Exploring the resilience of social insurance systems in the light of endogenous welfare austerity: Insights from Sweden

IF 1.2 Q3 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Angelica Börjesson, Lars Karlsson
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article seeks to problematize and develop the concept of resilience in social security systems by focusing on more endogenous processes – specifically, endogenous welfare austerity. Existing literature on both resilience and welfare austerity has predominantly focused on external factors or formal institutions as the primary sources to change. However, Sweden offers a compelling case that challenges this assumption. Over an extended number of years, reaching its peak at the end of the last decade, the Swedish Social Insurance System (SSIS) has become increasingly restrictive, despite the absence of corresponding changes in the law or through reforms. Rather than exogenous pressures, we argue that the roots of welfare austerity in Sweden lie within an informal institution: the SSIS knowledge regime. Drawing on Michael Walzer’s “sphere-approach” from 1983, the article highlights the character of the knowledge regime – plural or authoritative – as a useful theoretical framework for understanding endogenous austerity. We contend that the SSIS knowledge regime, composed of distinct spheres, each governed by its own norms and logics, has in recent years been annexed by the welfare bureaucracy. We identify two forms of bureaucratic annexation: the supplanting and incorporating of other spheres of knowledge. The article demonstrates that, if social security systems are to be able to respond resiliently to external fragile situations and extreme events, it is crucial to develop a deeper understanding of their internal, more subtle vulnerabilities.

从内生福利紧缩的角度探讨社会保险制度的弹性:来自瑞典的见解
本文试图通过关注更内源性的过程,特别是内源性的福利紧缩,来质疑和发展社会保障系统中弹性的概念。关于弹性和福利紧缩的现有文献主要关注外部因素或正式制度作为变化的主要来源。然而,瑞典提供了一个令人信服的案例,挑战了这一假设。尽管没有对法律作出相应的修改或通过改革,瑞典社会保险制度(SSIS)在过去的许多年里变得越来越具有限制性,在上一个十年结束时达到了顶峰。我们认为,瑞典福利紧缩的根源不在于外部压力,而在于一个非正式的制度:SSIS知识制度。这篇文章借鉴了Michael Walzer 1983年提出的“球体方法”,强调了知识体系的特征——多元或权威——作为理解内生紧缩的有用理论框架。我们认为,SSIS知识体系由不同的领域组成,每个领域都有自己的规范和逻辑,近年来已被福利官僚机构所吞并。我们确定了两种形式的官僚吞并:取代和合并其他知识领域。这篇文章表明,如果社会保障体系要能够对外部脆弱局势和极端事件做出有弹性的反应,就必须对其内部更微妙的脆弱性有更深入的了解。
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来源期刊
International Social Security Review
International Social Security Review PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION-
CiteScore
2.00
自引率
8.30%
发文量
29
期刊介绍: The International Social Security Review, the world"s major international quarterly publication in the field of social security. First published in 1948, the journal appears in four language editions (English, French, German and Spanish). Articles by leading social security experts around the world present international comparisons and in-depth discussions of topical questions as well as studies of social security systems in different countries, and there is a regular, comprehensive round-up of the latest publications in its field.
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