Welfare and Human Nature: The Human Subject in Twentieth-Century Social Politics / Edition 1

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Overview

The subject of human nature has recently returned to the center of welfare debate in Britain, with prime ministers, politicians, and academics addressing the effects of social policy on individual character and morality. This book offers the first serious examination of ideas on human nature and motivation in 20th-century welfare. It examines their role in the writings of major social democratic and neo-liberal thinkers shaping the development of social policy. The book also examines alternative ideas about human nature in Marxist and feminist thought and considers their potential for contributing towards new approaches to welfare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312234096
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	09/30/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Martin Hewitt is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Hertfordshire.

Table of Contents

Introduction
• Part I: Mainstream Traditions in Social Policy
• Social Democracy and Human Nature
• Equality and Difference in the Postwar Years
• Human Nature and the Right
• Part II: Critical Perspectives on Human Nature
• Marxism, Human Nature and Need
• Feminism, the Politics of Recognition and Social Policy
• Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

This book offers an examination of the ideas about human nature and motivation in 20th-century English social policy. It focuses specifically on social democratic, neo-liberal, and mutualist ideas in mainstream welfare policy. Marxist and feminist alternatives are also considered. Attention is given to the current reappraisal of welfare and human needs as the result of economic globalization. Each chapter provides an account of the human nature discourses of each intellectual movement, noting central ideas and tensions in each discourse and their influence on social policy. Hewitt teaches social policy at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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