Refah Devletinin Yükselişi ve Düşüşü

The insecure, anxious individual cannot be free. However, liberals often claim that personal freedom and collective social security are diametrically opposed. For the labor movement in struggle, it is obvious that there can be no freedom without social security, and no social security without freedom.

Over the past century, nothing has contributed more to individual freedom than the collective struggle of the labor movement. The welfare state, as a social model, developed within this struggle and under conditions of transition from class struggle to class cooperation.

That's why today, individual freedoms are attacked before social rights. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, our freedoms are restricted, we are recorded and imprisoned under the surveillance of cameras; In this way, we are prevented from resisting and fighting for our social rights.

Education and health, symbols of the welfare state, are no longer free. While the retirement age is being raised, salaries are being reduced at every opportunity. Unemployment pension and poverty aid were turned into charity. Working hours are increased while rest and holiday periods are reduced. The work itself and working conditions are being made harsher to the point of ruthlessness. While the irregularities in the markets are carried to the labor market, the rights of all employees, including the workers, are being relentlessly attacked. Capitalists and politicians take revenge on the welfare state.

Capital and neoliberals are fighting hard to weaken the most important institutions that sustain the welfare state, unions and democracy, and of all the battlefields, the world of work is the most central. So, how can we get out of this trap?

While trade unionist and author Asbjørn Wahl proposes a road map for the future for the union movement, based on concrete examples of struggle and alliance formation, he also offers a basic resource for students of economics and political sciences with his analysis.

"This scientific, meticulous but at the same time easy-to-read book is about the developments happening all over Europe and the world. We need to read this book, learn from it and organize ourselves in order to resist with all our strength."
-SUSAN GEORGE, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Transnational Institute-

"Wahl gives us a very important insight into the crisis of the welfare state in the West. More than that, he offers a road map for the future. This book encourages us all to think outside the existing patterns in order to preserve the gains of the social democratic model while avoiding falling into its traps." "It's challenging."
-WALDEN BELLO, Professor of Sociology at the University of the Philippines-
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 288

Year of Print: 2015


Language: Turkish
Publisher: h2o Book

Prepared for Publication by: Özcan Özen

First Print Year: 2015

Number of Pages: 288

Language: Turkish