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

by François R. Ewald, Melinda Cooper (Editor), Timothy Scott Johnson (Translation)

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.

Genres: History, Politics

304 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2020

Reviews

[Erika]

A few clunky translation points besides (dispositif; patron), this is a clear abridged version of Ewald's idiosyncratic masterpieces examining the downfall of post-revolutionary liberal notions of individual responsibility in favor of a system based on social insurance and risk

[Sam]

A fascinating historical work on the emergence of insurance as a response to risk in the French state. More than that, the history speaks to how laborers, managers, and capitalists engage in negotiations, mediated by the state, surrounding capital and the body.