The political economy of the Irish welfare state provides a fascinating interpretation of the evolution of social policy in modern Ireland, as the product of a triangulated relationship between church, state and capital.
Using official estimates, Professor Powell demonstrates that the welfare state is vital for the cohesion of Irish society with half the population at risk of poverty without it. However, the reality is of a residual welfare system dominated by means tests, with a two-tier health service, a dysfunctional housing system driven by an acquisitive dynamic of home-ownership at the expense of social housing, and an education system that is socially and religiously segregated.
Using the evolution of the Irish welfare state as a narrative example of the incompatibility of political conservatism, free market capitalism and social justice, the book offers a new and challenging view on the interface between structure and agency in the formation and democratic purpose of welfare states, as they increasingly come under critical review and restructuring by elites.
Tabella dei contenuti
Introduction;
Why the welfare state matters;
Revolution, culture and society;
Welfare in the Free State;
Religious nationalism, sectarianism and anti-semitism;
The welfare state debate;
Poverty and social inequality;
Liberty, gender and sexuality;
The marketisation of the welfare state;
Crisis, austerity and water;
Conclusion.
Circa l’autore
Fred Powell served as Professor of Social Policy and founding Head of the School of Applied Social Studies at UCC for 25 years, Dean of Social Science and latterly Student Ombudsman. He received the Richard Titmuss Book Award in 2018.
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