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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1987

Peter Taylor‐Gooby and Margaret Bochel

Data drawn from the 1985 British Social Attitudes survey are considered with respect to the implications for ideas about the sphere of government responsibility in relation to…

Abstract

Data drawn from the 1985 British Social Attitudes survey are considered with respect to the implications for ideas about the sphere of government responsibility in relation to economic life. A factor analysis of the pattern of answers is described.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2017

Mhairi Mackenzie, Annette Hastings, Breannon Babbel, Sarah Simpson and Graham Watt

This chapter addresses inequalities in the United Kingdom through the lens of health inequalities. Driven by inequalities in income and power, health inequalities represent a…

Abstract

This chapter addresses inequalities in the United Kingdom through the lens of health inequalities. Driven by inequalities in income and power, health inequalities represent a microcosm of wider debates on inequalities. They also play a role as the more politically unacceptable face of inequalities – where other types of inequality are more blatantly argued as collateral damage of advanced neoliberalism including ‘inevitable’ austerity measures, politicians are more squeamish about discussing health inequalities in these terms.

The chapter starts by depicting health inequalities in Scotland and summarises health policy analyses of the causes of, and solutions to, health inequalities. It then describes the concept of ‘proportionate’ universalism’ and sets this within the context of debates around universal versus targeted welfare provision in times of fiscal austerity.

It then turns to a small empirical case-study which investigates these tensions within the Scottish National Health Service. The study asks those operating at policy and practice levels: how is proportionate universalism understood; and, is it a threat or ballast to universal welfare provision?

Findings are discussed within the political context of welfare retrenchment, and in terms of meso- and micro-practices. We conclude that there are three levels at which proportionate universalism needs to be critiqued as a means of mitigating the impacts of inequalities in the social determinants of health. These are within the political arenas, at a policy and planning level and at the practice level where individual practitioners are enabled or not to practice in ways that might mitigate existing inequalities.

Details

Inequalities in the UK
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-479-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2012

Peter Taylor‐Gooby

The purpose of this paper is to examine the theoretical basis of the claim that social cohesion is served better by processes within civil society than by government policies…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the theoretical basis of the claim that social cohesion is served better by processes within civil society than by government policies. This paper also aims to provide an empirical test using recent UK data. This paper combines literatures from sociology, political science and social psychology in an innovative way.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach used was analysis of a range of relevant literatures. Statistical analysis of the DCLG Citizenship Survey to examine aspects of cohesion was also undertaken.

Findings

The civil society argument has both strengths and weaknesses. Group processes and group interests in civil society may lead towards exclusion rather than inclusion. In the UK context, the civil society route to social cohesion is uncertain: the groupings that develop do not necessary promote commitments broadly across society and particularly between advantaged and disadvantaged citizens.

Research limitations/implications

This article shows the value of social psychological as well as sociological and political science material. It identifies severe limitations as well as strengths in the kind of civil society approaches that have been promoted in recent discussion of the “Big Society”.

Practical implications

The civil society route to social cohesion is no substitute for the welfare state.

Social implications

Moves to re‐centre social cohesion on civil society processes are unlikely to be successful.

Originality/value

The paper uses a combination of theoretical literatures from different disciplines, including social psychology. The paper uses an empirical test of the civil society thesis using up to date material.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 32 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1986

Spyros Missiakoulis, R.E. Pahl and Peter Taylor‐Gooby

Cross‐class affiliation and unpaid work in and around the home are important in affecting the propensity of an individual to vote Conservative, as are elements of patterns of…

Abstract

Cross‐class affiliation and unpaid work in and around the home are important in affecting the propensity of an individual to vote Conservative, as are elements of patterns of domestic interaction. Regardless of whether occupational status is a relatively transitory phenomenon in a woman's life it seems to influence her voting behaviour and that of her husband. Political consciousness as evidenced by the propensity to vote Conservative in the 1979 election is explored as to how women's occupational class “makes a difference”. Elements for determining political consciousness include the production relation of both men and women in the household, the relations to the means of consumption of household members and the social interaction of men and women engaged in a variety of other forms of work in and around the house. A very complex set of data is required to study these three spheres. The Sheppey survey explores the relative significance of households' relationships to production and consumption as well as the interactions of men and women inside the dwelling. In 1981 a survey of 526 household couples on the island gave detailed information about their social and economic behaviour inside and outside the house. No previous study of voting behaviour, or the determinants of political consciousness has had access to such material: 403 respondents actually voted — 52 per cent Conservative and 48 per cent for the other parties. Factors associated with voting Conservative are explored. The island was representative of the situation for Great Britain as a whole.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2003

