After the Welfare State

Description

199 pages
Contains Bibliography
$20.00
ISBN 0-921586-42-6
DDC 330.12'6

Author

Publisher

Year

1997

Contributor

Reviewed by Raymond B. Blake

Raymond B. Blake is director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount
Allison University, the author of Canadians at Last: Canada Integrates
Newfoundland as a Province, and co-editor of Social Welfare Policy in
Canada: Historical Readings.

Review

This book, which emerged out of a course on the welfare state that the
author taught as part of the University of Regina’s Graduate Social
Work program, reflects a Marxist perspective.

Collier argues that, in the past, the welfare state was never intended
to redistribute the wealth; rather, its primary function was to provide
the people with the basics of life and thereby guarantee the hegemony of
the capitalist system. Recently, the welfare state has been attacked by
various economic, political, and ideological movements that have left it
shaken and vulnerable. It is further threatened by the increasing
globalization of financial markets. In this period of transformation,
Collier argues, it is imperative that social workers and others in
helping professions “put considerable effort into organizing
self-help, protection and defence throughout society.”

Citation

Collier, Ken., “After the Welfare State,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 14, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/4564.