ABSTRACT
In our society, work is both a crucial mechanism for social participation and a mechanism to distribute income. In addition, the welfare state guarantees that those who are excluded from work can count on a redistribution of the income from work. The massive unemployment that has afflicted most industrialized countries for more than two decades has lead to much pessimism about the viability of this type of society. It becomes more and more probable that a large number of people will be permanently excluded from work. Some observers argue that the period of full employment is over and that far-reaching processes of social change and adaptation are on their way (see Vobruba in this book). Consequently, questions are being increasingly posed about the future nature of a society once but no longer centred on work.
