Call for Papers for a paper session on demographic history (i.e. past expert knowledge on population ageing) which is to be organized at the 38th Annual Meeting of the SSHA in Chicago, IL, in November 2013.
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Ageing, scholarly expert knowledge, and the rise of the welfare state
Today, demographic change is often discussed in the context of dwindling
human and financial resources and a 'crisis' of the welfare state,
particularly with regards to the future affordability of national
pension and health care schemes. With the benefit of hindsight, one can
ascertain that the process of ageing in most Western societies already
started at the end of the nineteenth century. Although scholars and
policy makers began to recognize this demographic transition during the
first half of the twentieth century already, only little efforts have
been made so far to put past ideas, solutions, and reflections on the
rising economic burden of elderly people in a broader historical and
comparative perspective. Even today, it is still widely assumed that
governments were merely taken by surprise only by the 1980s.
However, empirical evidence suggests that the architects of modern
welfare states were not blind for the ageing of population. As new
pension and health care systems were (re)constructed and subsequently
expanded in the post-war period through the 1970s, these major events
were accompanied by vivid debates on financing the rising share of
elderly persons. Demographers, actuaries and economists alike might have
been highly aware of this phenomenon and its future budgetary effects
on new welfare programs. Moreover, a historical approach offers new
insights in the ways European and North-American governments, advisory
councils and policy makers thought about changing dependency ratios,
including the various solutions proposed.
The object of this session is to explore and discuss the roots of
current debates on the sustainability of the welfare state. It provides a
venue for scholars from different disciplines (history, demography,
economics, political and social sciences, gerontology etc.) who share an
interest in the historical interaction between scholarly expert
knowledge and the evolution of welfare systems. The session may
contribute to academic research by providing contemporary discussants
with the views of their predecessors.
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Suggested paper topics:
The proposed session centers around four themes with a focus on qualitative research. Contributions could focus on one or more of these themes, but proposals for associated topics can also be suggested:
I. The history of scholarly expert knowledge on ageing:
o Which actors were aware of the sustainability issue, in which decades and in which countries?
o Population forecasts in old age policies: To what degree did they prove to be right?
o The rise of demography and actuarial science as professions
o The role of international organizations and transnational expert networks
II. The interplay between academics and social welfare politics:
o Ageing as an issue in Western pension and health care policies during the 20th century
o The practical appliance of scholarly knowledge on ageing
o Demographic discourses and population debates in international perspective. E.g. the 1980s 'panic': When/how does population ageing turn political?
o Population politics and the welfare state
III. 'Ageing proof' pension systems: Intelligent design or a lucky coincidence?
o Which provisions did Western countries make to create sound pension systems for future generations?
o How can similarities and differences in cross-national comparison be explained?
o Anticipation on ageing as explanation for the favorable composition of multi-pillar pension systems today?
This aspect esp. concerns the UK, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands. It links up to academic debate on the evolution of pension systems, in particular to path dependence theories in the social sciences.
IV. Past scholarly perceptions of ageing (1900-1970s) and their meaning for contemporary welfare debates. E.g. ideas and visions in the diverse countries on:
o Intergenerational solidarity
o A future increase/de-standardization of statutory pension ages (in view of health in old age, socio-economic varieties in life courses)
o Images of 'old age pensioners' as an institutionalized social group: The age-related employability of older workers ('active ageing')
o Population and fertility policy (incl. child policies)
o Other solutions
o More fundamental reflections on the actual scope of the demographic challenge
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Abstracts:
Scholars are invited to present their views on the 38th Annual Meeting
of the Social Science History Association. This conference will be
organized in Chicago, IL on November 21-24, 2013. Please submit an
abstract (300 to 500 words, in English) and a concise curriculum vitae
to Robin Satter (r.satter@let.ru.nl) before February 1, 2013. Final
papers are due November 1. Contributions from scholars in the early
stages of their careers are very welcome. The SSHA provides competitive
grants for graduate student travel (www.ssha.org). For further
inquiries, please feel free to contact the organizer of this session.
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