The (Welfare) state as an actor of development: A history of ideas

Abstract

This article reconstrues a history of ideas, whether abstract or incorporated into concreted practices, of state actions oriented toward development, from the conception of “power states” to “welfare states”, following the ebb and flow of arguments in favor of intervention. Justifications of intervention based on the need to overcome economic disruptions are contrasted to arguments that point out the risks and antidotes to the capture of the State by vested interests, as well as Amartya Sen’s broader approach to development. National experiences of development and of welfare states are also traced as “incorporated ideas”. It was possible to identify a defense of State intervention integrating the economic, political and social fields and points toward democracy and the Welfare State as emerging subjects in the discourse of development.