Decolonization and the European Welfare State by Dr. Emil Wolff
In their talk, dr. Wolff addresses decolonization in the context of the European welfare state. In Europe, the first three decades after the Second World War saw both the ‘Golden Age of welfare expansion’ and the most decisive phase of decolonization, with several million people moving from colony to empire. The coincidence of these two phenomena is puzzling: In the public sphere and in welfare state scholarship, the notion that immigration threatens welfare states is prevalent and proliferating. These anxieties are predicated on the notion that migrants introduce cultural diversity, which in turn frustrates the development of trust and solidarity. However, decolonisation prompted the migration of several millions from colony to European metropole. Postcolonial migrations clearly did not obstruct redistributive efforts at the height of Europe’s “Golden Age” of welfare expansion. Why not? How did welfare expansion and decolonization, two colossal developments in European political life of the postwar period, coexist? What traces did coloniality leave on the modern welfare state, one of Europe’s proudest twentieth century accomplishments?
These anxieties are predicated on the notion that migrants introduce cultural diversity, which in turn frustrates the development of trust and solidarity. However, decolonisation prompted the migration of several millions from colony to European metropole. Postcolonial migrations clearly did not obstruct redistributive efforts at the height of Europe’s “Golden Age” of welfare expansion. Why not? How did welfare expansion and decolonization, two colossal developments in European political life of the postwar period, coexist? What traces did coloniality leave on the modern welfare state, one of Europe’s proudest twentieth century accomplishments?
These questions form the animating force of this presentation, which provides an overview of how agents of the welfare state in the three biggest overseas colonial empires of the twentieth century - Britain, France, and the Netherlands - accommodated postcolonial migrants from the Caribbean, Algeria and Indonesia respectively from 1945 to 1971. Wolff shows how in France and the Netherlands, welfare was administered through loose assemblages of care and surveillance that assisted, disciplined and penalised different migrant populations in different ways depending on their proximity to a racialised notion of the cultural insider. In the UK, where welfare infrastructure was less nimble, street-level bureaucrats under-served their recipients of colour, politicians stripped entry rights from overseas citizens, and officials ultimately handed over confidential data to border police. In essence, the welfare state ultimately became a partner in external border control. Each case suggests that contrary to the terms of popular debate, welfare chauvinism is not the welfare state’s only answer to migration.
What
Decolonization and the European Welfare State by Dr. Emil Wolff
When
12 May 2026, 15.30-17.00 hrs, followed by drinks (location TBD)
Where
REC B5.12, Common Room Anthropology (Roeterseiland, B-building, 5th floor).
If you are not able to join in person, you can also follow the talk and discussion via the live stream (with the option to pose a question in the chat).
Dr. Emil Wolff's bio
Emil Wolff is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University. They use historical sociology and critical political economy to study the persistent convergence of economic and racial inequalities.
Welfare Futures Seminar Upcoming Events
June 2026 (exact date TBD): Summerson Carr
