Nigel Malin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447350163
- eISBN:
- 9781447352273
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447350163.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
The main arguments in this book reflect the politics and social climate created by austerity in the early 21st century and provide an analytical framework for examining the notion of ...
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The main arguments in this book reflect the politics and social climate created by austerity in the early 21st century and provide an analytical framework for examining the notion of ‘de-professionalisation’ and how it has emerged. The centrepiece offers a part- historical narrative for understanding an evolving process (of ‘de-professionalisation) and poses a question as to whether the direction and substantive nature of this process may have been altered by austerity, or whether this should be regarded as continuity rather than any radical change. Other policy questions include whether social investment as a means of increasing productivity has played a positive role in economic regulation and investment in human capital - training and education - and social programmes. The book sets out the main theoretical frameworks used to study the work of professions, contrasting disciplinary perspectives in the context of their application to different policy fields. Perspectives on professions and professionalism, taken from disciplines such as sociology, social policy, and public administration, are set against a contemporary and contrasting paradigm, for example managerialism or collaborative professionalism, with a purpose of ingraining new ways of deepening accountability towards more collectivist values.Less
The main arguments in this book reflect the politics and social climate created by austerity in the early 21st century and provide an analytical framework for examining the notion of ‘de-professionalisation’ and how it has emerged. The centrepiece offers a part- historical narrative for understanding an evolving process (of ‘de-professionalisation) and poses a question as to whether the direction and substantive nature of this process may have been altered by austerity, or whether this should be regarded as continuity rather than any radical change. Other policy questions include whether social investment as a means of increasing productivity has played a positive role in economic regulation and investment in human capital - training and education - and social programmes. The book sets out the main theoretical frameworks used to study the work of professions, contrasting disciplinary perspectives in the context of their application to different policy fields. Perspectives on professions and professionalism, taken from disciplines such as sociology, social policy, and public administration, are set against a contemporary and contrasting paradigm, for example managerialism or collaborative professionalism, with a purpose of ingraining new ways of deepening accountability towards more collectivist values.
Kelly Bogue
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447350538
- eISBN:
- 9781447350545
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447350538.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Drawing on first person accounts and participant observation, this book looks in-depth at one of the UK government’s most controversial austerity policies, the ‘Bedroom Tax’. Focusing on the lives of ...
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Drawing on first person accounts and participant observation, this book looks in-depth at one of the UK government’s most controversial austerity policies, the ‘Bedroom Tax’. Focusing on the lives of 31 people in one neighbourhood, it explores the push and pull factors that structure tenants’ behaviour regarding downsizing to smaller properties within a residualised and stigmatised social housing sector. It highlights the meaning of home and the continuing relevance of community and the tensions created when tenants are faced with the threat of displacement and the concomitant loss of social networks and informal structures of welfare that operate in place. While this book focuses on one social policy, it speaks to broader concerns about the value and loss of social housing and how we care for and house our most vulnerable citizens in the midst of neoliberal restructuring. It reflects on the continuing loss of housing benefit support, on-going cuts to the welfare state and what this means for communities and their sense of security and belonging. More broadly, it reflects on how cuts to housing benefit support are undermining the capacity of low income households to secure and maintain housing within a social sector that faces new financial risks and a private rented sector in which the term ‘no DSS’ has made a resurgence. The central argument of this book is that policies such as the Bedroom Tax which undermine secure housing are divisive, heightening resentment about access to housing while leading to increasing housing inequality and urban marginality.Less
Drawing on first person accounts and participant observation, this book looks in-depth at one of the UK government’s most controversial austerity policies, the ‘Bedroom Tax’. Focusing on the lives of 31 people in one neighbourhood, it explores the push and pull factors that structure tenants’ behaviour regarding downsizing to smaller properties within a residualised and stigmatised social housing sector. It highlights the meaning of home and the continuing relevance of community and the tensions created when tenants are faced with the threat of displacement and the concomitant loss of social networks and informal structures of welfare that operate in place. While this book focuses on one social policy, it speaks to broader concerns about the value and loss of social housing and how we care for and house our most vulnerable citizens in the midst of neoliberal restructuring. It reflects on the continuing loss of housing benefit support, on-going cuts to the welfare state and what this means for communities and their sense of security and belonging. More broadly, it reflects on how cuts to housing benefit support are undermining the capacity of low income households to secure and maintain housing within a social sector that faces new financial risks and a private rented sector in which the term ‘no DSS’ has made a resurgence. The central argument of this book is that policies such as the Bedroom Tax which undermine secure housing are divisive, heightening resentment about access to housing while leading to increasing housing inequality and urban marginality.
Emma Craddock
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205701
- eISBN:
- 9781529205749
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
With austerity’s disproportionately heavy impact on women now apparent, this engaging book considers activism against it from a feminist perspective. Emma Craddock goes deep inside activist culture ...
