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Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History

Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History

Lutz Raphael

(2016)

Abstract

For many, the history of German social policy is defined primarily by that nation’s postwar emergence as a model of the European welfare state. As this comprehensive volume demonstrates, however, the question of how to care for the poor has had significant implications for German history throughout the modern era. Here, eight leading historians provide essential case studies and syntheses of current research into German welfare, from the Holy Roman Empire to the present day. Along the way, they trace the parallel historical dynamics that have continued to shape German society, including religious diversity, political exclusion and inclusion, and concepts of race and gender.


Lutz Raphael is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Trier. He has been a visiting professor at the EHESS, University of Paris VII-Denis Didérot, European Studies Center, St Antony’s College Oxford, and the London School of Economics. His recent books include Imperiale Gewalt und Mobilisierte Nation. Europa 1914-1945 (2011), Theorien und Experimente der Moderne. Europas Gesellschaften im 20. Jahrhundert (2012), and Nach dem Boom. Perspektiven der Zeitgeschichte seit 1970 (with Anselm Doering-Manteuffel, 2012).


“This is a wonderful collection; the essays are uniformly well written and thought provoking and, taken together, they present a provocative and sophisticated introduction to a crucial yet underexplored topic.” • German History

“This is an extremely well-executed volume, featuring state-of-the-art historical research from a list of first-rate historians. It is informed by both cultural and social history, and while the focus is on Germany, it has a comparative spirit, embedding the German case in a broader framework.” • Peter Starke, University of Southern Denmark

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Half Title i
Poverty and Welfare in Modern German History iii
Contents v
Tables and Figures vii
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Economy of Love 23
Chapter 2 German Pauper Letters and Petitions for Relief 49
Chapter 3 Vagabonds in the German Empire 78
Chapter 4 The Welfare State and Poverty in the Weimar Republic 105
Chapter 5 Welfare, Mobilization and the Nazi Society 137
Chapter 6 Who Cares? 172
Chapter 7 A ‘New Social Question’? 197
Chapter 8 The New Poverty 225
Index 251