Critical Social Policy Research Articles

Crisis and Governance: SARS and the Resilience of the Chinese Body Politic

The article discusses the political utility of crisis as a mobilizational tool during the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the winter of 2003. The handling of SARS and its aftermath by the Hu-Wen regime suggests powerful underlying continuities with the governing practices of the Mao era.

Teaching Critical Social Policy in Canada: Some Personal Reflections

Discusses problems in teaching social policy courses which students often view as not necessary for practice. Documents teaching of critical social policy to Canadian students and identifies a number of problems in making it interesting, such as the abstract nature of the content, general lack of understanding of the importance of policy analysis, and fear of an unknown subject. Highlights key teaching strategies and assessment methods and notes constraints, successes and failures in teaching the subject.

The Social Division of Welfare Surveillance

AbstractElectronic surveillance has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite this, surveillance practices and their social products are yet to receive serious attention in the academic field of social policy. Extending Titmuss’ classical articulation of the social division of welfare, this article develops the notion of the social division of welfare surveillance to point to the way in which surveillance, compliance burdens and risk management unevenly operate within society. The implications for reinforcing social divisions and critical social policy analysis are discussed.

More sinned against than sinbin? The forgetfulness of critical social policy?

More sinned against than sinbin? The forgetfulness of critical social policy?

Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency)

754 Many thanks to Dipesh Chakrabarty, Geoff Eley, Dana Luciano, Nasser Hussain, Roger Rouse, Adam Thurschwell, and Martha Umphrey for their meticulous engagements, as well as to audiences at Amherst, Johns Hopkins, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago, American Political Science Association, American Studies Association, and Cleveland State. Special nostalgic thanks to Virginia Chang, my original collaborator in the Obesity and Poverty conference (2002). 1. See David Harvey, “The Body as Accumulation Strategy,” Spaces of Hope (Berkeley, 2000), pp. 97–116. To call Harvey polemical is not to devalue his profound contributions to understanding the productive destructiveness of capital; in his work, a polemic is a call for precision, not a way of drowning it out. Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency)

Response to Review of Children, Young People and Social Inclusion: Participation for What?

245 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 17 No. 3 (2007) ISSN: 1546-2250 Response to Review of Children, Young People and Social Inclusion: Participation for What? Kay Tisdall University of Edinburgh Citation: Tisdall, Kay. (2007). "Response to Review of Children, Young People and Social Inclusion: Participation for What?." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (3). Read this Book Review As editors, we appreciate the careful and complementary attention the reviewer has given to the book. We indeed hope that it will make a contribution, in the inter-related areas of social inclusion and participation. There have been a number of subsequent activities that may be of interest to readers: The Children and Young People"s Participation Learning Network has been formed. This network seeks to stimulate thinking, policy and practice concerning children's and young people's participation. It brings together practitioners, policy-makers, academics and other researchers, as well as children and young people. For further information, seehttp://www.uwe.ac.uk/solar/ChildParticipationNetwork/Home.ht m Last year, a further seminar was held at the University of Edinburgh on Theorising Children's Participation. This intensive seminar brought together UK experts from such disciplines as community development, development studies, social anthropology and politics, with colleagues from Brazil, India and South Africa. Further information on this seminar is available athttp://www.childhoodstudies.ed.ac.uk/research.htm#part 246 A special issue will be published in 2008 by the International Journal of Children"s Rights. Groups of young people have come together, starting in England and now expanding across the UK, for their own seminar initiative. They have titled the initiative “Don"t Just Tick the Box.” The results of their meetings will shortly be available (links will be made from www.childhoodstudies.ed.ac.uk). Dr. E. Kay M. Tisdall is Programme Director of the MSc in Childhood Studies, and Reader in Social Policy, at the Universityof Edinburgh. Previously, she worked as Director of Policy and Research at Children in Scotland, the national umbrella agency for organizations and professionals working with children and their families. Current and recent research includes: pupil councils, training on research methods with children and youth, children"s views in family law proceedings, and inter-agency services. She has recently published journal articles in Children and Society, Critical Social Policy, the European Journal of Social Work, and the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. ...

Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency)

Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency)

Introduction: Rethinking social policy through devolution

This paper argues both that devolution is central to our understanding of developments in social policy in the contemporary UK and that social policy is a key means through which we can develop a critical understanding of the process of devolution itself. Much of the devolved powers available to the governments in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff centre on social policy innovation and practice. Devolution was widely welcomed as opening up the potential for the development of radically different social policies. However, the discussion of devolution has been largely dominated by an approach that focuses on institutional and/or organizational differences marginalizing, in the process, the wider social relations of welfare around which social policy is organized. In bringing the study of devolution into the heartland of social policy analysis, it is argued that we can begin to develop a more critically informed appreciation of social policy across the entire devolved UK. Through critical social policy analysis we can both evaluate and explain the complex interrelations between devolved governance and the continuing reproduction of inequalities and social divisions throughout the UK.

It is only a tradition: making sense of Swedish Somalis’ narratives of female circumcision and avoiding submission to hegemonic political discourse

This paper discusses the perspective and conclusions of an article in Critical Social Policy: ‘“It’s only a tradition”: making sense of eradication interventions and the persistence of female “circumcision” within a Swedish context’ (Ahlberg et al., 2004). In their analysis of Swedish Somalis’ narratives of female circumcision, the authors interpret the unwillingness of the interviewees to admit a persistence of tradition in terms of ‘denial’ and ‘avoidance’. We argue that an inadequate starting point makes their analysis biased, resulting in a violation of the interviewees’ point of view. There is a lack of contextualization and triangulation. Instead of persistence of tradition, as emphasized by Ahlberg et al., we see reasons to focus on processes of abandonment of the practice. Their article raises issues of the researcher’s position in a politicized context and of the importance of an awareness of how our preconceptions, as researchers, are formed by hegemonic political discourse.

Ethical Consumption Within Critical Social Policy

While today's economy operates on a global scale, political policies regulating the economy remain national in scope. This disjuncture in the political economy has spawned many labor abuses. This author believes that the principle of ethical consumption offers a way to surmount the most daunting barrier to change that exists today: national sovereignty. A U.S. law requiring all products to be labeled with a rating scale (e.g., A to F) that reflects the environment in which a product is produced would provide consumers with an effective standard to rally around and push for change.

Toward a New Feminist Theory of Rape

Toward a New Feminist Theory of Rape

Against work: a utopian incursion into social policy

This paper argues in favour of using a utopian method of thinking about the future, rather than simply extrapolating from present conditions. This opens up the possibility of thinking in terms of the kind of society we want to achieve, rather than what seems immediately probable. It criticises the Blair Government's focus on the economic and moral centrality of paid work, and argues, following Gorz, that the link between ‘work’ and income needs to be broken to ensure an adequate livelihood for all. This will entail a re-valuing of forms of human activity, as argued by Herbert Marcuse, and more recently by Fiona Williams. This ultimately calls in question the structures of capitalism itself, since what is entailed is, at the very least, a step change downwards in the proportion of the social product accruing to capital. The paper concludes by contending that any genuinely critical social policy must have this utopian dimension.

Include me out: critical readings of social exclusion, social inclusion and lifelong learning

Social exclusion and inclusion have emerged as strong policy-leading concepts at both the national and international level in recent years. Policies on lifelong learning are themselves in part premised on the contribution education and training can make to promoting an inclusive society. It is argued that social exclusion offends against human dignity, denies people their fundamental human rights and leads, in conjunction with social and economic instability, to marginalization and deepening inequalities, which threaten the stability of democracy. Social inclusion therefore appears to be an unconditional good. The argument in this paper suggests that this is not the case. Drawing on critical social policy studies and post-structuralist philosophy, we argue that the notion of inclusion relies on exclusions, some of which may be chosen and even desirable. We suggest that those interested in lifelong learning should take a more critical stance towards the social inclusion agenda to which it is being harnessed.

Social movements, welfare and social policy: a critical analysis

This article proposes that theories of ‘new’ social movements (NSMs) may illuminate contemporary welfare struggles and inform research into collective action in social policy. NSM theory is relevant because it focuses on social movement cultures, identity politics and symbolic struggles for the recognition of difference. However, it does this to the exclusion of ‘traditional’ issues such as material redistribution and inequality. A critical social policy, on the other hand, has retained a regard for these issues, but is also concerned with struggles for recognition. It is argued that all social movements raise issues about redistribution and recognition, although these will coexist to varying degrees. Using work carried out in the United States into women's self-help movements, this article shows how movements that are largely cultural may change social policy by posing symbolic challenges.

