This book volume concentrates on critical developments, theories, and issues that determine the fate and well-being of European welfare state systems in the years and decades to come. The book e.g. focuses in-depth on the coming of the risk society; continuous decline in overall fertility; aging society; globalization; gender and the European welfare state; as well as social security, health care and social service reform. The case studies included in the book are numerous and cover well over a dozen countries in Europe, from Sweden in the North to Albania in the South. The variety and uniqueness of the chapters included make this book a must read for students, professionals and government administrators who want to learn more about Europe, including more countries and new hot issues in European social policy.
Table of Contents:
1 European Social Policy: An Introduction (Christian Aspalter and Peter Abrahamson)
2 The Contrast of Welfare Regimes: American Penal Policy Versus European Social Policy (Josef Weidenholzer and Christian Aspalter)
3 The Social Dimension of the European Union (Peter Abrahamson)
4 Gender Models and European Social Policy (Gillian Pascall)
5 Aging, Risk and Welfare in Europe (Jason Powell and Azrini Wahidin)
6 European Welfare States in Transition: The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden (Christian Aspalter)
7 European Welfare States in Transition: Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary (Kim Jinsoo and Park Sojeung)
8 The Danish Welfare State: A Social Rights Perspective (Peter Abrahamson)
9 Drugs, Prostitution, and the Swedish Welfare State (Arthur Gould)
10 From Welfare Laggard to Welfare Leader: The Welfare State in Switzerland (Dominique Wang and Christian Aspalter)
11 Feminization of Poverty: Lessons from Albania (Enkeleida Tahiraj)
12 Gendering the Welfare State: The Issue of Carework Salaries in Germany (Michael Opielka)
13 Children Leaving Care: Corporate Parenting and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom (Jim Goddard)
14 Aging, Family Policy and Narrative: Lessons from the UK (Jason Powell)
15 Corporate Crime, Aging, and Pensions in the UK (Jason Powell and Azrini Wahidin)
Prof. Peter Abrahamson is Professor of Sociology, the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His publications include e.g. Welfare and Families in Europe (with B. Greve and T. Boje, Ashgate, 2005). Prof. Peter Abrahamson is a top European scholar, having published every year numerous articles in English, French, Spanish, German and Danish. He is one of the foremost leading scholars on pan-European Social Policy. Prof. Abrahamson currently researches in Guatemala, at the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales.
Prof. Aspalter is Professor of Social Policy in Zhuhai and Hong Kong. His expertise is comparative social policy around the world. In recent years, he has conducted extensive research on European pension and health care systems on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Korea. He is also Senior Fellow of the Institut Sosial, the Government of Malaysia. His forthcoming books include e.g. "Health Care Systems in Europe and Asia" (with Uchido Yasuo and Robin Gauld, Casa Verde, 2008) and "Securing the Future for Old Age in Europe" (with Alan Walker, Casa Verde, 2008).
