From Social Protests to Social Justice – Revival of the Welfare State

The discussion in this panel will concentrate on the revival of the Welfare State and how inequality should be handled. The Welfare state is usually perceived as one of the central aspects of a social democracy but the traditional concept is facing many new challenges. A modern welfare state has to be able to handle new working conditions caused by digitization and globalization, as well as significant demographic changes. At the same time the gap between the poor and the rich is increasing in most countries and dividing the society. Especially in Israel the income inequality is among the highest of all OECD countries. Across different regions many distinct models of welfare states are in place to diminish inequality and its implications, but the most prominent model is supposedly the Nordic one. It is disputed however, if the model can be used as a role model for other countries.

Guiding questions:

• What are the main challenges to the modern welfare state and how can welfare provision be adapted to fit the new conditions?
• Is a functioning model of a welfare state such as the Scandinavian model applicable to other regions?
• How can a progressive, social democratic government address inequality and why are most parties not successful in using the topic during elections to catch votes?
• Why seem social democratic parties not to be attractive for the socially deprived population?

Speakers: