In-depth Reading Reflection on Garland's View of Welfare State

This essay presents a reading reflection on David Garland's article, 'The Welfare State: A Fundamental Dimension of Modern Government,' aiming to understand key concepts related to the Welfare State. The reflection delves into the article's definition of the Welfare State, its five sectors of welfare governance, and its unconventional presentation of inherent contradictions. It links the necessity of the Welfare State to governmental activities and explores dimensions such as employed rationalities, techniques, and limitations. The reflection also connects the article's themes to sociological concepts like social insurance, social assistance, and social rights, highlighting the importance of economic governance and addressing contradictions between private economy and public welfare. The essay concludes that while implementing the Welfare State faces challenges, it remains a normal and prevalent aspect of societal structure, with Desklib providing resources for further exploration.

Running head: READING REFLECTION
Reading Reflection
Name of the Student-
Name of the University-
Author note-

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Introduction
Aiming to understand the key concepts related to Welfare State, the paper will reflect
upon the chief ideas presented in the article titled “The Welfare State: A Fundamental
Dimension of Modern Government” by David Garland. The following paragraphs will argue
that the article strives to enhance the idea of a ‘Welfare State’ (Garland, 2014). The reflective
paper will endeavour to delve deeper into the various aspects of the article, thereby,
generating a critical perspective upon the idea of the author.
Discussion
A closer examination of the said article will reveal that the author has strived to define
Welfare State. The article also sheds light on the five sectors related to welfare governance
(Garland, 2014). It can be reflected that the article follows an unconventional manner of
presenting the inherent contradictions in Welfare State. The argument presented by the article
about the necessity of welfare state can be linked to the ideas of the importance of a Welfare
State. According to Garland (2014), Welfare Sate rests on the idea of Welfare State as being a
part of governmental activities that discharges innumerable roles. The author moves on to
define the dimensions if welfare state. One of the key concepts that are introduced is the
concept of the means that are employed by Welfare Sate to achieve the desired goals in
society. What strikes moist about the article is that it introduces the concept of the employed
rationalities and techniques. Recent studies also depict that the social policies are inherently
political and human in nature (Bessant et al., 2006). Likewise, the concept of social Welfare
State is a form of a governmental enterprise that involves socialization.
The article also introduces another key concept and dimension of the limitations that
are faced by Welfare Sates. It is seen that Welfare State is often confined to the bounds of the

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welfare state for the poor, Welfare State for various social services. The broadest definition of
Welfare State is seen in its definition, which relates to its operation at the economic level.
However, it is argued that these areas are important in forming a Welfare State. A closer
examination of the political economy theory will project that there is a prevalence of social
and economic clashes amongst various social class (QI, 2019). Another theoretical
perspective of Fabian Socialism mentions that Welfare State is relevant in bringing
transformation to the society by redistribution of wealth (QI, 2019). Theoretical perspectives
of Liberalism emphasizes on the notion that the role of the State is minimal in providing
welfare. It can be said that the above-mentioned article provides a different perspective that
harps upon the role of the government. Thus, it can be mentioned that the article strives to
reinforce the central idea related to Welfare State.
Thus, it can be said that the article introduces ad elaborates the dimensions of
‘Welfare States’. It can also be said that the article strives to shed light on certain important
areas of Welfare State.
In addition to this, it is seen that the article sheds light on the key social concepts ad
themes (Garland, 2014). The articles shed light on the of social welfare institutions. The
sociological idea of social insurance is one of the most integral parts of a Social Welfare
government. The legal impositions of social security in UK and US serve the function of
insuring the lives of others (Garland, 2014). Secondly, the sociological theme of Social
Assistance is also ushered by the article. However, this ideology has been overthrown due to
certain factors. The article also throws light on the sociological theme of social rights and
public services. This refers to the manner in which the public can access the basic facilities
and amenities of life in the social setting. Thus, the article is a persuasive one and depicts the
social concept of employee rights as is depicted in the section where the author speaks about