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With austerity’s disproportionately heavy impact on women now apparent, this engaging book considers activism against it from a feminist perspective. Emma Craddock goes deep inside activist culture to explore the many cultural and emotional dimensions of political participation. She questions what motivates and sustains protest, considering the enabling aspects of solidarity and empathy, as well as the constraining factors of negative emotions and gendered barriers associated with activism, examining the role of gender and emotion within protest. This is a lived-in study that gets to the heart of what it means to be an anti-austerity activist and an important addition to social justice debate. The book is organised into four parts. The first part establishes the theoretical and empirical context; the second part explores the enabling and constraining factors of political participation (‘doing activism’); the third part discusses the two main activist identity constructions in the local anti-austerity activist culture and the ‘dark side’ of activist culture that these feed (‘being activist’); the fourth and final part provides concluding remarks about the ambivalence of anti-austerity activist culture and the difficulty of resisting such a pervasive force as neoliberal capitalism.Less
With austerity’s disproportionately heavy impact on women now apparent, this engaging book considers activism against it from a feminist perspective. Emma Craddock goes deep inside activist culture to explore the many cultural and emotional dimensions of political participation. She questions what motivates and sustains protest, considering the enabling aspects of solidarity and empathy, as well as the constraining factors of negative emotions and gendered barriers associated with activism, examining the role of gender and emotion within protest. This is a lived-in study that gets to the heart of what it means to be an anti-austerity activist and an important addition to social justice debate. The book is organised into four parts. The first part establishes the theoretical and empirical context; the second part explores the enabling and constraining factors of political participation (‘doing activism’); the third part discusses the two main activist identity constructions in the local anti-austerity activist culture and the ‘dark side’ of activist culture that these feed (‘being activist’); the fourth and final part provides concluding remarks about the ambivalence of anti-austerity activist culture and the difficulty of resisting such a pervasive force as neoliberal capitalism.
Marius Guderjan, Hugh Mackay, and Gesa Stedman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205008
- eISBN:
- 9781529205053
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205008.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This book offers a powerful and distinctive analysis of how the politics of the UK and the lived experience of its citizens have been reframed in the first decades of the 21st century. It does so by ...
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This book offers a powerful and distinctive analysis of how the politics of the UK and the lived experience of its citizens have been reframed in the first decades of the 21st century. It does so by bringing together carefully articulated case studies with theoretically informed discussion of the relationship between austerity, Brexit and the rise of populist politics, as well as highlighting the emergence of a range of practices, institutions and politics that challenge the hegemony of austerity discourses. The book mobilises notions of agency to help understand the role of austerity (as politics and lived experience) as a fundamental cause of Brexit. Investigating the social, economic, political, and cultural constraints and opportunities arising from a person’s position in society allows us to explain the link between austerity politics and the vote for Brexit. In doing so, the book goes beyond traditional disciplinary approaches to develop more interdisciplinary engagements, based on broad understandings of cultural studies as well as drawing on insights from political science, sociology, economics, geography and law. It uses comparative material from the regions of England and from the devolved territories of the UK, and explores the profound differences of geography, generation, gender, ‘race’ and class.Less
This book offers a powerful and distinctive analysis of how the politics of the UK and the lived experience of its citizens have been reframed in the first decades of the 21st century. It does so by bringing together carefully articulated case studies with theoretically informed discussion of the relationship between austerity, Brexit and the rise of populist politics, as well as highlighting the emergence of a range of practices, institutions and politics that challenge the hegemony of austerity discourses. The book mobilises notions of agency to help understand the role of austerity (as politics and lived experience) as a fundamental cause of Brexit. Investigating the social, economic, political, and cultural constraints and opportunities arising from a person’s position in society allows us to explain the link between austerity politics and the vote for Brexit. In doing so, the book goes beyond traditional disciplinary approaches to develop more interdisciplinary engagements, based on broad understandings of cultural studies as well as drawing on insights from political science, sociology, economics, geography and law. It uses comparative material from the regions of England and from the devolved territories of the UK, and explores the profound differences of geography, generation, gender, ‘race’ and class.
Amanda Grenier, Chris Phillipson, and Richard A. Settersten Jr (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447340850
- eISBN:
- 9781447340904
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447340850.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores ...
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This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores precarity and ageing from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, critical perspectives, and contexts. Although cultural representations and policy discourses depict older people as a group healthier and more prosperous than ever, many older people experience ageing amid insecurities that emerge in later life or are carried forward as a consequence of earlier disadvantage.
