POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare

Social Policy First Hand is the first comprehensive international social policy text from a participatory perspective and presents a new service user-led social policy that addresses the current challenges in welfare provision.

This book presents the first collection of Robert Pinker’s influential essays in one edited volume, discussing the key concepts underpinning the study of social policy and the ways in which welfare theories and ideologies together with public expectations have shaped the political processes of policy making.

This fully revised, updated and extended edition of a bestselling social policy textbook is extensively reworked and adapted to meet the needs of its international readership. Laying out the architecture of social policy as a field of study, it provides a sense of the scope, range and purpose of the subject.

Social justice and social policy in Scotland offers a critical engagement with the state of social policy in Scotland, focusing on a diverse range of topics and issues, including income inequalities, work and welfare, criminal justice, housing, education, health and poverty, each reflecting the themes of social inequality and social justice.

This important book explores the meaning of social justice and examines how it translates into the everyday concerns of public and social policy.

European, demographic and social changes have called into question the financial stability and political support for existing national social insurance programmes. This book provides information about the cross-national differences and commonalities between social insurance schemes in Europe, and reflects upon their future roles.

The devolution of social care policy has led to key differences emerging between the UK’s four care systems. This book presents research on the perspectives of social care policy makers within the UK’s four care systems, concluding that when given equal capacity to reform, the systems in each nation may take radically different shapes.

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.

Describing social assistance 'careers' in different national and urban contexts, this innovative book documents the strong interplay between personal biographies and policy patterns - a particularly useful perspective which complements the more structural, top-down approach of much international work in social policy.

Drawing on interviews with welfare-reliant single mothers living in the South Wales Valleys, this original book charts their interactions with the labour market and welfare state. It challenges current understandings of welfare eligibility and dependency and provides valuable new policy insights for welfare reform.

The third edition of this long-established guide offers an invaluable, authoritative and concise introduction to community development. Fully updated to reflect changes in policy, practice, economics and culture it will equip readers with an understanding of the history and theory of community development, as well as practical guidance.

Debates about citizenship in Europe are increasingly topical as the EU expands. This book charts the development of mobility and welfare rights for retired people moving or returning home under the Free Movement of Persons provisions. It raises important issues around the future of social citizenship in an increasingly global and mobile world.