Book review: Specifying and Securing as Social Minimum in the Battle Against Poverty
| Author | Eddie Bambrough |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262720971294 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Book reviews
Book reviews
Toomas Kotkas, Ingrid Leijten, and Frans Pennings (eds.), Specifying and Securing as Social Minimum in
the Battle Against Poverty, 2019, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 333 pp., ISBN:9781509926039 (E pub),
ISBN: 9781509926022 (print).
1
Reviewed by: Eddie Bambrough ,University of Groningen
DOI: 10.1177/1388262720971294
The social minimum is a topic as relevant as it is contentious; relevant as part of the post- Piketty
debates on poverty and inequality, and contentious in that there is a school of thought which
questions whether the notion of a social minimum may do more harm than good. This volume
from the series ‘human rights law in perspective’ brings together a broad range of views on the
issue from various disciplines, ranging from conceptual questions to technical considerations. The
greatest strength of the book is the breadth of perspectives on the topic. While each chapter has
something valuable to say on the subject, the approaches vary; some exploring somewhat niche
issues, and others tackling much broader conceptual questions. As such, not all of the chapters
were to the interest of this reader, but this is not to say that they would not be of interest to others.
The book is divided into four broad sections: conceptual questions, specifying a social mini-
mum, securing a social minimum (obligations for states and individuals), and securing a social
minimum (the role of courts and supervisory bodies).
The first two sections are somewhat mixed in their scope, including among other topics: a case
study on how the social minimum may be conceived from a Swedish national perspective, a
chapter on a recent European-wide study on the social minimum, and the suggestion of a social
maximum. The book opens with a chapter from David Bilchitz, who makes an eloquent defence of
the social minimum as a valuable approach. This is a strong set up for the rest of the book, as well
as a counter-perspective to those who may be questioning the ethics and validity of the social
minimum in our current zeitgeist.
2
Other chapters in this section are narrower in focus. For
example, Stendahl and Swedrup ask questions about the scope of the social minimum in Sweden,
mostly using a historical narrative approach. While this chapter did make for interesting reading, it
is undeniably a far more niche approach to the topic that might not be of interest to all readers.
Other authors chose to approach the topic in innovative ways. In the chapter by Adler, he outlines
1. The author of this review would like to thank Professor Gijs Vonk for his input and comments.
2. For example, see: Moyn, S., 2018. Not enough: Human rights in an unequal world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
European Journal of Social Security
2020, Vol. 22(4) 500–506
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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