The collection of chapters develops a distinctive approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances that create precarity for different groups of older people. The aim of the book is to explore what insights the concept of precarity might bring to an understanding of ageing across the life course, especially in the context of the radical socio-political changes affecting the lives of older people. In doing so, it draws attention both to altered forms of ageing, but also to changing social and cultural contexts, and realities that challenge the assumption that older people will be protected by existing social programmes or whatever resources that can be marshalled privately.Less
This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores precarity and ageing from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, critical perspectives, and contexts. Although cultural representations and policy discourses depict older people as a group healthier and more prosperous than ever, many older people experience ageing amid insecurities that emerge in later life or are carried forward as a consequence of earlier disadvantage.
The collection of chapters develops a distinctive approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances that create precarity for different groups of older people. The aim of the book is to explore what insights the concept of precarity might bring to an understanding of ageing across the life course, especially in the context of the radical socio-political changes affecting the lives of older people. In doing so, it draws attention both to altered forms of ageing, but also to changing social and cultural contexts, and realities that challenge the assumption that older people will be protected by existing social programmes or whatever resources that can be marshalled privately.
Marius Guderjan, Hugh Mackay, and Gesa Stedman
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205008
- eISBN:
- 9781529205053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205008.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The introduction outlines the origins, scope and significance of Brexit, and focuses on the politics, discourse and ideology of the recent austerity policies. It establishes an interdisciplinary ...
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The introduction outlines the origins, scope and significance of Brexit, and focuses on the politics, discourse and ideology of the recent austerity policies. It establishes an interdisciplinary approach to agency, which is regarded as a key to understanding the current cultural, economic, political, and social climate in the UK. For many, the ability to exert agency is constrained by an unequal distribution of opportunities generating a social division between globalisation ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. The connection between austerity and agency is developed by exploring the ideological context of outline policies, notions of ‘responsibilisation’ and the ‘stigmatisation’ of citizens that are involved in welfare provision. Brexit was thus partly the result of people’s feelings of powerlessness and their desire to ‘take back control’ over their own fate. The introduction also provides some prospects of Brexit during times of fast-changing developments and great uncertainty.Less
The introduction outlines the origins, scope and significance of Brexit, and focuses on the politics, discourse and ideology of the recent austerity policies. It establishes an interdisciplinary approach to agency, which is regarded as a key to understanding the current cultural, economic, political, and social climate in the UK. For many, the ability to exert agency is constrained by an unequal distribution of opportunities generating a social division between globalisation ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. The connection between austerity and agency is developed by exploring the ideological context of outline policies, notions of ‘responsibilisation’ and the ‘stigmatisation’ of citizens that are involved in welfare provision. Brexit was thus partly the result of people’s feelings of powerlessness and their desire to ‘take back control’ over their own fate. The introduction also provides some prospects of Brexit during times of fast-changing developments and great uncertainty.
Shane Blackman and Ruth Rogers (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447330523
- eISBN:
- 9781447330578
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447330523.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Communities and Organizations
The book critically engages with neo-liberal policies and media representations of youth austerity as a constructed social crisis but remaining the mechanism used by both government and media to ...
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The book critically engages with neo-liberal policies and media representations of youth austerity as a constructed social crisis but remaining the mechanism used by both government and media to exert control over young adults;
It explores the diversity of intersections relating to youth marginality across social class, gender and racial boundaries; looking into contemporary theory of advanced youth marginality.
It challenges the dominant notions of youth ‘underclass’ and marginalisation and the representation of ‘youth as trouble’ through participatory research methods to project young people’s ‘real’ experience and voice in spheres of leisure and recreation from street corners to open spaces in relation to surveillance and sanctions;
It develops an understanding of the importance of personal, emotional, familial and collective experiences of poverty and austerity and the strategies of resistance and survival, or consent under social hardship and discrimination from the Police;
It critically assesses the dynamics of social, cultural and educational policies in the shaping social life of young adults as refugees, looked after young people in Care, young mothers, working class youth and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, with reference to contemporary debates on neo-liberalism.Less
The book critically engages with neo-liberal policies and media representations of youth austerity as a constructed social crisis but remaining the mechanism used by both government and media to exert control over young adults;
It explores the diversity of intersections relating to youth marginality across social class, gender and racial boundaries; looking into contemporary theory of advanced youth marginality.
It challenges the dominant notions of youth ‘underclass’ and marginalisation and the representation of ‘youth as trouble’ through participatory research methods to project young people’s ‘real’ experience and voice in spheres of leisure and recreation from street corners to open spaces in relation to surveillance and sanctions;
It develops an understanding of the importance of personal, emotional, familial and collective experiences of poverty and austerity and the strategies of resistance and survival, or consent under social hardship and discrimination from the Police;
It critically assesses the dynamics of social, cultural and educational policies in the shaping social life of young adults as refugees, looked after young people in Care, young mothers, working class youth and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, with reference to contemporary debates on neo-liberalism.
