Work Incentives and Welfare Provision

During the 1990s, the welfare state came under sustained attack from political theorists who had previously supported it. Examining in detail current unemployment debates within Western welfare states, this book seeks to verify or refute the view that non-work is chosen by work-shy individuals - the "pathological" theory of unemployment. Drawing from a range of disciplinary perspectives - from social philosophy and the history of philosophy, to occupational psychology and feminist economics - this interdisciplinary analysis reveals the the "pathological" theory of unemployment, with its reliance on a deficient depiction of human nature and its disregard of non-pecuniary work incentives and impirical evidence, cannot be upheld. Doris Schroeder presents an alternative explanation for the phenomenon of widespread Western unemployment through insights into an "external barrier" theory of unemployment, namely technological displacement combined with a refusal to return to a two-tiered victorian society. By effectively combining empirical data with philosophical deliberations, the book is intended to make an important contribution to the welfare state debate.