Just transition and welfare states: a largely unexplored relation

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Béla Galgóczi, Philippe Pochet
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/165
Language English Pages 22 P. 46-67 File size 233 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2023-165003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Climate emergency has been recognised as a top policy priority by more and more policy-makers and the restructuring process it entails is seen as the main challenge of the coming decades. The welfare state that emerged in the context of a fossil fuel-based extractive economic model, based on a belief in sustained growth, cannot remain unaffected by the ongoing transition to a net-zero economy (Gough et al., 2008). Possible linkages between the welfare state and climate and environmental issues largely remain unexplored and until very recently discussion of social welfare systems in Europe has been disconnected from ecological concerns and policies and as well from the just transition narrative that took a prominent role in shaping the social dimension of climate policies. Both on the other hand assume continuing economic growth. This article aims to present a broad mapping of the current debates mainly at EU level, highlighting possible alternative directions (from green growth to sustainable welfare; from technology to behavioural changes). It proceeds through selected literature reviews offering a dialogue between different perspectives and opening successive routes of questioning. It also highlights the current limitations in the analysis of the role and the shape of welfare states in tackling environmental challenges and labour market transitions.

Keywords: welfare state, just transition, climate change, de-growth, labour

  1. Baccaro L., Pontusson J. (2022). The politics of growth models. Review of Keynesian Economics, 10(2): 204–221.
  2. ADEME (2021). Transition(s) 2050: choisir maintenant, agir pour le climat. Available at: https://expertises.ademe.fr/lademe/priorites-strategiques-missions-lademe/transitions-2050-choisir-maintenant-agir-climat (accessed 14 September 2022).
  3. Akgüç M., Arabadjieva K. and Galgóczi B. (2022a). Why the EU’s patchy ‘just transition’ framework is not up to meeting its climate ambitions. Policy Brief 2022.06. Brussels: ETUI. Available at: https://www.etui.org/publications/why-eus-patchy-just-transition-framework-not-meeting-its-climate-ambitions (accessed 15 October 2022).
  4. Akgüç M., Countouris N., Hancké B. and Pochet P. (2022b). Rethinking the European single market: Moving towards new frontiers for a highly competitive, socio-ecological sustainable and resilient Europe. Report for the Belgian Ministry of Economy.
  5. Atkinson A. (1996). The case for a participation income. The Political Quarterly, 67(1): 67-70.
  6. Alves Dias P., Conte A., Kanellopoulos K., Kapetaki Z., Mandras G., Medarac H., Nijs W., Ruiz Castello P., Somers J. and Tarvydas D. (2021). Recent trends in EU coal, peat and oil shale regions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.2760/51071
  7. Bauer W., Riedel O. and Herrmann F. (2020). Employment 2030 effects of electric mobility and digitalisation on the quality and quantity of employment at Volkswagen. https://www.volkswagenag.com/presence/stories/2020/12/frauenhofer-studie/6095_EMDI_VW_Summary_um.pdf
  8. BCG (2021) Is e-mobility a green boost for European automotive jobs?. Boston Consulting Group. Available at: https://web-assets.bcg.com/82/0a/17e745504e46b5981b74fadba825/is-e-mobility-a-green-boost.pdf (accessed 15 December 2022).
  9. Bohnenberger K. (2020). Money, vouchers, public infrastructures ? A framework for sustainable welfare benefits. Sustainability, 12(2): 596.
  10. Büchs M., Koch M. (2017). Postgrowth and wellbeing: Challenges to sustainable welfare. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  11. Büchs M., Koch M. (2019). Challenges for the degrowth transition: The debate about wellbeing. Futures, 105: 155-165.
  12. Büchs M., Ivanova D. and Schnep S.V. (2021). Fairness, effectiveness, and needs satisfaction: New options for designing climate policies. Environmental Research Letters, 16(12).
  13. Carbonnier C., Palier B. (2022). Les femmes, les jeunes et les enfants d’abord : investissement social et économie de la qualité, Paris: PUF.
  14. Charbonnier P. (2022). Dans l’interrègne climatique : arènes d’une politique de la Terre. Available at: https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2022/08/26/dans-linterregne-climatique-arenes-dune-politique-de-la-terre/ (accessed 14 September 2022).
  15. Colgan J.D., Green J. and Hale T. (2021) Asset revaluation and the existential politics of climate change. International Organization, 75: 586-610.
  16. Coote A., Percy A. (2020). The case for universal basic services. Cambridge: Polity.
  17. Corlet Walker C., Druckman A. and Jackson T. (2021). Welfare systems without economic growth: A review of the challenges and next steps for the field. Ecological Economics, 186: 107066.
  18. Dukelow F. (2022). What role for activation in eco-social policy? Social Policy and Society, 21(3): 496-507. DOI: 10.1017/S147474642100088
  19. Elbaum M. (2022). La protection sociale française est-elle en capacité de répondre à la montée des risques environnementaux et aux implications de la transition écologique?. Sciences Po OFCE Working Paper, 17/2022. Available at: https://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pdf/dtravail/OFCEWP2022-17.pdf (accessed 30 January 2023).
