inflow of migrants doesn’t matter. How early institutions don’t matter. Such knowledge is seldom found in journal articles. The book is also filled with good ideas about better construction methods. Illustrated in a trial-and-error fashion. The use of panel data. The mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. The sensitivity to context. These ideas and suggestions are crucial for anyone wanting to contribute to this scholarly field. The book leaves me with a small puzzle, though. Why do we want to build a cathedral?’</i>
- Christian Albrekt Larsen, Aalborg University, Denmark,
<i>‘The institutions of the welfare state, which support millions of people globally, can only function efficiently and effectively when they are considered “just” by the public. It is therefore essential for academics and policymakers to understand how and why public attitudes change and differ cross-nationally in order to comprehend the basis for the legitimacy of our solidarity systems. This interesting and timely book offers a new perspective on innovative approaches to the study of public attitudes to welfare state policies, and individual and contextual level predictors and dynamics. On the basis of an impressive collection of chapters, it makes a significant, new contribution to comparative welfare state research.’</i>
- Birgit Pfau-Effinger, University of Hamburg, Germany,
<i>‘The welfare state is a large machine redistributing resources and compensating social risks. This edited volume addresses the quest for welfare state legitimacy by studying social attitudes. It impressively expands our knowledge on welfare state support by researching changes over time and contextual factors as well as scrutinizing understudied fields of social policy.’</i>
- Steffen Mau, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany,
<i>‘Welfare states change their approach, focus and instruments in response to newly emerging challenges. Therefore, the study of welfare attitudes must constantly innovate to keep us informed about the social legitimacy of the new pathways welfare is taking. This book convincingly presents an innovative agenda for such study. Its empirical chapters exemplify the research lines set out by it, thereby showing the agenda’s highly promising appeal as a guide for future research on public attitudes to welfare.’</i>BR>
- Wim van Oorschot, KU Leuven, Belgium,
<i>‘This timely overview of the field points to the wealth of new data-sources and new methods in welfare state attitude research. It makes the case for new applications to consider a broader range of policies and issues, for the expansion of theoretical and explanatory work and identification of the attitudinal triggers which contribute to attitude change and perhaps to a more generous welfare state politics.’</i>BR>
- Peter Taylor-Gooby, University of Kent, UK,