APOLOGY OF WELFARE STATE AS OPPOSED TO THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF INEQUALITY IN THE NEOLIBERAL ORDER

Sa？etak Rudimentary social legislation of the 19th century occurs as an answer to enhancing the social self-consciousness of the disadvantaged. Global wars and the economic depression in the first half of the 20th century helped to raise awareness of democratic societies about the need to ensure the social well-being of their citizens. The emergence of the neoliberal paradigm in the countries of Anglo-Saxon tradition promotes “the contempt for the state” and “profit search” as the main ideological principles of their public policies. After the fall of socialism, the doctrine of neoliberalism became the main economic orientation of a global society, in which international financial institutions played a significant role. In the last four decades, the well-being and income inequality have risen on an unprecedented scale. The economic recession of 2008 did not manage to overturn that trend. Recent events in the United States show signs of re-institutionalization of socio-economic values. The question arises as to whether those values will be maintained and maybe even expand globally, just like neoliberalism did at the end of the 20th century. For that reason, the real content of the welfare state concept must be presented as opposed to the institutionalization of inequality in the neoliberal order