The Birth of Solidarity: The History of the French Welfare State

François Ewald's landmark The Birth of Solidarity-first published in French in 1986, revised in 1996, with the revised edition appearing here in English for the first time-is one of the most important historical and philosophical studies of the rise of the welfare state. Theorizing the origins of social insurance, Ewald shows how the growing problem of industrial accidents in France throughout the nineteenth century tested the limits of classical liberalism and its notions of individual responsibility. As workers and capitalists confronted each other over the problem of workplace accidents, they transformed the older practice of commercial insurance into an instrument of state intervention, thereby creating an entirely new conception of law, the state, and social solidarity. What emerged was a new system of social insurance guaranteed by the state. The Birth of Solidarity is a classic work of social and political theory that will appeal to all those interested in labor power, the making and dismantling of the welfare state, and Foucauldian notions of governmentality, security, risk, and the limits of liberalism.

Author: François Ewald
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 05/08/2020
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9781478008231

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2021

About the Author
François Ewald is International Research Fellow at the University of Connecticut School of Law, chair of the Scientific Committee of the Université de l'Assurance, and the author and coeditor of several books in French.

Melinda Cooper is Professor of Sociology at the Australian National University.

Timothy Scott Johnson is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi.