Welfare

Welfareisanimportantconceptinthesocialsciences.Itisalsochallengedandcontestednotonlybyalternativeconceptsbutalsoasapoliticalgoalinitself.Usingamulti–disciplinaryapproach,thisbooktakesafreshlookatthecontinuingrelevanceofwelfareinthecontextofpublicpolicy,recentscholarlydevelopmentsandchangesinpopularattitudesandbehaviour.Thebookconnectstheoryandpractice.Tracingtheconcept′sbackgroundineconomics,politicalscienceandsocialpolicy,thebookjuxtaposeswelfarewithnewerapproaches,suchassubjectivewell–being,capabilities,care,socialexclusionandsocialcapital.Thelinksbetweenwelfareandpoliticalideasarealsoelaborated.Thewelfarestate,asitdevelopedhistoricallyinEuropeandasitischangingindifferentcountries,isgivenanimportantplaceintheanalysis.Drawingonarangeofempiricalwork,thebookinitsfinalpartconsidershowindividualsandgroupsattainwelfareandhowthisshapespeople′sdecisionsandactionsintheireverydaylives.Writteninalivelystyle,thisbookprovidesstudentsofsociology,socialpolicyandpoliticalsciencewithavaluablepointofaccesstoarangeofdebatesandthinkinginthefieldofwelfareandrelatedconcepts.