  20. Esping-Andersen G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity.
  21. Esping-Andersen G. (ed.) (2002). Why we need a new welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/0199256438.001.000
  22. European Commission (1999). A concerted strategy for modernising social protection. COM(1999) 347.
  23. Fritz M., Koch M. (2019). Public support for sustainable welfare compared: Links between attitudes towards climate and welfare policies. Sustainability, 11(15): 4146.
  24. Galgóczi B. (2021). Is Europe socially fit for the ‘Fit for 55’ package? Social Europe. Available at: https://socialeurope.eu/is-europe-socially-fit-for-the-fit-for-55-package
  25. Galgóczi B. (2022). From a ‘just transition for us’ to a ‘just transition for all’. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 28(3): 349-366. DOI: 10.1177/1024258922112506
  26. Galgóczi B., Pochet P. (2022). Introduction. Welfare states confronted by the challenges of climate change: A short review of the issues and possible impacts. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 28(39): 307-316. DOI: 10.1177/1024258922113278
  27. García-García P., Buendia L. and Carpintero O. (2022). Welfare regimes as enablers of just energy transitions: Revisiting and testing the hypothesis of synergy for Europe. Ecological Economics, 197.
  28. Goodin R.E. (2001). Work and welfare toward a post-productivist welfare regime. British Journal of Political Science, 31(1): 13-39. DOI: 10.1017/S000712340100002
  29. Green J. (2022). Comparative capitalisms in the Anthropocene: a research agenda for green transition. New Political Economy. DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2022.210961
  30. Gore T. (2020). Confronting carbon inequality: Putting climate justice at the heart of the COVID-19 recovery. Oxfam Media Briefing, 21 September 2020. Available at: http://oxfam.org/en/research/extreme-carbon-inequality (accessed 14 September 2022).
  31. Gough I. (1979). The political economy of the welfare State. London: Macmillan Press.
  32. Gough I. (2017). Heat, greed and human need: Climate change, capitalism and sustainable wellbeing. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  33. Gough I. (2021). Two scenarios for sustainable welfare: New ideas for an eco-social contract. Working Paper 2021.12. Brussels: ETUI.
  34. Gough I., Meadowcroft J. and Dryzek J. (2008). JESP symposium: Climate change and social policy. Journal of European Social Policy, 18(4): 325-344. DOI: 10.1177/095892870809489
  35. Hall P.A. (1993). Policy paradigms, social learning and the State: The case of economic policy-making in Britain. Comparative Politics, 25(3): 275-296. DOI: 10.2307/422246
  36. Hassel H., Palier B., eds. (2021). Growth and welfare in advanced capitalist economies: How have growth regimes evolved?. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  37. Hirvilammi T., Koch M. (2020). Sustainable welfare beyond growth. Sustainability, 12(5): 1824.
  38. IPCC (2022) IPCC sixth assessment report: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/resources/spm-headline-statements/ (accessed 15 October 2022).
  39. Jakobsson N., Muttarak R. and Schoyen M.A. (2017). Dividing the pie in the eco-social state: Exploring the relationship between public support for environmental and welfare policies. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 36(2): 313-339. DOI: 10.1177/239965441771
  40. Koch M., Gullberg A.T. and Schoyen M.A. (2016). Sustainable welfare in the EU: Promoting synergies between climate and social policies. Critical Social Policy, 36(4): 704-715. DOI: 10.1177/026101831665461
  41. Kolberg J.E., Esping-Andersen G. (1991). Welfare states and employment regimes. International Journal of Sociology, 21(3): 3-35. DOI: 10.1080/15579336.1991.1177001
  42. Korhola E. (2014). The rise and fall of the Kyoto Protocol: Climate change as a political process. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Available at: https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/136507/Therisea.pdf (accessed 27 January 2023).
  43. Krause D., Stevis D. and Hujo K. (2022). Just transitions for a new eco-social contract: Analysing the relations between welfare regimes and transition pathways. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 28(3): 367-382. DOI: 10.1177/1024258922112783
  44. Kuhn T.S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  45. Laruffa F., McGann M. and Murphy M. (2022). Enabling participation income for an eco-social state. Social Policy and Society, 21(3): 508-519. DOI: 10.1017/S147474642100075
  46. Laurent E. (2021). The European Green Deal: From growth strategy to social-ecological transition?. In: Vanhercke B., Spasova S. and Fronteddu B. (eds.) Social policy in the European Union: State of play 2020. Brussels: ETUI, pp. 97-111.
  47. Laurent E., Pochet P. (2015). Towards a social-ecological transition: Solidarity in the age of environmental challenge. Brussels: ETUI.
  48. Lambeau J.-L., Urban S. (2022). Social protection and climate change: The role of social insurance. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
  49. Lévay Z.P., Vanhille J. and Goedemé T. (2021). The association between the carbon footprint and the socio-economic characteristics of Belgian households. Ecological Economics, 186.
