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Global ideas of welfare and the narrowing scope of social policy
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Global ideas of welfare and the narrowing scope of social policy

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  • Julia Ngozi Chukwuma

    (School of Social Sciences and Global Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University)

Abstract

This paper documents contemporary trends within social policymaking. I illustrate how the scope of social policy has narrowed over time, with social assistance programmes nowadays being favoured over more comprehensive forms of social policy. I argue that, overall, social service delivery has been subject to privatisation with the ascendency of neo-liberalism. I moreover provide an overview of the relevant literature discussing the evolution of welfare states (and their retrenchment). With an initial focus on the European context, I survey theories according to which welfare states emerged as a consequence of industrialism, were the outcome of class struggles or a result of historical institutionalism and/or power relations. I then move on to review concepts and theories that account for social policy trajectories in countries of the Global South, and Africa in particular. Many of Africa’s post-colonial states sought to promote social policy as a way of facilitating social cohesion and nation-building and in order to create inclusive states. Still, the rise of neo-liberalism significantly shaped and influenced their particular practices. Finally, I introduce Ben Fine’s Systems of Provision (SoP) approach as the theoretical framework, which stands out amongst the various theories seeking to explain social policy trajectories. A crucial benefit of the SoP approach is that it encourages and facilitates a context- and system-specific analysis, helping to understand how contextual factors and structures determine consumption outcomes in a specific setting. Moreover, it takes account of both social dynamics and constructs as well as global trends, such as globalisation and neo-liberalisation, which impact processes and narratives as well as the meaning that participants within a system of provision attach to the consumption of a specific good and/or service.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Ngozi Chukwuma, 2022. "Global ideas of welfare and the narrowing scope of social policy," Working Papers 252, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:soa:wpaper:252
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social policy; social service delivery; neoliberalism; privatisation; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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