Studying sustainability transitions in welfare states. A research agenda for Japan and the Netherlands

Abstract

While traditional welfare states ‘retreat’, raising fundamental questions about social equity and actors’ responsibilities, pressing sustainability problems remain unaddressed. In the course of a joint seminar, some 20 scholars from the Netherlands and Japan exchanged experiences and insights on studying welfare states from a transitions perspective. This resulted in a joint research agenda that introduces three entry points for researching sustainability transitions in/of welfare states: demystifying ‘context’, the role(s) of agency, and dynamics of and in welfare states.