Workshop: Old Age Security Between State, Market, Associations and Households

Summary: Welfare state research regularly ignores other production spheres of social policy. Therefore, the workshop aims to focus on the welfare production of markets, associations, companies and households. During the last decades major shifts have occurred between the different welfare sectors, just to mention privatisation and marketisation of social services. The workshop will mainly focus on shifts in pension policy, but contributions including other policy areas are welcome and will enhance the overall discussion. Recent social policy reforms lead to a blurring of sectoral borders. Contributors wil l discuss how to draw demarcation lines or whether borders vanish. How coherent are the sectors themselves and do subsectors exist?

If the welfare sectors are blurred and social policy dissolves its own boundaries, old age security itself becomes a contested concept. What exactly is old age security under conditions of sectoral haziness? Can we observe redefinitions of old age pensions? Which investments are perceived as pensions and which as consumer savings? At the end of the workshop a general discussion on topics and issues that arose during the sessions will ensue. It will be possible to discuss these issues in detail, sparking off ideas for future research and projects. Theoretical as well as empirical papers are welcome.

Program download [pdf]