![]() | Regulating the Social: The Welfare State and Local Politics in Imperial Germany Subjects: Germany -- Social conditions -- 1871–1918; Germany -- Social policy; Public welfare -- Germany -- History -- 19th century; Germany -- Politics and government -- 1871–1918; Why does the welfare state develop so unevenly across countries, regions, and localities? What accounts for the exclusions and disciplinary features of social programs? How are elite and popular conceptions of social reality related to welfare policies? George Steinmetz approaches these and other issues by exploring the complex origins and development of local and national social policies in nineteenth-century Germany. Generally regarded as the birthplace of the modern welfare state, Germany experimented with a wide variety of social programs before 1914, including the national social insurance legislation of the 1880s, the "Elberfeld" system of poor relief, protocorporatist policies, and modern forms of social work. Imperial Germany offers a particularly useful context in which to compare different programs at various levels of government. George Steinmetz is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. |
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