Disappearing Acts: The State and Violence against Women in the Twentieth Century

Previous articleNext article No AccessDisappearing Acts: The State and Violence against Women in the Twentieth CenturyMichelle Fine and Lois WeisMichelle Fine Search for more articles by this author and Lois Weis Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 25, Number 4Summer, 2000Feminisms at a Millennium Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/495534 Views: 13Total views on this site Citations: 17Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2000 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Erin Sanders-McDonagh, Lucy Neville, Sevasti-Melissa Nolas From Pillar to Post: Understanding the Victimisation of Women and Children who Experience Domestic Violence in an Age of Austerity, Feminist Review 112, no.11 (Feb 2016): 60–76.https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2015.51Melinda A. Lemke (Un)Making the Neoliberal Agenda in Public Education, (Jan 2015): 53–77.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-977-7_3Maria Fannin Domesticating Birth in the Hospital: “Family-Centered” Birth and the Emergence of “Homelike” Birthing Rooms, (Apr 2012): 95–118.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444397468.ch4Alison Phipps Violent and victimized bodies: Sexual violence policy in England and Wales, Critical Social Policy 30, no.33 (Aug 2010): 359–383.https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018310367673Anita Harris, Chilla Bulbeck Gender, Youth and Contemporary Political Engagements, (Jan 2010): 25–53.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-92320-8_2Chilla Bulbeck Unpopularising Feminism: ‘Blaming Feminism’ in the Generation Debate and the Mother Wars, Sociology Compass 4, no.11 (Jan 2010): 21–37.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00257.xDipti Desai Imagining Justice in Times of Perpetual War: Notes for the Classroom, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy 6, no.22 (Dec 2009): 6–26.https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2009.10411734Leslie Rebecca Bloom ‘When one person makes it, we all make it’: a study of Beyond Welfare , a women‐centered community‐based organization that helps low‐income mothers achieve personal and academic success, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 22, no.44 (Jul 2009): 485–503.https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390902740597Heidi M. Levitt, Rebecca Todd Swanger, Jenny B. Butler Male Perpetrators’ Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence, Religion, and Masculinity, Sex Roles 58, no.5-65-6 (Jan 2008): 435–448.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9349-3Corey W. Johnson, Laurel Richmond, Beth D. Kivel “What a man ought to be, he is far from”: Collective meanings of masculinity and race in media, Leisure/Loisir 32, no.22 (Jan 2008): 303–330.https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2008.9651412Karen Mary Giffin, Financeirização do Estado, erosão da democracia e empobrecimento da cidadania: tendências globais?, Ciência & Saúde Coletiva 12, no.66 (Dec 2007): 1491–1504.https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-81232007000600011Paula Wilcox Communities, care and domestic violence, Critical Social Policy 26, no.44 (Nov 2006): 722–747.https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018306068471Natalie J. Sokoloff, Ida Dupont Domestic Violence at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender, Violence Against Women 11, no.11 (Jan 2005): 38–64.https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801204271476Nicole Knickmeyer, Heidi M. Levitt, Sharon G. Horne, Gary Bayer Responding to Mixed Messages and Double Binds: Religious Oriented Coping Strategies of Christian Battered Women, Journal of Religion & Abuse 5, no.22 (Mar 2004): 29–53.https://doi.org/10.1300/J154v05n02_03Maria Fannin Domesticating Birth in the Hospital: "Family-Centered" Birth and the Emergence of "Homelike" Birthing Rooms, Antipode 35, no.33 (Jul 2003): 513–535.https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8330.00337 Gillian Youngs Private Pain/Public Peace: Women’s Rights as Human Rights and Amnesty International’s Report on Violence against Women Youngs, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 28, no.44 (Jul 2015): 1209–1229.https://doi.org/10.1086/368325Bernice Lott Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor., American Psychologist 57, no.22 (Jan 2002): 100–110.https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.2.100

Unpaid work in the community: An account of becoming a community activist

Academics, policy makers, and practitioners are slow to listen to the needs and experiences of poor people, even about their experiences of poverty [P. Beresford & S. Croft (1995) It's our problem too! Challenging the exclusion of poor people from poverty discourse. Critical Social Policy Issue, 44/45, 75-95]. Angela is a young middle-aged British woman who has survived numerous traumatic personal, family and social experiences. She has read copies of this journal and is convinced that discussions between academics, professionals, policy makers and poor people will lead to better mutual understanding, a view reflected in a recent multinational project [ATD Fourth World (1999) Introducing the knowledge of people living in poverty into an academic environment: Synopsis. London: ATD Fourth World UK]. Through discussions with one of the editors, Angela has contributed this account which highlights the emotional aspects of being at the receiving end of public services as well as of becoming active in a community.

