Political Economy of Welfare and Labour

Welfare states across Europe have come under increasing pressure as governments seek ways to reduce public spending. Many feminist accounts of this process highlight the detrimental impact of welfare austerity policies on women and gender equality more broadly. Yet before the economic crash few welfare states could claim a strong record on gender equality. Indeed feminist research on the welfare state clearly documented how social systems often reinforce particular gendered social relationships as well as the difficulty of transforming the traditional gender regimes embodied in national welfare states. Similarly, many welfare states were more reactive than proactive in their approach, that is, providing cash and services to compensate for poverty and inequality rather than preventing it in the first place. This panel seeks papers on all aspects of gender and the welfare state. It particularly welcomes papers which consider the gendered consequences of austerity and the possible alternative futures of welfare states across Europe. For example, what has the impact of the economic crash been on welfare states and welfare regimes? Has there been a turn to social investment policies (and how social investment policies are designed)? What are the consequences of new social (investment) policies for gender- and social equality? What are the political power dynamics behind such a process of reconstruction the welfare state? We welcome both empirical and theoretical papers, papers with a comparative or single case design, qualitative and quantitative papers and papers from the research field of policy analysis and comparative welfare state research.