The end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries have seen an unprecedented growth in social assistance in countries as diverse as Brazil and Mexico, Namibia and Botswana, South Korea, India and Nepal. The extension of cash transfers to the poor through non-contributory schemes represents a fundamental transformation in the role of the state relative to markets and communities (or kin). Until the end of the twentieth century, the predominant welfare regimes in the South were either 'workerist', based on social or private insurance linked to formal employment, or 'agrarian', with a 'safety-net' based in subsistence agriculture and the responsibilities of kin. The rise of 'redistributive' welfare regimes focussed on citizens, rather than on workers or peasants, results from a combination of social and economic changes, new ideas and ideologies, and the political changes associated especially with democratisation. Whilst neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition, increased political competition for the votes of poor citizens is an especially important factor in the diverse pathways towards redistributive, pro-poor welfare regimes.
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CITATION STYLE
Seekings, J. (2012). Pathways to redistribution: The emerging politics of social assistance across the Global “South.” Journal Fur Entwicklungspolitik, 28(1), 14–34. https://doi.org/10.20446/jep-2414-3197-28-1-14