No. 2 (2022): Narratives of Social Policy - Narratives of the Critique of the Welfare State

Social policy is a differentiated field – with many, quite different »construction sites«. In relation to various services, most of which are mediated by state institutions, the differentiated fields, with their established actors, their predetermined topics and their typical conflicts, are idiosyncratic; and yet they are interrelated, ›need‹ each other, refer to each other and work in their contexts. Nonetheless, social policy debates do not fit into one system – and nonetheless, social policy does not exist in a single mold.

That's why in political debates people simplify the mix of socio-political services and the welfare state - and 'tell' each other about it in narratives. They ›tell‹ each other why, what and how the welfare state is there or should be there ›for the people‹ or ›for society‹. In corresponding narratives, what coexists at the same time and yet is not a unity, comes into one. Simplification is achieved by emphasizing certain structures and certain achievements, while others are concealed or tacitly assumed. Above all the narratively generated whole is given a meaning – and this meaning is explicitly intended. People ›tell‹ each other why and for what purpose the whole is actually there and why it is good that it is there. Narratively, the welfare state is ›produced‹, which is ›told‹ about.

Since the 1980s, new narratives, such as the ›activating welfare state‹ or the ›Gewährleistungsstaat‹ (›regulatory state‹), have been used to initiate social policy reforms in large, cross-cutting casts, to coordinate reforms with one another, and to promote them socially. By retelling the welfare state in a new and different way, social policy was pursued – and was successful. Since these narratives have been used up in the meantime, new narratives are currently being tried – and they are considered urgently necessary in order to get the ›welfare state of tomorrow‹ off the ground.

The critique of the welfare state also works with narratives. Against the official complexity, it tells how ›the welfare state‹ really ›is‹,"how it actually works and what it does with the people who depend on its benefits. Against the beautiful appearances that not least welfare state institutions hold, the ›true‹ stories about the welfare state are told. Narratives get to the heart of the welfare state critique – and ensure that the respective critique is evaluatively and affectively occupied.

In this issue of ethikundgesellschaft, narratives of social policy and welfare state critique are presented - unfortunately incompletely. Two contributions (Tanja Klenk and Johanna Kuhlmann) introduce social policy narrative research and present the state of research. Next, narratives about the welfare state are examined, the heroic state in times of pandemic (Johanna Kuhlmann) and the ›Gewährleistungsstaat‹ (Matthias Möhring-Hesse). Christoph Butterwegge examines narratives about the poor and unemployed in media discourse about Hartz IV and citizen's income – and Stephanie Simon the narratives they are used to combat poverty in the context of extreme-right and right-wing populist social policies. In the five articles, the readers will find indications of why and how narratives are told about the welfare state and how social policy is ›made‹ and critique of the welfare state is

Editor: Matthias Möhring-Hesse

In the review section, fifteen new publications from different disciplines are covered. Thus, in the field of social ethics, a new volume on the future of care work and a new textbook are discussed, and in the field of sociology, the 'social places' concept, the theory of the gift, and the influence of the right on the American continent. Also discussed are Thomas von Freyberg's autobiography and Franz-Xaver Kaufmann's just-published book on 'Catholic Church Criticism'. In the field of political philosophy, too, a broad thematic field is again covered: starting with a new history of ideas of the reactionary and an exchange of letters between Carl Schmitt and Dietrich Braun, via the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill and the recent political philosophy of Frankfurt provenance, to a new monograph by the French democratic theorist Pierre Rosanvallon. Finally, this is rounded off by reviews of two recent philosophical publications - one on the conflict of generations, the other on the role of water.

Editors: Hermann Josef Große Kracht and Tim Eckes