A Critical Analysis of Welfare State Debate in Korean Civil Society : A Focus on the Case of the Conference for Realizing Welfare State

2011년 7월, 보편적 복지국가를 내세운 복지국가실현연석회의가 총 400여 개의 단체가 참여한 가운데 발족하였다. 민중·노동·시민단체들이 복지국가운동을 전면에 내걸고 세력화를 시도한 첫 번째 사례로서 중요한 의의를 가진다. 그러나 연석회의는 2012년 총·대선이라는 선거 국면에서 정치세력에게 복지국가 실현을 위한 정책 요구를 전달하는 활동에 주력하였을 뿐, 복지국가운동의 주체 형성에 실패한 것으로 보인다. 본 논문은 연석회의가 애초에 표방했던 노동·시민 연대, 풀뿌리 시민 연대, 생존권 연대, 보편주의 연대 등 복지국가실현을 위한 주체 형성 전략을 구체화하지 못한 채 해산한 점에 주목하면서 복지국가 운동 주체 형성이란 관점에서 연석회의 활동을 평가하고, 향후 복지국가운동에 관한 시사점을 찾아보고자 한다.In June 2011, the Network for Realizing Welfare State (thereafter, Welfare Network) was inaugurated with the goal of promoting universal welfare state in Korea. More than 400 organizations including labor unions and NGOs participated in the Welfare Network, which was the first time a civil initiative brought up the issue of the welfare state into the central political arena. However, this movement failed to foster political empowerment and turned out only to deliver its policy demand for welfare state to political parties during the 2012 general and presidential election campaigns. This paper pays special attention to the fact that the Welfare Network fell short of meeting its original mandates of forming solidarity between labor workers and citizens as well as grass-root civil and right-to-life networks based on the universalism principle. The Welfare Network was unsuccessful in constructing welfare movement agency and was dissolved. So, this paper aims to critically review the history of the Welfare Network activities focusing on the strategies of constructing movement agency and attempts to explore the implications for the civil welfare movement for the future