Yksityisen ja julkisen rajanveto hyvinvointivaltiossa

Authors

• Pekka Kosonen

Abstract

If there is a connection between the private and public in a welfare state, then the market and family belong to the private sphere. In this article, the boundaries between these two spheres are analyzed. A large number of surveys indicate strong popular support for spending on welfare services. Despite this, the controlling and technocratic features of the state are targets for heavy criticism. There are debates on ’welfare scroungers’, tax protest and the expanding black-market economy. There are many examples of reprivatization. Opinions can be interpreted as a shift from collectivism to individualism, although not unilinear. Why then, is individualism getting a foothold? There are at least five explanations: 1) Public sector failure and disappointment with the welfare state. 2) Economic stagnation that strengthens the distribution problems of capitalism. 3) The weakening of the social base of general welfare programs as a result of the rise of the new middle-classes. 4) An increase of individualism due to a shift in ’post-modern’ conditions in which all great plans become obsolete. 5) A demarcation between the private and public is also a question of hegemonic struggle. Thus the present situation produces a new mixed economy between the public and private