PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The rise of social protection in the global North has been widely researched, but we know little about the history of social protection in the global South. Investigating the experiences of four middle-income countries—Brazil, India, China, and South Africa—from 1920 to 2020, the volume inquires if, when, and how countries articulated a general concern about social issues and social cohesion—a “social question”. This is the first in-depth analysis of the ideational foundations of social protection policies and programmes in these four countries. The volume traces the concepts, beliefs, and visions that drove Southern policy-makers and citizens to champion or oppose social protections. Based on a new theoretical approach and analysis of contemporary documents, the authors demonstrate that social protection policies started as early as the 1920s, and that the social question was articulated in an increasingly inclusive way. They also show that articulations of the social question were largely supported—or crowded out—by other concerns than simply welfare, especially the pursuit of independence, nation-building, development, and religious doctrines. Powerful ideas propelled social policies, but often created a horizon of expectation unfulfilled by actual policies.