Comparative and Global Social Policy

"The squeezed middle" brings together leading experts from both sides of the Atlantic to ask what the UK can learn from the US experience of stagnating wages and rising living costs.

This unique book presents a new perspective on citizenship by treating it as a continuing focus of dispute. The authors develop a view of citizenship as always emerging from struggle through an exploration of the entanglements of politics, culture and power that are both embodied and contested in forms and practices of citizenship.

Leading interdisciplinary scholars focus on the ‘social’ of social policy. This ground-breaking volume tackles pressing ‘social questions’ and critically engages with contested conceptions of ‘the social’ which are increasingly deployed by international institutions and policy makers.

With thinking around the foundational economy becoming increasingly influential, this interdisciplinary collection sets out its role in renewing citizenship and informing policy. Drawing on case studies in areas of social and economic concern, it explores how foundational experiments can foster collective consumption and promote social justice.

Christopher Deeming and Paul Smyth, together with internationally renowned contributors, illustrate how the merging of ‘social investment’ and ‘inclusive growth and development’ agendas, together with the environmental imperative of ‘sustainability’, is forging an important new social policy framework and shaping a new global development agenda.

Exploring secular and faith-based grassroots social action in Germany and the UK, this book provides new ways of thinking about social and political belonging and about the relations between individual, collective and State responsibility.

In a time of increasing inequality, why has there been a recent surge of support for political parties who promote an anti-welfare message? Using a mixed methods approach and newly released data, this book aims to answer this question and to show possible ways forward for welfare states.

This book examines poverty in the context of the economy, society and the political community, considering how states can respond to issues of inequality, exclusion and powerlessness. Drawing on examples in both rich and poor countries, this is an accessible contribution to the debate about the nature of poverty and responses to it.

Authored by two highly respected and experienced academics, this book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus.

This book maps out the contours of the European 'social investment' strategy, both at the ideational level and in terms of the policies implemented throughout Europe. It will appeal to both social policy scholars and policy experts.

Written by leading international authors, this timely atlas explores Europe’s society, culture, economy, politics and environment using state of the art mapping techniques. It addresses fundamental questions around social cohesion and sustainable growth as Europe negotiates the UK’s exit while continuing through the economic crisis.

Challenging the ethics of care as a tradeable commodity, this book introduces the concept of ailment as a framework for understanding social care. Providing examples from Britain and Finland, it demonstrates how ailment shapes all societies, and by addressing the marketisation of care, the authors bring to light increasing inequalities in care.