European foundations of the welfare state / Franz-Xaver Kaufmann ; translated from the German by John Veit-Wilson ; with the assistance of Thomas Skelton-Robinson.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [356]-380) and indexes.

Pioneers of social reformism: Sismondi, List, Mill -- German origins of a theory of social reform: Hegel, Stein and the idea of ´social policy´ -- Christian influences on social reform -- Welfare internationalism before the welfare state: the emergence of social human rights -- Social security: the leading idea and its problems -- Social policy intervention: elements of a sociological theory -- First-order and second-order social policies -- The state and the production of welfare -- National welfare state traditions and the European social model -- Towards a theory of the welfare state -- The welfare state´s achievements and continuing problems -- Human assets and demographic challenges to the welfare state -- Solidarity and redistribution under the pressure of international competition -- What comes after the classic welfare state?