GRANT
Is this a welfare state?
Assistant Professor Gareth Millward from the Department of Culture and Language has received DKK 2,7 million from the Independent Research Fund Denmark for a project that investigates complaints about the welfare state. Complaints shed light on the hope and expectation of what the welfare state should be.
In many European countries, citizens complain about the welfare offered by the state. Some believe that the welfare state is too generous, and perhaps for those who least deserve it, while others feel that insufficient support is provided to those who need it. The welfare state, rights and duties are debated both in political debates and in the media.
The title of the project is "Complaining as a window onto citizens' expectations of the welfare state in Britain and Denmark, 1960s–2020s", and the research project analyses citizens' complaints in the British and Danish welfare states from the 60s until today.
Complaints reveal what we want the welfare state to be.
But what do these complaints really tell us? In addition to pointing out what is apparently wrong with the welfare state, and in which cases citizen's expectations are disappointed, they also reveal what we want our welfare state to be and able to do.
The project contributes to a deeper understanding of European welfare after the Second World War. Differences and similarities between the welfare state in Denmark and the United Kingdom, respectively, provides insight into how the view of welfare has developed during the period.
Meet the researcher
Assistant Professor Gareth Millford is a resercher at The Department of Culture and Language.