François Ewald's landmark The Birth of Solidarity-first published in French in 1986, revised in 1996, with the revised edition appearing here in English for the first time-is one of the most important historical and philosophical studies of the rise of the welfare state. Theorizing the origins of social insurance, Ewald shows how the growing problem of industrial accidents in France throughout the nineteenth century tested the limits of classical liberalism and its notions of individual responsibility. As workers and capitalists confronted each other over the problem of workplace accidents, they transformed the older practice of commercial insurance into an instrument of state intervention, thereby creating an entirely new conception of law, the state, and social solidarity. What emerged was a new system of social insurance guaranteed by the state. The Birth of Solidarity is a classic work of social and political theory that will appeal to all those interested in labor power, the making and dismantling of the welfare state, and Foucauldian notions of governmentality, security, risk, and the limits of liberalism.

Translator's Preface / Timothy Scott Johnson  ix Risk, Insurance, Security / Melinda Cooper  xiii Part I. The History of Responsibility 1. Civil Law  5 2. Security and Liberty  30 3. Noblesse Oblige  47 Part II. Universal Insurance against Risk 4. Average and Perfection  77 5. An Art of Combinations  96 6. Universal Politics  115 Part III. The Recognition of Professional Risk 7. Charitable Profit  141 8. Security and Responsibility  165 9. First and Foremost, a Political Law  181 Notes  223 Bibliography  251 Index