ABSTRACT
Western welfare capitalism is in crisis. The dimensions of this crisis include unprecedented levels of inequality, unemployment and exclusion. Adverse demographic trends such as ageing populations and falling fertility rates call for more sophisticated and diverse services, especially in the health sector. Globalization, more specifically, the increased transnational mobility of capital undermines the tax base of the original national welfare state and brings issues of fairness and equity into the spotlight, particularly the distribution of wealth and benefits, as well as access to resources. Western welfare standards are being challenged by environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss that have a global and intergenerational character. The imposition of Western lifestyles around the world is often insensitive to the traditions and cultures of local communities and their ways of providing welfare. In fact, less economically advanced nations are in many respects more sustainable, especially in terms of social networks and the strength of their communities.
