LO STATO SOCIALE. STORIA, POLITICA, ECONOMIA: UNA NOTA

Francesco Farina, in the very interesting book “Lo stato sociale” foreshadows a radical change in social policies. He hypothesizes that we should replace the concept of “universalism” with that of “differentiated universalism”. This is a radical change in social policies that overcomes the numerous limits of the so called methodological individualism as the basis of most of the existing social policies. This new approach should lead not only to a leveling of opportunities but to a leveling of the realizations of opportunities in terms of capabilities. The goal of equality in people's living standards should replace the traditional one of equal levels of well-being/income. The concept of “representative” subject as the recipient of social policies would be replaced by that of people who are, instead, very heterogeneous in the different spaces of life. The path to the introduction of the concept of “differentiated universalism” is very complex and articulated. It is faced and discussed by Francesco Farina from three different perspectives: the historical one, the theoretical one and that of economic policy.