  50. Mandelli M. (2022). Understanding eco-social policies: A proposed definition and typology. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 28(3): 333-348. DOI: 10.1177/1024258922112508
  51. Mandelli M., Bohnenberger K., Hirvilammi T. and Zimmermann K. (2022). The sustainable welfare and eco-social policy network. Culture, Practice and Europeanization, 7(2): 304-308. DOI: 10.5771/2566-7742-2022-2-
  52. Maier J. (1990). The Green Parties in Western Europe: A brief history, their successes, and their problems. Brussels: Global Greens.
  53. Mann M.E. (2021). The new climate war: the fight to take back our planet. New York: Public Affairs.
  54. Marcuse H. (1991). One-dimensional man: studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. Boston: Beacon Press.
  55. McGann M., Murphy M.P. (2021). Income support in an eco-state: The case for participation income. Social Policy and Society, 22: 16-30. DOI: 10.1017/S147474642100039
  56. Méda D. (2013). Travail : la révolution nécessaire. La Tour d’Aigues: Éd. de l'Aube.
  57. Milotay N., Noonan E., Chircop D., Müller K., Navarra C. and Pasikowska-Schnass M. (2022). EU welfare systems and the challenges of poverty and inequality. Brussels: European Parliament. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2022/698916/EPRS_STU(2022)698916_EN.pdf (accessed 30 January 2023).
  58. Natali D., Raitano M. and Valenti G. (2022). Pensions and the green transition: policy and political issues at stake, ETUI working paper 2022.04. https://www.etui.org/publications/pensions-and-green-transition-policy-and-political-issues-stake
  59. Otto A., Gugushvili D. (2020). Eco-social divides in Europe: Public attitudes towards welfare and climate change policies. Sustainability, 12(1): 404.
  60. Parth A.M., Vlandas T. (2022). The welfare state and the support for environmental action in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 32(5): 531-547. DOI: 10.1177/0958928722111565
  61. Pochet P. (2010). What’s wrong with EU2020?. Policy Brief 2/2010. Brussels: ETUI. Available at: https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/FINAL-Policy%20Brief%20on%20Social%20Policy-Issue2-2010-EN-6.pdf (accessed 30 January 2023).
  62. Polanyi K. (1957). The great transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. Boston: Beacon Press.
  63. Sabato S., Mandelli M. (2018). The EU’s potential for promoting an eco-social agenda. Report prepared for the project ‘Sustainable Welfare Societies: Assessing Linkages Between Social and Environmental Policies’. Oslo, Brussels: NOVA Norwegian Social Research, European Social Observatory.
  64. Sayer A. (2019). Moral economy, foundational economy and decarbonization. Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy, 27(2): 40-46.
  65. Schepelmann P. (2009). A Green New Deal for Europe. Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Available at: http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/default/dokbin/302/302250.pdf (accessed 15 December 2022).
  66. Stevis D., Felli R. (2015). Global labour unions and just transitions to a green economy. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 15(1): 29-43.
  67. Stevis D., Felli R. (2020). Planetary just transition? How inclusive and how just?. Earth System Governance, 6: 100065.
  68. Streeck W., Thelen K. (2005). Beyond continuity: Institutional change in advanced political economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  69. Supiot A. (2021). Labour is not a commodity: The content and meaning of work in the twenty-first century. International Labour Review, 160(1): 1-20.
  70. Swanton S. (2019). Pour un revenu de transition écologique. Paris: PUF.
  71. Van Lerven F. (2022). Changing Europe’s fiscal rules: Unleashing public investment for a socially just Green Deal. Brussels: Heinrich Boell Stiftung. Available at: https://eu.boell.org/en/changing-europes-fiscal-rules (accessed 30 January 2023).
  72. Van Doorslaer H., Vermeiren M. (2022). Beyond normal central banking? Monetary policy after the pandemic. Brussels: ETUI. Available at: https://www.etui.org/publications/beyond-normal-central-banking-monetary-policy-after-pandemic (accessed 30 January 2023).
  73. Van Parijs P., Vanderborght Y. (2017). Basic income: A radical proposal for a free society and a sane economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  74. Zimmermann K., Graziano P. (2020). Mapping different worlds of eco-welfare states. Sustainability, 12(5): 1819-1838.

  • Three pillars of just transition labour market policies Jing Ding, Tuuli Hirvilammi, in Contemporary Social Science /2024 pp.244
    DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2024.2316656
  • La giusta transizione tra questione sociale e questione ambientale: il potenziale ecologico delle mobilitazioni operaie Emanuele Leonardi, in GIORNALE DI DIRITTO DEL LAVORO E DI RELAZIONI INDUSTRIALI 177/2023 pp.99
    DOI: 10.3280/GDL2023-177007
  • Eco-Welfare and the Energy Transition Lorenzo De Vidovich, pp.139 (ISBN:978-3-031-55027-0)
  • Unconditional basic income and a degrowth transition: Adding empirical rigour to radical visions Nicholas Langridge, in Futures 103375/2024 pp.103375
    DOI: 10.1016/j.futures.2024.103375

Béla Galgóczi, Philippe Pochet, Just transition and welfare states: a largely unexplored relation in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 165/2023, pp 46-67, DOI: 10.3280/SL2023-165003