How to Defend the Welfare State Without Means of Systemic Regulation? Habermas and the New Utopian Energies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to defend the following thesis: although Habermas’ turn from «utopia of labour» to «utopia of communication» enables him to better understand some social movements that emerged since 1970s, a defence of social State necessarily need to resort to the steering media «money» and «power». In order to prove this thesis, I first place Habermas’ criticism to welfare State in the context of his career. Then, I analyse Habermas’ criticism to the reificating potential of the steering media «power». Lastly, I try to prove that the kind of commitments undertaken by the social State since his configuration in the mid-20th century cannot be satisfied with the media of action coordination that Habermas calls «solidarity».