While the rise of social protection in the global North has been widely researched, we know little about the history of social protection in the global South. This volume investigates the experiences of four middle-income countries - Brazil, India, China and South Africa - from 1920 to 2020, analysing if, when, and how these countries articulated a concern about social issues and social cohesion. 

As the first in-depth study of the ideational foundations of social protection policies and programmes in these four countries, the contributions demonstrate that the social question was articulated in an increasingly inclusive way. The contributions identify the ideas, beliefs, and visions that underpinned the movement towards inclusion and social peace as well as counteracting doctrines. Drawing on perspectives from the sociology of knowledge, grounded theory, historiography, discourse analysis, and process tracing, the volume will be of interest to scholars across political science, sociology, political economy, history, area studies, and global studies, as well as development experts and policymakers.

Part 1. Introduction. - 1. Social Protection in the Global South — An Ideational and Historical Approach; Lutz Leisering. Part 2. China.- The Early Rise of Social Security in China: Ideas and Reforms, 1911–1949; Aiqun Hu.- 3. Social Security: The Career of a Contested Social Idea in China During the Reform Era, 1978–2020; Shih-Jiunn Shj. - Part 3. India.-  4. Social Policy in India: One Hundred Years of the (Stifled) Social Question; Sony Pellissery.- 5. Minoritarian Labour Welfare in India: The Case of the Employees' State Insurance Act of 1948; Ravi Ahuja.- Part 4. South Africa.- 6. The Social Question in Pre-Apartheid South Africa: Race, Religion and the State; Jeremy Seekings.- 7. A Racialised Social Question: Pension Reform in Apartheid South Africa; Marianne S. Ulriksen.-  8. (Re)formulating the Social Question in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Zola Skweyiya, Dignity, Developmentand the Welfare State; Jeremy Seekings.-  Part 5. Brazil.- 9. The Anatomy of the Social Question and the Evolution of the Brazilian Social Security System, 1919-2020; Lena Lavinas.- 10. Ideational Bases of Land Reform in Brazil, 1910 to the Present; Gabriel Ondetti.-  Part 6. Conclusion. - 11. One Hundred Years of Social Protection — The Rise of the Social Question in Brazil, India, China and South Africa, 1920-2020; Lutz Leisering.