The Age of Dualization: The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies

Poverty, increased inequality, and social exclusion are back on the political agenda, not only as a consequence of the Great Recession of 2008, but also because of a seemingly structural trend towards increased inequality in advanced industrial societies that has persisted since the 1970s. Policies in labor markets, social policy, and political representation are strongly linked in the creation, widening, and deepening of insider-outsider divides--a process known as dualization. While it is certainly not the only driver of increasing inequality, its development across multiple domains makes dualization one of the most important current trends affecting developed societies. The comparative perspective of this book provides insights into why Nordic countries witness lower levels of insider-outsider divides, whereas in continental, liberal and southern welfare states, they are more likely to constitute a core characteristic of the political economy. Most importantly, the comparisons presented in this book point to the crucial importance of politics and political choice in driving and shaping the social outcomes of deindustrialization. While increased structural labor market divides can be found across all countries, governments have a strong responsibility in shaping the distributive consequences of these labor market changes. Insider-outsider divides are ultimately the result of political choice. A landmark publication, this volume is geared for faculty and graduate students of economics, political science, social policy, and sociology, as well as policymakers concerned with increasing inequality in a period of deep economic and social crisis.

About the Author :
Patrick Emmenegger, PhD, is Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and its Centre for Welfare State Research. Silja H�usermann, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the University of Konstanz. Bruno Palier, PhD, is CNRS Research Professor at Sciences Po, Centre d'�tudes europ�ennes, Paris. Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, PhD, is Professor of Comparative Social Policy and Politics at the Oxford Institute of Social Policy and Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.

Review :
"This is a timely and significant contribution to current debates on the widening gap between insiders and outsiders in rich societies. Going beyond a structuralist view, this comparative study reveals the contentious politics as well as the dividing policies of employment deregulation and welfare retrenchment. Eminent experts map a variety of dualization patterns across continental European, Scandinavian, Anglophone, and Asian-Pacific welfare states. The book's essential message is that dualization is no necessity, but rather the result of divisive politics and dualist policies." -- Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Professor of Sociology, University of Mannheim "The broad, comfortable middle class that western democracies built up in the wake of WWII has contracted and William Beveridge's five giants of want, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness are again looming large. Most observers point helplessly at economic and social globalization, but this comprehensive international comparison of social and labor market policies reveals how the growth of inequalities is exacerbated, deterred, or contained by national politics. Here, for the first time, we can learn systematically which policies to avoid, and which may, in fact, keep the giants at bay." -- Stephan Leibfried, Professor of Public Policy, University of Bremen "This terrific volume brings together cutting-edge scholarship on a very important topic. Taken as a whole, the volume makes a compelling case that growing differentiation of insiders and outsiders represents a common trend in the advanced capitalist countries, with long-term consequences for politics and social cohesion. The authors emphasize social policy changes as a source of dualization and demonstrate that patterns of dualization vary across countries for fundamentally political reasons." -- Jonas Pontusson, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Geneva