This book investigates the history of the post-war welfare state in Germany and its normative foundations, with special emphasis on constitutional issues. The author, formerly Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, Munich, and President of the Max-Planck-Society, argues that social policy - not only in Germany - is about struggles over the "social." The "social" is an open and changing concept that reflects the modern quest for equality, voiced in semantics like justice, participation, inclusion and security. The "social" and the "social state" (the...

This book investigates the history of the post-war welfare state in Germany and its normative foundations, with special emphasis on constitutional issues. The author, formerly Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, Munich, and President of the Max-Planck-Society, argues that social policy - not only in Germany - is about struggles over the "social." The "social" is an open and changing concept that reflects the modern quest for equality, voiced in semantics like justice, participation, inclusion and security. The "social" and the "social state" (the...