Origins of the French Welfare State: The Struggle for Social Reform in France, 1914-1947

This is the first comprehensive analysis of public and private welfare in France available in English or French. It argues that France simultaneously pursued two different paths toward universal social protection. Family welfare embraced an industrial model in which class distinctions and employer control predominated. By contrast, protection against the risks of illness, disability, maternity, and old age followed a mutual aid model of welfare. The book also traces foreign influences on French social reform, particularly from Germany's former territories in Alsace-Lorraine and Britain's Beveridge Plan.

"Dutton's analysis offers the first comprehensive overview of welfare state evolution in France in English...Dutton's work is intended primarily for professional historians, but should be accessible to graduate students and advanced college students." History

"Although this is a book of finely crafted history, complete with ample archival sources and rich empirical detail, it will be of interest to a much larger readership than period or area scholars only. This is the case particularly because Dutton is interested in the associational origins of the welfare state, a topic that has generated a great deal of research of late." Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

"The major strength of this carefully-researched, well-written book is the rich account that it offers of the struggle for control over social policy by major interest groups and sectors in the interwar period. Dutton's book is a fine contribution to the limited literature on this subject." American Historical Review

"This is an important and informed work. Highly recommended." Choice

A comprehensive analysis of public and private welfare in France 1914-1947.

Paul Dutton is Assistant Professor of European History at Northern Arizona University. He completed his MA at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego. He has worked as a research analyst for the Center for Research and Education on Strategy and Technology, a public policy institute in Washington DC. Professor Dutton has published articles in the Journal of Modern History, French History, and Global Affairs.

Acknowledgements; 1. An industrial model of family welfare; 2. A mutual model for social insurance; 3. Battle for control of social welfare: workers versus employers; 4. Challenges from city and countryside, 1930-1939; 5. Retrenchment and reform, 1939-1947; Bibliography; Index.