September 16th—19th, 2004
The Historical Dimension of a Topical Theme –
ITH Discussed Development of Social Security Systems
"Mercy or Right" war the title of the 40th
Linz Conference of ITH (September 16 - 19, 2004).
Eighty participants of the conference discussed
papers of 17 historians and social scientists from 11 countries (Albania,
Argentina, Austria, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, India, South Africa,
Sweden and a US expert who works for ILO in Hungary). 38 applicants from
19 countries had answered the call for papers by sending proposals, almost
all of excellent quality. A preparatory group consisting of Austrian, German
and Finnish scholars and representatives of both organizers - ITH and Chamber
of Labour - agreed upon a program which included
• an exposition of the thema with the example of the step-by-step
transition from dependence from mercy to social rights in Austria in the
19th century
• a comparison of the South African, Indian and Chinese Ways to Modernity,
• a comparison of the "Scandinavian model" mainly organized
by the Unions and tax financed models, as the Anglo-American model, based
on the Beveridge report, or the Argentine ("Peronist") model of
social security
• comparative papers on the transition of former communist ruled South
East European countries as well as
• papers on the competition between the West and East German social
welfare states and its aftermath..
In a public panel discussion on the future of social security systems ("Future
= Back to the 19th Century?") also alternative models like common unearned
basic income were presented.
The Austrian example showed the ambiguity of state intervention
which, on the one hand, secured the financial basis of the social security
system, on the other hand restrained the autonomy of health insurance bodies.
The comparison between India and China made clear to which extent - despite
a different development in the industrial centres - for the overwhelming
majority of the still rural population social security depends on support
of the children for their parents and, de facto, puts this burden almost
exclusively on the shoulders of women.
Of special interest because of the wide spread opinion that typical for
American social security system is the withdrawal of the state from all
tasks of securing social welfare, was the comparison between Canada, Great
Britain and the U.S. All these systems were highly influenced by the William
Beveridge’s Report on Social Insurance, put forward in 1942 in order
to promote the idea of equalization of both wages and old age pensions.
Practically this implied a flat payment to all at a certain age.
In former communist ruled countries of Europe two competing systems hav
been installed since the 1990’s - state run or at least supported
social security bodies and a transition to private insurance companies with
partially insecure financial background, the latter fostered by the International
Monetary Fund. The conference was concluded by a discussion about similarities
and differences of social democratic and communist social security concepts
and their realization in both West and East Germany in the 1950’s
and 1960’s and about the phenomenon of "GDR-nostalgia" and
its reasons.
The papers of the conference shall be edited by Winfried
R. Garscha, Marjaliisa Hentilä, Jürgen Hofmann, Brigitte Pellar
and Alexander Prenninger until the next conference.