Emma Craddock
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205701
- eISBN:
- 9781529205749
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205701.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter sets the scene by outlining the importance of applying a cultural, affective, feminist approach to studying social movements. The chapter begins by providing an overview of the aftermath ...
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This chapter sets the scene by outlining the importance of applying a cultural, affective, feminist approach to studying social movements. The chapter begins by providing an overview of the aftermath of the financial crisis and introducing austerity. It then identifies the key strands of the book; the affective dimension of political engagement; social movements and emotions; gender and social movement activism. A brief overview of the research project is provided, focusing on the feminist approach to research. This chapter concludes with a chapter outline for the book.Less
This chapter sets the scene by outlining the importance of applying a cultural, affective, feminist approach to studying social movements. The chapter begins by providing an overview of the aftermath of the financial crisis and introducing austerity. It then identifies the key strands of the book; the affective dimension of political engagement; social movements and emotions; gender and social movement activism. A brief overview of the research project is provided, focusing on the feminist approach to research. This chapter concludes with a chapter outline for the book.
Shana Cohen, Christina Fuhr, and Jan-Jonathan Bock (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447331032
- eISBN:
- 9781447331056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447331032.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
This book examines local responses to political and economic crises in Germany and the UK. In Germany, the influx of refugees has thrown into question state capacity to cope with crisis and the ...
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This book examines local responses to political and economic crises in Germany and the UK. In Germany, the influx of refugees has thrown into question state capacity to cope with crisis and the acceptability of religious diversity. In the UK, policymakers have framed austerity measures as the most appropriate response to economic crisis, instigated initially by the financial crisis in 2007-8. However, in contrast to the far more visible, often rightwing, protests against the political establishment, local social activists have worked across different ethnic and religious groups to address social problems. The initiatives range from food banks to debt advice to helping some of the most vulnerable families and individuals overcome challenging life situations. Some are secular and others faith-based, though often, faith is related to individual motivation and possesses very little influence on the service itself. The emphasis instead is on collaborative activism, where organisations and individuals come to depend upon each other for mobilising resources and overcoming problems, an effort that in turn promotes trust and understanding across the diverse participants. This activism suggests new engagement with citizenship, which refers as much to participation in community-based, inclusive action to improve local quality of life as it does to individual rights. The volume brings together German and British academics to show how in both countries, concepts of individual, community, and citizenship are changing in an era of political and social division and persistent economic inequality.Less
This book examines local responses to political and economic crises in Germany and the UK. In Germany, the influx of refugees has thrown into question state capacity to cope with crisis and the acceptability of religious diversity. In the UK, policymakers have framed austerity measures as the most appropriate response to economic crisis, instigated initially by the financial crisis in 2007-8. However, in contrast to the far more visible, often rightwing, protests against the political establishment, local social activists have worked across different ethnic and religious groups to address social problems. The initiatives range from food banks to debt advice to helping some of the most vulnerable families and individuals overcome challenging life situations. Some are secular and others faith-based, though often, faith is related to individual motivation and possesses very little influence on the service itself. The emphasis instead is on collaborative activism, where organisations and individuals come to depend upon each other for mobilising resources and overcoming problems, an effort that in turn promotes trust and understanding across the diverse participants. This activism suggests new engagement with citizenship, which refers as much to participation in community-based, inclusive action to improve local quality of life as it does to individual rights. The volume brings together German and British academics to show how in both countries, concepts of individual, community, and citizenship are changing in an era of political and social division and persistent economic inequality.
Elke Heins, James Rees, and Catherine Needham (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447343981
- eISBN:
- 9781447344018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447343981.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Bringing together the voices of leading experts in the field, this edition offers an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. The book considers a ...
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Bringing together the voices of leading experts in the field, this edition offers an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. The book considers a range of current issues and critical debates in UK and international social policy. It contains vital research, including discussions on the changing landscape of welfare in the UK and Europe more widely since the 2008/09 crisis, the continuing impact of austerity on social policy areas such as the NHS, social care and disability, the financialisation of pensions and corporatisation of welfare as well as topical contributions on the ‘Air Jamaica generation’ and the Alt-Right from a social policy perspective.
Published in association with the SPA, this comprehensive analysis of the current state of social policy will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.
Less
Bringing together the voices of leading experts in the field, this edition offers an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. The book considers a range of current issues and critical debates in UK and international social policy. It contains vital research, including discussions on the changing landscape of welfare in the UK and Europe more widely since the 2008/09 crisis, the continuing impact of austerity on social policy areas such as the NHS, social care and disability, the financialisation of pensions and corporatisation of welfare as well as topical contributions on the ‘Air Jamaica generation’ and the Alt-Right from a social policy perspective.
Published in association with the SPA, this comprehensive analysis of the current state of social policy will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.
