Introduction

The role of the state in relation to resource sharing and ownership is a key concern of political economy. Despite this, many studies on the economy and economic policy have failed to incorporate the political implications of certain economic policy interventions, and nor have they questioned the way in which the state itself is instrumental in maintaining class hierarchies and implicated in the reproduction of unequal relations in society. Further to this are the often ignored constraints that market action can pose on the state to exercise its power or the tendency of the state to support and maintain exclusionary market practices. It is in the debate on the welfare state that the role of ideology, the contradictory nature of the state and the role it is meant to play undermine the assumption of an economy and society comprised of self-interested rational decision makers.

Dominant approaches to the welfare state have often veered between liberal and socialist perspectives, although feminist theorists have also introduced gendered critiques of the welfare state and the ways in which it maintains gender inequalities rather than transform them (Blackburn 1995; Park, Han & Song 2002). In fact, feminist critiques of the welfare state often highlight the gender-blind analyses of early welfare state theorists (Christopher 2004; Lewis 1997). Those who take the liberal view believe that the rights of individuals should be protected, that policies that promote free markets (meaning reduced state intervention) should be implemented and that, when welfare benefits are provided, these should be minimal and conditional. The socialist view, on the other hand, favours generous government provision of social services and the regulation of the market, and state ownership of important infrastructure is encouraged. This is a generally egalitarian view that favours redistribution while the well-being of the collective is prioritized. Feminist critiques highlight that these opposing debates often miss the important role that unpaid work plays in supporting welfare systems, that women are often excluded in the formulation of policies and that ideological intentions are often difficult to determine given the political and economic constraints that policy makers may face at a given time in their tenure – whether it be a short bout of power in an advanced democracy or a longer stay under an authoritarian regime (Kasza 2002; Lewis 1997; Park, Han & Song 2002).