GENDER, CLASS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF WELFARE-STATE REGIMES - THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

The objective of this paper is to integrate class, citizenship and gen der in a comparative approach to the analysis of welfare state regimes . I argue that the incorporation of gender into the analysis entails a reassessment of the conventional conception of citizenship, a broaden ing of conventional definitions of political mobilization and particip ation and a modification of the welfare state regime concept used in t he mobilization of power resources research approach. Furthermore, the concept of de-commodification or insulation from the pressures of the labour market, which is central to the analysis of welfare state regi mes, must be supplemented by the concept of personal autonomy or insul ation from personal and/or public dependence. To date comparative rese arch has concentrated on the relationship between the labour market an d the state with little attention to the family aspect of this tripart ite relationship. The concept of personal autonomy remedies this imbal ance since it relates directly to the articulation of relations of rep roduction and production.