Eleanor Jupp, Sophie Bowlby, Jane Franklin, and Sarah Marie Hall
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447351849
- eISBN:
- 9781447351887
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447351849.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
With an innovative focus on home and care, this book is an intervention into debates about social policy and welfare at a time of crisis, with a particular focus on the UK. Such a crisis involves ...
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With an innovative focus on home and care, this book is an intervention into debates about social policy and welfare at a time of crisis, with a particular focus on the UK. Such a crisis involves austerity, economic restructuring, worsening inequality and resulting issues of resources, rationing and affordability. The book illuminates how these economic and political changes are re-shaping experiences of home and care for many households. By bringing together a unique set of interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the topics of home, care, austerity and welfare crisis, the book develops conceptual and methodological resources for exploring these often hidden yet crucial aspects of everyday lives. Topics covered include the changing place of the home within social care policy, housing and inequality, researching family lives under austerity, and the restructuring of children’s services. Ultimately the book argues that the home needs to be understood as a site of political and economic contestation, and that forms of feminist research and analysis can enable new interventions into this terrain.Less
With an innovative focus on home and care, this book is an intervention into debates about social policy and welfare at a time of crisis, with a particular focus on the UK. Such a crisis involves austerity, economic restructuring, worsening inequality and resulting issues of resources, rationing and affordability. The book illuminates how these economic and political changes are re-shaping experiences of home and care for many households. By bringing together a unique set of interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the topics of home, care, austerity and welfare crisis, the book develops conceptual and methodological resources for exploring these often hidden yet crucial aspects of everyday lives. Topics covered include the changing place of the home within social care policy, housing and inequality, researching family lives under austerity, and the restructuring of children’s services. Ultimately the book argues that the home needs to be understood as a site of political and economic contestation, and that forms of feminist research and analysis can enable new interventions into this terrain.
Gary Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097652
- eISBN:
- 9781526109712
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097652.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where ...
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The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where Ireland was ruled by the Troika and austerity was a by-word for both policy making and how many people lived their lives. This book assesses in a thematic way the forces which shaped the decisions that political elites in Ireland took over the course of this crucial quarter century in modern Irish life. It examines the nature of electoral competition in modern Ireland by focusing on a number of key themes that shaped the decisions of Irish politicians. These include the nature of coalition politics in Ireland; the payments to politicians by developers and businessmen that led to a number of tribunals of inquiry; the culture wars over divorce and abortion; the process of the economic collapse to boom and back to collapse cycle that effected the lives of so many Irish people; and the collapse of Ireland's natural party of government, Fianna Fáil. It analyses why Irish citizens have been comfortable in continuing to vote for traditional political elites despite the failures of the Irish state and explains why it has been so difficult for new parties to emerge.Less
The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where Ireland was ruled by the Troika and austerity was a by-word for both policy making and how many people lived their lives. This book assesses in a thematic way the forces which shaped the decisions that political elites in Ireland took over the course of this crucial quarter century in modern Irish life. It examines the nature of electoral competition in modern Ireland by focusing on a number of key themes that shaped the decisions of Irish politicians. These include the nature of coalition politics in Ireland; the payments to politicians by developers and businessmen that led to a number of tribunals of inquiry; the culture wars over divorce and abortion; the process of the economic collapse to boom and back to collapse cycle that effected the lives of so many Irish people; and the collapse of Ireland's natural party of government, Fianna Fáil. It analyses why Irish citizens have been comfortable in continuing to vote for traditional political elites despite the failures of the Irish state and explains why it has been so difficult for new parties to emerge.
Eunice Goes
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719090707
- eISBN:
- 9781526109637
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090707.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
When Ed Miliband was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2010 he sought to turn the page on New Labour and use the global financial crisis as an opportunity to renew social democracy. With great ...
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When Ed Miliband was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2010 he sought to turn the page on New Labour and use the global financial crisis as an opportunity to renew social democracy. With great intellectual and ideological gusto Miliband and his team searched, adopted and adapted new and old ideas that would address the policy puzzles left open by the global financial crisis. This book seeks to determine whether Ed Miliband was successful in his task by analysing the different ideas that were adopted and adapted by the Labour Party in the period 2010-15. Using discursive institutionalism and historical institutionalism, this book will map the political ideas and will identify the main ideational, institutional and political constraints that impacted and shaped the Labour Party’s political agenda. The book argues that the Labour Party under Ed Miliband tried but failed to renew social democracy. The timing, the prevalence of the neoliberalism in public discourse as well as Miliband’s inability to find a coalition of supporters for his transformative agenda and his own shortcomings as party leader led to a watered down political agenda that lacked boldness, clarity and definition. This lack of definition and clarity was one of the reasons why Milibandism was so overwhelmingly rejected by voters in May 2015.Less
When Ed Miliband was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2010 he sought to turn the page on New Labour and use the global financial crisis as an opportunity to renew social democracy. With great intellectual and ideological gusto Miliband and his team searched, adopted and adapted new and old ideas that would address the policy puzzles left open by the global financial crisis. This book seeks to determine whether Ed Miliband was successful in his task by analysing the different ideas that were adopted and adapted by the Labour Party in the period 2010-15. Using discursive institutionalism and historical institutionalism, this book will map the political ideas and will identify the main ideational, institutional and political constraints that impacted and shaped the Labour Party’s political agenda. The book argues that the Labour Party under Ed Miliband tried but failed to renew social democracy. The timing, the prevalence of the neoliberalism in public discourse as well as Miliband’s inability to find a coalition of supporters for his transformative agenda and his own shortcomings as party leader led to a watered down political agenda that lacked boldness, clarity and definition. This lack of definition and clarity was one of the reasons why Milibandism was so overwhelmingly rejected by voters in May 2015.
