ISBN
978-1861345219Dimensions
189 x 246 mmImprint
Policy Press
Citizenship
Citizenship: Personal Lives and Social Policy adds a new dimension to the citizenship literature by using citizenship as a lens through which to explore the relation between personal lives and social policy. This book focuses on the following domains to consider some of the dimensions of the lived practices and experiences of citizenship: the 'high moment' of working-class citizenship that was embodied in the post-war welfare state; the conflicts and anxieties experienced by children and parents in the transition to secondary school and the struggle of refugees and asylum seekers to gain right of residence in the UK and the possibility of building a new life. The authors draw upon a range of theoretical perspectives, including feminist, psychoanalytic and Marxist, to explore what citizenship can tell us about the ways in which personal lives not only are shaped by social policy, but can become the site from which some of the exclusions embedded in social policy and welfare practice are contested.
"This book is a vital contribution to the citizenship discourse and a valuable resource for anyone interested in finding out the theory and reality of citizenship in the twenty-first century.
Its simple, explanatory style with thought provoking exercises, makes it accessible to all. ... they demonstrate why we should all realise that the political is the personal - a case which should be widely disseminated, especially if we are ever to reverse the current state of political apathy." SCOLAG Legal Journal
"This is an extremely useful resource to guide students and lecturers alike. ... a model of what a textbook should look like." International Journal of Feminist Politics
Gail Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at The Open University. Her research interests centre on the intersections between social policy, the social divisions of gender and 'race' and the project of nation building.
Approaching citizenship, living citizens Gail Lewis; Introduction; Conceptualizing citizenship and citizens; Citizenship: from rights to belongings; Citizenship, personal lives and everyday practices; Conclusion; Further resources; References; All that heaven allows: The worker citizen in the post war welfare state Gail Lewis and Janet Fink; Introduction; The development of the welfare state and discourses of citizenship; Expanding the horizon of citizenship: The Squatters Movement of 1946; Film and representations of citizenship; Conclusion; Further resources; References; Differentiated citizenship: psychic defence, social division and the construction of local secondary school markets Helen Lucey; Introduction; The active citizen-consumer; A psychosocial approach; Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalysis and social analysis; Personal lives and secondary school choice; Conclusion; Further resources; References; Who counts as a refugee? Personal lives and the shifting boundaries of citizenship Esther Saraga; Introduction; Refugees, asylum seekers and citizenship; Citizenship, identity and belonging; Citizenship and access to welfare; Citizenship as 'participation in social life'; Knowledge and evidence; Conclusion; Further resources; References; Citizenship: Rights; belongings; practices of the every day Gail Lewis.
