Race, Ethnicity and Welfare States: An American Dilemma?

Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy persuaded many scholars that the United States failed to develop a robust welfare state because of its ethnic and racial heterogeneity, and, conversely, that homogeneity was a precondition for the creation of strong welfare states in European, especially Nordic, countries. With increasing diversity now challenging these welfare states, the kind of ‘dilemma’ that Myrdal identified no longer appears to be solely an American one. In this interdisciplinary volume, leading and emerging scholars examine the relationship between homogeneity and welfare state development. They trace Myrdal’s influence on thinking about race in the US and explore current European states’ approaches to the strangers in their midst, and what social citizenship looks like from a global perspective.Students and scholars of contemporary welfare states in the social sciences and policy studies will find this to be an insightful read, as the book challenges current perceptions.It will also be of interest to policy makers and practitioners looking to examine the historical context behind the politics of welfare states in the US and Scandinavia.

Reviews of Race, Ethnicity and Welfare States: An American Dilemma?

'A hugely important contribution to one of the key questions of our time: how to combine, in a socially just way, the universalism embodied in national welfare states with the diversity and transnational mobility of populations. Using Myrdal's 1944 analysis, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, as a launch, the chapters circumnavigate this question 360 degrees across twentieth century history, across the Atlantic, and across the contemporary world, tracking the arguments this way and that. A must read.'- Fiona Williams, University of Leeds, UK; 'Gathering excellent contributors, this book explores the contested relationship between social policy and ethnic-racial diversity. Adopting an historical perspective and starting from Gunnar Myrdal's seminal book An America Dilemma, the volume compares the American experience with the European situation, where the implications of ethnic and racial diversity for social policy are now widely debated. Students of ethnic relations and of social policy from both sides of the Atlantic should read and engage with this unique and outstanding volume.'- Daniel Beland, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Canada; 'Have racial and ethnic fragmentation undermined American social solidarity and undercut the US welfare state? Even more pertinently, now that we are all multiculturalists and every nation is a melting pot, do the formerly so homogenous Europeans face similar dilemmas? Are they joining in a race to the social policy bottom, or have they found ways to overcome these divisions? Such questions are pursued by these fascinating essays that have relevance for both sides of the Atlantic, and for scholars and policy makers alike.' – Peter Baldwin, Global Distinguished Professor, New York University, US