State, society and old-age policy in France: from 1945 to the current crisis.
The aim herein is to understand the public interventions that, over a period of nearly 40 years (1945-1982), have shaped the relations between old age and society in France. Most of the State's interventions have turned around three axes: retirement, way-of-life issues and employment (in fact, early withdrawal schemes). Three periods, each of which corresponds to different combinations of these three dimensions can be distinguished. The interplay of the antagonism as well as complementarity of social forces that has led to government interventions during each period is used to show both the ways that old age has been managed and the linkage, subject to strain and change, between the State and various social forces. By shedding light upon the action systems underlying the development of old-age policies, processes can be discerned that have resulted in the present day crisis of the Welfare State, and the State's actions in social policy can be conceptualized.