Farewell to Welfare Statism! More Happiness in Welfare Market? : Putting Consumption in (Post) Modern Context

Abstract

Examines the relationship between public welfare and the pursuit of happiness via a discussion on the conception on public welfare provision and the way in which it is received as consumption. Introduces concepts on organized welfare and positions individual happiness in the realm of consumption, and argues that state‐organized welfare polity has unintentionally expanded the scope of and expectation of citizens on consumption. Outlines the critics on welfare state provision. Argues for a conceptualization of happiness with reference to the mode of welfare consumption. In spite of problems relating to the welfare state, collective consumption has provided both symbolic and material goods through which a new set of consumption relations is developed. Ends with remarks on the implication of welfare consumerism in creating the social identity of citizen‐consumers and happiness in the coming modernity.

Citation

Lai, O. (1994), "Farewell to Welfare Statism! More Happiness in Welfare Market? : Putting Consumption in (Post) Modern Context", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 43-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299410049519