Pre-Modern and Modern Power: Foucault and the Case of Domestic Violence

Previous articleNext article No AccessPre-Modern and Modern Power: Foucault and the Case of Domestic ViolenceAndrea C. WestlundAndrea C. Westlund Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 24, Number 4Summer, 1999Institutions, Regulation, and Social Control Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/495402 Views: 134Total views on this site Citations: 38Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1999 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Cenk Saraçoğlu, Danièle Bélanger Governance through discipline in the neighbourhood: Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in urban life, The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 65, no.44 (Jul 2021): 463–475.https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12704Luyue Zhang, Shih-Ya Kuo, Tim Simpson Trapped and Resistant Body: Everyday Practices of Women in Taiwan in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence, Journal of Family Violence 36, no.66 (Aug 2020): 657–668.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00192-yHawra Rabaan, Alyson L. Young, Lynn Dombrowski Daughters of Men, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 4, no.CSCW3CSCW3 (Jan 2021): 1–31.https://doi.org/10.1145/3432923Sarah R Robinson, December R Maxwell, Kelli R Rogers Living in Intimate Partner Violence Shelters: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis of Women’s Experiences, The British Journal of Social Work 14 (Jun 2019).https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz079Tina Hebert Deshotels, Craig J. Forsyth, Stephanie Earwood, BreeAnna New, Jennifer Fulmer For HE tells me so: Techniques of neutralization applied to Christian domestic discipline, Deviant Behavior 40, no.66 (Feb 2019): 732–751.https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1519134Allison Bloom A New “Shield of the Weak”: Continued Paternalism of Domestic Violence Services in Uruguay, Violence Against Women 24, no.1616 (Mar 2018): 1949–1966.https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218757374Tina Hebert Deshotels, Craig J. Forsyth, BreeAnna New, Jennifer Fulmer For HE Tells Me So: Techniques of Neutralization Applied to Christian Domestic Discipline, Deviant Behavior (Oct 2018): 1–20.https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2018.1527581Susan Heward-Belle Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control, Affilia 32, no.33 (May 2017): 374–389.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109917706935Adam B. Evans To ‘just be relaxed and with your own thoughts’: Experiences of aquatic activity amongst individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure 2 (Jun 2017): 1–18.https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2017.1328783Ann Shola Orloff, Talia Shiff Feminism/s in Power: Rethinking Gender Equality after the Second Wave, (Mar 2016): 109–134.https://doi.org/10.1108/S0198-871920160000030003Catherine Glenn, Lisa Goodman Living With and Within the Rules of Domestic Violence Shelters, Violence Against Women 21, no.1212 (Dec 2015): 1481–1506.https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215596242S. Peckover Domestic Abuse, Safeguarding Children and Public Health: Towards an Analysis of Discursive Forms and Surveillant Techniques in Contemporary UK Policy and Practice, British Journal of Social Work 44, no.77 (Mar 2013): 1770–1787.https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bct042Kathleen R. Arnold Domestic Abuse and the Limits of Communication (Foucault, Habermas and Beyond), SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2013).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2305625J. Keeling, K. van Wormer Social Worker Interventions in Situations of Domestic Violence: What We Can Learn from Survivors' Personal Narratives?, British Journal of Social Work 42, no.77 (Sep 2011): 1354–1370.https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcr137Tracey Nicholls Concerning Violence against Women: A Fanonian Analysis of Colonizing the Female Body, e-cadernos CES , no.1616 (Jun 2012).https://doi.org/10.4000/eces.1047Abigail Bray Merciless Doctrines: Child Pornography, Censorship, and Late Capitalism, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 37, no.11 (Jul 2015): 133–158.https://doi.org/10.1086/660178Kristin Bumiller The Nexus of Domestic Violence Reform and Social Science: From Instrument of Social Change to Institutionalized Surveillance, Annual Review of Law and Social Science 6, no.11 (Dec 2010): 173–193.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102209-152813Alison Phipps Violent and victimized bodies: Sexual violence policy in England and Wales, Critical Social Policy 30, no.33 (Aug 2010): 359–383.https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018310367673Melanie Lang Surveillance and conformity in competitive youth swimming, Sport, Education and Society 15, no.11 (Feb 2010): 19–37.https://doi.org/10.1080/13573320903461152Suruchi Thapar-Björkert, Karen J. Morgan “But Sometimes I Think . . . They Put Themselves in the Situation”: Exploring Blame and Responsibility in Interpersonal Violence, Violence Against Women 16, no.11 (Jan 2010): 32–59.https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209354374Alison Phipps Rape and Respectability: Ideas about Sexual Violence and Social Class, Sociology 43, no.44 (Aug 2009): 667–683.https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038509105414 The Sexual Violence Agenda, (Jan 2008): 1–15.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-001 Gender War, (Jan 2008): 16–35.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-002 Expressive Justice, (Jan 2008): 36–62.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-003 Administrative Injustice, (Jan 2008): 63–95.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-004 Victim Insurgency, (Jan 2008): 96–131.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-005 Universalizing Gender Justice, (Jan 2008): 132–154.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-006 Conclusion, (Jan 2008): 155–166.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-007 Notes, (Jan 2008): 167–188.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-008 Bibliography, (Jan 2008): 189–208.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389071-009Heather Fraser Women, Love, and Intimacy “Gone Wrong”: Fire, Wind, and Ice, Affilia 20, no.11 (Sep 2016): 10–20.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109904272094Denise L. Spitzer , Canadian Journal of Public Health 96, no.S2S2 ( 2005): S78.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403704RACHEL HALL “It Can Happen to You”: Rape Prevention in the Age of Risk Management, Hypatia 19, no.33 (Jan 2009): 1–18.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2004.tb01299.xRachel Hall ?It Can Happen to You?: Rape Prevention in the Age of Risk Management, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 19, no.33 (Jul 2004): 1–19.https://doi.org/10.2979/HYP.2004.19.3.1Heather Fraser Doing Narrative Research, Qualitative Social Work 3, no.22 (Aug 2016): 179–201.https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325004043383Jon R. Conte, Suzanne B. Savage Concluding Observations, Journal of Interpersonal Violence 18, no.44 (Jul 2016): 452–468.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260503252344Brenda Geiger From Deviance to Creation: Women's Answer to Subjugation, Humanity & Society 26, no.33 (Aug 2002): 214–227.https://doi.org/10.1177/016059760202600303Ieva Zake Trope analysis of women’s political subjectivity, Feminist Theory 2, no.33 (Dec 2001): 282–310.https://doi.org/10.1177/14647000122229532

