Selling capitalism: The politics of white business in the 1980s
Date
1989-03
Authors
Mann, Michael
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Abstract
Modern societies are faced with the problem of how to feed, house and ensure the well-being of their populations. They also confront the necessity of educating their work forces and dealing with those who are excluded from employment by reason of a shortage of opportunities,
ill-health or old age. The responses to these requirements, however, display a considerable variety. In many of the countries of Western Europe, with Sweden at the forefront, the primary responsibility for welfare is borne by the state. In Japan, by contrast, occupational benefits constitute the dominant form of welfare provision. They figure prominently in the United States too, and represent a mode of supplying social services that the government of Singapore is eager to encourage. In Israel the trade union federation, the Histadrut, is centrally involved in the fields of medical care and pensions, whilst the Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland is active in the sphere of education. In addition to the efforts of the public sector, of employers and of
voluntary organisations, there is the private market, consisting in the buying and selling of goods and services either through insurance schemes or through direct payments by the consumer. Even Sweden, which has traditionally insisted on the exclusion of profit from welfare, has been
affected by the contemporary shift in the direction of "privatisation," although in no way as severely as Britainor as Chile, an extreme case.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented March 1989
Keywords
Industries. Social aspects, Industrial policy. South Africa, Industrial policy