CHANGES IN THE WELFARE STATE AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE SOCIAL ECONOMY: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORETICAL DEBATE FROM A SYSTEMIC AND COMPARATIVE APPROACH

• Published in: Annals of public and cooperative economics Vol. 83; no. 3; pp. 259 - 280
• Main Authors: ETXEZARRETA, Enekoitz, BAKAIKOA, Baleren
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2012; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: Comparative analysis; Discourse; Economic policy; Economic theory; Public sector; Social economics; social enterprise; Studies; the third sector; Third-party intervention; welfare mix; welfare regimes; Welfare state
• ISSN: 1370-4788; 1467-8292
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8292.2012.00463.x

The aim of the following article is to contextualize the intense internatinal debate on Social Economy from the point of view of the relationship between it and the evolution of the welfare states. And so, the first section deals with the review of the main theoretical proposals that have tackled the study regarding the relationship between the thrid sector and the public sector with the view to establishing the links between the different notions of the third sector (Social Economy and Non‐profit Entities) and the welfare system of which these notions form part. In the second section, we outline the main lines of change that the welfare states are adopting and the resulting rebalance which is generated in each regimen between the third sector and the public sector with a view to fixing the main coordinates at which the new conceptual challenges of Social Economy are presented. The article ends with a section on conclusions and a number of considerations.