Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History / Edition 1

by Lutz Raphael

Overview

For many, the history of German social policy is defined primarily by that nation’s postwar emergence as a model of the European welfare state. As this comprehensive volume demonstrates, however, the question of how to care for the poor has had significant implications for German history throughout the modern era. Here, eight leading historians provide essential case studies and syntheses of current research into German welfare, from the Holy Roman Empire to the present day. Along the way, they trace the parallel historical dynamics that have continued to shape German society, including religious diversity, political exclusion and inclusion, and concepts of race and gender.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785333569
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Series:	New German Historical Perspectives , #7
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lutz Raphael is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Trier. He has been a visiting professor at the EHESS, University of Paris VII-Denis Didérot, European Studies Center, St Antony's College Oxford, and the London School of Economics. His recent books include Imperiale Gewalt und Mobilisierte Nation. Europa 1914-1945 (2011), Theorien und Experimente der Moderne. Europas Gesellschaften im 20. Jahrhundert (2012), and Nach dem Boom. Perspektiven der Zeitgeschichte seit 1970 (with Anselm Doering-Manteuffel, 2012).

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

Acknowledgements viii

Introduction. Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History - Recent Trends and New Perspectives in Current Research 1

1 The Economy of Love. Welfare and Poor Relief in Catholic Territories of the Holy Roman Empire (1500 to 1800) Sebastian Schmidt 23

2 German Pauper Letters and Petitions for Relief. New Perspectives on Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Poor Relief Andreas Gestrich 49

3 Vagabonds in the German Empire. Mobility, Unemployment and the Transformation of Social Policies (1870-1914) Beate Althammer 78

4 The Welfare State and Poverty in the Weimar Republic Wilfried Rudloff 105

5 Welfare, Mobilization and the Nazi Society Nicole Kramer 137

6 Who Cares? Gender, Poverty and Welfare in West Germany Christiane Killer 172

7 A 'New Social Question? Politics, Social Sciences and the Rediscovery of Poverty in Post-boom Western Germany Winfried Süß 197

8 The New Poverty. Trends and Debates in Contemporary Germany Olaf Groh-Samberg 225

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

"The volume has many merits...[It] offers a much-needed and--for contemporary discussion--highly relevant historical investigation into modern poverty and the way it has been framed. Further, the scholars of Poverty and Welfare State in Modern German History make an impressive case for exploring their subject through the paradigm of exclusion/inclusion... This book truly deserves a wide readership." - Journal of Social History

"This is a wonderful collection; the essays are uniformly well written and thought provoking and, taken together, they present a provocative and sophisticated introduction to a crucial yet underexplored topic." - German History

"This is an extremely well-executed volume, featuring state-of-the-art historical research from a list of first-rate historians. It is informed by both cultural and social history, and while the focus is on Germany, it has a comparative spirit, embedding the German case in a broader framework." - Peter Starke, University of Southern Denmark

From the Publisher