This text provides a critical introduction to the debates and politics surrounding welfare reform in the UK, Europe and the US. It explains the origins and main tenets of the Blair-Clinton orthodoxy; compares policy in Western Europe with the dilemmas facing the governments of Central and Eastern Europe; assesses the broader prospects of European social policy in the struggle over economic and political integration; and places the reform process in the context of the post-war states' development. The author demonstrates how values derived from the family and voluntary associations are in danger of running counter to the more fundamental principles of liberal democracy and the requirements of transnational economic exchange.
Bill Jordan is Reader in Social Studies at Exeter University and Professor in Social Policy at Huddersfield University. He has written extensively in politics and social policy, including most recently A Theory of Poverty and Social Exclusion (1996).
Introduction Social Justice in a Global Context The Labour Market as the Key to Social Justice Social Justice Rights, Equality, Need The Scope for Self-Responsibility and Private Provision An Alternative Programme Conclusions Freedom and Solidarity in a Global Economy
`For more than a decade, Bill Jordan has been one of our most thoughtful and independent thinkers on the future of welfare. In this new book he brings this critical intelligence to bear on the new welfare politics of the Blair-Clinton era. Equally at home in political theory or the finer details of social policy, Jordan is one of very few authors to address issues of welfare at a genuinely global level. And, as ever, he is not just a critic of this new orthodoxy but has his own critical and radical alternative to offer. Anyone who wants to know more about what is happening to global welfare and why and how it should be changed should read this book' - Chris Pierson, Department of Politics, University of Nottingham `A timely, thought-provoking and penetrating review of what the author perceives to be an "emerging orthodoxy" in social welfare. This is the "New Politics of Welfare" in question: strong on national renewal and moral authority, but short on class and exploitation as factors conceivably still standing in the way of social justice. This exposition stands in valuable contrast to the body of literature dedicated to the exposition of continental European/EU ideals of social welfare and social justice and, as such, will be a text no serious student of contemporary trends in social policy can afford to be without' - Catherine Jones Finer, University of Birmingham and editor, Social Policy & Administration `This book raises the important question of how far and by what means national governments can secure social justice in the context of global economic transactions. Jordan's book should be read by all who are concerned with the challenge to welfare presented by the continuing erosion of the powers of national governments' - Preston King, Department of Politics and International Relations, Lancaster University `Bill Jordan is a remarkable academic whose mind is at ease with economics, philosophy and political theory. Fortunately, his heart still remains with the clients he used to help as a social worker....Certainly I hope that New Labour politicians will read this latest book by one of Britain's most articulate, brave and compassionate social campaigners' - British Journal of Social Work `This is an ambitious project, impressively carried out.' - Social Policy `An excellent text, illustrated with vignettes that invite deeper thought over the matters they address.' - International Journal of Public-Private Partnerships `Jordan's book makes an important contribution to informing us about this issue and encouraging us to develop a wider understanding of the international dimensions of social work and also of the effects of globalization even on local policy and practice.' - International Social Work
