International and comparative social policy

This important annual volume examines the economic and political challenges that have confronted governments over the past year, and highlights the diverse ways in which nations have responded, providing academics and students with an invaluable up-to-date analysis of the current state of social policy.

This latest edition of Social Policy Review presents an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship with a special focus on work, employment and insecurity.

The 2008 global economic crisis has led to a new age of austerity, based more on politics than economics, which threatens to undermine the very foundations of the welfare state. However, as resistance to the logic of austerity grows, this important book argues that there is still room for optimism.

This book explores the advantages of the capability approach and offers a way forward in addressing conceptual and empirical issues as they apply specifically to social policy research and practice.

An innovative account of social control and behaviourism within welfare systems and social policies, and the implications for disadvantaged groups.

This is the first human geography social atlas of Europe to consider the European economy, culture, history and human and physical geography as a single land mass and a more unified European people. It provides an accessible overview of Europe and a human geography contribution to debates about a wide range of topics.

Focusing on research representing different types of European welfare states, including the Scandinavian and the Continental, this collection provides new insights about current welfare professions.

The book offers critical reflections on the recent history and future direction of policy studies, advancing the debate by rethinking the ways in which scholars and students of policy studies can (re)engage with pertinent issues. First published as a Special Issue of Policy & Politics.

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.

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.

This topical book examines the social and political construction of anti-poverty programmes in Central Eastern Europe and their transition from communist rule to the current economic crisis. It illustrates how the distinction between different categories of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor has evolved as the result of changing paradigms.

First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this updated volume explores policy failures and the valuable opportunities for learning that they offer.