The Territorial Dynamic of Social Policies during COVID-19 Lockdowns

The territorial dimension of social policies is key in welfare policymaking. In recent decades, multilevel configurations saw relevant changes in multiple directions, e.g. decentralization, supranationalization, recentralization—changes that implied the involvement of a number of new welfare actors, raising questions about effective subsidiarization and coordination, and the management of spatial inequalities. The multilevel governance of measures aimed at tackling COVID-19 syndemic effects add a new sliding tile to this puzzle: shall emergency measures be implemented with usual configurations? Does the COVID-19 pandemic represent a critical juncture that reframes the multilevel governance of welfare? Does it contribute to path breaks or path continuity in the spatial organization of welfare policies? In this chapter we address how the territorial dimension of social policies intersects with the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a classification of long-term scalar arrangements in welfare policies in five countries (France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Poland), we discuss both the territorial impact and the policy implications of COVID-19 emergency policymaking.