Keiran Walsh, Gemma M. Carney, and Áine Ní Léime (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447316237
- eISBN:
- 9781447316244
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447316237.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
Demographic ageing is identified as a global challenge with significant social policy implications across local, national and international contexts. The 2008 economic crisis and related austerity ...
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Demographic ageing is identified as a global challenge with significant social policy implications across local, national and international contexts. The 2008 economic crisis and related austerity policies further compound and complicate this challenge. Social policy pressures characterising ageing societies increasingly need to be understood within the context of the economic recession and the evolving circumstances of austerity. Yet, the extent to which the global economic crisis intensifies problems experienced in later life has been largely neglected as a research and policy topic. This book addresses this deficit by using Ireland as a site for unpacking social policy issues in ageing through austerity. The book interrogates whether or not the economic recession and austerity has in fact altered ageing experiences for older people in Ireland. A selection of internationally recognised policy issues for ageing societies are explored; demography; citizenship; participation and volunteering; work, gender and pensions; age-friendly communities and place; dementia care; and social exclusion. The book presents a critical analysis to contextualise and elaborate on international debates around these issues within the Irish austerity setting, and to identify future directions for research and policy that are relevant beyond Ireland. A central goal of contributors is to demonstrate linkages between the global, national and local levels that shape the experiences of ageing in a time of austerity. The emphasis, however, is as much on the capacity of the local to shape and manipulate global influence and forces, as it is about the power of globalisation over national and community contexts.Less
Demographic ageing is identified as a global challenge with significant social policy implications across local, national and international contexts. The 2008 economic crisis and related austerity policies further compound and complicate this challenge. Social policy pressures characterising ageing societies increasingly need to be understood within the context of the economic recession and the evolving circumstances of austerity. Yet, the extent to which the global economic crisis intensifies problems experienced in later life has been largely neglected as a research and policy topic. This book addresses this deficit by using Ireland as a site for unpacking social policy issues in ageing through austerity. The book interrogates whether or not the economic recession and austerity has in fact altered ageing experiences for older people in Ireland. A selection of internationally recognised policy issues for ageing societies are explored; demography; citizenship; participation and volunteering; work, gender and pensions; age-friendly communities and place; dementia care; and social exclusion. The book presents a critical analysis to contextualise and elaborate on international debates around these issues within the Irish austerity setting, and to identify future directions for research and policy that are relevant beyond Ireland. A central goal of contributors is to demonstrate linkages between the global, national and local levels that shape the experiences of ageing in a time of austerity. The emphasis, however, is as much on the capacity of the local to shape and manipulate global influence and forces, as it is about the power of globalisation over national and community contexts.
Edward Ashbee
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719090820
- eISBN:
- 9781781708873
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090820.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The Right and the Recession considers the ways in which conservative activists, groupings, parties and interests in the US and Britain responded to the financial crisis and the “Great Recession” that ...
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The Right and the Recession considers the ways in which conservative activists, groupings, parties and interests in the US and Britain responded to the financial crisis and the “Great Recession” that followed in its wake. The book looks at the tensions and stresses between different ideas, interests and institutions and the ways in which they shaped the character of political outcomes. In Britain, these processes opened the way for leading Conservatives to redefine their commitment to fiscal retrenchment and austerity. Whereas public expenditure reductions had been portrayed as a necessary response to earlier “overspending” they were increasingly represented as a way of securing a permanently “leaner” state. The book assesses the character of this shift in thinking as well as the viability of these efforts to shrink the state and the parallel attempts in the US to cut federal government spending through mechanisms such as the budget sequester.Less
The Right and the Recession considers the ways in which conservative activists, groupings, parties and interests in the US and Britain responded to the financial crisis and the “Great Recession” that followed in its wake. The book looks at the tensions and stresses between different ideas, interests and institutions and the ways in which they shaped the character of political outcomes. In Britain, these processes opened the way for leading Conservatives to redefine their commitment to fiscal retrenchment and austerity. Whereas public expenditure reductions had been portrayed as a necessary response to earlier “overspending” they were increasingly represented as a way of securing a permanently “leaner” state. The book assesses the character of this shift in thinking as well as the viability of these efforts to shrink the state and the parallel attempts in the US to cut federal government spending through mechanisms such as the budget sequester.
