For All These Rights
Business, Labor, and the Shaping of America's Public-Private Welfare State
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Princeton University Press
Published:7th Apr '06
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This insightful history explores America's reliance on employment-based benefits from the 1910s to the 1960s, examining the interplay of social provision, labor relations, and the evolution of the welfare state.
For All These Rights by Jennifer Klein delves into the historical evolution of America's reliance on employment-based benefits, highlighting the significant role of the New Deal in shaping the relationship between the state, economy, and citizens. The book examines how, from the 1910s to the 1960s, social provision and labor relations became intricately connected, with a particular focus on the rise of private health insurance and employee benefits in the United States. Klein argues that this phenomenon, which is unique to America, has often been overlooked despite its profound impact on the social fabric of the nation.
Klein explores various facets of this complex history, including the interplay between the commercial life insurance industry, Social Security politics, and organized labor's pursuit of economic security. She sheds light on the emergence of a firm-centered welfare system and the various community-based health plans that arose during the 1930s and 1940s but ultimately gave way to commercial models. The author also discusses the evolving definitions of security—encompassing job, health, and old age security—especially in the aftermath of World War II, illustrating how these concepts influenced public and private social security systems.
Through meticulous research and insightful analysis, For All These Rights provides a comprehensive understanding of the American welfare state and its implications for contemporary debates about social insurance. Klein's work is essential for historians, political scientists, and policy analysts, as it not only contextualizes the past but also informs current discussions on the future of America's private-public welfare state.
Winner of the 2004 Hagley Prize for the Best Book in Business History, Business History Conference Winner of the 2004 Ellis W. Hawley Prize, Organization of American Historians "[T]his book provides a fresh and compelling interpretation of some of the critical junctures in the development of old-age pensions and health insurance. This carefully argued and documented book is also invaluable for anyone wrestling with the question of 'what next?' for social security and health-care reform in the United States."--Marie Gottschalk, International Review of Social History "What makes this splendid book so enlightening is Klein's ability to see multiple actors in motion and to grasp how several complex dynamics intersected in the crucial years between 1920 and 1950. Policy makers, political actors, union leaders, rank-and-file workers, associations, employers, insurers: all played a key role in the path--determining decisions taken in these crucial years. Klein handles all of these actors with a sure hand... By brilliantly illuminating the historical roots of today's growing crisis, she makes an enormous contribution."--Joseph A. McCartin, American Historical Review "[Klein] pull[s] no punches. By bringing political economy back in, [she] offer[s] the most complex and satisfying explanation to date of America's exceptional trajectory toward the public-private welfare state... [This book] will have a lasting impact on the way policy scholars see the public-private welfare state."--Beatrix Hoffman, Journal of Policy History "For scholars of the welfare state, this book provides a fresh and compelling interpretation of some of the critical junctures in the development of old-age pensions and health insurance. This carefully argued and documented book is also invaluable for anyone wrestling with the question of 'what next' for social security and health-care reform in the United States."--Marie Gottschalk, International Review of Social History
- Winner of OAH Ellis W. Hawley Prize 2004
ISBN: 9780691126050
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 539g
392 pages