The Crisis Imperative

Crisis Rhetoric and Welfare State Reform in Belgium and the Netherlands in the Early 1990s

Sanneke Kuipers author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Amsterdam University Press

Published:17th Nov '05

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Crisis Imperative cover

The Netherlands and Belgium exemplified the pathology of ‘welfare without work’ that characterized continental welfare states — until a political crisis in both countries produced a surprising divergence in scope and extent of policy change in the early 1990s. In Belgium, government announced major reforms but its social security arrangements proved remarkably resilient. In the Netherlands, policy makers announced and implemented unprecedented cutbacks and a major overhaul of the disability benefit administration and supervision. This book argues that reform is the product of the deliberate construction of a crisis as an imperative for change. It explains how crisis rhetoric resulted in drastic policy change in the Netherlands and in incremental change in Belgium.

ISBN: 9789053568088

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 457g

232 pages