ABSTRACT
The basic assumption of this book is that social solidarity constitutes the foundation of the welfare state. If individualization or globalization erodes solidarity, this will inevitably undermine the welfare state. At face value, this might seem self-evident, since the welfare state embodies the greater part of organized solidarity. However, on closer inspection, the relationship between social solidarity and the welfare state is more complex. This chapter examines this relationship. First, we define what we consider to be the core of the welfare state. Next, we argue that the income transfers via the welfare state can rightly be called acts of social solidarity. The extent to which these income transfers are motivated by attitudes of affective or calculating solidarity is the subject of the next two sections. The motives of the elite and the ruling class and the motives of the public at large are considered separately. We conclude the chapter with a brief discussion of the welfare state as a source of solidarity itself.