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the theme of equal economic rights. Recent studies are emblematic of the idea that a Welfare
State also dwells on the idea of the provision of equal access to economic options.
The sociological theme of personal social service is also introduced in the article.
Studies project that the social concepts of personal social service also forms an important part
in the development of a Welfare State. In a very lucid and concrete manner, the article delves
deeper into the sociological aspects of the relation of social welfare ideas and economic
implementation. Recent studies project that proper economic governance is a crucial aspect
of the realization of the goals of Welfare State (Sepulveda, 2015). One of the major strengths
of this article is that it elaborates upon the chief idea in a structures manner. However, the
weakness of the article lies in the fact that it does not conjure much evidence from the real
life practices in the existing Welfare States. The theme of economic governance refers to the
manner in which the various economic policies are coordinated to achieve the desired social
welfare goals.
Thus, it can be mentioned that the key sociological themes and concepts are
introduced as well as elaborated by the author (Garland, 2014). In addition to this, the article
also delves deeper into the various contradictions that are vested in the idea of ‘Welfare
State’. The author goes into mention that there are certain conflicts that are prevalent in the
conception of ‘Welfare State’. The author perceives that the notion of contradiction lies in the
private nature of economy and the public nature of the social welfare (Garland, 2014).
Various social changes can pave the way for the perpetration of the contradictions (Lewis,
Gewirtz & Clarke, 2000). Studies also justify the stance that in order to properly implement
the goals of a ‘Welfare State’, it is essential to maintain a balance between the two forces in
society. The author sheds light on the area of the fundamental conflicts and contradictions in
the realization of Welfare States. The article also ushers in the idea of the economic poverty

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traps that create contradictions. It is seen that these problems can be erased by the adoption of
proper and concrete measures.
One of the chief contradictions and challenges introduced by the author is the issue of
adaptability of the welfare states to the various social changes. Studies also justify the notion
that adaptability to social changes is one of the most important qualities of a Welfare State
(Yeates & Holden, 2009). However, in order to justify and portray the argument, it is seen
that the author presents the idea that the Welfare States often possess the capability to adopt
with the changes. It is also argued that ‘Welfare State’ is a ‘normal social fact’ (Garland,
2014). This paves the way for the justification of the central argument of the paper that
strives to establish the importance of welfare state in every social structure. Studies also
project that despite many shortcomings and contradictions, it is essential to incorporate
‘welfare state’ (Van Bavel & Rijpma, 2016).
Conclusion
After analyzing the above-discussed ideas, it can be concluded that the above-
mentioned article strives to project the innumerable social areas related to ‘Welfare State’. It
can also be concluded that the acquired information from the article had helped in the
presentation of the argument of the paper. In conclusion, it can be mentioned that though the
implementation of Welfare State might face challenges, it is just a normal state that is present
and prevalent in every societal structure.

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References
Bessant, J., Watts, R., Dalton, T., & Smyth, P. (2006). Talking policy: how social policy is
made. Allen & Unwin.
Garland, D. (2014). The welfare state: A fundamental dimension of modern
government. European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de
Sociologie, 55(3), 327-364.
Lewis, G., Gewirtz, S., & Clarke, J. (Eds.). (2000). Rethinking social policy. Sage.
Sepulveda, L. (2015). Social enterprise–a new phenomenon in the field of economic and
social welfare?. Social Policy & Administration, 49(7), 842-861.
Van Bavel, B., & Rijpma, A. (2016). How important were formalized charity and social
spending before the rise of the welfare state? A long‐run analysis of selected western
E uropean cases, 1400–1850. The Economic History Review, 69(1), 159-187.
Yeates, N., & Holden, C. (Eds.). (2009). The global social policy reader. Policy Press.
QI, Xiaoying. (2019). [Ebook]. School of Arts (Melbourne) ACU.