Journal•ISSN: 0047-2794
Journal of Social Policy
Cambridge University Press
About: Journal of Social Policy is an academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Social policy & Welfare state. It has an ISSN identifier of 0047-2794. Over the lifetime, 2080 publications have been published receiving 48611 citations.
Topics: Social policy, Welfare state, Welfare, Politics, Poverty
Papers published on a yearly basis
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TL;DR: This paper advocates directly studying features of the local social and physical environment which might promote or inhibit health, illustrating this approach with some findings from a study in the West of Scotland, and suggests that improvements in public health might be achieved by focusing on places as well as on people.
Abstract: In Britain there has been a long tradition of research into associations between area of residence and health. Rarely has this involved investigating socio-economic or cultural features of areas that might influence health; usually studies use area level data, for example about specific pathogens or about levels of deprivation, as surrogates for individual level data, rather than being interested in the areas themselves. This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between area and health. It advocates directly studying features of the local social and physical environment which might promote or inhibit health, illustrating this approach with some findings from a study in the West of Scotland, and suggests that improvements in public health might be achieved by focusing on places as well as on people.
1,057 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of influential classifications of welfare states based on different dimensions of social policy is presented, and an alternative classification, which combines elements of the ones reviewed above into a two-dimensional approach, is proposed.
Abstract: This article begins with a survey of some influential classifications of welfare states based on different dimensions of social policy. Advantages and shortcomings are pointed out in relation to each classification reviewed. It is argued that none of these single-dimension classifications is in fact adequate to understand past and current developments in European social policy. An alternative classification, which combines elements of the ones reviewed above into a two-dimension approach, is proposed. This two-dimension classification is then related to past developments and current debates in European welfare states. The strength of this approach is its ability to reflect social policy developments in terms of both the expansion/contraction of state welfare and the convergence/divergence of European social policies.
689 citations
TL;DR: The authors explores the changing fortunes of the public realm during the last two decades and poses the problem of how we think about globalisation and neo-liberalism as forces driving these changes.
Abstract: This paper explores the changing fortunes of the public realm during the last two decades. It poses the problem of how we think about globalisation and neo-liberalism as forces driving these changes. It then examines how different aspects of the public realm – understood as public interest, as public services and as a collective identity – have been subjected to processes of dissolution. Different processes have combined in this dissolution – in particular, attempts to privatise and marketise public services have been interleaved with attempts to de-politicise the public realm. Tracing these processes reveals that they have not been wholly successful – encountering resistances, refusals and negotiations that mean the outcomes (so far) do not match the world imagined in neo-liberal fantasies.
474 citations
TL;DR: Poverty can be defined and measured either directly or indirectly (in terms of income) as mentioned in this paper, and the relative deprivation concept of poverty is a direct concept; poverty is understood as visible poverty, that is, a low standard of consumption.
Abstract: Poverty can be defined and measured either directly (in terms of consumption) or indirectly (in terms of income) The relative deprivation concept of poverty is a direct concept; poverty is understood as visible poverty, that is, a low standard of consumption The income poverty line is an indirect measure; poverty is established as low income It is argued that recent mainstream poverty research combines a direct definition and an indirect measure This causes there to be no logical line of deduction between definition and measurement and, along with other problems in the approach, renders the statistics produced invalid
451 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between culture and welfare state policies is analysed in a comparative perspective. But the way in which cultural differences also contribute to the explanation is often ignored, or at least treated as a more marginal issue.
Abstract: In comparative welfare state analyses, cross-national differences have often been explained both by the specific profiles of welfare state institutions and the constellations of social actors. However, the way in which cultural differences also contribute to the explanation is often ignored, or at least treated as a more marginal issue. The aim of this article is to reflect on the relationship between culture and welfare state policies, and consider how it might be analysed in a comparative perspective. A theoretical framework for analysis is introduced in which the relationship of culture and welfare state policies is conceptualised as a complex, multi-level relationship which is embedded in the specific context of a particular society and can develop in contradictory ways.
433 citations