The Capacitating Welfare State: Agency and Social Citizenship Across the Lifecourse

This incisive book examines the impact of European welfare states on the agency of those experiencing economic hardship and on their ability to exercise social citizenship. Chapters introduce the concept of the capacitating welfare state as a critical standard to foster human flourishing, outlining the mechanisms that facilitate or restrict people in exercising social citizenship during key life transitions.

Expert authors provide an innovative, multilevel theoretical framework for understanding the impact of social policies. They explore social policies at the macro level, civil society organisations, social networks and family relations at the meso level and individual characteristics including gender, disability and minority ethnic background at the micro level. With over 200 life-course interviews from across Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain and the UK, the book provides invaluable comparative analyses of policies including school-to-work transition, work–family balance, and long-term care for the elderly and persons with disabilities.

Scholars and students of social policy and sociology will greatly benefit from the book’s new, multilevel approach forefronting agency and meaningful social citizenship across society.