Abstract
This paper revisits Esping-Andersen’s welfare regimes typology and applies it to the South African context. To argue its case, it refers to and uses the construct of colonialism of a special type. The paper notes that unlike other African coun- tries, Esping-Andersen’s framework resonates with South Africa’s social policy and welfare regime because of its unique history that partly stems from coloni- alism of a special type. It argues that social policy in present-day South Africa continues to reproduce colonial and apartheid socio-economic outcomes due to path dependency. The paper asserts that path dependency has largely been shaped by colonialism of a special type. The discussion then concludes that South Africa straddles the liberal and social democratic welfare state regimes and classifies it as a hybrid welfare regime.
Highlights
This paper discusses social policy and the notion of welfare regimes typologies in the context of South Africa
Since path dependency in South Africa is inextricably linked to colonialism of a special type, according to this discussion, the section sheds light on this thesis, whilst providing the paper’s historical background and context
Based on the foregoing analysis, it can be deduced that South Africa has a hybrid welfare regime typology. This welfare regime continues to reproduce social outcomes befitting the mix of typologies located in the workings of South Africa’s colonialism of a special type. This hybrid regime partially resonates with the three worlds of welfare capitalism and seems to straddle the Scandinavian redistributive model – as attested by the country’s provision of bundles of services like the ‘social wage’ that is defined by various state subsidies like free water, free electricity, free housing and so forth, and universal access to certain services by the poor; and the Anglo-Saxon liberal welfare regime which is exemplified by targeting of services to the mostly poor sections of the country and makes use of the means-tests
Summary
This paper discusses social policy and the notion of welfare regimes typologies in the context of South Africa. It draws heavily on the analyses of Gøsta Esping-Andersen (1990; 1999). It is noteworthy that the state’s responses to poverty and other forms of human deprivation seem to be failing to reduce poverty, unemployment and various social ills in the country This failure, it can be argued, emanates from politicians’, policy-makers’ and academics’ inability to effectively interrogate the aftermath of colonialism of a special type and properly located it in contemporary social policy and welfare responses. Path dependency is crucial to the understanding and untangling of South Africa’s human deprivation challenges which seem to defy state-led policy interventions and various responses that tried to erase the socio-economic residue of the colonial and apartheid order, since 1994, when South Africa became a democratic country. Since path dependency in South Africa is inextricably linked to colonialism of a special type, according to this discussion, the section sheds light on this thesis, whilst providing the paper’s historical background and context
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