Policy Press

Welfare and Punishment

From Thatcherism to Austerity

By Ian Cummins

Published

Aug 1, 2022

Page count

180 pages

ISBN

978-1529203936

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Feb 17, 2021

Page count

180 pages

ISBN

978-1529203899

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Feb 17, 2021

Page count

180 pages

ISBN

978-1529203882

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Feb 17, 2021

Page count

180 pages

ISBN

978-1529203882

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press
Welfare and Punishment

In this enlightening study, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to penal and welfare systems.

From Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet, to austerity politics via New Labour, the book reveals the ideological shifts that have led successive governments to reinforce their penal powers. It shows how ‘tough on crime’ messages have spread to other areas of social policy, fostering the neoliberal political economy, encouraging hostile approaches to the social state and creating stigma for those living in poverty.

This is an important addition to the debate around the complex and interconnected issues of welfare and punishment.

Ian Cummins is Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Society at Salford University.

Introduction

Thatcherism and its Legacy

Welfare and Punishment in a ‘Stark Utopia’ (1979– 2015)

Contemporary Narratives of Mass Incarceration

Exploring the Punitive Turn

The Third Way in Welfare and Penal Policy

New Labour, New Realism?

Austerity and the Big Society

Conclusion: Citizenship and the Centaur State