ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on state and civil society responses or, to put it in terms of the kinds of actions privileged by each type of actor, policy responses and collective action. The chapter by Bengt Furker looks at how the state in advanced capitalist countries handles unemployment. It examines the application and implications in two countries that have embraced the main principle of the new approach to unemployment and social security in general: Switzerland and the UK. It outlines the extent to which this principle now underpins unemployment policy in the UK. The chapter by Giuliano Bonoli addresses the ways in which welfare states deal with the new risks relating to the labour market in the postindustrial era. It broadens the picture by looking at claim-making by various types of actors in a comparative perspective covering several countries.