Carl J. Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781526145628
- eISBN:
- 9781526152022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7765/9781526145635.00016
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Hunger stalks Britain today. It – and the fear of it – lives amongst us. We live in age of austerity and food banks, of attempts to define minimum needs and to reduce those without to the elemental ...
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Hunger stalks Britain today. It – and the fear of it – lives amongst us. We live in age of austerity and food banks, of attempts to define minimum needs and to reduce those without to the elemental basis of their needs. Hunger, then, never left. It persisted. The conclusion considers these persistences and parallels. It argues that policy stopped being a policy problem but instead became thought of as a policy tool, something to be used to control the population. The fixation on famine in past studies is therefore unhelpfully myotic. Hunger, it concludes, was more powerful, more pervasive, more ingrained into the fabric of everyday life and more central to policy-making and political projects than we have admitted. Hunger defined popular protest and popular politics. But to adopt a ‘history from below’ approach would not have been enough, would not have done justice to the fear and force of hunger, for the experience was necessarily framed by local and central policy-making. Hunger was central to experiments in government, it was used to make new subjects and to assert bodily and racial difference between peoples. Hunger was critical in the making of humanitarianism and early forms of transnational solidarities. Hunger matters.Less
Hunger stalks Britain today. It – and the fear of it – lives amongst us. We live in age of austerity and food banks, of attempts to define minimum needs and to reduce those without to the elemental basis of their needs. Hunger, then, never left. It persisted. The conclusion considers these persistences and parallels. It argues that policy stopped being a policy problem but instead became thought of as a policy tool, something to be used to control the population. The fixation on famine in past studies is therefore unhelpfully myotic. Hunger, it concludes, was more powerful, more pervasive, more ingrained into the fabric of everyday life and more central to policy-making and political projects than we have admitted. Hunger defined popular protest and popular politics. But to adopt a ‘history from below’ approach would not have been enough, would not have done justice to the fear and force of hunger, for the experience was necessarily framed by local and central policy-making. Hunger was central to experiments in government, it was used to make new subjects and to assert bodily and racial difference between peoples. Hunger was critical in the making of humanitarianism and early forms of transnational solidarities. Hunger matters.
David C. Wall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to ...
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In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to be mistrusted, if not gravely threatening. Sharing a deep ambivalence over the abundance they depict, artitsts John Bratby and Richard Hamilton, and film makers Brian Desmond Hurst and Basil Dearden, all employ an “aesthetics of plenty” that both contests and contains competing post-war impulses of desire and denial. Further, they each locate the body as the critical site for the playing out of ubiquitous anxieties of race, gender, nationhood and decolonisation. Their shared visions of abundance simultaneously invoke a desirous world of plenty in the most unsettling and ambivalent terms. Bratby’s painting Jean and Still Life in Front of Window (1954), Hamilton’s collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956), and the feature films Simba (Brian Desmond Hurst 1956) and Sapphire (Basil Dearden 1959) each offer competing and complementary points of rupture where the discourses of empire, race, class, the body, and the nation all meet as images of compelling abundance become images of troubling abandon.Less
In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to be mistrusted, if not gravely threatening. Sharing a deep ambivalence over the abundance they depict, artitsts John Bratby and Richard Hamilton, and film makers Brian Desmond Hurst and Basil Dearden, all employ an “aesthetics of plenty” that both contests and contains competing post-war impulses of desire and denial. Further, they each locate the body as the critical site for the playing out of ubiquitous anxieties of race, gender, nationhood and decolonisation. Their shared visions of abundance simultaneously invoke a desirous world of plenty in the most unsettling and ambivalent terms. Bratby’s painting Jean and Still Life in Front of Window (1954), Hamilton’s collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956), and the feature films Simba (Brian Desmond Hurst 1956) and Sapphire (Basil Dearden 1959) each offer competing and complementary points of rupture where the discourses of empire, race, class, the body, and the nation all meet as images of compelling abundance become images of troubling abandon.
John Sturzaker and Alexander Nurse
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447350774
- eISBN:
- 9781447350828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447350774.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter summarises and synthesises the preceding chapters, discussing a series of themes which have emerged. The first is the interaction between the levels of devolution which have been the ...
