COMPARING WELFARE STATES - SOCIAL PROTECTION AND INDUSTRIAL-POLITICS IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN, 1930-1960

In most comparative studies of welfare stares, the remit of social leg islation is taken as given. Little attention is paid to political conv ention which determines the scope and viability of specific types of s tate intervention. By focusing on the conventions which underpinned br oader labour market policies, this article demonstrates how establishe d parameters of state action defined contrasting spheres of social pro tection in these two countries in a period of welfare reform. In Franc e, state regulation of the labour market emerged as the source of soci al protection and equity; in Britain, continuities rooted in a liberal political economy meant that industrial relations and social welfare remained separate spheres. Using legislative provision (such as social insurance) as a basis for comparative studies distorts academic analy sis because the contextual significance of such provision varies-not o nly between countries, but also within different industrial and region al contexts as well as over time.