Social Policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

This book investigates the history of the post-war welfare state in Germany and its normative foundations, with special emphasis on constitutional issues. The author, formerly Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, Munich, and President of the Max-Planck-Society, argues that social policy – not only in Germany – is about struggles over the “social”. The “social” is an open and changing concept that reflects the modern quest for equality, voiced in semantic