Brian Gran

Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out…

Abstract

Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out government programs. The Bush presidential administration has called for the application of Charitable Choice Policy to all kinds of social services. Advocates for child‐abuse victims contend that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy would further dismantle essential social services provided to abused children. Others have argued Charitable Choice Policy is unconstitutional because it crosses the boundary separating church and state. Rather than drastically altering the US social‐policy landscape, this paper demonstrates that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy already is in place for childabuse services across many of the fifty states. One reason this phenomenon is ignored is due to the reliance on the public‐private dichotomy for studying social policies and services. This paper contends that relying on the public‐private dichotomy leads researchers to overlook important configurations of actors and institutions that provide services to abused children. It offers an alternate framework to the public‐private dichotomy useful for the analysis of social policy in general and, in particular, Charitable Choice Policy affecting services to abused children. Employing a new methodological approach, fuzzy‐sets analysis, demonstrates the degree to which social services for abused children match ideal types. It suggests relationships between religious organizations and governments are essential to the provision of services to abused children in the United States. Given the direction in which the Bush Charitable Choice Policy will push social‐policy programs, scholars should ask whether abused children will be placed in circumstances that other social groups will not and why.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 23 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 June 2011

Peter Taylor‐Gooby

The purpose of this paper is to examine how factors including class position, education, social network membership and cultural capital contribute to the intergenerational…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how factors including class position, education, social network membership and cultural capital contribute to the intergenerational transmission of class advantage for women and men in different European welfare states.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the European Social Survey round 1 data.

Findings

Education is the dominant institutional mechanism for reproduction of privilege, but social network membership plays an important subsidiary role. The contribution of membership is highly gendered, even in the overtly more open social democratic and liberal societies.

Research limitations/implications

There were data limitations in ESS: no time‐series data, and no data on wealth.

Practical implications

The findings are of particular policy relevance at a time when reform programmes are stressing individual opportunity and shifting responsibility from state to citizen, so that informal pathways to the reproduction of privilege become more significant. These include network membership, contacts and cultural capital.

Social implications

The research indicates the importance of social network membership and sheds light on how this works to the advantage of middle and upper class groups and men in different European countries.

Originality/value

No other studies have used these data to explore these issues to the author's knowledge, and one needs to understand more about these issues in the context of current concerns about inequality and opportunity.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 31 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1983

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…

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Abstract

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

John Vincent

This chapter considers the current state of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) librarianship in the United Kingdom. It begins with a question: at the…

Abstract

This chapter considers the current state of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ+) librarianship in the United Kingdom. It begins with a question: at the time of writing, there seems to be more of a focus on LGBTQ+ issues in museums and archives than there is in libraries. Why is this so? To answer this, the chapter focuses briefly on the wider social setting; looks at current library provision; discusses what “queer librarianship” might involve; considers whether LGBTQ+ library staff’s and LGBTQ+ library users’ voices are heard; and then looks at the question of mainstreaming provision, and considers whether this would be a positive step forward.

Details

LGBTQ+ Librarianship in the 21st Century: Emerging Directions of Advocacy and Community Engagement in Diverse Information Environments
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-474-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Rodney Wilson

Economists usually try to avoid making moral judgements, at least in their professional capacity. Positive economics is seen as a way of analysing economic problems, in as…

Abstract

Economists usually try to avoid making moral judgements, at least in their professional capacity. Positive economics is seen as a way of analysing economic problems, in as scientific a manner as is possible in human sciences. Economists are often reluctant to be prescriptive, most seeing their task as presenting information on the various options, but leaving the final choice, to the political decision taker. The view of many economists is that politicians can be held responsible for the morality of their actions when making decisions on economic matters, unlike unelected economic advisors, and therefore the latter should limit their role.

Details

Humanomics, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

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