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This chapter summarises and synthesises the preceding chapters, discussing a series of themes which have emerged. The first is the interaction between the levels of devolution which have been the focus of each chapter, reflecting upon overlaps between them and cumulative impacts of changes to different levels of governance. The second is that Brexit has dominated UK governance to an unhealthy degree, casting a long shadow over other issues, including localism. The third is the impact of ‘austerity’ and the reductions in central and local state spending consequent on it, and the fourth follows – that poorer people are consistently losing out from every round and type of reform. Our conclusion is, therefore, that localism as it has been instantiated in the UK has overall been a regressive force, but that this need not necessarily be the case – whilst we identify few lessons for other places, there is scope to work within and around formal governance frameworks to have a more positive impact.Less
This chapter summarises and synthesises the preceding chapters, discussing a series of themes which have emerged. The first is the interaction between the levels of devolution which have been the focus of each chapter, reflecting upon overlaps between them and cumulative impacts of changes to different levels of governance. The second is that Brexit has dominated UK governance to an unhealthy degree, casting a long shadow over other issues, including localism. The third is the impact of ‘austerity’ and the reductions in central and local state spending consequent on it, and the fourth follows – that poorer people are consistently losing out from every round and type of reform. Our conclusion is, therefore, that localism as it has been instantiated in the UK has overall been a regressive force, but that this need not necessarily be the case – whilst we identify few lessons for other places, there is scope to work within and around formal governance frameworks to have a more positive impact.
Simon Griffiths
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205008
- eISBN:
- 9781529205053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205008.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter focuses on the ‘contracting state’ under Cameron, and reviews developments in three major public services since 2010: health, education and welfare, paying attention to the way in which ...
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This chapter focuses on the ‘contracting state’ under Cameron, and reviews developments in three major public services since 2010: health, education and welfare, paying attention to the way in which these reforms affect the agency of the people who rely on these services. The Conservative-led coalition that was elected in 2010 made deep cuts to public spending in an effort to bring down the deficit, which they argued would restore economic growth. In practice, sluggish growth over the next few years meant that the cuts to public spending and services were less harsh than planned. However, the distributional effect of the cuts was uneven, with lower income, working-age households suffering disproportionally. In England and Wales, in organisational terms, austerity meant an extension of quasi-market reforms – particularly in health and education – that had been a feature of UK public administration since the 1980s. Pressure to cut public spending was also passed down to local government, ‘hollowing out’ a significant area of public provision and constraining their agency.Less
This chapter focuses on the ‘contracting state’ under Cameron, and reviews developments in three major public services since 2010: health, education and welfare, paying attention to the way in which these reforms affect the agency of the people who rely on these services. The Conservative-led coalition that was elected in 2010 made deep cuts to public spending in an effort to bring down the deficit, which they argued would restore economic growth. In practice, sluggish growth over the next few years meant that the cuts to public spending and services were less harsh than planned. However, the distributional effect of the cuts was uneven, with lower income, working-age households suffering disproportionally. In England and Wales, in organisational terms, austerity meant an extension of quasi-market reforms – particularly in health and education – that had been a feature of UK public administration since the 1980s. Pressure to cut public spending was also passed down to local government, ‘hollowing out’ a significant area of public provision and constraining their agency.
Lisa Mckenzie
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529205008
- eISBN:
- 9781529205053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529205008.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter draws upon ethnographic research within working-class communities in Nottingham and East London, families which rely upon public services, welfare benefits, and social housing. Since ...
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This chapter draws upon ethnographic research within working-class communities in Nottingham and East London, families which rely upon public services, welfare benefits, and social housing. Since 2010 they are being subject to harsh cuts in their welfare benefits and also social goods through austerity policy linked to the banking crash of 2008. Rather than focus upon the economic situation of the poorest, this chapter addresses the key argument that there has been a significant change in the representation of working-class people, who have been negatively re-branded and stigmatised over the last 30 years. Successive governments have connected economic poverty with cultural and aspirational poverty. Austerity has been a constructed narrative that centres upon removing poverty by removing the practices, and the culture of the poor. The chapter argues that this rhetoric does the work that is needed in order to push through and justify inequalities. Those inequalities have taken the working class from positions of relative stability into serious precarity and undermined their ability to exert agency.Less
This chapter draws upon ethnographic research within working-class communities in Nottingham and East London, families which rely upon public services, welfare benefits, and social housing. Since 2010 they are being subject to harsh cuts in their welfare benefits and also social goods through austerity policy linked to the banking crash of 2008. Rather than focus upon the economic situation of the poorest, this chapter addresses the key argument that there has been a significant change in the representation of working-class people, who have been negatively re-branded and stigmatised over the last 30 years. Successive governments have connected economic poverty with cultural and aspirational poverty. Austerity has been a constructed narrative that centres upon removing poverty by removing the practices, and the culture of the poor. The chapter argues that this rhetoric does the work that is needed in order to push through and justify inequalities. Those inequalities have taken the working class from positions of relative stability into serious precarity and undermined their ability to exert agency.