Since the end of the World War II, welfare states had enjoyed golden age for about 30 years before facing stagnation and crises during the 1980s and 1990s. Seeing this, many proponents for convergence including advocates for globalization went wild as if welfare states were facing their end, but in reality they were not. This is because welfare states were empirically proven to be still strong as the 2000s started. As a result, arguments saying welfare states are not declining but are restructuring started to gain credence. In addition, new theories about welfare states supporting these arguments began to draw attention. These theories criticized ‘convergence statement’ saying neo-liberal globalization would bring about reduction of welfare states worldwide, and at the same time, highlighted that in each country there existed various factors preventing reduction of welfare states. That is, this signaled the emergence of welfare states theories that could be categorized as proponents of divergence. Among them, partisan politics approach, institutionalist approach (new institutionalism), the VoC (Varieties of Capitalism) approach are representative theories that support ‘divergence in welfare states.’ Focusing on these three theories, this study will look at the trend in the latest welfare state theories and, through this, will see where the theoretical horizon of study on welfare states has reached. Given that welfare states are ever changing social organisms, it is necessary to see in what conditions these welfare states currently are and what changes in them are expected in the future.

This study analyzes changes in paternal care toward a father’s own child through participation in a cooperative child care center or cooperative after school club. Fathers have relationships with men in such cooperatives and these male relationships usually encourage fathers to care for their child and to take pride in performing their paternal duty well. Even though fathers usually join such child care organizations passively, they perform ‘domestic work’ and ‘care-related housework’ after participation in child care cooperatives. In addition, fathers care for other children as well as their own child in cooperative settings based on socially extended fatherhood. They exhibit ‘reflexive care’ (care-giver reflects social structures based on private care experience). Therefore paternal care for children are reconstructed through cooperative child care centers and after school clubs.

This paper aims to critically review the tenets of the European theory of social quality and evaluate its applicability to Asian societies. It takes into account the constructs behind the term ‘the social’ by focusing on its ontological, epistemological, and ideological and ethical aspects followed by the meaning of quality. It reviews the interaction between the vertical pillar (i.e. tension between biographical and societal development) and the horizontal pillar (i.e. tension between the institutions and collective or individual actions). As a result of the interaction between the two pillars, social quality embraces four specific dimensions: social cohesion, socio-economic security, inclusion, and empowerment. Finally, the paper discusses the benefit and limitation of the European theory of social quality for Asian social quality research.

Cultural content industry, which has its basis on sensitivities and creative activities of humans, is a newly rising industry, and its importance is getting more and more recognition. In order help it develop a different approach from those to other industries is needed. What should be noted about it is that, unlike other conventional manufacturing industries it values humans’ cultural creativity and that it is a high value-added industry. The cultural content industry is now positioning itself as an important axis of the drive for economic growth of South Korea. For this reason, it is necessary to systematically rearrange studies on the need for cultural content industry. For this the followings should precede: understanding of its development directions and a thorough knowledge about its characteristics, a close examination on the South Korean government’s promoting policies for cultural content industry, and effective policy establishment.