The welfare state in the age of reason

Abstract

The Welfare State in the Age of Reason(KERSTENETZKY, Celia Lessa. O Estado de Bem-Estar Social na Idade da Razao a Reinvencâo do Estado Social no Mundo Contemporaneo. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, 2012)The Welfare State in the Age of Reason is nor a neutral or modest book. It openly defends a position and suggests specific paths for social policies in Brazil based on successful international experiences that have produced more equality. In its first sen- tence, the author claims that the book is a defense of the state - in clear opposition to a widespread idea highlighting its crisis - which shows resilience and solid institution- alization. Furthermore, an expansion is observed in emerging countries precisely during these decades of austerity - a period known as the silver years of the state. After declaring her position, the arguments in the book are built from the objections and diffi- culties presented by an imaginary skeptical discussant, but that, in fact, express common arguments, pessimistic or ideological, which ultimately justify the inertia or a negative view concerning the option of a bold and truly transformative solution, on the one hand, or deny the credibility or even the desirability of a more radical redistribution, on the other hand. From these stated assumptions, the author dares to sustain and suggest that these solutions are feasible and presents her arguments in the defense of a universal welfare-re- distributive state. This is achieved by mobilizing an extensive and updated bibliography on states or regimes, comparing historical experiences and presenting a set of data and evidence capable of convincing the reader of the viability of her gamble. At a mini- mum, it raises a promising question for readers who desire more egalitarian outcomes in our welfare state: is this indeed a feasible path for Brazil? This is one of the merits of the book: it provides not only information and relevant analysis concerning development and the regimes' state of affairs, but it also urges us to think about policy alternatives.The specification of the assumptions from which the author builds her arguments is the point of departure and presented in the first part of the book. These include both defining the state as social - the object of intervention of any state - and its relation with development. Without questioning, the author assumes a broad delim- itation of the state - which is not free of controversy - by identifying the minimum requirements of public intervention and categorizing them along a line of maximum and minimum manifestations (different from other schemes, such as the well-known typology of Esping-Andersen). In this sense, it seems that the author does not endorse the classical distinction between states and regimes of welfare, using the terms interchangeably. In- stead of attempting to solve these conceptual problems, she adopts a practical solution to the problem of concept definition: what the state actually is in its various empirical manifestations. To develop the concept of welfare, the second assumption, the author bases her arguments on classic works such as Titmuss, Marshall and Sen and then builds a normative definition along the lines of the Scandinavian school of social welfare. In this integrating reconstruction format, the reader is presented with the notion that the state should seek the satisfaction of social needs, to offset social costs for economic activ- ities, to guarantee social rights and to promote the expansion of capacities, formalized as real freedom. Still in the first part of the book, a recurring theme in the political agenda is dealt with, namely the notion of a trade-off between development and distribution in which Kerstenetzky presents a quite relevant and innovative contribution. By questioning the assumptions that states presupposes a certain level of economic development or even a trade-off between growth and redistribution, which would involve choosing either one or the other, the author presents arguments and irrefutable evidence which demonstrate a positive relationship between state and development, particularly the contribution of the former to the latter. …