New open access book: Experiencing Society and the Lived Welfare State

Edited volume ‘Experiencing Society and the Lived Welfare State’ is out from Palgrave Macmillan. The book is edited by HEX members Pertti Haapala, Minna Harjula and Heikki Kokko. It includes articles by contributors from around the world.

The book
- Presents the history of experiences as a new approach to the welfare state
- Explores the experience of society which enabled the building of a welfare state in various global contexts
- Opens theoretical, methodological and empirical insights for bridging the everyday experiences and social structures

Experiencing Society and the Lived Welfare State presents a new approach to the history of welfare state. By applying the concepts of experiencing society and the lived welfare state, the collection introduces theoretical, methodological and empirical insights for bridging the everyday life and institutional structures. The chapters analyze how the welfare state as a particular individual-society relationship has become an integral part of living in the modern society. With a long-term perspective, the chapters explore the experience of society which enabled the building and the resilience of a welfare state. As the welfare state is not a universal model of social development but historically unique in different contexts, the book broadens the focus from the Nordic countries to Southern Europe, colonial Asia and post-colonial South America. This collection is essential reading for scholars and students in the social sciences and history, as well as for policymakers and practitioners who face the contemporary and future challenges of the welfare states.

The edited volume is fully Open Access here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-21663-3