Peter Starke is a political scientist specializing in comparative public policy, welfare state research, and political economy. He is Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, where he leads the Danish Centre for Welfare Studies. His scholarship examines how welfare states respond to crises, retrenchment, and inequality, with cross-national studies across OECD countries.
He has authored and co-edited influential works such as Radical Welfare State Retrenchment (2007), The Welfare State as Crisis Manager (2013), and Warfare and Welfare (2018), exploring the interplay between social policy, economic shocks, and conflict. Known for rigorous comparative analysis, Starke has become a central figure in welfare state research, situating Nordic and European models within a global context.
Related Episodes
Can we afford the welfare state?
With growing numbers of claimants for benefits, pensions and social care, and little sign of growth in the economy, how can we balance the books? Has the whole idea of supporting every member of society ‘from the cradle to the grave’ been superseded by financial conditions? Or is it just a matter of...