Critical Social Policy special issue

Critical Social Policy special issue

Lamppost modernism: traditional and critical social policy?

This article considers aspects of the recent debate over the relationship of social policy to accounts of postmodernity. It will be argued that the treatment of welfare and social policy by some observers of postmoder nity/post-traditional society has been inadequate, neglecting scepticism and critique from within social policy. Despite some serious reservations regarding the treatment of welfare in their accounts, it will be suggested that there are features of a postmodern analysis that are significant for a critical social policy. The article concludes by suggesting that dialogue needs to be promoted, but it is not simply a case of social policy listening to social theorists. They would do well to be a little more reflexive and a little more attentive to debates from within social policy.

Social Policy. Richard Hugman. 1995. The implications of the term ‘elder abuse’ for problem definition and response in health and social welfare. Journal of Social Policy, 24 4, 493–508. Simon Biggs. 1996. A family concern: elder abuse in British social policy. Critical Social Policy, 16 2, 63–88. Julia Johnson and John Adams. 1996. Self-neglect in later life. Health and Social

Social Policy. Richard Hugman. 1995. The implications of the term ‘elder abuse’ for problem definition and response in health and social welfare. Journal of Social Policy, 24 4, 493–508. Simon Biggs. 1996. A family concern: elder abuse in British social policy. Critical Social Policy, 16 2, 63–88. Julia Johnson and John Adams. 1996. Self-neglect in later life. Health and Social Care in the Community, 4 4, 226–233. - Volume 17 Issue 2