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This book presents the first comprehensive history of the interplay of public and private provision that made the Swiss 'three-pillar' pension system into a model for the World Bank and other pension reformers during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Through a study of business federations', private pension lobbyists' and insurance companies' archives, Matthieu Leimgruber charts the century-long battle waged over the boundaries of state and private pensions. He shows how a distinctive path towards social provision has laid the foundation for a pension fund industry rivalling that of the United States and the United Kingdom. Through this comparative approach Matthieu Leimgruber is also able to question current assumptions about the strict dichotomy between 'Anglo-Saxon' and 'continental' models of welfare provision. This study will appeal to scholars of twentieth-century European history, economic history, political economy and welfare economics.
Based on the case of the ILO, both as an actor and driver of international social policy, this collection explores the internationalization process of social rights, in a number of national and international contexts. This collection brings together a variety of new scholarship by a group of highly qualified and internationally renowned scholars.
This book analyzes the evolution of the institutional structure of the Dutch political economy since 1950. It sketches in broad strokes the origin and economic role of coordination in the Netherlands. The Dutch economy is compared with other OECD countries by using the ‘varieties of capitalism’ theory and distinguishing between coordinated and liberal market economies. The author focuses on the constant adaptation of deliberative institutions in the business system, in labor relations, and in welfare policy. The complex institutional setting did not prevent the economy from participating in the globalization of markets and capital that took place since ca. 1980. The book is located at the intersection of two quite different literatures: modern economic history and the political science literature on ‘varieties of capitalism’.
Highlights how West Germany leveraged its economic power to become a key pillar of the global order in the 1960s and 1970s.
"Places of risk" and "sites of modernity" refer not merely to physical locations, but also objects and institutions that stand at the center of contemporary debates on security and risk. These are social and political domains where energy and infrastructure are produced, where domestic security is pursued and maintained, and where citizens encounter the state in its punitive or monitory roles. Taking a wide view of the period from the 1970s to today, this volume brings together innovative, interdisciplinary case studies of sites of modernity that promise to provide security and safety, yet at the same time are deemed responsible for creating new risks. With a particular contemporary interest in the technocratic changes of security and risk control the contributors to Sites of Modernity -- Places of Risk position the 1970s as a turning point in the path from industrial to post-industrial modernity.
The post–World War II period is typically seen as a time of stark division, an epochal global conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But beneath the surface, the postwar era witnessed a striking degree of international cooperation. The United Nations and its agencies, as well as regional organizations, international nongovernmental organizations, and private foundations brought together actors from conflicting worlds, fostering international collaboration across the geopolitical and ideological divisions of the Cold War. Diving into the archives of these organizations and associations, Sandrine Kott provides a new account of the Cold War that foregrounds the rise of inter...
When capitalism doesn't fight climate change but rather tries to make a buck out of it The Great Adaptation tells the story of how scientists, governments and corporations have tried to deal with the challenge that climate change poses to capitalism by promoting adaptation to the consequences of climate change, rather than combating its causes. From the 1970s neoliberal economists and ideologues have used climate change as an argument for creating more "flexibility" in society, that is for promoting more market-based solutions to environmental and social questions. The book unveils the political economy of this potent movement, whereby some powerful actors are thriving in the face of dangerous climate change and may even make a profit out of it.
The first book to shed light on what caused corporate executives to pursue a pro-globalization agenda over the last eight decades Crusading for Globalization tells the story of an extraordinarily influential group of business executives at the helms of the largest US multinational corporations and their quest to drive globalization forward over the last eight decades. Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl argues that the spectacular expansion of international investment, trade, and production after 1945 cannot be understood without considering the role played by these corporate globalizers and the organization they created, the US Council (today’s United States Council for International Business). B...
Most countries face the future with an ageing population, yet most governments are cutting back on pensions and the care services needed by the elderly. Robin Blackburn exposes the perverse reasoning and special interests which have combined to produce this nonsensical state of affairs. This updated paperback edition of Age Shock includes a new preface explaining why the credit crunch and eurozone crisis have had such a devastating impact and outlining a way to guarantee decent pensions and care provision.